NAREDCO to present a strategic report on Public Private Partnership in Housing

National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO), under the aegis of Ministry of Housing Urban Poverty Alleviation, Government of India, is organizing a national conference on “Public Private Partnership in Housing” to evolve innovative, transparent and hassle free Public Private Partnership models which could bring synergy between public & private sector in tackling the housing requirement of urban India, especially the urban poor.

For this, an in depth study of all available models, with their strengths and weaknesses, has been carried out and will be presented by the experts involved in it, which will help in the formulation of the proposed models. Experiences of the public bodies, private sector and public, brought out in the conference, shall also be factored in to it. M/s Knight Frank, an international property consultant will present the outcome of their research done in this area and suggest viable PPP models.

Conference is scheduled for Friday, October 9, 2009 at India Habitat Centre and several dignitaries of public as well as private sector are participating in the same. The National Conference will be inaugurated by Kumari Selja, Honorable Minister of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation and Tourism, Govt. of India.

According to Mr. Rohtas Goel, President, NAREDCO (CMD, Omaxe Ltd.), “There’s a shortfall of more than 24.7 million houses in India and most of this demand comes from lower strata of our population. Despite best attempts of Government and private sector, this shortage has not been met. There is a need to synergize efforts of Government and private sector for mass social housing on a wide scale. Public Private Partnership is the need of the hour so that mass housing is made possible, houses become affordable and slums can be done away with.”

Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation, Govt. of India; Planning Commission, Govt. of India; United Nation Habitat; Housing and Urban Development Corporation Ltd. (HUDCO); Building Material and Technology Promotion Council (BMTPC) and leading private sector developers from across the country will be participating in the Conference. Participation from State Governments at the level of Principal Secretaries, head of Local Bodies, Development Authorities and Housing Boards and Central Govt. at the level of Secretary and Joint Secretaries will make the conference truly an interactive public private platform.

Traditionally, housing for economically better offs is being attended to by the private sector and that for economically weaker sections by with the Government. Though, Governments (Central & State), from time to time, have intervened through various policy formulations to boost availability and affordability of houses for all sections of society, however, the economically weaker sections, owing to non availability of affordable housing, have remained deprived and slums have mushroomed in cities, especially the mega cities. It has now been realized that to make housing stock available for the economically weaker section, at prices that they can afford, only policy interventions are not sufficient.

Government of India has announced Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) for urban areas, on the pattern of Indra Awas Yojana for rural areas, in the budget 2009. RAY envisages slum free India in next five years besides addressing the problem of affordable housing for all segments of society. The housing shortage estimated is around 26 million, requiring around Rs. 4, 00,000 crore investment. As the Government, on its own, has failed to deliver the housing stock required due to resources crunch, a way out could be Public Private Partnership (PPP) wherein strength of Public Sector in land acquisition and regulatory clearances and that of the private sector in capital infusion and construction efficiency could be synergized to overcome the problem of housing shortage.

Many Public Private Partnership models have been used in India in last decade to augment housing supply and slum rehabilitation / resettlement. West Bengal model of joint venture between Govt. agencies and private developers, Dharavi, Nagpur and Pimpari Chinchaward models of slum rehabilitation and UP Awas Bandhu model of township development are some of the examples of Public Private Partnership in housing in India. Besides these, many other models of Public Private Partnership have been used in other housing and infrastructure projects.

“Every model is unique and each has its strengths and weaknesses. The objective of providing affordable housing to each homeless could best be realized if we analyze them discretely and evolve new models taking strengths and experiences of each model into consideration,” explains Brig. (Retd.) R.R. Singh, Director General, NAREDCO.

The Conference on Public Private Partnership in Housing being organized on October 9, 2009 will analyze the experience of each model with the help of the people involved in it as also the other stake holders and evolve such models which would be innovative, transparent and easy to implement, creating a win-win situation for all i.e. the Governments, the private sector and home owners. The issues of land supply, financing mechanism and use of new materials and technologies would be the highlights of the Conference and would be dealt in three different track sessions.

Govt. of India is extremely concerned about the housing shortfall in urban centers and mushrooming of slum clusters because of that. A very sincere effort, through this Conference, is being made to bring synergy between Private and Public sector to over come the problem on a long term basis. If Central Govt., State Govt. and Private Sector join hand, it will not be difficult to realize the objective of slum free India in next five years. This Conference aims to achieve the same.

About NAREDCO

National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO) is the apex national body representing interest of all stakeholders engaged in various fields of real estate development. Self-regulation of industry and ethics in real estate business are the main objectives of NAREDCO. NAREDCO’s mission interalia includes promotion of real estate industry, improvement in the confidence level of lenders, investors and consumers and elimination of unscrupulous operators. NAREDCO believes that grading/rating of real estate developers and projects by accredited credit rating agencies, improvement in corporate governance of developers and capacity building in the industry through training and certification are essential for the transparency and growth. Hon’ble Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Govt. of India, is the Chief Patron of NAREDCO and it has representation from Government, public and private sector developers, promoters, housing finance institutions and other stake holders of real estate sector.