'India needs Rs 3.6 lakh cr investment in housing in 5-yrs'

MUMBAI: India needs Rs 3.6-lakh crore of investment over the next five years to construct an additional 2.65-crore housing units for six crore citizens, a top HDFC official said.

"Over the next five years, we need 26.5 million additional housing units, investment requirements of over Rs 3,60,000 crore and need to re-house 62 million persons who live in urban slums," HDFC, Joint Manging Director, Renu Sud Karnad, said at a function here.

Noting that real estate sector was a major contributor to national growth, at 8.86 per cent of GDP, Karnad said 8-10 real estate IPOs are expected to mop up around Rs 230-billion (Rs 23,000-crore) over the next one year.

The housing sector, if priced correctly, is expected to draw enormous demand in the period ahead, Karnad said, adding that any saturation in the sector is unlikely in the foreseeable future.

"Given the acute housing shortage, it is unlikely that there will be any saturation in the market for a long time to come," Karnad said.

Observing that action in the real estate sector is decisively shifting from the metros to the smaller cities, Karnad called for increased commitment to the housing sector from the market participants.

"We have to seriously question ourselves about our commitment to housing. We are indeed faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations, but we should not give up," she said.