Housing to create 4 mn new jobs by '15: Assocham

With demand for dwelling units slated to grow to 80 million for the lower middle and low income groups, involving an estimated investment of $670 billion, the housing sector will see 4 million new jobs by 2015, industry body Assocham today said.

The housing and real estate sector would have the potential to grow at 14% per annum to double its contribution to GDP from the current level of less than 1%, it said.

The Assocham paper on Real Estate Development, to be shortly released, estimates demand for dwelling units would further grow to 90 million by 2020, which would require a minimum investment of $890 billion.

According to official estimates, the Indian housing sector at present faces a shortage of 20 million dwelling units for its lower middle and low income groups populace, which would witness a spurt of about 22.5 million dwelling units by the end of 10th plan period.

Investment required for constructing the aforesaid dwelling units and related infrastructure during the projected period would be around $670-890 billion. This would mean a yearly investment of $34-45 billion during the period, Anil Agarwal, president of Assocham, said.

The housing and real estate sector, the largest employer next only to agriculture and textile sectors, is considered as one of the major engines to propel national growth, with its current size of roughly $14-15 billion, he added.