Advantage Mumbai - August 26 , 2006. Times Property (Times of India)

Slum rehabilitation project in the city offer several advantages.

Around 1996-97 at the behest of my dear friend and renowned developer Vikas Oberoi, I attended one of the first few sessions of advantage Maharashtra . The going buzz then was slum rehabilitation project development. Every developer I met, wanted a piece of the action. It sounded simple but behind the scenes there were unimaginable knots to be untangled.

During that period, a lot of developers tried to get involved in such projects. The obvious reason was low acquisition costs for land. While some developers got into it, the rest wanted to wait it out to see how practical the whole working side to it is. To me it seemed like a dream that may never come true. But if you look around you today you see nearly outside every slum location a board or a hoarding saying `SRA Scheme Development'.

The advantages of such schemes are:

a) The people living in the slums get a permanent and better living environment, without having to live with fear of getting evicted by slum lords or other bodies.

b) The developers get additional Floor Space Index (FSI) of close to 2.5 ; which includes the rehabilitation areas and the rest can be sold to public.

c) Since the initiative is backed by the government, this is the most hassle free title for future, once the developer has managed to settle with all occupants and allocate alternate space for them.

Architect Rajesh Khatter who has recently successfully completed one such project say's "The scheme has been initiated with good intention by the government. It is a win - win situation for the Government, slum dwellers and the developers. Land has been made available for development and at the same time TDR is being generated for construction. Stringent approval and eligibility is in place for getting the project approved and the monitoring agency is implementing the scheme in earnest. Obtaining final approval is time consuming but essential."

On being probed on his experience as an architect he said "As a designer the challenge comes when you have to merge the free component with sale component. Also , SRA Project involved tremendous amount of paper work and documentation. It was like dealing with 100 clients at the same time and un-certainty of the project materializing was very high, since you have to comply with proofs and eligibility and there is a general guide lines and each case is decided on merit. The time taken for obtaining approval is longer than a normal project".

With several `SRA' projects in the making, one can look for a bargain deal. For example at `Oberoi Spas' at Andheri west the opening sale price was 4250 per sq.ft. and today it is 7000 per sq.ft. in less than fifteen months. While I am happy for the folks who bought into it early and for the developer, but this kind of price rise has left a lot of first home seekers disheartened due such valuations. Office premises in the same region, is quoted at 8500 per sq.ft and upwards in premium projects.

Recently we had the privilege of getting an office premise for one of our International clients in one such `SRA' project and this is what the country head Mr.Chhablani had to say " I do see that these projects are changing the skyline and the urban landscape by enabling project types never seen before in this city or country. These projects while they are defining the lifestyle within the city, cannot burden the already strained infrastructure. Being an annual visitor to this city, I am aware but cannot speak intelligently to the socio political issues surrounding the slum rehab scheme."

While premium locations and premium construction on such `SRA' projects do manage to get the market rate depending on the `location' and the surroundings or neighbourhood, the rates in some of the projects with equally good quality of construction by less renowned developers or the new entrant developers are available at approximately 10-15% lesser than market rate. Most slum projects across the city have already been assigned. One such example is a  location near Oshiwara (Andheri west) much-much before `In Orbit' on link road, all of the slums have been assigned for re development under 'SRA'.

Surroundings and view whether it is `SRA' or not is an important factor to take into consideration. A qualified professional is able to evaluate the future growth of locations and sight such opportunities, be it for investment or actual use. Just like the saying in hindi " Heera ki kimat, johri hee jane". For example one could be at Malabar or Cumballa hill and have slums in the surrounding areas due to which the valuation is lower. Even within the same building the view of slum areas versus apartments which don't overlook them are different. With the rehab blocks coming around everyone will have a reason cheer.