Mumbai, May 31 -- Going by the number of applications received this year for flats developed by the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada), the demand has nearly halved compared to 2024, when the previous lottery draw was held. For the 2,640 Mhada flats on offer across the city this year, the housing authority received 97,613 applications till Thursday, the last date for submission. By Friday, the last date for payment of earnest deposit that must accompany every application, payment was received from 75,366 applicants, and the average number of applications per flat stood at 28.54. In 2024, the housing authority had received 56 applications per flat. "As per Mhada rules, only applications for which earnest deposits have been paid are eligible for the lottery draw," a Mhada official said, requesting anonymity. The total number of applications accompanied by earnest deposits may see a marginal rise as payments made via NEFT and RTGS reflect after a day or two, the official said. "Precise numbers should be available by Monday or Tuesday," the official added. This year, the application window for Mhada flats opened on March 30 and the deadline for submissions was extended thrice, the last ending on Thursday. The flats on offer this year are spread across Kannamwar Nagar (Vikhroli East), Patra Chawl Siddharth Nagar (Goregaon West), Old Magathane (Borivali East), Gorai (Borivali West), Subhash Nagar (Chembur), Gandhi Nagar (Bandra), Pantnagar (Ghatkopar East), Girgaon, Wadala, Kopri (Powai), Mazgaon, Tunga (Powai), Lokmanya Nagar (Dadar), Pahadi (Goregaon West), Antop Hill (Wadala), and other locations. The draft list of accepted applications will be published on June 10 while the window for submission of objections and claims will close on June 12. While the final list of eligible applicants will be published on June 16, Mhada is yet to announce the date for the lottery draw. In 2024, when the previous lottery draw was held, Mhada had received 131,811 applications accompanied by earnest deposits for 2,030 flats, with the average application per flat at 56. The year prior to that, in 2023, 120,144 applications with the mandatory deposit were received for 4,082 flats on the block, resulting in an average of 29.43 applications per flat. The spike in applications in 2024 was largely driven by flats in a project in Goregaon....