12,000 homes to come up in Navi Mumbai

Mumbai, March 6 (IANS) In an ambitious move, the City & Industrial Corporation of Maharashtra Ltd. (CIDCO) will construct 12,000 affordable houses and tenements for various categories in Navi Mumbai, an official said Wednesday.

The move follows the tremendous public response for CIDCO's Vastuvihar in Kharghar suburb and Unnati in Ulwe suburb, which are low income group/economically weaker section (LIG-EWS) housing schemes.

"There is a substantial demand for affordable housing, which is not being fulfilled by the private sector. Therefore it is proposed to take up EWS and LIG housing in different parts of the city," a CIDCO official said.

With the fast progressing Metro Railway, upcoming new international airport and other mega infrastructure projects in this region, demand for EWS/LIG is expected to further increase, fuelling the need to take up new housing schemes in different parts of Navi Mumbai, the official explained.

In the first phase, 968 houses for EWS, 2,622 houses for LIG are planned for which the work was awarded last month (February 2013) and is expected to be completed by May 2015.

Besides, work of constructing 1,224 MIG tenements with a carpet area of 612 sq. feet has already been taken up in 24 buildings in November 2011 and expected to be allotted by May 2014.

These will have modern amenities such as vitrified tile flooring, FRD main door, granite photo frame for doors and windows, full height windows etc.

Similarly, to cater to the huge demand for affordable houses in EWS/LIG.

World reputed architects like Charles Correa, Hafeez Contractor, Ratan Batliboi, Shirish Sukhatme, Achyut Kanvinde, Shirish Patel and others have lent their aesthetic touch to some of the structures.

Prefab Channel Slab, 3-S Siporex System, Tunner Form, MIVAN and earthquake resistant technology are the most modern tried and tested technologies have been applied for the construction.

"The entry of new business and companies will lead to increase in the number of job opportunities furthering the increase in population and increase in the demand of housing stock in the city," the official said.

"The CIDCO, as the efficient planner of cities, has already begun preparations to accommodate this prospective and definitive influx coming its way in the near future," the official said.

Incidentally, in the past decade till 2010, CIDCO was the single largest realty developer in entire Navi Mumbai and surroundings, accounting for developing 54 percent of all housing units.

Of the total 225,000 houses constructed, CIDCO built 123,577 homes across including 51 percent for EWS/LIG, 26 for MIG and 23 for HIG categories.