In 2023, one of India’s most powerful conglomerates, the Adani Group, secured the contract to redevelop Dharavi, popularly referred to as ‘Asia’s largest slum.’ The most coveted asset in the Dharavi redevelopment is air: the state is offering air-rights as incentives for rehabilitating ‘slum dwellers.’ This talk reveals the costs and contradictions of Mumbai’s ‘free housing’ policy, and the planning processes through which public resources (like air) are privatized in vertical cities.