FDI move boon for cheap homes but issues exist: Kolte-Patil

Lauding the central government’s decision yesterday to ease foreign direct investment norms for construction, Sujay Kalele, Group CEO of Kolte-Patil Developers, said the policy measure would be a big boost to the real estate sector.In view of depleting FDI inflow in construction and real estate sector in last couple of years, the Cabinet decided to reduce the minimum floor area to 20,000 sq mt from the earlier 50,000 sq mt. It also brought down the minimum capital requirement to USD 5 million from USD 10 million. In case of development of serviced plots, the condition of minimum land of 10 hectares has been completely removed, an official statement said.Kalele pointed out to one of the relaxations in which the government eased the three-year lock-in period and said it would help bring more investments into the sector.However, Kolte-Patil is not present in the affordable-housing segment, he said, adding that it still faced issues affecting supply side such as delays in clearance, lack of infrastructure in the outskirts of metros, where most such projects are located. “Once these are sorted out, we will have more grip on time and cost.”