Over 200 Mhada flats priced between Rs 1.4 crore and Rs 1.9 crore

MUMBAI: A segment of middle-class Mumbaikars has expressed disappointment at the escalating cost of Mhada apartments. The state housing board on Friday announced that 819 Mhada flats will be sold via lottery on November 10.
Mhada has invited members of the public to file applications from September 16 to October 21.
Of the 819, 34 flats in Lower Parel meant for the high income group are priced Rs 1.42 crore while two houses cost Rs 1.95 crore.In Powai, 168 apartments are selling for Rs 1.39 crore.
Amol Ghole,a newly married resident of Lalbaug, said, “The housing board was supposed to oversee the welfare of the average Mumbaikar. If its flats cost Rs 2 crore I cannot afford a house in my own Lower Parel locality.” A senior citizen wondered why buyers would choose Mhada flats at market rate given the past complaints of poor construction quality.
Mhada CEO Milind Mhaiskar said, “Only two flats out of 819 are priced at Rs 1.95 crore, that too in the prime Lower Parel area. Considering the locations and size of the flats, prices are very reasonable.”
The flats and tenements are located in Lower Parel, Pratiksha Nagar Sion, Tunga in Powai, Chandivli, Mankhurd, Siddharth Nagar Goregaon, Magathane Borivli, Mankhurd, Charkop and Malwani in Malad.
The prices range from Rs 15 lakh for Pratiksha Nagar houses to Rs 50-70 lakh in other middle income group locations. Eight flats are available in the EWS (Economically Weaker Section) category while 250-300 each are available in the middle- and high-income categories.
In the previous lottery over 200 flats sold for over Rs 1 crore, prompting critics to ask why Mhada was not building more homes for low income earners. In addition, buyers allege that the housing board has failed to allot all apartments of the 2015 lottery so far. “Rates are even revised after the flat has been sold,” one buyer said.
Consumer activist Shirish Deshpande said that Mhada, like private builders, also comes under the new RERA housing regulations. He urged the housing board to tread with caution.
Demand for Mhada flats remains high, particularly in low income categories. Lakhs of applicants put in bids for the few hundred apartments constructed each year.