AI must in real estate oversight as urban population heads to 80 crore by 2050: MoHUA

He said the country would have to significantly expand housing supply while simultaneously undertaking large-scale brownfield redevelopment over the next 20–25 years.

"However, housing cannot be treated in isolation. Urban planning, public transport and housing must function as an integrated framework. Talking about them separately is an urban policy error,” he remarked, adding that resilient and sustainable urban services would be essential to support such population growth.

Narayan noted that efficient land markets were central to this transition.

"A substantial portion of urban land remains locked due to regulatory constraints, litigation and market inefficiencies. In several cities, land accounts for over 50 per cent of total project cost, making housing unaffordable and constraining supply. We need efficient land markets and a strong institutional regulatory framework that promotes development rather than merely controls it,” he said.

Access to long-term capital, he said, would be critical to finance large-scale housing and infrastructure creation. “If we want to achieve 'Viksit Bharat' by 2047, urban development and real estate must be structurally prepared. The society, government and the industry must move together,” he added.

Referring to the Real Estate Regulation and Development Act (RERA), he said the law marked a historic reform by institutionalising registration, escrow safeguards and grievance redressal, but required digital deepening.

The senior official noted that much of the data currently available was static and PDF-based, limiting its utility. He called for machine-readable quarterly progress reports and integration of project approvals, financial disclosures and compliance data so that regulatory systems could generate automated early-warning signals and real-time insights.

"Regulatory platforms should adopt machine-to-machine communication similar to that seen in banking and taxation systems. Interoperability across state RERAs would allow authorities to track developers’ activities across jurisdictions and improve supervisory effectiveness. Importantly, such transparency must also benefit homebuyers. Project-level data should be presented in a simplified and intelligible format so that an ordinary buyer can assess compliance history and risk before making a purchase," he added.

Narayan added that regulation and development must move in tandem if India was to sustain its next phase of urbanisation. Technology-driven transparency, efficient land markets and institutional coordination, he added, would form the backbone of the real estate sector’s contribution to the 'Viksit Bharat-2047' vision