The Maharashtra cabinet, in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, has approved a proposal concerning the Dharavi slum redevelopment project. This proposal entails acquiring 283.40 acres of salt pan lands in Mumbai from the Union government on a 99-year lease for rehabilitation purposes. The state housing department presented the proposal, which received approval during the cabinet meeting.
Under this initiative, the salt pan lands will be utilized for the rehabilitation of certain Dharavi residents as part of the slum redevelopment project. The market value of these lands will be recuperated from the special purpose vehicle (SPV) responsible for the Dharavi slum colony’s redevelopment and subsequently transferred to the Centre.
Last year in July, the Maharashtra government formally awarded the Dharavi redevelopment project, spanning 259 hectares, to an Adani group firm. This multi-crore project aims to rebuild Dharavi, Asia’s largest slum sprawl, situated in central Mumbai. The project will be executed by an SPV and involves various salt pan lands, including Arthur Salt Works Land (120.5 acres), Jenkins Salt Works Land (77 acres) at Kanjurmarg, Jamasp Salt Works Land (58.5 acres) at Mulund, and Suleman Shah Land (28 acres) at Wadala.
The cabinet’s approval includes a request for acquiring salt pan land belonging to the Dharavi Redevelopment Project on a 99-year lease, which is an exception as government land leases typically span 30 years. Notably, one of these land parcels was previously earmarked for a Metro car depot by the former Uddhav Thackeray-led government, intending to relocate the Metro car shed from Aarey to Kanjurmarg. However, the Central government contested the claim on the Kanjurmarg salt pan land, resulting in a court injunction against transferring the 102-acre plot to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).
Officials have stated that the Union government owns nearly 283 acres of salt pan land across four different areas in Mumbai: Arthur Salt Works Land (120.5 Acres), Jenkins Salt Works Land (76.9 Acres), Jamasp Salt Works Land (58.5 Acres), and Agar Sulemanshah Land (27.5 Acres). The proposal to transfer this 283-acre salt pan land to the state government on a 99-year lease for the Dharavi Redevelopment Project will soon be submitted to the Union government.
