The Real Estate Regulatory Bill is likely to be presented in the next session of Parliament. The Bill is expected to be tabled before the Union Cabinet shortly, said Ms Aruna Sundararajan, Joint Secretary, Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation.

Addressing ‘Estate South 2012: Accelerating Growth', a conference on real estate industry organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), she said the Bill was drafted taking into consideration most of the industry proposals, she said.

The Bill will basically mandate certain public disclosure norms and establish a level playing field, she added. Besides, she said the new “market-friendly” Rental Bill too has been circulated to the State Governments. While the Central legislation would only be a model Act, State Governments would be the real enactors, she said.

Reading out the speech of Mr Deepak Parekh, Chairman, HDFC Ltd, the company's CEO, Mr G. Krishnamurthy, said the long-term prospects of the real estate industry in India were bright owing to increasing population and rapid urbanisation.

He said the industry should press for the setting up of a regulator to bring in more transparency and commitment to customers for the long-term benefit of the industry. He also called for the streamlining of the land acquisition laws.

It is estimated that there is a shortfall of around 40 million residential units in India. This would require an investment of Rs 4,00,000 crore. Over the next five years, another $1 trillion would be needed to be spent on infrastructure. This represents a huge opportunity for both real estate developers and investors.

Mr Firdose Vandrevala, Chairman of the conference and CMD of Hirco Developments Pvt Ltd, said the real estate industry is highly interdependent and required the team work of people concerned to ensure success.

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