Mumbai and Pune are staring at a housing reset. After years of high-end launches and rising prices, the state has announced a plan worth INR 70,000 crore to bring back affordability. The target is clear: 3.5 million homes for middle and lower-income families by 2030.
The new blueprint, released in a JLL-NAREDCO report, responds to an uncomfortable truth. While demand has boomed, affordable supply has shrunk. Between 2022 and the first half of 2025, premium projects priced above INR 1 crore grew to nearly 60% of all new launches. Affordable homes under INR 50 lakh slipped to just 12%.
Sales tell a different story. The two cities together saw annual numbers jump from around 46,500 units before the pandemic to more than 1 lakh in recent years. Prices moved up too. Mumbai clocked 28% appreciation since 2019, with its sharpest jump in 2023. Pune followed with 20% gains.
Policymakers say this growth came at a cost. The mass-market buyer has been squeezed out. The new policy, built on the theme Majhe Ghar, Majhe Adhikar or My House, My Right, is pitched as a correction. It promises not just homes but better planning through digital monitoring tools and closer integration with platforms like MahaRERA.
The plan also opens doors to new categories. Developers get extra incentives for senior housing, student housing, and rental projects. Slum and cessed building redevelopment in Mumbai has been given a fresh push, a long-stalled issue in the city.
Both cities will expand through well-defined growth corridors. In Mumbai, four pockets -Navi Mumbai, Thane, Vasai-Virar and Kalyan-Dombivli have been identified for large-scale development backed by new infrastructure. Pune will grow in all four directions, each cluster tied to either IT, jobs, or sustainable communities.
For families priced out of city centres, these peripheral clusters could be game changers. They promise shorter commutes, better utilities, and more realistic price tags.
The big question is whether intent will match execution. With INR 70,000 crore on the line, the state’s housing gamble will be closely watched. If it works, Mumbai and Pune could turn the affordability crisis into a new chapter of inclusive growth. If it fails, the gap between luxury towers and ordinary homebuyers will only widen further.
