Thane: Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis revealed that the government is planning to develop Infrastructure, knowledge-based industries, and research centres around the Neral-Karjat region. The government has taken various infrastructure projects for this."

Fadnavis stated during a video conference on Friday, October 7, 2022 at Jio World Garden in Bandra Kurla Complex, during the Manthan-Affordable City organised by the Neral-Karjat chapter of NAREDCO, that the maximum number of projects would be completed by the year 2023.

The deputy CM said, "This would offer seamless connectivity to the people of MMR. A representation has also been received to develop the Panvel-Bhimashankar highway and convert it into a multimodal corridor. The four lanes of Kalyan Badlapur would be extended to Karjat station to facilitate more local service to the growing population."

MMRDA Additional Chief Secretary & Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA S V R Srinivas, referring to the completion of the infrastructure project, said that the residents of the MMR regions are living in one of the best times.

He said, "A lot of infrastructure projects, like the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link project and the Metro projects, are either completed or at the completion stage. This would also free a lot of land for development. Also, strengthening transport connectivity would boost transport."

The National Vice Chairman of NAREDCO, Dr. Niranjan Hiranandani, said, "Due to a lot of infrastructure activities undertaken by the government, the centre of gravity is constantly shifting." Imagine, it took almost 60 years to develop 190 km of railways, but in the next 5 years, almost 300 km of Metro rail will be set up. Due to such activities, a lot of land would be available for development," he informed.

NAREDCO Neral-Karjat Chairman Gautam Thacker informed, "There is a huge shortage of Affordable Housing in the country. With growing urbanization, the idea is not just to provide cheap houses but also to provide the infrastructure associated with it."

So, people should be able to travel to and from their places of employment with ease. This was the idea behind organising Manthan, whereby we invited all the stakeholders like policymakers, town planners, and property developers to deliberate on ways to ease the issues faced by the people of Mumbai," he said.

The idea behind this is to develop a carbon neutral region with the proper infrastructure and connect it to multi-nodal points, which would offer smooth connectivity to the residents there.

On the occasion, a report by NAREDCO-Knight Frank titled ‘Brick by Brick: Reimagining Affordable Mumbai’ was also shared. According to the report, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) recorded a significant demand-supply gap for affordable Housing.

The report cited that MMR registered high demand for affordable housing units, with 67 per cent of the demand concentration being registered for units less than Rs 2.5 million. The demand concentration for housing units in the range of Rs 2.5–5.0 million was recorded at 13% and units above Rs 5 million at 20%.

Despite the strong interest in this segment, the affordable housing supply has not been able to cater to the demand. The supply of housing units above Rs 5 million recorded the highest concentration at 44 percent, followed by units in the range of Rs 2.5–5 million at 34 percent.

The supply concentration for housing units less than Rs 2.5 million was recorded at 22%, clearly showcasing the huge supply gap for urban affordable housing in the region.

The President of NAREDCO Neral-Karjat, Dinesh Doshi, said, "The mantra today is more about affordable housing. The government needs to look at more ways to get the infrastructure in place. The lawmakers need to support the city, which would go a long way in helping the common man."