UP faces crunch of 2.4 mn housing units

Country facing shortage of over 18 mn and 42 mn housing units in urban and rural areas respectively

Uttar Pradesh is facing shortage of almost 2.4 million housing units during 2014-15, especially in the economically weaker sections (EWS) and low-income group (LIG) housing categories.

The situation is alarming in the urban and semi-urban regions due to the migration of rural populace in search of livelihood.

According to a National Housing Board (NHB) report, in March 2013, India was facing shortage of about 18 million and 42 million housing units in urban and rural areas, respectively.

"The central government has estimated by 2022, the country will face deficit of almost 100 million dwelling units. This would require massive scale up on the supply side," Aadhar Housing Finance Limited (AHFL) Chief Executive Officer Deo Shankar Tripathi told Business Standard here.

Aadhar Housing Finance Limited was established by the Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL) with the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank. IFC holds 20 percent equity in the joint venture and the remaining 80 percent is with DHFL.

AHFL caters to low-income groups, both salaried and self-employed, who have monthly incomes between Rs 5,000 and Rs 25,000. It provides sub-Rs 12 lakh housing loans after due diligence, he said.

Uttar Pradesh is a priority market for AHFL, with 35 per cent of its business emanating from the state. So far, it has disbursed more than Rs 400 crore in the state with an average ticket size of Rs 6.81 lakh after processing 14,000 applications.

Currently, Aadhar Housing Finance Limited has 61 branches across nine states. In Uttar Pradesh, it has 15 branches, which would be ramped up to 20 by the end of the next financial year, Tripathi said.

"Against our outstanding advances of Rs 800 crore, we target to up this amount pan-India to Rs 1,000 crore during 2015-16," he said.

Aadhar Housing Finance Limited is also bullish on the sub-segment of project finance to builders and developers focusing on EWS and LIG houses.