Maharashtra govt to unveil new housing policy soon, says Minister Eknath Shinde

The government of Maharashtra is set to introduce a new housing policy aimed at expanding affordable housing and providing a structured framework to streamline housing development, said Deputy Chief Minister and Housing Minister Eknath Shinde.The comprehensive policy will help promote private sector participation and address key challenges such as land availability and cost efficiency.

As part of the government’s commitment of inclusive housing solutions, the state plans to construct 1 lakh homes through its housing body, the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA), over the next two years, he said.

This large-scale initiative will follow a strategic and well-planned approach to meet the growing housing demand, particularly among economically weaker sections and middle-income groups.

“The government of Maharashtra is taking decisive steps to strengthen urban housing, accelerate redevelopment, and ensure affordable homes for all. A key pillar of this initiative is cluster redevelopment, particularly in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Pune, and Thane, where aging buildings, fragmented land ownership, and inadequate infrastructure have made conventional redevelopment challenging,” Shinde told ET.

According to him, given Mumbai’s geographical constraints, MHADA’s cluster redevelopment model will ensure that urban renewal is not limited to individual building replacements but instead focuses on large-scale, eco-friendly housing solutions.Shinde emphasized that the new policy will play a crucial role in shaping Maharashtra’s long-term urban development strategy while ensuring that housing remains accessible to all.The minister highlighted that the central government has identified four states across the country for setting up growth hubs, one of which will be in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. These hubs will house a large number of industries, information technology companies, and service sector enterprises, creating significant employment opportunities.

Considering this, MHADA plans to develop eight lakh homes to meet the housing demand. In addition to this, rental housing and hostels for working women, students, and senior citizens will also be developed under a structured housing approach.

MHADA’s structured redevelopment approach will ensure integrated infrastructure upgrades, including modernized civic amenities, wider roads, and transit-oriented development, improving overall urban planning, he said.

It will also target financial feasibility for housing societies and developers, supported by optimized Transfer of Development Rights (TDR), premium rationalization, and incentives to make these projects viable.

Transparent, time-bound execution, with a single-window clearance system to streamline approvals and a dedicated redevelopment cell within MHADA to oversee implementation will also be made part of it.

The government of Maharashtra is continuously working on various schemes to provide affordable housing, and in the past 18 months, MHADA has allotted 30,000 homes through 13 lotteries.

Additionally, efforts are being made to resolve stalled housing projects and accelerate slum redevelopment to enhance housing availability. Cluster redevelopment projects are being prioritized in Mumbai, and Thane, with similar initiatives under consideration for Pune.