'Land, quick approvals necessary for low-cost housing projects'

MUMBAI: Government needs to ensure availability of land and speedy approvals for effective implementation of low-cost housing projects, real estate developers' body NARDECO said today.

"For effective implementation of low-cost housing projects, it is imperative that the government ensures availability of land at subsidised rates, fast approvals, property tax relief, funding support, additional FSI, connectivity to suburbs and creation of special residential zones," National Real Estate Development Council (NARDECO) President Navin Raheja said in a statement.

Demanding infrastructure status for the sector, he said, "This will help the sector getting government incentives, subsidies and tax benefits. Besides, it will also lead to lower cost of funding and taking loans from financial institutions will become cheaper translating to more supply of affordable houses."

He further said that upward revision of floor area ratio (FAR), ground coverage and population density norms are required on priority basis.

"In most states, the floor area ratio (FAR) density and ground coverage norms do not support the creation of affordable housing the long approval process is another major problem. In major cities where land cost is high, this is possible only under PPP model," Raheja added.