Gautam Adani Says Dharavi's World-Class Makeover To Kick Off From Zero Day

Billionaire Gautam Adani said his group plans to turn Dharavi, one of Asia’s biggest slums, into a world-class modern city while supporting its residents and microbusinesses and creating new jobs for youth and women.

In an article published in BQ Prime, Adani recalled how his first visit to Dharavi as a youngster in the 1970s was "humbling and disturbing". While he witnessed a struggle for survival, Dharavi also displayed Mumbai’s "capacity to embrace settlers of contrastive origins", he wrote. It had a huge personal connect with "my first impression" of Dharavi.

"Against this backdrop, when the opportunity to renew Dharavi came calling, I seized it with both hands," he wrote, offering the first details of his group’s plan for the slum. "Perhaps it was because of this overzealousness that our bid was 2.5 times the next highest."

The Rs 23,000-crore Dharavi redevelopment project was awarded to the Adani Group's real estate arm last week, eight months after it was declared the highest bidder with a Rs 5,069-crore offer.

The redevelopment was initially mooted in 1997 by architect Mukesh Mehta but never got off the ground despite efforts by multiple governments. In 2003–2004, the state decided to redevelop Dharavi by rehabilitating its occupants. An action plan was approved in February 2004. But for nearly two decades, there was no headway as developers stayed away due to multiple reasons, including the cost, transferable development rights in lieu of slum rehab, and lack of clarity over the number of beneficiaries.

Adani acknowledged that the rehabilitation of about a million people and businesses will entail "colossal challenges". "Even in comparison with Singapore’s trailblazing project to resolve its housing crisis in the 1960s, Dharavi is a unique project in a league of its own for three reasons."

• It is one of the world’s largest urban resettlement and regeneration projects, involving a million people.

• It covers the rehabilitation and rehousing of Dharavi’s diverse establishments of various sizes and scales dealing with trading, shopping, and other business transactions.

• The project targets comprehensive and holistic redevelopment as it caters to the housing and rehabilitation needs of both eligible and ineligible residents.

Adani said his group will create a state-of-the-art, world-class city that will reflect a "resurgent, self-assured, growing India finding its new place on the global stage as the 21st century belongs to India".

He gave a "personal commitment" that Dharavi’s eligible residents would directly move to their new homes. "Not only will they see their homes being constructed in front of their eyes, but they will also have a say in shaping it."

They will have "gas, water, electricity, sanitation and drainage, healthcare and recreational facilities, and open spaces—and they will also have access to a world-class hospital and a school", he wrote. "Gone, like a faded memory, will be the pain of inadequacy. In its place will be a new Dharavi that hums with pride."

Acknowledging that livelihood is a "big challenge", he said, "I intend to transform Dharavi into a modern city hub by looking at ways and means to support and strengthen existing micro enterprises and small industries and by promoting new-age jobs with a special focus on youth and women."

That will be achieved with a multi-pronged strategy with the help of sectoral experts and civil society and could involve a combination of training centres focused on upskilling, common facility centres for product- and service-based entrepreneurship models, R&D centres, data centres, MSME help desks, and more, he said. "Another important element could be the creation of organised and systemic marketplaces in line with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC)."

The effort to transform Dharavi has a long history of nearly half a century, Adani wrote. Some smart changes in the tender design based on earlier learnings ensured bidders’ participation and successful completion, he said. "For example, this tender catered to the rehabilitation of ineligible tenants."

And the inclusion of 45 acres of railway land adjacent to Dharavi "facilitates in-situ resettlement and day-zero project commencement" as the project kicks off without waiting for residents to move out.