File Photo: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is pushing, what many call an impossible dream of the real estate industry: the Housing for all by 2022. This ambitious programme of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is now high on Mr Fadnavis' agenda.
By 2022, Maharashtra will need one crore new homes and a minimum of Rs 25000 crores to translate this dream into a reality. For instance, just Mumbai will need at least 36 lakhs house under the programme.
The 44-year-old Chief Minister says his government has a plan.
On Wednesday, speaking at an event organized by the National Real Estate Development Council, Mr Fadnavis said, "We are ready to extend full support to real estate industry if they assure that they will create more affordable houses."
The state government plans to raise this amount by utilizing land resources.
"Government money doesn't come from thin air. It comes from best exploitation of these resources. When the potential of land is unlocked the monetization happens," said Mr Fadnavis.
He urged the realtors to adopt a give-some-take-some policy. "If you are selling something that is worth Rs. 6000 for Rs. 7000 we will not ask you for a single paisa. But if you are selling it for Rs 20,000 then please share something with us," the chief minister told industry representatives who have complained about excessive taxation.
But implementing the vision of "housing for all by 2022" may turn out to be an uphill task with developers keeping off low-cost projects because of regulatory hurdles, high land costs and low returns.
Niranjan Hiranandani of the Hiranandani Group told NDTV, "The cost of making an affordable housing is unaffordable because the charges of making them are already high. We need to have higher FSI for affordable housing."
Noted urban planner Chandrashekhar Prabhu has warned against the scheme's failure. "If you rely on capacity of the builder to provide housing in the housing for the scheme is destined to doom. They are just fooling each other by saying the builders will provide more houses for the scheme."