Chennai: India’s real estate sector although stable at the outset, has been through ups and downs, with natural calamities apart from implementation of regulations in the sector, keeping industry peers and buyers alike confused.
However, with proper regulations comes clarity and working with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs is the National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO), the apex body of real estate sector.
NAREDCO has been focusing on influencing and shaping the real estate industry by advocating developing standards for efficient and effective real estate business practices.
On that context,‘News Today’ had an interaction with vice chairman of NAREDCO, Parveen Jain. He spoke about RERA, Tamilnadu’s real estate status, PE investments and the effectiveness of the PMAY scheme.
EXCERPTS FROM INTERVIEW:
Q: Why do you think there are confusions in the industry with RERA. Was it not rightly pitched? State us the reasons.
A: There is no confusion in the industry with RERA. It was rightly pitched and everything is clearly laid out. Whenever something is implemented at such a large national scale, some hiccups may arise in the large scale process implementation, also people may take some time to grasp the new procedures but now things are right on track.
Q: Recent reports suggest that Tamilnadu Real Estate Regulatory Authority (TNRERA) has fared poorly in registration of housing projects. What do you think is the reason for that?
A: It depends upon the State circumstances and the State administration needs to look into the matter and act accordingly.
Q: India has been pitched as the most promising country for conglomerates to invest in with massive returns. Do you think the trend is set to continue? Also, elaborate what caused such a turnaround.
A: Yes, the trend of India having been pitched as one of the most promising countries for conglomerates to invest in with massive returns is set to continue. This has been made possible by showcasing the nation to the world as having a huge potential market for investments and inviting FDIs and introducing policies like ‘Ease of doing business’. This is catching the attention and inculcating the interest of the foreign investors in various Indian market fields which may ensure massive positive returns.
Q: PE investments have beefed now with deals in July alone crossing $2 billion. How do you think the market will respond to that?
A: The market’s response shall be directly proportional to that positively, it suggests that the more PE investments, the more positive returns shall be for the same.
Q: Talk to us about the PMAY scheme and the CLSS part associated with it. How do you think the public has responded to the schemes?
A: Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY) is an initiative by the Indian government to provide affordable housing to the masses which is in consonance to achieve the target of ‘Housing for All by 2022.’ CLSS is ‘Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme’ which is one of the components of the PMAY where the government offers interest subsidy to eligible customers. The public have responded very well to the above schemes as now the affordable housing seems to be within the reach of the masses and people can think of buying and owning houses because of the affordable prices as the name suggests.
Q: How effective do you think the recent projects by the government will be in transforming India in the coming years?
A: The projects and policies as launched by the government are going to be very effective as the basic affordability of the masses has been taken into consideration. By affordable housing scheme and giving ‘Infrastructure status’ to the same, now masses can think of owning a house and now it is being made possible at the grass root level so that it is not something which is beyond the reach of the common man.
Q: Finally, with the FAME scheme going at fast pace, what do you think will be needed to be done on the infrastructural level to facilitate the scheme to be successful?
A: FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles) scheme provides fiscal and monetary incentives for adoption and market creation of hybrid and electric technology vehicles in the country. All out efforts should be made at the infrastructure level to inculcate the interest of the people to go for the electric and hybrid vehicles telling about the advantages and to provide a pollution free environment. The government is planning to gradually shift to electric cars in a bid to go green and the target for the same is being visualized as around 2030.
ON TACKLING URBAN MIGRATION
‘Urbanisation has already been taking place for the last several years with masses migrating to metro cities in search of jobs at all levels, the perfect example in Indian context is Gurgaon, so it is not a new phenomena to tackle with. Government plans have always been to provide an impeccable infrastructure and housing commensurate with the influx of population. The schemes and plans are right on track and with continued efforts the mission of housing for all shall be accomplished in the coming years.’
IN SHORT
The National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO) was established as an autonomous self-regulatory body in 1998 under the aegis of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, government of India. It is in that year that the Government of India redrafted the National Housing and Habitat Policy, giving due importance to the Housing and Real Estate sector, thereby declaring housing for all citizens by the year 2010.