Increasing Funding is the need of the hour

We look forward to seeing the new Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman present her maiden budget in Parliament on July 5, 2019. We hope it will address the expectations and aspirations of home buyers as well as that of the real estate sector. Post the NBFC crisis, liquidity has been a major concern facing the housing sector. Most developers are facing issues in raising funds for project development purposes. The government should take steps wherein banks can increase their funding to developers. If developers have access to necessary funds then projects will get completed on time and home buyers will get possession of their homes as promised and within the stipulated timelines. On a positive note, chances of interest rates going up seem bleak as RBI has taken necessary steps to mitigate that risk. This will boost demand from home buyers and revive private sector investment. Moreover, single window clearance and need for a more simplified process of getting online approvals from various government bodies like Ministry of Environment, Civil Aviation and Defense. Getting approvals from central agencies is time consuming resulting in delay and escalation of cost to project. This results in delay of project completion and final handover to home buyer. We request for a more simplified online approval process where delay is minimized and can be done at one go. The development of roads and infrastructure has been impressive over the last few years and the same speed should be maintained. This will improve connectivity and will have a ripple effect on all segments of real estate, including commercial and industrial developments and most importantly the affordable housing segment. Creating infrastructure like roads, water and power etc., at locations where affordable projects can be conceived and a Nodal agency like CIDCO, MIDC which grants land lease and development permissions, is the need of the hour. This push in the affordable housing segment will continue to drive demand and supply and will be the key growth driver for residential sector going forward.