The Maharashtra government has approved the permanent transfer of 256 flats in the Hill Grange building at Powai from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to the Public Works Department, creating additional housing for state government officers and employees in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
The flats will be added to the common pool managed by the General Administration Department. The move is intended to address the shortage of government accommodation available to officials and employees working in Mumbai and the wider metropolitan region.
The General Administration Department issued a government resolution on November 12 approving the transfer. The homes had been obtained from developer Hiranandani under the Powai Area Development Plan and were previously under the possession of MMRDA. They will now be administered by the Public Works Department.
The decision follows a long-running dispute over land provided to Hiranandani by the state government. According to the report, the government had granted the developer 233 acres on an 88-year lease. In return, the developer was required to provide housing, but the condition was not fulfilled. The matter was subsequently taken to court, where the decision went in favour of the government.
The 256 flats are located in the A and B wings of Hill Grange, a building comprising a ground floor and 25 upper floors. The allocation includes 132 flats from the first to the seventeenth floor in Wing A and 124 flats from the first to the sixteenth floor in Wing B.
The housing stock is divided evenly by size. Of the 256 flats, 128 have a carpet area of 40 square metres, while the remaining 128 have a carpet area of 80 square metres. The government’s decision places both categories within the common pool rather than leaving the homes under MMRDA’s earlier possession.
For government employees, access to official accommodation can reduce the pressure created by Mumbai’s high housing costs and limited availability of institutional housing. The transfer also changes the administrative responsibility for the flats, moving it from a regional development authority to the state department responsible for public works and government accommodation.
The government resolution provides the formal basis for the permanent transfer. The next stage will be the inclusion and administration of the 256 Hill Grange flats within the General Administration Department’s common pool.
