Myra
Adani Group, one of the world’s most diversified and reliable conglomerates, has always been keen on improving the living conditions of people through various noble initiatives. The conglomerate has always focused on CSR initiatives while implementing its projects. Presently, it has brought its focus to the Dharavi slum, which is one of the largest slums in Mumbai. The conglomerate plans on spending USD 3 billion on the Adani Dharavi project.
What Made Gautam Adani Take Up the Dharavi Revamp Project?
The Dharavi slum is home to thousands of people whose lives are in a highly miserable condition. The people at Dharavi struggle for survival each day. The condition of these people had greatly moved Gautam Adani during his early days in the business world, and he felt determined to improve their overall living conditions.
Gautam Adani made his first visit to Dharavi in the late 1970s. At that time, he was completely new to Mumbai. He was just a youngster lurking around the city, looking for opportunities to build his career. Back then, Dharavi was the melting pot of Mumbai with its diverse cultures, beliefs, and languages. This diversity of the Dharavi community greatly inspired Gautam Adani, and he made up his mind to try and do his best to transform the slum area in future.
What Are Gautam Adani’s Plans for The Dharavi Project?
Gautam Adani’s plan for the Dharavi project mainly involves building modern apartments, offices and malls in the slum area. The Adani Dharavi is a completely different version of the slum area. This is going to bring about massive infrastructural development in Mumbai. It is also a step towards Adani Group’s aim of nation-building. Adani Group had won a bid of USD 620 million to redevelop the area in 2022.
If successful in achieving this goal, the Adani Group will gain an excellent foothold in the financial capital of India. The Dharavi project is also expected to be the world’s most significant urban renewable project. It will have a massive role in strengthening the Indian economy and taking our country on the path of success.
What Are the Challenges Involved?
Different organisations have already made several attempts to improve the lives of the people of the Dharavi slum and modernise the slum area. However, each one of them failed. Even the Mumbai government tried its best to overhaul Dharavi, but all these attempts failed, and there was no impact on the lives of the people living in the slum area of Dharavi.
The Dharavi revamp project would require pulling three major things all at once:
- Acquiring large areas of land.
- Attracting multiple investors to the place without stable utilities.
- Resetting the massive communities that thrive there.
Over a million people will have to be resettled and rehabilitated as a part of the Adani Dharavi project.
The rehabilitation entails resetting the residential units and the various commercial establishments of different scales and sizes. In fact, the entire ecosphere will have to be resettled so that the lives of the people of Dharavi are not disrupted. Overcoming all these challenges might be a challenging affair.
However, the Adani Group has excellent experience handling large projects, and it is a massive possibility that it will make this impossible task possible. The Adani Group also aims for holistic development to cater to eligible and ineligible residents’ rehabilitation and housing needs.
Various CSR Initiatives Taken by The Adani Group:
This is not the first time the Adani Group has planned on bringing about a massive improvement in people’s lives. It has taken up multiple CSR initiatives to bring about a complete transformation in people’s lives. The conglomerate has set up numerous healthcare units in different corners of the world. It has also offered livelihood to thousands of people.
The foundation has opened up numerous job opportunities for the people. This has increased their incomes considerably and has brought about a complete improvement in their lifestyle. The Adani Foundation also regularly organises medical camps and programs to promote good health. The company uses various sustainable practices at the different phases of project implementation. In this way, it is also doing its part for the environment.
Conclusion:
The Adani Group’s plan to invest USD 3 billion to revamp Dharavi is a huge step taken by the foundation to transform one of the biggest slums in the world into a model urban centre. If implemented successfully, the Adani Dharavi project could serve as a benchmark for addressing urban poverty in different parts of the world.
