Establishment of 100 new smart
cities, focus on infrastructure, and affordable housing are the cornerstones of
the new government's agenda for the real estate sector. As per the senior
officials, the upcoming government will do every possible thing to kick start
the economy as the market sentiment in the last couple of years has seen the
lowest ebb. It is estimated that infrastructure will be high on priority list,
the stuck up projects will be addressed and remove bottlenecks, and new zones
of development will be explored. All the matters related to the land
acquisition bill will be resolved by surfacing a transparent mechanism which
would take into account all the concerns of farmers, developers, corporate and
investors.
The land acquisition act in its
current format affects the cost and viability of all real estate, manufacturing and
infrastructure projects. The amendment is required as soon as possible as in
its present form acquiring land for construction of roads, ports and creating
other such infrastructure has become virtually impossible. Due to the prototype
laws in India, manufacturing has suffered so much that it virtually bottomed
out last year and fell into negative zone this year.
Presently, a major challenge is
to develop new cities, especially Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, as alternatives, to
the metro cities. Due to the rising migration from rural to urban areas, the
infrastructure of major metropolitan cities has been bursting at the seams;
therefore developing the need of new integrated cities is the need of the hour.
The growing needs of bursting population are resulting into an imperative
demand for smarter cities. The creation of new smarter cities will also boost
the formation of new growth corridors.
The development in infrastructure
and industrial corridors will create large-scale employment, which is actually a
fundamental need for the overall economic growth. The Delhi - Mumbai Industrial
corridor is just one example and there is a need to create more. As public is
expecting a rise in employment opportunities, the government has to generate
ways to revive manufacturing and create employment by way of building smarter
cities.
The projects like DMIC are
important as they give rise to development of infrastructure and new cities
alongside the transport axis. DMIC will pass through six states - Haryana,
Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra and will make
the moving of people and goods efficient.
The next point that hits the
agenda list of new government is affordable housing. In a current scenario,
country requires 18.78 million additional houses, of which 95.6 percent lies in
the Economically Weaker Section (EWS), Lower Income Group (LIG) and Middle
Income Group (MIG).
Few of the methods to encourage
affordable housing include rationalization of direct and indirect taxes in the real estate sector to enable
competitive pricing for end users, making construction of EWS and LIG units
mandatory for developers across the country, an enabling environment with
increased Floor Area Ration (FAR), and stimulating low cost and innovative
technologies. A lot of promises have been made till date but the time has
arrived to walk the talk.
