Real estate industry seeks fast track infrastructure development

Real estate industry in India calls for fast track infrastructure development.  In the 5th edition of ‘Estate South 2011’ organized by CII, the speakers expressed in solidarity the need for fast track infrastructure development to support the growth of real estate industry in the country. The two day event held in Chennai chalks out recommendations and deliberates on the theme South Realty: Vision 2020.
 
Anshuman Magazine, Chairman, CII national committee on real estate & housing and CMD, CB Richard Ellis said that there was a need to improve the infrastructure and increase in flow of capital in the housing segment and he stressed for the need of attracting long term capital and funding from large multinational institutions, sovereign funds, government funds like pension funds etc. for the growth of the housing sector. “With 100 million people shifting from rural to urban areas in the next 10 years, the housing sector market will see huge demand,” said Anshuman.
 
Irfan Razack, Chairman, Estate South 2011 and CMD, Prestige Group said, “Real Estate is the biggest contributor to GDP and the challenge is how to provide housing for all. To bring the cost down the sector needs huge support from the government for land, infrastructure, and connectivity so that large townships can be built with housing for all sections of the society. There is a tremendous opportunity for the growth of real estate sector with the advent of new products, developers entering into hospitality, malls, integrated townships, and large IT parks etc.”
 
 “Real estate is the most taxed sector with cost borne by the end consumer on stamp duty, service tax, VAT amounting to 30 to 35 per cent. To bring the cost down drastically the government has to rationalize various taxes”, added Razack.
 
Harjit Anand, Co-President, Euro India Centre and former secretary at Ministry of housing & urban poverty alleviation spoke on the need for cities to coexist with villages and towns for providing the much needed green belts. He stressed for policy support towards providing affordable housing for all, increased supply of land, special provision for women, environment sustainability,  fiscal finance models and public private partnership initiatives to support for a long term growth in the realty sector.
 
TT Ashok, Deputy Chairman, CII Southern Region & MD, Taylor Rubber said, “There is an increasing demand for quality infrastructure across various segments of the real estate sector. The real estate industry faces challenges like high costs of manpower, availability of skilled manpower and cost of raw material and inputs”. He emphasized the important role of a State in encouraging the real estate sector.
 
V Ravichandar, Chairman, Feedback Consulting called for local initiatives that are needed from local people.  He proposed a City Connect model for engaging with government agencies, political as well as administrative, by way of a professional talent pool. The model with the support of various companies and organizations is present in cities like Bangalore, Chennai and Pune.

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