City to get 56K low-cost homes in 6 yrs : Hindustan Times

IN THREE-AND-A HALF YEARS, CIDCO HAS BUILT 8,750 HOUSES. OF THESE, 4,500 ARE FOR MIDDLE AND LOWER INCOME GROUPS

CBD BELAPUR: As housing prices spiral in the city, leaving the middle class in the lurch, the City and Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) has decided to provide affordable houses to residents. It has approached the state urban development department to grant it additional floor space index (FSI) so that it can construct more houses within a limited area.

A house built under Cidco’s Unnati scheme at Ulwe.

In the past three-and-a-half years, Cidco has built 8,750 houses in various areas of the city. Of these, 4,500 have been for the middle and lower income groups.

Last year, the Swapnpurti housing scheme run by Cidco in Kharghar had received a good response, with 87,000 applications for 3,154 houses. Around 2 lakh applications had been sold. In the backdrop of such demand for low-cost houses, Cidco plans to build 55,000 houses in the next six years. It has begun the spadework. According to Cidco vicechairman and managing director Sanjay Bhatia, “Work is on to select the areas for the projects, the housing schemes, plans for the houses, details of amenities to be provided, cost and so on.

We have appointed an agency to conduct the survey.”

He said that they have propose to construct some houses at Vashi, Ghansoli, Kharghar and Taloja-Pachnand. “We want to ensure that the common man gets these houses at affordable rates and hence we are following up with the government to get 3 FSI for the projects,” Bhatia said.

Explaining the advantage of additional FSI, a Cidco official said, “The Swapnpurti housing scheme buildings, with an FSI of 1.5, have seven to 14 storeys for economically weaker sections (EW) and lower income groups (LIG). It will not be feasible for these sections to live in taller buildings due to the high cost of maintenance and it could lead to dilapidation of the buildings. Hence, we will construct buildings of similar height for them, which will consume 1.5 FSI.”

Bhatia also said Cidco has sought the additional FSI for other plots which can be sold to raise funds for cheaper houses.

He said that he would make sure that flat prices don’t soar. “We have asked the government to give us the additional FSI for other plots which we can sell and help cover the land cost of the housing scheme. This will ensure that land cost is not added to the cost of houses to be sold. There will also be no cost escalation as land prices rise,” he added.