Realty future in affordable housing: Naidu

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 21

Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation M. Venkaiah Naidu today urged real estate developers to take up affordable housing projects in a big way while stressing that there lies the future of the real estate sector.

Elaborating his statement, the minister said, “The Government’s focus on ensuring housing for all including the Middle Income Groups offered immense opportunities both at the bottom and the middle of the pyramid which needs to be seized by the developers who have seen ups and downs in recent year.”

He spoke at a conference on “Real Estate Sector-Post demonetisation and RERA”, organized by PHD Chambers here today.

Naidu said that the government has paid more attention to the real sector than any other sector by announcing more than 20 supporting measures to revive real estate sector over the last two years, including announcing the long-awaited infrastructure status for affordable housing besides several tax concessions and exemptions.

He said that under Prime Minister’s Awas Yojana (Urban), people belonging to Economically Weaker Sections, Low Income Groups and Middle Income Groups with incomes up to Rs.18 lakh per year have been made eligible for central assistance up to Rs.2.35 lakh per each beneficiary. “Low cost long term financing under infrastructure status, tax concessions and central assistance under PMAY and the scale of housing needs of these sections make affordable housing the best investment opportunity,” Naidu stressed.