Acknur Constructions

ACKNUR is a unique name, so unique is its philosophy, policy and focus. In the last quarter of a century it worked at the two edges - both high cost and low cost - of Mumbai’s housing sector and succeeded in rendering shelter to around 2000 families, mostly those who had been struggling in shanties for years. Still, the company believes that it can do much more and expound its zeal to address every challenge with a kind of “I can” spirit. “At the end, we get contented with what we did both in terms of socially and economically for the most deserving segment of people,” says Mr. Deepak Rao, Chairman of ACKNUR Constructions and the founder of the group.

The foundation of ACKNUR was laid in the year 1984, under the name and style of Accanoor Associates a proprietorship firm promoted and owned by Mr. Deepak Rao the pioneer in undertaking slum rehabilitation projects, which is an extremely complicated sect of construction field which was even construed to be an unworkable proposition at one point of time. Though the Maharashtra Slum Area (Improvement, Clearance and Redevelopment) Act was in force since 1971 where having procedures and authorities, though vague, in place for taking up the redevelopment and re-housing of people at the lower strata of the economy in Mumbai and its vicinities none took up any rehabilitation and redevelopment project in the slum pockets. In the early days, neither was there any clarity in policy, nor a transparent guideline, nor a dedicated department for slum project clearance. Hence, none could set a precedent or any kind of working standard.

Accanoor had to run from one window to another and knock at many office doors, before submitting its first slum proposal, of M N Koli Co-operative Housing society at Mahim with an FSI sanction of 1.66 in 1984, to the Repair and Reconstruction (R&R) Department at Building Proposal department. There were 60 windows for clearance and the process was so laborious that would have compelled anyone to balk at every redevelopment plan. That was the first of its kind proposal anyone submitted to the Municipal Corporation for approval.

Accanoor through its various slum projects have also aquired substantial TDR (Transfer of Development Rights) an additional FSI which is used for the Redevelopment of Housing Societies, and even Development of private properties in the mumbai suburban area.