March 23, 2009

Minaean International Corporation

Metal-building manufacturer aims to provide affordable housing in India

Richard Gilbert

staff writer

A Vancouver-based company involved in the construction of lower cost metal buildings in developing countries is working on a plan to provide affordable housing to the largest slum in Asia.

The movie Slumdog Millionaire is a rags to riches romance set amid the poverty of a slum in Mumbai, India.

The movie won the hearts of moviegoers around world, as well as eight Academy Awards, including best picture.

The popularity of the movie is also generating a lot of interest in slum redevelopment, which is an area of construction that is close to the heart of Mervyn Pinto, president and CEO of Minaean International Corporation.

“It’s a long drawn out process,” said Pinto.

“We started the ball rolling with the Slum Redevelopment Society (SRS) in 2004 and signed an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) in 2005. Unfortunately, the project is still in the negotiating stage, because we need a mandate from 70 per cent of the slum dwellers to get the permits.”

Minaean’s involvement in the Wadala slum rehab project, which is in the southern part of Dharavi, Mumbai, dates back to 2004.

The company signed an MOU in 2005 with the SRS, which is a non-profit society that works to help slum dwellers and low income groups.

New York-based Greenwich Finance group was brought in to provide financial support to the project.

“We still have not got ourselves actively involved in a slum rehabilitation project, but I look at this as a project of the future,” said Pinto, who is a Canadian businessman from India.

He established Minaean to support and help the weaker sections of society by providing affordable housing by using its Light Gauge Steel construction technology.

Minaean operates a subsidiary in Mumbai called Minaean Habitat (India) Pvt. Ltd. (MHI), which has a 102,580 sq. ft. manufacturing facility with more than 100 employees MHI has been awarded contracts to construct bus queue shelters and modular units for gas stations, retail shops, public washrooms, ATM kiosks and camp site buildings.

More recently, the company has manufactured skywalks and overhead bridges.

“This is the business model we will use to try and get into slum redevelopment,” explained Pinto.

“It’s more about demonstrating what could be done and working towards getting involved in this slum. We are working to get approval from the slum dwellers and seeking financial support from the EDC (Export Development Canada).”

Dharavi, which is the setting for Slumdog Millionaire, is situated in the heart of Mumbai (Bombay) and is the largest slum in Asia.

Located on 600 acres of prime property right in the middle of India’s financial capital, the slum has a population of more than one million.

In a city where house rents are among the highest in the world, Dharavi provides a cheap and affordable option to those who move to Mumbai to earn their living.

It is one unending stretch of narrow dirty lanes, open sewers and cramped huts, where rent can be as low as $4 per month.

Dharavi has severe problems with public health, due to the scarcity of toilet facilities, compounded by the flooding during the monsoon season.

The slum has also sparked controversy with local municipalities that are planning a rehabilitation project.

The slum dwellers will benefit by getting free apartments to own and live in, but feel threatened by this initiative.

They are seeking more compensation through the support of many NGOs and other human-rights organizations within India.

A large chunk of land for this project will be converted into high end residential and business property.

The state government plans to redevelop Dharavi into a modern township, complete with proper housing and shopping complexes, hospitals and schools.

It is estimated that the project will cost $2.1 billion.

Since 2002, Minaean has been developing new building technologies for slum rehabilitation and disaster relief projects in developing countries.

A number of prototypes and model buildings are in place throughout India.

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