The real estate sector’s contribution to the country’s GDP is set to go up from 7 per cent in 2019-2020 to 10 per cent by 2030, contributing about $ 1 trillion to the economy, according to Union Housing Secretary, Durga Shanker Mishra.
Speaking at a virtual meeting hosted by the Indian School of Business and Housing.com, he said the sector, which is the second-largest employer in the country after agriculture, now contributes about $200 billion to the economy. This is set to go up to $1 trillion and the Indian economy is projected to go up to $10 trillion.
Housing Pricing Index
Housing.com, along with ISB, launched the Housing Pricing Index (HPI), an indicator of economic activity in the real-estate sector. Developed in association Naredco, it is seen to enable homebuyers, investors, real estate developers and policymakers to track high-frequency price movement in India’s key residential markets.
“The new index will be useful for people seeking to purchase their dream home and add to ease of buying a home,” he said.
Referring to the Real Estate Regulation Act passed in 2016, he said this has already been adopted by 34 States and Union territories. The Housing Regulation Act passed by the West Bengal Government was stuck down.
Niranjan Hiranandani, President of Naredco, said the government has made housing a major thrust area andPMAY that seeks to construct 1.15 crore houses at an outlay of about ₹80,000 crore is a pointer of this focus. The sector, which has had to bear a number of disruptions – demonetisation, followed by RERA, GST implementation and the Insolvency Law – has now to contend with the Covid-induced pandemic, all causing huge stress on the sector.
“Yet from September 2020 to March 2021, the sector as witness to best phase of the real estate sector,” he said.
Ownership process
Dhruv Agarwala, CEO of Housing.com, said the housing index, developed and brought out by an extensive research team, is aimed at easing the ownership process. The big data analytics will add to the convenience.
India has the potential to leap frog in the housing sector, just as it has achieved in other sectors, said Prof Rajendra Srivastava, Dean of ISB, suggesting the need to integrate it with other sectors.
Deepa Mani, of ISB, said: “Policy makers and decision makers need accurate and timely information for effective action and interventions. At present, such information is of low granularity and often fragmented and privately held, making coordination among economic actors difficult. Indices like the HPI would be especially relevant to industry and policy makers in the face of current systematic and pervasive disruptions in the economy, notably the pandemic.”