NEW DELHI (INDIA): Tata Housing Development Company (THDC) Managing Director and CEO Brotin Banerjee said that infrastructure status to affordable housing comes as a landmark announcement for the consumers and the real estate industry.
“A long-standing demand of the sector, the government has realised that housing & infrastructure can be two pillars to increase GDP and accelerate economic growth,” he aded.
“Easy and dedicated access to institutional financing, higher limit on external commercial borrowings will attract more investments and assure sustained growth of affordable housing in India, making it the core driving segment for real estate. On the other hand, long term financing at lower rates will reduce costs of construction for developers allowing them to pass on benefits to consumers. The new status will increase the resource allocation for the sector, catalysing housing supply and reducing the supply gap,” said Banerjee.
“This budget has brought us a step closer in achieving the mission of providing Housing for all. Implementation of these schemes will be essential for its success. Clarity on the definition of ‘affordable housing’ will be useful. This is very beneficial for Tata Housing as a pan-India developer which is currently developing more than 40 million sq. ft. of affordable housing,” he added.
Today, the Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Arun Jaitley while presenting the General Budget 2017-18 in Parliament today said that affordable housing will now be given infrastructure status, which will enable these projects to avail the associated benefits.
“The National Housing Bank (NHB) will refinance individual housing loans of about Rs. 20,000 crore in 2017-18. Thanks to the surplus liquidity created by demonetisation, the Banks have already started reducing their lending rates, including those for housing,” said Jaitley.
The Finance Minister Jaitley in his Budget Speech said that in addition, interest subvention for housing loans has also been announced by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.