Only an efficient government can boost the housing sector
Real estate has, for long been the ‘silent crusader’, strengthening and shaping up the Indian economy towards a double digit growth. However, in order to maintain its consistency as the biggest generator of economic activity (contributing nearly 6.3% of the GDP), the housing sector calls for dynamic and efficient initiatives on part of the government.
The housing sector in the nation is mainly driven by certain selective factors, namely- population growth, economic development, increase in the working population, nuclear families, urbanization and easier financing. However, the growth of the sector has been laid upon on various grounds, such as delay in approvals and clearance issues. Delay in approvals has hung up launch of new projects in the country that has significantly contributed towards the insufficient supply of housing stock.
Government initiatives taken
The Ministry of Urban Development, Town and Country Planning Organization, National Buildings Construction Corp Ltd. and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation have taken several initiatives in regard to the housing sector. Such initiatives include- Interest Subsidy Scheme, JNNURM, Rajiv Awas Yojana and many more.
In a move to offer the housing sector the perfect dias to expand its horizons and branch out, the government has framed a number of policies, some of which include:
- National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy, 2007
- Two Million Housing Programme
- Interest Subsidy Scheme for Housing the Urban Poor
- Indira Awaas Yojana
However, even with such schemes, the government failed to cope up with the supply-demand gap in urban and rural regions.
Reforms that should be taken
According to Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (Credai), reforms in the residential real estate sector of the nation is the call of the hour. Reforms in the sector would usher in more transparency and boost the inflow of FDI (foreign direct investment) by not less than 20times.
Property consultants further confirm with that the introduction of new reforms, the inflow of foreign funds, which is nearly USD 220 million every year, could shoot up by nearly 15-20%. Such inflows mainly cater from US, Gulf countries and Europe, for constructing huge residential complexes across India.
