Dharavi redevelopment poses one of India’s biggest real estate execution tests: HSBC
The scale and complexity of the redevelopment makes it one of India’s most ambitious real estate ventures, HSBC said in its report titled “One of the world’s largest urban regeneration projects”.
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Calling this a “major implementation challenge”, the report said Adani aims to carry out the rehabilitation portion of the project “over the next seven to eight years” while also undertaking large-scale infrastructure development and environmental restoration works.
The report stated that Dharavi, spread over an area of approximately 600 acres in central Mumbai, houses more than one million people and is considered Asia’s largest slum.
According to HSBC, the redevelopment project covers 95 million square meters of rehabilitation area and more than 125,000 housing units for slum dwellers are planned.
“The 95 msf rehabilitation covers more than 1 million slum dwellers, for whom more than 125,000 units are planned to be built,” the report said. HSBC underlined that the rehabilitation effort will be spread across multiple locations. “Half of these are planned in the existing Dharavi district, while the rest are spread across six districts in the MMR region,” he added.
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The report stated that Adani has set clear implementation stages for the project. The “first building on the Indian Railways land parcel” is expected to be delivered by December 2026, while construction of around “30 thousand units” is expected to continue in FY27.
Beyond housing, the company is planning a wide range of supporting infrastructure and civic projects, HSBC said.
“The company also plans to provide 10-year O&M for the rehabilitated units, clean up Mithi river and Deonar dumping ground, develop a 6 km long mangrove stream and a Marine Drive-style promenade along Mithi river, among other infrastructure improvements,” the report said.
The report stated that the Dharavi Redevelopment Project was approved in 2022 and is structured as a public-private partnership between the Maharashtra government and Adani Group.
HSBC said the project aims to transform Dharavi into an “urban transport-oriented hub” through rehabilitation, infrastructure improvements and the development of residential and commercial projects.
The overall redevelopment spans an area of approximately 225 million square metres, making it one of the largest urban renewal projects currently undertaken worldwide, the report said.
