At the ET Realty Real Estate Conclave 2026, industry leaders and policymakers converged for a panel on the topic ‘Redevelopment & Urban Renewal: Transforming the Future of Indian Cities’, underscoring that brownfield redevelopment is no longer optional for land-starved metros like Mumbai.
Moderated by Anuj Puri, Chairman, Anarock Property Consultants, the discussion brought together Anil Wankhede, Deputy CEO, MHADA; Prashant Sharma, President, NAREDCO Maharashtra and Chairman, GHP Corp; Sukhraj Nahar, President, CREDAI-MCHI and CMD, Nahar Group; Dhaval Ajmera, Vice President, CREDAI and Director–Corporate Affairs, Ajmera Group; Domnic Romell, Chairman, Romell Group; P GopalaKrishnan, Managing Director, Southeast Asia & Middle East, GBCI; and Navin Makhija, Managing Director, The Wadhwa Group.
Opening the discussion on social inclusivity in redevelopment, Wankhede emphasised MHADA’s role in ensuring housing access beyond pure monetisation. He noted that redevelopment projects generate housing stock for the authority, which is then priced at cost.
“We fix the price based only on the construction cost,” he said, adding that nearly 20,000 units are expected to be created through such mechanisms, ensuring subsidised housing supply even within private redevelopment-led transformation.
On financing, Prashant Sharma highlighted that institutional capital is increasingly evaluating cluster-level redevelopment. “Among the three land sources — MHADA, SRA and societies — society redevelopment is often seen as safer,” he said, noting that large cluster projects attract patient capital due to scale, planning clarity and lower competitive fragmentation. However, he added that investors remain cautious about smaller, stand-alone society projects.
Trust and governance emerged as recurring themes. Sukhraj Nahar pointed to internal society conflicts and credibility gaps as key derailers. “Redevelopment is a marriage,” he remarked, stressing that financial feasibility may account for 60 per cent of a decision, but trust between society and developer determines long-term success. Developers echoed the need for reputational strength, delivery track record and transparent communication to mitigate execution risk.
Bringing in the sustainability lens, P GopalaKrishnan argued that green compliance must evolve beyond procedural formality. “It has to be outcome-driven. It cannot just be a checklist,” he said, advocating measurable environmental performance in cluster masterplans.
With Mumbai’s redevelopment largely occurring in dense brownfield zones, integrating climate resilience, energy efficiency and community-scale planning becomes critical to long-term urban health.
Navin Makhija reinforced that redevelopment must go beyond Excel sheet viability. Location strength, product-market fit and real demand signals remain essential before undertaking large acquisitions. The panel broadly agreed that predictable regulations, faster approvals and structured financing models — including blended finance and rental housing frameworks — will be central to derisking projects.
As Indian metros exhaust greenfield supply, the message from the conclave was clear: Cluster-led, governance-backed and sustainability-integrated redevelopment is the only viable pathway to equitable, future-ready urban growth.
