New Delhi, Nov 15 (PTI) The estimate of housing shortagein urban areas has been revised downwards to about 10 millionunits from 2011 projection of 18.76 million, Housing and UrbanAffairs Minister Hardeep Singh Suri today said and promised toprovide homes to all by 2022 through its various schemes.
The government will use its own surplus land to buildaffordable homes and address this shortage, he said, and askedthe real estate firms to focus on affordable housing projects.
Puri said a technical study conducted by the governmentin 2011 estimated housing shortage at 18.76 million units inurban areas, of which 96 per cent pertained EWS and LIG.
"Subsequent assessments that were carried out since 2011ownwards have resulted in this figure being revised tosomething around or near about 10 million units. Even 10million is a very large number," he said at RICS real estateconference here.
Puri said the government proposes to address this housingshortage through its flagship programme ‘PMAY’ (Pradhan MantriAwas Yojana) Urban and Housing For All.
"The thrust of this mission is to make available housingfor the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), Lower IncomeGroups (LIG) and the MIG (Middle Income Group) by harnessinggovernment land," he added.
The minister said that various PPP Models have beenreleased to encourage housing through private partnership.
Under this scheme, he said the government would makeavailable the land as well as provide subsidy to allottees andassist them in getting concessional funding from banks.
"The house will be registered in the name of the ladysingly or co-jointly along with the male member. This willhelp our overall objective of gender empowerment. Even thesmallest unit will have a kitchen and a toilet," he said.
The scheme is designed to ensure that by 2022 everyIndian owns a residential unit, the minister said.
For the realty sector, Puri said the government hasenacted the Real Estate Regulatory Act (RERA), which will havea long term transformative effect.
The government has put in place an eco-system to ensurethat real estate sector is properly governed and buyers areempowered, he said, adding that when the history of Indianreal estate will be written in two segments -- pre and postRERA.
The pre-RERA phase was characterised by the dreams to owna house of many being dashed for a considerable period of timeby a few persons exploiting that dream, he said.
"We are not out of that phase yet and we have a hugepipeline which we have to deal with...We are still witnessingthe final phase of a cleaning up process involving themisdemeanours of a few who tarnished the image of the manydevelopers who were genuine in their dealings," Puri said.
Referring to the RERA, he said the new Act is a responseto the dire need of Indian consumers and in discharge of thesovereign functions towards public interest.
Along with RERA, the minister said GST, infrastructurestatus to affordable housing and insolvency law have createdan enabling environment to resolve the problems faced by thissector and propel growth.
He expressed concern over some of the states tweakingthe law for the ongoing projects.
Highlighting the importance of the housing sector, theminister said that it plays a catalytic role in fulfilling thedemand for housing and is the second largest sector afteragriculture providing employment to 6.86 per cent of theworkforce in the country. PTI MJHMR.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.