The 57-year-old Mumbai-based builder Paras Porwal was a well-known real estate developer who primarily worked on reconstruction projects in the city. He is believed to have committed suicide on Thursday.
Porwal, a Rajasthani immigrant, spent his first years in Mumbai living in a chawl at Ambewadi in Kalachowki and hawking fake jewellery on public transportation. In the 1990s, he ascended from modest beginnings to become a well-known figure in the city’s real estate and political circles.
Porwal began his profession by offering flooring tiles to other developers, a modest construction-related task. At Kalachowki, he received his first significant break from Paras Gundecha. Subsequently, he became involved in a real estate brokerage project that allowed him to break into the city’s thriving real estate market.
According to Pramod Jathar, a former MLA from Ratnagiri’s Kankavli constituency and a close acquaintance and collaborator of Porwal, Porwal completed the Bawlawadi Chawl reconstruction project in Parel in 1998–1999
After a successful tenure managing Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) projects on municipal lots, Porwal, who was close to Shiv Sena leader Dagdu Sakpal, also tried his hand at politics. Bala Nandgaonkar of the Shiv Sena ran against Porwal in the 2004 Assembly elections from the Kalachowki Sewri constituency on a Samajwadi Party (SP) ticket. Nandgaonkar later joined Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. Porwal dropped.
Porwal had a number of business partnerships after founding Om Shanti Builders and Developers. His well-known real estate ventures include the Sasmira project close to Worli Naka, the Kach Kharkhana project in Wadala, and the Bawlawadi project close to Voltas Tower in Parel. According to accounts, he was working on the Jijamata slum redevelopment project in Worli.
