The Reliance Group, headed by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, has entered a market that has recently drawn some of India’s biggest conglomerates by securing a significant slum redevelopment project in Mumbai.
According to Mumbai’s Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA), a group led by Reliance 4IR Realty Private Limited won the contract to redevelop the 101.4-acre Juhu Galli slum cluster in the Andheri neighborhood.
More than 28,000 rehabilitation dwellings are anticipated to be provided by the project to qualified settlement inhabitants. The JSW Group and Shapoorji Pallonji Group filed competing bids.
Due to fragmented land ownership and the need to secure inhabitants’ consent, Mumbai’s slum reconstruction industry has historically been dominated by mid-sized developers. However, the Maharashtra government’s recent regulatory changes have encouraged larger corporate groups to participate.
A new framework for slum cluster redevelopment was introduced by the state in November 2025, which permits developers to work on adjacent land parcels that are at least 50 acres in size without needing permission from settlement residents. After rehabilitation work is finished, developers can produce more marketable real estate thanks to the policy’s greater construction limits and more development rights.
Reliance is required to pay the Slum Rehabilitation Authority over Rs 7 billion over the course of the next two years as part of the Juhu Galli project in order to cover people’ interim housing costs while the area is being redeveloped. Additionally, the business must give a performance guarantee of Rs 1 billion and deposit an extra year’s worth of rental expenses.
According to the Slum Rehabilitation Authority, the successful bidding procedure indicates that top corporate companies in India are becoming more interested in working with the government to address Mumbai’s housing requirements through extensive rehabilitation projects.
Reliance’s arrival coincides with rival Adani Group’s ongoing efforts to rehabilitate Mumbai’s Dharavi settlement, one of the biggest slums in Asia. Despite intentions to turn the area into a contemporary urban center, the Dharavi project, which was awarded in 2023, has encountered criticism from some locals and legal obstacles.
