The Mumbai Building Repairs & Redevelopment Board (MBRRB) Chairman Vinod Ghosalkar, former legislator of Shiv Sena has made a demand to set up Finance Committee (FC) in a bid to raise funds for the stuck/acquired redevelopment projects. It is an undertaking of the Maharashtra Housing & Area Development Authority (MHADA).
Ghosalkar explained, "To undertake redevelopment projects the board needs fund therefore by setting up such committee the funding agencies/banks can be involved, which can provide a feasibility report. Such committee is essential so the projects do not face financial issues in later stage. The committee can be chaired by the repair board chairman and other members such as MHADA CEO, Chief Engineers among others will be part of it ensuring smooth execution of the project."
The MBRRB looks after the repairs work of cess buildings. The cessed buildings are those for which the government collects tax for a repair fund. These buildings were mainly built before Independence and located in the island city only. There are about 14,500 such cess buildings which are in dire need of redevelopment. Of which hundreds of buildings obtained No objection certificate (NoC) to carry out redevelopment have been delayed/ incomplete for various reasons.
Reportedly, the state government had issued a notification to expedite such stuck redevelopment projects. However the policy is at the President of India Ramnath Kovid's office for final approval. The Board has sent a proposal seeking relaxation on the Central Government Land Acquisition Act. Under this regulation double compensation provision is available to the owner of land. Also, the existing land acquisition process is lengthy. But since the repair board is giving grace period and taking up the project only after they(landlord, tenants and developers) fail to do so therefore giving double the compensation as per the market value is not feasible. However, to prevent any injustice to these stakeholders, the state government under this new redevelopment policy has made a compensatory provision of giving 25 per cent of the market value. Meaning if the cost of land is Rs one then the owner will get Rs 25 paise. Second option is availing 15 per cent of the property ownership excluding rehab components.
Once the amendment in land acquisition law is approved, redevelopment of old cessed buildings in Mumbai will expedite generating house stock. Also, the MBRRB can take action and undertake the project on its own without any legal hurdles, said an official.
