The possibility of an affordable home not only eludes the vast middle classin the private sector, but also the Central public sector employees across thecountry, reflecting the gross shortage of houses. Huge deficit between demandand supply, especially in metro cities, has forced the Central government realestate firm National BuildingsConstruction Corporation (NBCC) to revise its estimates for creation ofhousing units meant for government employees. For a scheme launched by NBCC for800 ‘affordable’ flats in Delhi NCR, it received around 20,000 applications —25 times the number of flats up for sale. NBCC had targeted its housing schemeat the beneficiaries of the pay commission award, which raises the salaries ofCentral public sector employees by around 30 per cent.
These 800 flats, priced at Rs 1,978 per sq ft in Gurgaon, cost around Rs 30lakh each. “Apart from 800 flats, we are now looking at acquiring land in Delhi NCR for meeting additional housing requirement forgovernment employees. Keeping our sale prices low does not only give us theadvantage of economies of scale but is also leading to price correction in themarket forcing private players to follow suit,” he said. Six months ago,similar projects in the area by leading developers were being launched foraround Rs 2,500-3000 per sq ft, a real-estate consultant said.
In fact, buoyed by the response, the NBCC chief has written to urbandevelopment ministry and the states, requesting land where it could undertakeaffordable housing projects in a public-private partnership. Housing has beenidentified by the UPA government as one of the key areas to provide an impetusto the fledgling economy, which has a multiplier effect, and, according tohousing ministry, can push GDP growth by one percentage point. Last year, DelhiDevelopment Authority received around five lakh applications for 5,000 flats inthe capital city, priced between Rs 15 lakh and Rs 70 lakh. Given the acuteshortage, NBCC may even expand such housing schemes for government employees toother cities, Chowdhury added.
