As Navi Mumbai airport shapes up, developers make cautious inroads into region

Navi Mumbai's airport, being developed by the Adani Group, is expected to start operations by the first half of 2025.

With the Adani Group's recent announcement that the much-delayed Navi Mumbai International Airport is expected to be operational by the first half of 2025, real estate observers and players in the region say that developers have made some inroads into acquiring land parcels near the airport, at the Navi Mumbai Airport Influence Notified Area (NAINA), although the approach is markedly cautious.

"We have seen land aggregation efforts in Navi Mumbai and NAINA from Tier-I developers in Navi Mumbai, as well as from some developers in Mumbai. However, the large developers have been taking their time as the airport completion has been delayed," said Ritesh Mehta, senior director, and head (north and west), residential services and developer initiative at JLL India.

Some large developers have started business development in the region, most notably the Hiranandani Group, which owns the integrated Hiranandani Fortune City project, located off the Mumbai-Pune expressway near Panvel. The first phase of the project includes operational homes, commercial premises, as well as a data centre operated by group firm Yotta.

Observers added that most concerns are around the lack of mass transit and employment options in the region, as well as some landowners demanding part of the transaction in cash.

Besides the Atal Setu, the only viable public transit option in the region is the single-track Panvel to Karjat railway line, currently being double-tracked to enable suburban railway operations. A mass transit option such as the metro will be on the anvil only when enough population and employment opportunities come up, according to real estate observers and official sources.

Some recent concerns have also emerged in the form of localised opposition to the unique land-pooling mechanism that has been used for the development of amenities, although local land aggregators say that the opposition is temporary, and linked to the ongoing elections in Maharashtra.

NAINA is essentially a large town planning scheme, encompassing an area of over 170 villages, spanning a radius of 25 kilometres from the under-construction airport. The planning authority for the project, the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), is developing the area through various smaller town planning schemes (TPS), in order to put in place amenities such as roads, bridges, underpasses, and other civic requirements.

The planning authority has refrained from outright land acquisition to develop amenities in the area, and has instead resorted to land pooling. Under the mechanism, 60 percent of the land pooled by landowners, which include farmers, land aggregators, as well as existing investors, will be used by NAINA authorities for infrastructure development and utility works, while the rest of the land will be returned to the landowners, with a floor-space index (FSI) of 2.5.

According to observers, the mechanism has been put in place with the belief that once enough amenities are developed in the vicinity, the value of the land returned to the landowners will appreciate enough for good returns. Local sources said that residential land is being sold for around Rs 3-5 crore per acre, depending on the location of the plot.

"The land pooling scheme has been favoured by some landowners because of the relatively higher level of FSI being granted on the returned land. While it is true that some landowners continue to demand outright acquisition of land and have been opposing the infrastructure development in NAINA, it is because they have political support and there is a lot of posturing ahead of the elections," said a local land aggregator.

Last month, construction major Larsen & Toubro started work on infrastructure development on Town Planning Schemes 2 to 7 at NAINA, which will include roads of various widths, bridges over a river and the Mumbai-Pune expressway that passes through the area, as well as local bridges and underpasses. The project also includes utility and electrical work, according to CIDCO. The project is expected to cost around Rs 2,550 crore.

CIDCO is planning to tender out a further Rs 3,500 crore worth of infrastructure development projects in the other town planning schemes at NAINA.

Local developers continue to evince interest in the area, due to the prospects of developing an area from scratch close to Mumbai, along with an improvement in the previously-slow land allotment process.

"There’s definitely a strong interest from developers in Navi Mumbai and the NAINA region. The appeal here is the scale and potential to create integrated townships and communities around a global transit hub like this airport. It’s not every day that you have this kind of canvas in a market as competitive as Mumbai. Plus, we’re seeing processes like land allotment becoming more streamlined and transparent, which is always a positive signal for developers," said Ashok Chhajer, chairman and managing director of Arihant Superstructures Ltd, a Navi Mumbai-based developer.