Mumbai-based developer group Hiranandani Communities plans to develop 500 affordable houses in India, said Niranjan Hiranandani, Founder and Managing Director. The project will start in the first quarter of 2018.

The developer is also looking to develop Special Economic Zone in Chennai to house IT and ITeS companies, data centres and other software allied companies. However Hiranandani, in a media interaction on Tuesday, said that details regarding the SEZ project are yet to be finalised.

Talking about affordable housing, Niranjan said, Hiranandani Parks, its Oragadam Township, will also be a part of affordable housing project. “We are starting off with 500 apartments and the numbers are yet to be finalised,” he added. In an earlier interaction, he had mentioned that The cost per sq ft will be ₹3,000 and will be within the price range of ₹20 lakh. According to him, affordable housing will be the key driver in the real estate market, which the government is promoting through housing for all policy.

But to take this project to the economically weaker sections, he feels that the government should address the key challenge of high land cost. “The government should bring down the land cost to make them affordable,” he said.

Hiranandani, who is also the President of National Real Estate Development Council, said the body will appeal to the Centre to bring down the GST from 12 per cent to 6 per cent to make housing more affordable. Under the new tax regime, real estate comes under the tax bracket of 12 per cent. But the consumers end up paying over 30 per cent he added.

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