The Confederation of Developers Association of India (Credai), Maharashtra, is keen to get vacant Special Economic Zone land for creating a land pool to boost affordable housing in the state.
The state government announced on Tuesday that it intended to create a stock of 30,000 housing units in the next two years. Housing minister Jitendra Awhad said in the assembly that the affordable housing scheme would be launched on May 1, and completed in two years.
Awhad told the house that land totalling 25,000 acres acquired by SEZ developers but lying unused would be taken back from them by the government after making necessary payment and used for constructing affordable houses. The government was contemplating bringing a bill on this issue, he said. “If this is done, five lakh affordable houses could be constructed in five years,” he said.
Rajiv Parikh, president, Credai, Maharashtra, said 28 SEZs were approved in the state, out of the 206 sanctioned SEZs in the country.
“A review of the same can help us get a good land pool at reasonable rates which can help boost affordable housing,” he said.
Currently, 11.55 lakh dwelling units have been sanctioned by the state under affordable housing, with the aim being to touch 19.40 lakh units by 2022. In 2018, the state government had allowed affordable housing on farmland. It said that land belonging to municipal corporations and councils would be used for affordable housing for the economically weaker sections.
Around 25,000 acres of land across the state were notified under the emergency clause of the erstwhile Land Acquisition Act 1888 for SEZ.
