MUMBAI, Sept. 30 -- In a significant decision, the Maharashtra government on Monday constituted a Self-Redevelopment Authority to assist citizens in redeveloping their old buildings themselves instead of handing them over to builders. The move is expected to give a boost to the self-redevelopment of housing societies, especially in Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. BJP legislator Pravin Darekar, who also heads the Mumbai District Central Cooperative Bank, has been appointed president of the Authority. Darekar has been pushing for self-redevelopment of buildings through the bank for quite some time. The decision came four months after the New Housing Policy was approved by the state cabinet, which envisaged the formation of a dedicated cell to assist housing societies and allocated a sum of Rs 2,000 crore to support the initiative. "The authority will provide end-to-end support, including guidance on planning, funding, developer selection, and project execution, empowering societies to undertake redevelopment independently," said a senior housing department official. The order issued on Monday does not have details about the exact functioning of the authority except the fact that Darekar has been accorded ministerial status with his new appointment. Another official said that a second order would follow which would have all the other details, including the names of members of the authority. According to data from real estate apex body CREDAI-MCHI, over 25,000 buildings across MMR are eligible for redevelopment, with an estimated project value of more than Rs 30,000 crore. In February, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that the interest on premium for self-redevelopment projects would be waived till March 2026. In May, he announced plans to provide subsidised loans to housing societies interested in self-redevelopment. He also requested union cooperation minister Amit Shah to see if the National Cooperative Development Corporation could help in this....