Mumbai 2031

By the year 2031, the Mumbai metropolitan region will need a minimum of 32 lakh new residential units valued at Rs 12 lakh crore to house the increasing population. The metropolis will also require 50 crore sq ft of additional office area (valued at Rs 6.2 lakh crore) to accommodate the constantly rising number of employees which is expected to cross the 1.5 crore mark by then. The workforce participation rate is anticipated to reach about 45% of the total population by 2031 from the present 36%. “These figures should be considered indicators of the magnitude of developmental charges in store,’’ the study says.“Creating so much of infrastructure is a daunting task, though it paints a very optimistic picture about our economy and overall growth,’’ says township expert V K Phatak, one of those who reviewed this report. The Transform, a comprehensive transportation study (CTS) of the metropolitan region submitted this year to the state cabinet by Lee Associates, is yet to be approved. Alarmist, though it may sound, for the government it means a future of overflowing coffers.The projected residential and non-residential infrastructure has potential to generate revenue through development charges (if calculated at the rate ranging from 5 to 10%) up to a whopping Rs 1.72 lakh crore.The report further said that the region would require a huge parking space too to accommodate 16 lakh new cars and 55 lakh twowheelers which are projected to be additional to the present number of cars (6.9 lakh) and two wheelers (13.3 lakh). If the administrators fail to live up to these demands, the infrastructure of the region would start crumbling, says an MMRDA official under condition of anonymity. The calculations in the study follow the financial estimation of the year 2005-2006.The report also says that the onetime cess on new vehicles to be added by 2031 alone would generate over Rs 2,660 crore. This excludes all other private motor vehicles. Residential buildings valued at Rs 11.20 crore will come up across the region, including the SEZ area in Navi Mumbai, Alibaug, Vasai-Virar, Mira-Bhayandar, besides Western, Central and Eastern suburbs by 2031. The non-residential building value is estimated to be around Rs 6.20 crore by 2031.The estimated resources from development charges range from Rs 86,000 crore to Rs 1,72,000 crore, if the charges are assumed to be 5 and 10% of residential and nonresidential building values respectively.