Padmashree Vinod, 48, a schoolteacher who relocated from Thrissur to Mumbai in 1998, lived for nearly two decades in a simple chawl at Kajupada near Andheri before moving to a rented flat in Kurla. She planned to purchase her own one-bedroom apartment within a few years. The lowest-priced option available in Mumbai, however, was Rs 1.2 crore. She extended her search to Navi Mumbai, where the state government’s town planner Cidco was building low-cost units in Taloja, Dronagiri, Kharghar and Kalamboli. These too proved unaffordable. After assessing location, size and total price, she found the final cost matched offers from some private developers. She described the term ‘affordable’ as misleading.
