Mumbai’s real estate market has already been recovering steadily with several pro-active Government measures and other infrastructure development. Now, the realty market in the city is set to get another massive boost with the announcement of a mega infrastructure blueprint for the city. The latest budget announced an allocation of a whopping Rs. 16,909 crore for infrastructural development in Mumbai. This has already been confirmed by the MMRDA (Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority).
In the budget, approximately 44% or Rs. 7,486,50 crore has been allocated for building and operating 11 metro railway lines and also a centre in and around the city. Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, approved this infrastructure focused new budget for Mumbai and neighbouring zones prior to the Lok Sabha elections and also the Maharashtra State Assembly elections.
Key points of the new infrastructure bonanza for Mumbai
There were several major points covered in the new infrastructure plan for Mumbai. These include the following:
- Two new metro lines approved by the Chief Minister, namely the 9th metro corridor between the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport and the Navi Mumbai Airport which will come up over the next few years along with the 14th metro corridor between Badlapur and Kanjurmarg.
- DPRs (Detailed Project Reports) will now be made for both these new metro railway projects.
- A major chunk of the infrastructure allocation has been kept for fast-tracking mega projects that have been largely delayed till now. These include the MTHL or Mumbai Trans Harbour Link along with the Virar-Alibaug multi-modal corridor.
- MMRDA has already sanctioned Rs. 3,000 crore for the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link which will be linking Sewri to Navi Mumbai’s Nhava Sheva. 25% of total work on this massive sea-link project is expected to be completed by the end of 2019 as per reports. This will be a major connectivity driver between Mumbai and Navi Mumbai.
- MMRDA has also sanctioned Rs. 2,250 crore for the Virar-Alibaug multi-modal corridor.
- The budget also provides Rs. 150 crore for the Mumbai monorail which will soon be inaugurated officially.
- There has been an allocation of Rs. 1,895 crore for the Metro-2A corridor which connects DN Nagar and Dahisar.
- The metro line 7 between Dahisar East and Andheri East has also received an allocation of Rs. 1,921 crore.
- These two metro lines have received the largest fund allocations in this year’s budget amongst the 11 metro corridors in total.
- The budget should give a major impetus towards the swift development of the Metro 4 line which runs between Wadala, Thane and Kasarvadavli and also the Metro 6 line which runs to Vikhroli from Swami Samarth Nagar. These two lines have got budgetary allocations of Rs. 1,337 crore and Rs. 800 crore respectively.
- Aarey will get a Metro Bhavan, for which Rs. 100 crore has also been sanctioned.
New infrastructure push to transform connectivity and daily commutes
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is anticipating overall ridership counts of 9.95 lakh people for the Kanjurmarg-Badlapur corridor by the year 2041. This elevated corridor will span 44.7 kilometres and will be developed via the public-private business model. This will be the 14th metro corridor to be built for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. MMRDA is focusing on this route since its extensive studies and research have revealed that there will be ridership going close to 10 lakh on this route eventually. This metro corridor will also have a connection to the Metro routes 4 and 6 as per reports.
There will be a Badlapur metro line as well and hence the State Government will soon bring all key areas in the entire region under the metro railway’s aegis. There will be metro networks connecting seamlessly to and across Thane, Navi Mumbai, Virar and Mira Bhayander as well. Rs. 210 crore has also been allocated by the MMRDA for building the memorial to Babasaheb Ambedkar at Dadar’s Indu Mills and the development of the Bal Thackeray memorial which will come up at Shivaji Park. In a nutshell, this new budget offers Rs. 7,486 crore for 10 major metro railway projects and Rs. 3,000 crore for the Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link in tandem with Rs. 700 crore for the Surya Regional Water Supply Scheme. Additionally, the Virar-Alibaug multi-modal corridor has got Rs. 2,250 crore while Rs. 100 crore has been set aside for the Metro Bhawan in Aarey Colony. Rs. 150 crore has been allocated for the Mumbai monorail while Rs. 210 crore has been allocated for the development of the Bal Thackeray and Babasaheb Ambedkar memorials.
