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By:

Bhalchandra Chorghade

11 August 2025 at 7:24:18 pm

CIDCO struggles to find takers for its homes

Mumbai: The City and Industrial Development Corporation’s (CIDCO) latest housing scheme has exposed a recurring challenge for the planning authority: finding buyers for its large housing inventory despite its affordable-housing focus. The August 2026 scheme offered 4,793 homes in Taloja, Kharghar and Kalamboli and received 4,180 confirmed applications before bookings closed on September 3. While CIDCO described the response as strong, 613 homes—nearly 13 per cent of the inventory—had no...

CIDCO struggles to find takers for its homes

Mumbai: The City and Industrial Development Corporation’s (CIDCO) latest housing scheme has exposed a recurring challenge for the planning authority: finding buyers for its large housing inventory despite its affordable-housing focus. The August 2026 scheme offered 4,793 homes in Taloja, Kharghar and Kalamboli and received 4,180 confirmed applications before bookings closed on September 3. While CIDCO described the response as strong, 613 homes—nearly 13 per cent of the inventory—had no confirmed applicant. This follows earlier schemes with similar gaps. In January 2025, CIDCO’s ‘My Preferred Home’ scheme, offering around 26,000 homes across Navi Mumbai, attracted 1.36 lakh initial applications. However, only about 55,000 applicants paid the registration fee and around 22,000 deposited the required earnest money, leaving serious participation below the number of homes offered. A CAG-linked report on two CIDCO housing schemes in Kharghar found that, of 4,814 saleable tenements, allotment letters had been issued to 3,733 applicants and possession handed over to 3,317. Four years after the draw, 1,081 tenements remained unsold. CIDCO has also faced scrutiny over marketing expenditure. In 2023, reports questioned the appointment of private agencies to market and allot PMAY homes, stating that the agencies had received advances of more than Rs 100 crore before sales took place. CIDCO officials said external support was necessary given the scale of the programme. The scale of investment adds to the concern. CIDCO’s mass-housing programme envisaged 68,515 homes at an estimated cost of around Rs 15,300 crore. A 2024 report noted that thousands of completed homes were awaiting sale, locking up capital and increasing the authority’s financial burden. The latest homes are located in Taloja Sector 39, Kalamboli Bus Depot and Kharghar Bus Depot. Taloja accounts for 4,229 homes, followed by 257 in Kalamboli and 293 in Kharghar. Indicative prices range from around Rs 23.50 lakh in Taloja to Rs 37.70 lakh in Kalamboli and Rs 43.50 lakh in Kharghar. The figures point to a possible mismatch between what CIDCO considers affordable and what its target buyers can finance. Industry experts have noted that EWS homes priced at Rs 25 lakh or more may be difficult for households within the prescribed income ceiling, particularly after registration, stamp duty, floor-rise charges and other costs. Location may also influence demand. Taloja has seen rapid development and improved connectivity, including metro access, but buyers continue to weigh its distance from established employment centres and social infrastructure, as well as commuting costs. CIDCO maintains that its housing programme meets a genuine need in Navi Mumbai. Ashwin Mudgal, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, CIDCO, said, “The overwhelming response to the housing scheme reflects the aspirations of citizens to own a home in Navi Mumbai and their continued confidence in CIDCO’s planned development initiatives. CIDCO remains committed to providing affordable and quality housing opportunities in well-planned locations, enabling citizens to benefit from the region’s growing infrastructure and connectivity.” The authority has also highlighted the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U) subsidy, under which eligible beneficiaries can receive Rs 2.5 lakh, subject to applicable guidelines and eligibility criteria. However, the repeated unsold inventory suggests that CIDCO’s challenge extends beyond construction. Pricing, apartment configurations, location, payment flexibility and connectivity may need to be reassessed before further public resources are committed.

Govt has done a lot for Marathas, says Sreejaya

Sreejaya

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Sreejaya, daughter of BJP MP Ashok Chavan and party’s nominee from Maharashtra’s Bhokar assembly seat, has said the opposition’s “false propaganda” will not work this time and asserted the government has done a lot to address issued faced by Marathas.


Sreejaya Chavan, who was earlier in the Congress and shifted her political loyalty to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) when her father, a former CM, joined the saffron outfit in February this year, was among 99 candidates named by the party in its first list for the November 20 state assembly polls.


A law degree holder, Sreejaya is making her electoral debut from the home turf of Bhokar in Nanded district.a


In an interview with PTI, she said her campaign team is cautioning voters about the “false propaganda” spread by the opposition during the recent Lok Sabha elections, which saw the BJP putting up an underwhelming performance and winning just nine seats in Maharashtra.


The ruling Mahayuti has done a lot to address the issues faced by the Maratha community, which is agitating for reservation in jobs and education, she noted.


She also touched upon the emotive issue of Maratha reservation which is widely believed to have contributed in the BJP’s poor showing in the Lok Sabha polls, especially in Marathwada, the ground zero of the quota stir spearheaded by Manoj Jarange-Patil.


“We are telling people in villages about the false propaganda unleased by the opposition during the Lok Sabha polls. So many issues were raised against certain sections of society. People are intelligent enough, and they understand these propagandas will not work anymore,” she said when asked about campaign issues and what her team is doing to avoid a repeat of loss in the Lok Sabha polls.


“The Mahayuti government has given a 10 per cent reservation to the Maratha community (in government jobs and education). Many youths from Bhokar have already benefitted with provisions made for Socially and Economically Backward Classes (SEBC) by the government,” Sreejaya Chavan insisted.


She dwelt on her political journey from the Congress to the BJP and her new role as the saffron party’s candidate from Bhokar.


“Our family has been working for long for the people in the constituency. After the switch over, ideological and thought process may differ a little bit, but we have always given preference to the people in our constituency. I am giving time to address demands of people in both rural and urban areas,” she maintained.

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