Realty Plus Excellence Awards 2013 : Mass Housing - Taking Concrete Steps..!

After the grand success of the Bangalore and Mumbai gala events, the Realty Plus Conclave and Excellence Awards 2013 (North),  organised by Realty Plus -  the leading real estate monthly published by exchange4media Group - received an overwhelming response as a large number of developers, architects, industry professional &  other luminaries gathered to witness the much-awaited event of real estate industry, held at The Leela Kempinski, Gurgaon on Friday, May 24, 2013.

Day- long Conclave..!

The conclave was kick-started with a welcome address by Mr. Annurag Batra, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, exchange4media Group, requesting the chief guest of the occasion, Mr. Mohammed Adeeb, member of Rajya Sabha, to enlighten the gathering with his perceptive observations. The senior parliamentarian expressed his concerns on the lack of progress on the front of affordable housing. “The way the housing prices are going up, it has become very difficult for the common man to fulfil his dream of owning even a small dwelling for his family,” he told.

Mass Housing - Taking Concrete Steps..!

Mr. Mohammed Adeeb also criticised the government for its failure in providing land at concessional rates for mass housing.  “Even DDA, which was formed with a vision to acquire lands to provide decent living to the poor as well as the middle class, has also not been able to fulfil its mission, and instead has resorted to auction of public land” he also added.

Speaking on the significance of Realty Plus Conclave and Excellence Awards, Mr. Mohammed Adeeb said that it is heartening that the developers, who are doing a good work and following the best practices, are being recognised on such platforms.

The first plenary session, Mass Housing - Taking Concrete Steps, emphasised on issues like gap in concept &  delivery for affordable housing, role of technology in boosting affordable housing, taking stock of the PPP model for developing affordable housing.

The eminent panelists included Mr. Amit Mavi, MD, BOP Group; Mr. Anshuman Magazine, CMD, (South Asia), CBRE; Mr. Om Chaudhary, CEO, Fire Capital; Mr. P S Rana, former chairman, HUDCO; Mr.  Sanjeev Srivastva, MD, Assotech Limited and Mr.  Vineet Gupta, Director, Ajnara India Limited.

While moderating the session, Mr.  Anshuman Magazine said, “One of the major challenges is to get these houses created on those prices which are actually affordable.”

“The biggest hurdle in keeping mass housing projects in affordable range is delays in getting approvals. It is since, the time wasted in getting approvals automatically pushes the prices of the projects to escalate,” said Mr.  Sanjeev Srivastva.

Mr.  Amit Mavi said, “Prices of the Affordable Houses should not cross Rs. 20 lakh in any urban area. But the real challenge is that the developers are finding it hard to create houses within this range and even housing loans are not easily available to low income people. We should find out innovative ways of creating affordable houses.”

Mr.  Vineet Gupta said, “Lack of land in micro cities, coupled with tedious land acquisition process and the ever growing demand for this segment have raised the prices of houses over the years. Sadly, prices are rising beyond government’s control.”

Channelise Black Money in Real Estate..!

Mr.  Om Chaudhary said, “Incentives for the developers creating affordable housing, availability of land, shorter approval process are the need of the hour.”

Mr. P.S. Rana stressed on the need to encourage rental housing by making rental income tax-free, besides finding ways to channelise black money in real estate sector.

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