Mumbai: The Slum Rehabilitation Authority’s (SRA) notice to the developer of a luxury tower built on the site of yesteryear actor Mala Sinha’s bungalow in Bandra West, over alleged deviations from approved plans for permanent transit camp (PTC) tenements, has brought attention to one of the latest businesses quietly unfolding in Mumbai’s real estate market.
There are currently 412 PTCs across Mumbai at various stages of construction, involving 25,733 housing units, a senior SRA official revealed. The company is constructing over 1,200 homes in Bhandup and Kanjurmarg, where it has several ongoing projects. “With the government pushing cluster slum redevelopment alongside major infrastructure projects, Mumbai needs substantial accommodation for families affected by these developments. Marathon Group is among the developers tapping into these benefits.
Finding suitable space to relocate them is a significant challenge, and PTC housing can help address that requirement,” said Kaivalya C Shah, director of Marathon Group, a Mumbai-based developer. “In practice, that (the regulation) converts PTC from a welfare obligation into a development rights mechanism with direct consequences for project viability, free sale timing and capital deployment,” said Keval Valambhia, managing partner and group CEO at H Rishabraj Landmarks LLP. Vishal Ratanghayra, founder and CEO of Platinum Corp, said the incentives also encourage development of slum-occupied land reserved for public amenities such as roads, hospitals and recreation grounds, which might otherwise be commercially unattractive. “This is why the developers have been incentivised by saying, if we provide 30 square metres constructed, then we will get equivalent FSI that can be utilised either on the same plot or can be clubbed elsewhere,” he said. “Instead of my sale building, I am constructing a PTC building and all the provisions of DCPR, like gardens, schools,… everything has to be provided,” said Gurminder Singh, co-founder and COO, Platinum Corp, which is developing a PTC project in Malad. “Over the next few years, this inventory will serve eligible redevelopment requirements within the S ward and neighbouring wards,” said Shah.
