Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Dr. Girija Vyas has called upon the realty sector to come forward and participate through capital and technology for upgradation and creation of affordable housing stock and help the government build an inclusive India.
Dr. Vyas, who addressed the 9th Edition of Conference on Real Estate " Vision for Real Estate Sector , Housing and Retail" being organized by Confederation of Indian Industry ( CII) here today, exhorted the realty sector to come forward to supplement the government's efforts.
"In a country like India, where housing represents a key component of economic growth contributing 5 percent to the GDP and there still being a shortfall of 18.7 million units ,improvised building technologies to promote mass housing and economies of scale, could go a long way in addressing the housing shortfall," Dr. Vyas said.
"The Investment required for up-gradation and creation of new affordable housing stock as envisaged by the various schemes and programmes of my Ministry and Government of India would be huge," she added.
Highlighting the major initiatives of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation for providing affordable housing for urban poor , Dr Vyas said: "The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) is one of the flagship schemes, which was a fast track reform driven investment programme aimed at creating economically productive, efficient, equitable, responsive and inclusive cities."
Speaking about recently launched programme Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY), she said " it envisages a 'Slum free India' with inclusive , equitable cities and where every citizen has an access to basic social and civic services , stronger livelihood linkages and decent shelter."
"This programme envisages Central Government support for slum development and creation of affordable housing. Under this Affordable Housing in Patrnership Scheme ( AHP) and the Interest Subsidy Scheme for Housing the Urban Poor ( ISHUP) now called Rajiv Rinn Yojana ( RRY) dovetailed with RAY with a view to improve the supply side and demand side incentives for affordable housing for the urban poor. Under, RAY, RRY and AHP, Government will support establishment of 2.5 million housing units," Dr. Vyas stated.
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Dr. Vyas stated that the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2013, has been approved by the Cabinet and is proposed to be introduced in the Parliament in the monsoon session.
"It will ensure consumer protection and promotion of the Real Estate sector through effective regulation and introduction of speedy mechanisms for adjudication of disputes," she said.
She further stated that this legislation shall instill standardization and professionalism in the sector and hence catalyzing domestic and foreign investments.