Shri Venkaiah Naidu seeks public and private sector cooperation for Housing Mission

New Delhi, April 28, 2015: Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Shri M.Venkaiah Naidu has stated that the Union Cabinet has approved construction of 2 crore houses for the urban poor in all the 4,041 statutory towns and cities of the country. He said so while speaking on the occasion of 45th Foundation Day of the Housing and Urban Development Corporation. He said that another 4 crore houses will be built under the ‘Housing for All by 2022’ initiative of the central government.

Stating that building 6 crore houses for the poor of the country is a challenging task, Shri Naidu said that central and state governments need to work hand-in-hand for the success of the Housing Mission. Shri Naidu underlined the need for effective participation of public and private sector in meeting the housing needs of the urban poor and sought their cooperation.

The Minister said that the government is working on a two pronged strategy of enhancing access to housing financing in general and ensuring credit at lower rates of interest to the poor to ensure housing for all. Shri Naidu referred to several initiatives taken by the Government to enable FDI in housing sector. These include: Allowing FDI of up to 100% under automatic route in real estate projects, reducing minimum built up area and capitalization norms, enhanced tax exemptions for investments in housing, promotion of Real Estate Investment Trusts etc.

HUDCO is a PSU under the Ministry of HUPA providing technical and financial support to housing sector with special focus on the economically weaker sections and lower income groups. It has so far supported construction of over 16 million houses across the country.