Majority of 2014-15 realty projects remain non-starters: Assocham

Over 75 percent of projects in the real estate sector during 2014-15 did not start off due to delay in regulatory approvals and other bottlenecks.

A study conducted by apex industry body the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) disclosed that over 75 percent of the total 3,540 projects remained non-starters.

Total outstanding investments worth over Rs.14 lakh crore were attracted by these projects.

"On an average, real estate projects in India are facing a delay of 33 months in completion," said D.S. Rawat, secretary general of Assocham, while releasing the study report.

"We urge the government to pass the long-pending Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill on an urgent basis as it would help in resolving the key issues that are hampering the growth of the sector," Rawat said.

According to the study, over 2,300 projects in the realty sector remained non-starter, while over 1,000 on-going projects have registered significant delays in completion.

The report by the industry body's economic research bureau (AERB) revealed that realty projects in Andhra Pradesh faced maximum delay of about 45 months, followed by Madhya Pradesh (41 months), Telangana (40 months) and Punjab (38 months).

Maharashtra led the states in attracting most investment from the real estate sector. The states share out of the total outstanding investments attracted from real estate sector throughout India stood at 21 percent.

The state was followed by Uttar Pradesh (14 percent) and Gujarat (13 percent). Tamil Nadu and Telangana accounted for over six percent each.

"Growth in real estate investments attracted by Haryana declined by over five percent during this period, while West Bengal registered about four percent fall in growth by Madhya Pradesh (three percent)," the report said.

Interestingly, Kerala recorded highest compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 59 percent in attracting real estate investments during the decadal period of 2005-06 and 2014-15 followed by Karnataka (40 percent) and Uttar Pradesh (32 percent).