Big Ticket Infra To Drive Small Home Sales? Real Estate Experts Bullish On Mumbai And Suburbs

India's largest sea bridge Atal Setu, the Mumbai Coastal Road Project, the Mumbai Metro Line 3, and the soon-to-open Navi Mumbai International Airport and the Samruddhi Mahamarg — these are some of the large infrastructure projects transforming how Mumbai residents live and commute. The impact of these projects will soon be felt on housing, with affordable housing particularly likely to benefit, according to consultants and experts.

“The transformative impact of large-scale infrastructure projects on Mumbai’s real estate landscape is both visible and measurable," said Prashant Sharma, president at National Real Estate Development Council, Maharashtra.

Projects like the Mumbai Coastal Road, the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, and the Metro corridors are significantly reshaping the city’s connectivity and urban planning narrative, he said. These developments are not only easing travel but are also unlocking new micro-markets, making previously underutilised or inaccessible locations viable for residential development, he added.

Major infrastructure projects typically tend to catalyse demand for both mid-market and affordable housing in areas that gain from improved connectivity, explained Anuj Puri, chairman at real estate consulting services company Anarock.

"We can expect such an uptick to become more visible once key phases of these projects come closer to completion and are finally completed," Puri said, adding that's when homebuyers will be able to reap tangible benefits. "In the short term, we can expect increasing interest, with growth broadening and becoming more sustained as these infrastructure projects begin to roll out and have their intended effect", Puri said.

Ulwe, Chirle, Karanjade and Panvel are expected to see some benefit from improving infrastructure and connectivity, according to Abhinav Joshi, head of research and associate executive director- India at CBRE.

CBD Belapur, Seawoods, Kharghar and Taloja are more established locations that are likely to see some magnitude of growth.

When it comes to the affordable and mid-income housing segments, these infrastructure upgrades serve as critical catalysts, Sharma said. Improved connectivity reduces the travel-time penalty traditionally associated with peripheral locations, thereby enhancing their attractiveness for first-time homebuyers and middle-class families. As a result, areas such as Dahisar, Mira Road, Chembur, Wadala, and parts of Navi Mumbai are already witnessing renewed interest from developers and homebuyers alike, he said.

Affordable housing has seen a lull even as premium housing continues to outperform in the city. The RBI's rate cuts too are expected to help give the segment a leg up, Joshi said. The RBI Monetary Policy Committee has cut the benchmark lending rate by 50 basis points so far to 6%, with economists expecting another 50 basis points in further cuts on a cumulative basis. For someone paying an EMI of Rs 25,000 per month, the cost of the EMI rose by almost Rs 7,000-8,000 when the MPC had hiked lending rates from 4% to 6.5% in 2022 and early 2023, Joshi said.

Still, the pace of affordable housing growth also depends on policy support. The sector will require continued incentives—such as interest subsidies under schemes like PMAY, rationalised GST, single-window clearances, and reduction in input costs to truly flourish, he said.