The housing ministry had till recently been projecting a housing shortage of 247 lakh in urban areas across the nation. But the shortage is likely to be much higher. The ministry has now asked a panel to reassess the number of households that require affordable housing.

Setting the terms of reference for the panel — to be led by Jawaharlal Nehru University professor Amitabh Kundu — the ministry has asked it to take note of any changes in the available database. The panel has been entrusted with the task of working out parameters for any other category that requires affordable housing for the Twelfth Plan period.

It is widely stated in all official statements that 99 per cent of the total housing shortage of 247 lakh, according to the Planning Commission, pertains to the economically weaker sections and lower income groups. This would mean a housing shortage of around two lakh for higher and mid-income groups. However, in a presentation made to the commission earlier this year, consulting firm McKinsey had estimated the housing shortfall in the mid-income category to be between 86 and 138 lakh, much higher than the panel’s own estimate.

A government official familiar with the development told The Indian Express that the exercise was considered necessary as the government had received several representations disputing the current estimates regarding housing shortage. Taking cognisance of differing estimates, the ministry has also asked the panel to reassess the assumptions of the Technical Group that was set by the government in 2006 for estimation of urban housing shortage during the Eleventh Plan period. Incidentally, the Technical Group was also headed by Kundu, based on whose recommendation the housing shortage estimate of 247 lakh was arrived at.

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