BJP MLA Narayan Kuche wins costliest MHADA flat in Mumbai

Narayan Kuche, BJP MLA from Badnapur constituency in Jalna district, on Monday bagged Mumbai’s most expensive flat - which was priced at ₹7,57,94,268 - in the lottery by Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA). The flat with a carpet area of 1,531 square feet is situated at Crescent Tower, Tardeo.

Kuche said this lottery had fulfilled his dream to have a home in the city. “I filed an application for the MHADA lottery as I did not have a home in Mumbai. Today while I was in my constituency, I got a message on my mobile phone that I had won a flat. Now I will have to take a loan to pay for it.”

The flat at Crescent Tower was the only one under the reservation for sitting and former MPs, MLAs and MLCs in the high-income group (HIG) category. The only other contender for the flat was union finance minister of state Dr Bhagwat Karad.

MHADA has got seven flats in the private building as per the old scheme of housing stock against the extra FSI to the builder. According to real estate experts, the cost of a MHADA flat at Tardeo is 25% to 30% lower than the market price.

Chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis were present at Yashwantrao Chavan Centre when the winners for the MHADA lottery 2023 were announced on Monday. Of the 4,082 houses in various parts of Mumbai, 2,790 houses were meant for the economically weaker section (EWS), which included 1,947 flats under Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awas Yojana. While the number of flats for the lower income group (LIG) stood at 1,034, as many as 139 houses were allocated for the middle-income group (MIG) and 120 were in the HIG category.

MHADA plays an important role in fulfilling the dream of the common man to have their own home, Shinde said. “For these 4,082 homes we received 1,20,144 applications, which means 30 applicants were for one home. MHADA should speed up the construction so that we can bring down the ratio to around five applicants for one home.”

Fadnavis expressed concern over the construction cost. “Fortunately, I was the housing minister for a few months and got to understand the mechanism. I feel there is a need to bring down the construction cost, which is comparatively high.”

He also asked MHADA to focus on Navi Mumbai as it would be connected by MTHL in coming months. “MTHL will bring down the travelling time between Navi Mumbai and Mumbai to around 15-20 minutes. Therefore, MHADA should focus on building around one to two lakh homes in the area.”

Under the quota in the LIG category, Shiv Sena (UBT) MLC Amshya Padvi won the flat at Goregaon. Padvi represents the tribal-dominated Nadurbar district.