The Maharashtra government cleared a proposal to rope in private landowners to collaborate with state-run housing agency MHADA to implement the Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana (PMAY) in urban areas.
Under the proposal, cleared by the Cabinet, the MHADA (Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority) will form joint ventures with interested private landowners to execute the Centre’s flagship scheme of providing low-cost homes to the urban poor, Housing Minister Prakash Mehta said.
Private landowners having more than 10 acres of land are eligible to participate in the scheme, he said.
The MHADA will construct houses for economically weaker sections and lower income groups. Of the total housing units, 35 per cent will be given to landowners and 65 per cent to the MHADA, Mehta said.
“The landowners will have the option to take the housing stock or cash,” an official in the housing department said.
JV projects can be taken up in areas falling under all the 382 municipal corporations, councils and nagar panchayats, the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority, the Pune and Nagpur Regional Development Authority, the CIDCO, the MSRDC, the Nagpur Improvement Trust and the Navi Mumbai Airport Influence Notified Area jurisdiction, he said.
“Such projects will be given an FSI of 2.5,” said an official in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).
Floor Space Index (FSI) FSI is a tool that defines the extent of construction permissible on a plot. It is the ratio of the buildable area to the total plot area.
In another decision, the Cabinet cleared a proposal to undertake steps to increase bamboo production and create employment opportunities, the CMO official said.
A new company will be set up for the purpose, he said.
The firm, Maharashtra Bamboo Promotion Company, will help in development of bamboo clusters besides design and sale of bamboo products, he said.
A model village will be constructed to promote use of bamboo for housing, the official said.
Last year, the Centre omitted bamboo grown in non- forest areas from the definition of trees. This would help in exempting it from requiring permits for felling or transportation.
