Owning a decent, affordable house in the Capital — as in most cities in India — remains a dream for most. While Kiran Dhingra, Secretary of the Ministry of Housing and Poverty Alleviation, outlined the need for at least 200 more townships to accommodate the growing population, a panel of experts debated the issue of affordable housing, or the lack of it, in the country.

The experts sought government intervention to help develop the micro-financing sector and make land available to private developers.

“Potential buyers of low-income housing are largely from the unorganised sector; many cannot produce the documents required for a housing loan. Low-income housing thus remains an aspiration and cannot be translated into demand,” said Nachiket Shelgikar, Director, Micro Housing Finance Corporation.

Speaking at a session titled “Affordable housing in India: Building a new paradigm,” at the IHC Summit bing held at the India Habitat Centre, Nehal Shah, managing director of Foliage Developers and among the few builders who have ventured into low-income housing in Ahmedabad, said a huge market exists for such houses.

“The government can help us to acquire land at affordable rates,” said Shah.

Srinath S, managing director, Sorenson Housing Opportunity Fund, suggested the government could classify such housing under infrastructure development.

BRT in 9 more cities
Defending the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy said the project will come up in nine more cities. “We are implementing BRT in nine cities at a cost of Rs 4,500 crore,” he said while addressing the IHC Summit. The cities include Pune, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Indore, Bhopal, Visakhapatnam, Vijaywada and Jaipur. “In Delhi, BRT survived the criticism of those who never use public transport,” Reddy said.