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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.

The Bandra Boys

Baba Siddiqui

Barely a month before his son Zeeshan could contest for a second term in the Maharashtra state legislative assembly, Baba Siddiqui was fatally shot in Bandra. The killing brought an end to this career spanning more than three decades during which Siddiqui garnered attention with his proximity to Bollywood actors. Starting his career as a corporator from Bandra in 1992 as a Congressman, Siddiqui was elected as an MLA for three terms between 1995 and 2009. A well- recognised face from Bandra West, he served as a minister of state for food and civil supplies and labour in the Vilasrao Deshmukh government between 2004 and 2008.


But beyond his role in public life, he grew into a real estate mogul and developed numerous properties across Bandra. As a corporator and then an MLA, he is believed to have taken keen financial interest in every big budget building that came up in the tony neighbourhood. His constituency houses swanky areas of Pali Hill, Bandstand and Carter Road which see some of the highest property prices in the city. His political career was marred by a raid of his properties by the Enforcement Directorate and his opponents often spoke, in hushed whispers, about his connections with the underworld.


Siddiqui was flamboyant and revelled in the company of film actors. Apart from being the MLA, he was best known for his star-studded Iftar parties at a Bandra five-star hotel and made headlines when he brokered a truce between two superstars, Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan during one such party. A regular face at Bandra soirees, he won.


His son Zeeshan is comparatively low profile as an MLA from Bandra East but made his beginnings in public life by sponsoring football and cricket tournaments in Bandra West. Zeeshan’s sister, Arshiya, briefly entered politics but returned to his medical career. In August this year, Zeeshan was expelled from the Congress for cross voting during the legislative council polls and a few months before the elections, he quit the Congress to join the Aji Pawar-led NCP. His father Baba Siddiqui had joined Ajit Pawar earlier this year. The father-son’s move to the NCP came after they realised that according to the seat sharing arrangement of the MVA, the Bandra East constituency would go into the Shiv Sena (UBT)’s kitty considering that the Thackeray family lives in the area.

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