Indian real estate sector and the current challenges
With limited land availability for construction, outdated building technologies, Indian real estate has been facing multiple issues. Now it is high time that the government provides immediate solutions to the problems faced by real estate developers and home buyers.
Indian real estate sector accounts for 13 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product and is one of the biggest and globally recognized sectors. The market size of the real estate sector was poised to reach $1 trillion by the end of 2030. But the havoc created by the COVID-19 pandemic shattered the entire sector’s revenue and market share. Nevertheless, the economy is reviving with the maximum vaccination drives. Businesses are reviving and catching pace like before and the problems created by the pandemic will slowly start decreasing. But there are certain issues that the government needs to look into and provide solutions for the sector to become more efficient and growth-oriented.
Some of the problems in the real estate sector are:
Unavailability of land:
Through land regulations, land readjustment and land pooling policies, the Government should spare large shares of underutilized and vacant land parcels. By this, it will give some relief to the financially aggrieved developers and help the situation of the real estate sector improve. This calls for an urgent change or revision in the Land Acquisition Resettlement and Rehabilitation Act of 2013.
Long pending infrastructure projects:
There are a lot of impending projects in the Indian real estate market starting from public sector projects to private sector housing colonies. There is a delay happening in the completion of these projects and the reason for this is that the project does not get enough funding or there is a lack of technology to complete these projects on time. Another big challenge in the Indian real estate sector is the protracted approval process because project approvals in India take about days to years because there is no option of a single-window clearance and it often results in time and cost escalations.
Overpopulation:
India is touted to be the most populous country by the year 2050. More than 50 per cent of people are urban centres and Tier 1 cities. To accommodate the population, India would require more new cities and urban centres on a mass scale in order to provide the required resources to the inhabitants.
Outdated building techniques:
The Indian real estate sector is still dependent on old building techniques and hence they are over-dependent on extensive human labour for construction activities. Whereas, high-quality building materials such as concrete and iron slabs are used in new construction techniques. Therefore, today it is very important for developers to rely on modern building techniques which will help reduce construction time and labour cost and in that way the projects can be delivered fast.