Mumbai airport slum project gathers pace

Bangalore: Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL) has started resettling people living in the slums bordering the Mumbai airport, clearing the way for Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), the holder of the land, to develop the area.
This is the biggest project for HDIL, India’s largest slum developer, and entails the rehabilitation of nearly 85,000 familes from the encroached areas surrounding the airport to other locations in Mumbai.
Initially about 700 families will be relocated to the new tenements at the Kurla Premiere compound and allotment letters have already been issued, HDIL said in a statement to the Bombay Stock Exchange on Monday. Around 22,000 families will be shifted over the next six-eight months, the company said.
Over the past two years, HDIL has sold transfer of development rights (TDRs) of 10-11 million sq. ft from the MIAL project, at an average cost of Rs. 2,500 per sq. ft. A TDR gives a real estate company additional development rights for redevelopment of slums or undertaking rehabilitation projects, which it then trades for a profit.
“This momentum gives a lot of comfort to our shareholders and investors and also improves the visibility of TDRs, hence improving cash flows as well,” said Hari Prakash Pandey, vice-president of finance, HDIL.
06/06/11 Madhurima Nandy/Live Mint

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Categories: Airports Jun 2011