Maharashtra Notifies 124 Villages as Karnala-Sai-Chirner (KSC) New Town, Appoints MMRDA as NTDA

What the notification did

Government of Maharashtra, by notification dated 15th October 2024, appointed MMRDA as New Town Development Authority (NTDA) for 124 villages in Uran, Panvel and Pen Tehsil in Raigad District of Maharashtra, with the designated area named "K.S.C. New Town", comprising 323.44 sq. km of area. The Maharashtra government issued three notifications on October 15 to finalise the decision. A separate legal tracker counted the filings differently: the Urban Development Department issued two significant notifications on 15 October 2024, approving the modification proposal for certain revenue villages to establish "KSC New Town," designating MMRDA as the NTDA and replacing previous authorities.

One of the notifications issued by the Urban Development Department stated that MMRDA's Atal Bihari Vajpayee Trans Harbour Link was expected to have a major positive impact on the economic development and growth of the region, giving the official rationale for the move.

The villages and area covered

The township includes 124 villages: nine come under the Raigad Regional Plan, two under the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Plan, 80 under NAINA, and 33 under the Khopta New Town Notified Area. The 124 villages fall under three key talukas in the Raigad district: Uran, Panvel, and Pen. The Pen Municipal Council's neighbouring area is not included in this list.

The area, also known as the Navi Mumbai Airport Influence Notified Area (NAINA), was first declared in 2013, and spans 323.44 square kilometres.

Effect on CIDCO and existing planning authorities

Prior to this notification, certain planning functions in this area were handled by the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO), particularly for villages in the Navi Mumbai Airport Influence Notified Area (N-AIA) and Khopta New Town Notified Area, but CIDCO's role has now been withdrawn in favour of MMRDA for the new jurisdiction. As a result, CIDCO will no longer serve as the Special Planning Authority for Khopta's 33 villages.

MMRDA's role as the NTDA includes several key responsibilities: any other Special Planning Authority or Local Authority operating in the KSC New Town area prior to this notification will no longer function in that capacity. As the New Town Development Authority, MMRDA is required to prepare and publish detailed planning proposals for the area, including development control and promotion regulations; until these are fully sanctioned by the government, the Unified Development Control and Promotion Regulations of the Regional Plan remain in place.

Why this decision was made

In August 2023, MMRDA had requested the state government to appoint itself as NTDA for the MTHL Influence Area. This request was to make the MTHL project economically viable by capturing the land value enhancement of the MTHL landing and influence area. The 21.8 km long sea link, India's longest, has been built at a cost of ₹17,843 crore.

Given the advantageous location and the anticipated surge in private investments in the MTHL Influence Area, MMRDA argued there was tremendous scope for land value capture, and with the entire land under its jurisdiction, it was uniquely positioned to leverage this through land incentivization instruments, strategic commercialization, and anchor investor engagement. The appointment of MMRDA as NTDA for these developable areas was intended to enable MMRDA to generate revenue that can be re-invested to execute the large-scale infrastructure projects required for the region's balanced development.

The renaming: from "Third Mumbai" to KSC New Town

The new name highlights the significance of three villages: Karnala is renowned for the Karnala Bird Sanctuary and the historic Karnala Fort; Sai village, nestled in the lush greenery of the Western Ghats, offers an ideal retreat for nature lovers; and Chirner, located near the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), one of India's largest container ports, plays a vital role due to its strategic proximity to major infrastructure.

What has happened since (as of April 2026)

The October 2024 notification set up the authority; the operative land-acquisition mechanics followed more than a year later. Government of Maharashtra, vide a Government Resolution dated 16/03/2026, approved the Land Acquisition and Land Allocation policy for the New Town Development Authority and future projects implemented by MMRDA. Notably, forest lands, Coastal Regulation Zones (CRZ), and a 250-metre buffer zone around the Pen Municipal Council limits are excluded from this authority's remit.

Under this policy, private landowners who surrender their land through negotiations are eligible for 22.5 per cent of the developed land back, following the CIDCO model, while landowners entitled to less than 40 sq.m. of developed land will receive direct cash compensation instead of physical plots. A 'Pass-Through' policy has also been approved to encourage industrialisation in undeveloped areas, under which land is allotted on an 'as-is-where-is' basis with acquisition and infrastructure costs recovered from the allottee in instalments.

Implementation is now underway on the ground: online consent forms were made available from 27 April 2026, marking the formal start of acquisition for KSC New Town, a project spanning approximately 323.44 square kilometres in the influence zone of the MTHL and the Navi Mumbai International Airport. The MMRDA has earmarked ₹4,000 crore of its budget allocation specifically for the Third Mumbai project.