The Metro Bhawan at Aarey Colony will be in charge of controlling and monitoring for all the 13 metro routes in Mumbai and its metropolitan area. There will be key facilities available including offices, a training academy, Metro Operational Control Centre and also a cafeteria in tandem with 7 floors that will be residential. The Ambedkar Memorial, as mentioned, will be coming up in the Dadar Indu Mills Compound while the Mayor’s Bungalow at Dadar will be the site for the Thackeray Memorial as per several other reports. MMRDA has also fast-tracked the Phase-2 of the Mumbai monorail project. The second phase of the monorail network between Wadala and Sant Gadge Maharaj Chowk covers 11.28 kilometres and has received the necessary funding in the budget.
Other key aspects of Mumbai’s infrastructure development drive
The budget also covers several projects including the Extended Mumbai Urban Infrastructure Project for which Rs. 800 crore has been earmarked while the Mumbai Urban Transport Project gets Rs. 500.10 crore. The road network development drive beyond the metropolitan area will be fast-tracked as well with an allocation of Rs. 143 crore as per reports. There will be the extension of the Santacruz-Chembur Link Road up to the Vakola area while there will be Rs. 100 crore deployed for building an elevated road to the Western Express Highway from the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC). There will also be an elevated road at Chheda Nagar built for Rs. 75 crore while infrastructure development will also take place within the Kalina University Campus for a cost of Rs. 54 crore.
The 10 key metro lines include Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar (Metro 1), DN Nagar to Mandale (Metro 2B), Dahisar to DN Nagar (Metro 2A), Wadala to Kasarvadavli (Metro 4), Colaba-Bandra SEEPZ (Metro 3), Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan (Metro 5), Andheri East to Dahisar East (Metro 7), Samarth Nagar to Vikhroli (Metro 6), Gaimukh to Shivaji Chowk (Metro 10), Kalyan to Taloja (Metro 12) and the Wadala to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (Metro 11) routes. All of these vital metro routes have received necessary funding as part of the new infrastructural budget. The Budget has also allocated a sizable portion of funding for the Surya Regional Water Supply Scheme as mentioned earlier. This will help in providing seamless water supply to 20 lakh people living in the Vasai-Virar and Mira-Bhayander Municipal Corporation zones via a pipeline covering 88 kilometres from Suryanagar. This will help in ensuring 218 MLD and 185 MLD of water supply every day to the Mira-Bhayander and Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporations respectively.
Recent railway infrastructure developments
The railway network in Mumbai has also been boosted recently with the inauguration of the new railway terminus at Parel by Union railway minister Piyush Goyal. The Parel local railway terminus is a major connectivity boost for Central Mumbai and will help in decongesting the Dadar railway station as well. There were other announcements including 180 new escalators along with a new station at Chikhloli between the Badlapur and Ambernath railway stations and also a 28 kilometre railway line between Murbad and Kalyan. There were new trains announced till Alibaug along with stations on the Pen-Thal railway line.
The new Parel railway station has already received the nod for 32 trains and other 15 coach trains to ply on a regular basis. A new MoU (memorandum of understanding) has also been inked between the Dharavi Development Authority and the Railway Land Development Authority for giving 45 acres of land owned by the railways for revamping the entire Dharavi area. According to officials, the entire zone will witness rapid development on account of this move and railway staff living in old homes here will soon get new properties to reside in. Chief Minister Fadnavis has reportedly targeted completion of the Dharavi revamp project within a timeline of 7 years. Union Minister Goyal has also stated that distance will go down between Badlapur and Ambernath due to the development of a new station and there will be a major boost towards affordable housing in this zone as well.
How Mumbai’s real estate sector will benefit from these infrastructural developments
Mega infrastructure projects like the expansion of the Mumbai monorail, new metro corridors and the Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link along with the Virar-Alibaug multi-modal corridor will naturally boost real estate markets in several areas. Wadala will soon be a major real estate hotspot and prime locality with several infrastructure initiatives in and around the area while there could be growth witnessed in realty markets like Dahisar, Andheri and also Thane which will see major connectivity improvements in the near future.
Additionally, Badlapur, Ambernath, Virar-Vasai and other surrounding areas will also witness rapid real estate development on account of multiple infrastructural initiatives. This mega infrastructure development blueprint for Mumbai will not only improve daily commutes and overall connectivity but also transform several areas. The Dharavi revamp project will also lead to real estate growth in surrounding areas. It goes without saying that multiple real estate micro markets in Mumbai will benefit from these developments.
