Adani Group to develop houses on Mumbai salt pan land for project-hit people

The Maharashtra government on Monday approved the utilisation of 2559 acres of salt pan land in Mumbai to develop houses for residents of slum rehabilitation projects The responsibility of developing the houses has been handed over to Adani Group reported news agency PTIThe salt pan land utilisation also includes the beneficiaries of affordable housing and other similar schemesThe Adani groupcontrolled Dharavi Redevelopment Project will be responsible for implementing the decision to develop houses for slum rehabilitation projectaffected people the government stated after Chief Minister Eknath Shinde chaired the cabinet meeting in MumbaiThe 2559 acres of salt pan land to be acquired include 1205 acres in Mauje Kanjur 769 acres in Kanjur and Bhandup and 585 acres in Mauje MulundAccording to the government the additional chief secretary of the state housing department is designated to sign an agreement with the Central Government for the land lease transferThe cost of rehabilitating people living on saltpan land will be borne by a special purpose vehicle SPVJSW Infra to develop Murbe port in PalgharEarlier this month the Centre approved the transfer of the 2559 acres to the Dharavi Redevelopment Project Pvt Ltd DRPPL a joint venture between Adani Realty Group and the Maharashtra government for building rental housing for slum dwellersThe Maharashtra Cabinet also approved a state ports development departments proposal to appoint JSW Infrastructure as the developer for the Murbe multipurpose port The project estimated to cost around Rs 4259 crore will be developed in Mumbais neighbouring Palghar district A detailed project report DPR will be prepared soonThe port is expected to become an allweather operational facility focusing on handling bulk dry cargo and captive cargoAdditionally the state cabinet approved the Urban Development Departments proposal to provide an interestfree loan of Rs 1354 crore to MMRDA Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority for the proposed tunnel road construction connecting Orange Gate in Mazgaon and Marine Drive The state government will bear the land acquisition expenditure estimated to be Rs 433 crore and provide the fund to MMRDAThe council of ministers also accepted a revised proposal of Rs 12200 crore for the Thane Ring Metro project The proposed 29km Thane Metro loop would be 29kmlong and have 20 stations on the surface and two undergroundTo give a shot in the arm to urban transport the government cleared a proposal to construct a tunnel between Thane and Borivli The project entails developing a sixlane twin tunnel spanning 1185 km at an estimated cost of Rs 18838 crore a press release from the state government statedThe cabinet also gave its nod to the Animal Husbandry Departments proposal to provide a daily Rs 50subsidy per animal to gaushala cow shelter operators whose functioning will be monitored by the Maharashtra Cow Shelter Commissionerate The decision was taken after the population of indigenous cows fell by 2069 per cent to 4613632 in the 2019 CensusApart from these decisions the Cabinet has decided to allot three land parcels collectively spanning 37 acres to the Sports Authority of India SAI to set up national centres of excellence These facilities will come up in Malad Akurli Navi Mumbai and Vadhavan Palghar on leased land with an annual rent of Rs 1 for the next 30 years the statement addedWith PTI inputs