Konkan unit of Maharashtra affordable housing board plans lottery for up to 12,000 homes

Around 12,000 homes are expected to be part of the Konkan board lottery

The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA), the state's main affordable housing agency, has announced that its regional board for the Konkan districts, the Konkan Housing and Area Development Board (KHADB), will launch a housing lottery akin to its just concluded Mumbai board lottery. Up to 12,000 homes are slated to be allocated to applicants in the draw.

The KHADB covers districts in the Konkan division of Maharashtra, except Mumbai, and includes key housing markets such as Thane, Kalyan, Dombivali and Virar.

"We are planning to announce the Konkan board lottery this week. Around 11,000 to 12,000 homes are expected to be allocated in the lottery. As for pricing, we expect these units to be priced between Rs 20 lakh and Rs 80 lakh. The unsold inventory from previous lotteries in the Konkan board will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis," Sanjeev Jaiswal, vice-president and chief executive officer of MHADA, said on the sidelines after drawing of lots in the Mumbai board lottery, which had 2,030 houses under allocation, for which more than 1.13 lakh people had applied.

In the Mumbai board, Jaiswal said that MHADA is readying another lottery, tentatively scheduled for March-June 2025, in which around 2,000 to 3,000 homes may be allocated. Jaiswal also added that the long-pending Patra Chawl development in Goregaon (West), in which up to 2,500 affordable homes may be built, is finally ready to be tendered out for construction, after years of bureaucratic and land-related complications.

The units at Patra Chawl are expected to be ready in three years, according to Jaiswal, although the tender may be issued after the period of the Model Code of Conduct ends. Maharashtra is due to hold the Assembly elections in the beginning of November.

At existing the MHADA development projects, Jaiswal said that progress has been smooth at the BDD Chawl's first phase development, ongoing at Naigaon and NM Joshi Marg, although the authority has faced some issues in vacating existing buildings at the BDD Chawl's second and third phases.

MHADA officials said that the authority is planning to organise a lottery for the Pune regional board, in which up to 5,000 homes may be allotted to applicants, with a formal announcement expected soon.