DEVELOPERS SHALL BE SCREENED BY MHADA FOR REDEVELOPMENT WORK

One of the things that cause the most stress is finding a good and reliable Developer. The most sought after measure is being taken by the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) who has now decided that it would empanel quality Developers for redevelopment as also it shall monitor redevelopment of cessed buildings. The MHADA authority has decided to launch a foolproof system to ensure that the redevelopment contracts go to competent and reliable Developers only.

MHADA will now register Developers for redevelopment projects based on their track record, financial strength and project experience judged in various categories before assigning redevelopment projects. It is expected of a Developer to be with adequate knowledge, experience and expertise in design, planning, construction and executing the same with passion to deliver the redevelopment projects as committed.

MHADA stresses that the Developer selected, should be of unshakable reputation for quality, efficiency, trust, meticulous planning, top quality amenities, superlative designs, timely completion, guaranteed possessions and handing over of property for rehabilitation of its members.

The decision has been made with several redevelopment projects of MHADA colonies being stalled for years due to Developers deserting them midway or causing inordinate delays in completing the redevelopment projects.

It is a known fact that there are many instances where residents of middle class families are suffering because the Developer they chose was unable to complete projects due to reasons such as capital crunch or lack of expertise. Through this exercise, residents will have a ready list of developers who have been screened for their capability as declared by MHADA's redevelopment cell. Henceforth, whenever a redevelopment proposal is presented by a Developer, MHADA will call a short tender for the work and the lowest bidder will be awarded the contract on a turnkey basis.

MHADA will need a ready list of eligible Developers as it is expected that more and more old housing societies of MHADA to come to us with proposals as the MHADA has 56 layouts in the city of which barely 15 per cent are under redevelopment as of today.

Until now, residents of co-operative housing societies of MHADA were selecting Developers for redevelopment of their buildings independently with a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from the MHADA authority.

However, now under the revised Development Control Rules (DCR 33/5), the State Government has incentivized the residents to approach the MHADA authority with redevelopment proposals. If redevelopment is undertaken through MHADA, residents will get an additional 15 per cent carpet area.

The MHADA authority will maintain two lists of registered Developers. The first list will be of those eligible Developers for construction contracts with a plot area of less than 20,000 sq. m. These will be the Developers with an experience of at least 10 years in redevelopment work who must have completed contracts amounting to 50,000 sq. m. and with a minimum turnover of Rs. 50 crore in the past five years.

The second list will be of those eligible Developers for construction contracts bigger than 20,000 sq. m. along with a minimum experience of 10 years and having completed redevelopment works of atleast 1 lakhs sq. m. The Developers in this list will have to have sufficient experience of securing approvals from the Environment Department, Coastal Regulation Zone Clearance (CRZ) and High-Rise Committee etc. The Developers shall be empanelled for five years with a provision to grant a two-year extension depending on their performance and expertise in delivering the redevelopment projects as entrusted.

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