In a move that is likely to impact the sliding prices of real estate in Mumbai, the Maharashtra government on Friday issued an order stalling development of mill land in the city, pending the resettlement of chawls on premises.
In a surprise development, the state urban development ministry, headed by Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, issued an order saying, "Permission should not be given by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai to development plans of mill land unless it includes the rehabilitation of chawls adjacent to the mill lands."
The development of the chawls will be over and above the provision for one-third of the mill land being given to the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority for low-cost housing.
According to the order, which comes into effect from June 14, the developer is bound to give a 225 sq ft flat to each tenement holder as of January 1, 2000.
The state government's order is likely to stall 30 million sq ft of development across both NTC and privately owned mill land that is currently coming up in the mill area, valued at Rs 15,000 crore (Rs 150 billion).
These developments include the five mills NTC sold to private developers including India Bulls (Elphinstone and Jupiter Mills) and DLF (Mumbai Mills).