Highlighting that 877 million people are expected to reside in the country’s urban areas by 2050, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri said real estate and infrastructure sectors can propel India’s growth, and, to achieve that, there is a need to think about aggressive lending with adequate safeguards.
Puri was speaking at the 53rd Foundation Day of the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) on April 25, at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi. He said lending programmes should be made more ambitious as housing finance will have a very important role to play.
“We have enough understanding to devise more aggressive systems of lending, with appropriate and adequate safeguards. We should be open to the idea of borrowing from the market in order to achieve this goal,” Puri said.
He also said profit outcomes should be multiplied with a change in approach. The change it will propel will be tangible and reflect in every area of the organisation, he stressed.
‘HUDCO’s role now even more important’
“We need to revisit the mission objectives. We need to see what all can be tweaked and added in order to have a more ambitious and aggressive system. HUDCO’s role now becomes even more important for urban financing,” he said.
HUDCO has supported over 1,900 towns and cities across 2,380 infrastructure schemes to improve the basic living conditions in urban and rural areas since its inception.
Established in 1970, HUDCO has facilitated the construction of almost 2 crore residential units in India by providing financial and technical assistance and 95 percent of these dwelling units have benefited the economically weaker sections and low-income groups of the society.
HUDCO’s impending operational transition from HFC to NBFC-IFC (Infrastructure Finance Company) would now enhance the range of infrastructure project financing it can provide.
The function was also attended by Manoj Joshi, Secretary, Housing and Urban Affairs; and Kuldip Narayan, Joint Secretary, Housing and Urban Affairs and Chairman and Managing Director, HUDCO.
25-30 people migrate to towns and cities every minute
Highlighting the pace of urbanisation, Puri said that every minute, anywhere between 25 and 30 people migrate to India’s towns and cities.
“We need to ensure that the people coming into our cities have well-provisioned homes. Now, it is critical that we provide technical and financing support for housing and urban infrastructure, especially for the vulnerable and marginalised sections of our society. India’s success in the next 25 years depends on how well we handle urbanisation,” the minister said.
He said that HUDCO’s role in the success of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U) is crucial, as it is one government intervention which has sought to address the shortage of housing in urban areas, particularly for low-income groups.
More than 1.2 crore houses have been sanctioned under this scheme. More than 1.1 crore houses are already grounded and 73.45 lakh houses have already been delivered to beneficiaries, Puri said.
He said that one of the key reasons for India’s sustained growth, as compared to other major economies, is the huge investment in infrastructure and real- estate sectors.
He said provisioning of houses brings in strong multiplier effects through forward and backward linkages with other industries.
As the business environment recovers and we see more financial institutions compete to lend to the state in the housing sector, it is imperative that HUDCO retains its edge, he said.
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