MHADA To Launch Lottery For 5,000 Mumbai Homes This Diwali; Unveils New Digital Services For Swift Citizen Assistance

Mumbai: Good news for those dreaming of owning a home in Mumbai. The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA)’s Mumbai Board will release a lottery for 5,000 homes this October to help people fulfill their dream of homeownership.

MHADA Vice President Sanjeev Jaiswal announced the upcoming housing lottery on Monday, along with the distribution of keys for newly built homes under the BDD redevelopment project, which will begin in May. While the Diwali-time lottery has been confirmed, details such as the exact locations and pricing of the homes are yet to be announced. Efforts are underway to fast-track all MHADA housing projects, with a monthly review conducted in the Chief Minister's War Room.

Due to Mumbai’s sky-high real estate prices, MHADA homes are in high demand. For each unit, the Mumbai Board receives more than 40 applications on average. Earlier this year, MHADA received 1.29 lakh online registrations for a lottery of 2,030 homes. In 2023, it received 1.09 lakh applications for 4,082 homes. The limited number of homes available through each lottery has made the wait for affordable housing increasingly long.

Meanwhile of the 19,500 ready-to-sell homes, only 7,500 have been sold, a concern for MHADA. However, through a focused campaign in recent months, MHADA managed to sell these 7,500 units.

Besides, Embracing new technology, MHADA has announced the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) to improve operational efficiency and ensure timely project completion. On Monday, MHADA inaugurated several digital initiatives at its headquarters to enhance citizen services.

These include Citizen Facilitation Center with 18 counters for document processing, Visitor Management System to track all visitors, DG Entry System for one-time digital registration, allowing automated gate access via facial recognition, Office Locator System to help visitors easily find the correct department within the MHADA building

At the facilitation center, all submitted documents will be scanned and returned immediately to the citizen, ensuring a quick and secure process.