A statement issued by the state government after the cabinet nod, read, “The land is required for giving houses under the Dharavi Redevelopment Project. Hence a proposal will be sent to the Centre to acquire 283 acres of land from four salt pans in Mumbai.”

Interestingly, one of the said land parcels was initially mooted as site of a Metro car depot by the erstwhile Uddhav Thackeray-led government which had decided to shift the Metro car shed from Aarey to Kanjurmarg. The Central government had, however, staked claim on the Kanjurmarg salt pan land. A court had also stayed the order of transferring the 102-acre plot of Kanjurmarg salt pan land to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).

According to the officials, the Union government owns nearly 283 acres of salt pan land in Mumbai’s four different parts which are: Arthur Salt Works Land (120.5 Acres), Jenkins Salt Works Land (76.9 Acres), Jamasp Salt Works Land (58.5 Acres), and Agar Sulemanshah Land (27.5 Acres. The officials said a decision was taken to submit the proposal to the Union government to transfer this 283-acre of salt pan land to the state government on a 99-year lease for the Dharavi Redevelopment Project.

Confirming that the salt pan lands are in the same area of Kanjurmarg and Bhandup where Metro car shed was proposed, the officials said that, “Once the government resolution is issued, and the proposal is prepared, we will submit it to the Centre.”

A source said the land will be used by the DRP to rehabilitate the Dharavi residents in Kanjurmarg, Bhandup and Mulund. Once the land is transferred by the Union government, the state government will recover the market price of the land from the SPV (Special Purpose Company). “The special purpose company (developer) will bear the cost of labour and rehabilitation of these people from salt pan as well as the cost of land acquisition,” an official said.

The state in the past has said those residents of Dharavi who are ineligible for rehabilitation will be given accommodation in rental housing projects.

Officials had earlier claimed that approximately 3.5–4 lakh people, who are ineligible as they live on mezzanine and upper floors in the slum structures, will be given rental housing.

It is expected that approximately 50,000 such families will be given affordable housing, and 1.5 lakh individuals, who are migrants, will be given affordable shared rental accommodation.