The Dharavi Experience Centre has opened near Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla Complex, giving residents a physical and digital view of the proposed redevelopment’s homes, workspaces, neighbourhoods and social infrastructure. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the centre would help address rumours, misunderstandings and incomplete information about the project by allowing citizens to experience its plans in one place.
Located at the PMGP Colony in H Block near BKC, the centre presents the layout of the Dharavi redevelopment project and the homes planned for residents who will be resettled. It also displays proposed spaces for industries and future social infrastructure. Fadnavis inspected the facility during its inauguration and described it as a modern centre designed to provide both an actual and digital view of the redevelopment plan.
The centre is intended to show more than architectural drawings. According to the report, visitors will be able to gain an experience of their future homes, surrounding areas and workplaces. The stated objective is to create a clearer understanding of how the redevelopment could affect the daily lives and livelihoods of Dharavi residents.
Fadnavis said Dharavi should not be viewed only as a slum but as a major economic engine. The area includes pottery-making in Kumbharwada, leather businesses, food processing, plastic recycling and other small and medium enterprises. He said the redevelopment plan considered providing these activities with better and more organised workplaces while respecting their existing economic role.
The chief minister also said the plan sought to retain Dharavi’s social, cultural and economic identity while pursuing comprehensive urban transformation. His remarks place the area’s informal and small-scale production networks alongside the project’s housing and infrastructure objectives, rather than treating redevelopment only as a residential construction exercise.
Officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the Dharavi Redevelopment Project and the Slum Rehabilitation Authority attended the inauguration. Those present included BMC Commissioner Ashwini Bhide, Dharavi Redevelopment Project and Slum Rehabilitation Authority Chief Executive Officer Mahendra Kalyankar, secretary Vipin Paliwal, and Anil Sardana, chief executive officer of Adani Navbharat Developers Private Limited. Adani Group managing director Pranav Adani was also present.
The report does not specify the centre’s operating hours, visitor procedures, project construction schedule, housing allotment process or the number of residents and businesses covered by the displays. The immediate public function of the facility, as described by the authorities, is to give Dharavi residents a more direct understanding of the proposed redevelopment and the homes, workspaces and civic facilities associated with it.
