We will meet affordable housing deadline before 2022: Hardeep Singh Puri

Latest demand assessment for the affordable housing suggests there is a need for 1.12 crore homes by 2022, of which 84 lakh have been sanctioned till date, says Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister for Civil Aviation and Housing and Urban Affairs and MoS for Commerce. During an exclusive interview with Swati Khandelwal, Puri said the proposed cushion of 3.5% on the interest paid on loans taken for flats up to Rs 45 lakh will put around Rs 7 lakh in the pocket of an average citizen.

Do you think the budget announcement like a concession on the interest rate for affordable housing will revive demand?

Affordable housing includes Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana which was initiated in June 2015. If we look at the scheme's numbers, we find that there is no dearth for the demand and when we performed a demand assessment, we felt the need for sanctioning and building 1 crore homes. But, the recent assessment suggests that the number will go up to 1.12 crore. Post-election, the Committee on Sanctioning and Monitoring of Projects during the first meeting, which meets under the leadership of the secretary and my ministry, has already sanctioned for over 84 lakh homes. As a result, if we have to sanction 1.12 crore homes by 2022 out of which 84 lakh have already been done, then there is no decline in demand.

Earlier, there was a 2% cushion for the interest paid on apartments or flats up to Rs 45 lakh and in the Budget we have added another 1.5% on it. In other words, if a young, professional person is looking to go for a loan of up to 45 lakh for a flat, then the entire money that would have to be spent on interest, will have to come as a write-off from the government like a cushion. According to calculations, this will put as much as Rs7 lakh in the pockets of an average citizen, which is a big thing.

People are shying away from buying into real estate due to the increase in prices. Will this condition improve?       

We are trying to build affordable homes for the economically weaker sections and lower-income groups but there are lakhs of units lying closed where the landlords are not willing to entrust the tenants with those units. In terms of housing, we are trying to look at the overall ease of living through additional construction, resolving the outstanding issues, rental policy and the tenant policy.

While the sector faces a liquidity problem, banks are not comfortable lending to this industry. Do you think the problem will be resolved soon?

I draw comfort from what the finance minister said during her Budget presentation. Banks were under strain and they have earlier lent money to NBFCs. As a result, along with banks, NBFCs also come under strain. I have seen the finance ministry's statements where they said the worst, as far as NBFCs are concerned, is over for them and now we will see a revival in terms of lending.

The program affordable housing or housing for all by 2022 is a tall and challenging task. How are you going to complete it?

First of all, I don't think that there is much of a challenge. With the kind of technology that we are using from the date of grounding to completion in 12-18 months, some of them will be grounded earlier. So, if 48 lakh houses have been grounded and 27 lakh have been handed over then this figure of 1.12 crore is not a figure for 2022 but is for 2000.

Do you want to say that it has been overachieved?

No, I am saying that earlier it was said that it will be done three years in advance then the addition of 12 lakh to the figure of 1 crore will also be done in three years of advance.

Aviation is going through a troubling time and people are feeling pain due to the closure of an airline, which led to a shortage of airlines and a hike in ticket prices?

First of all, I would like to correct your narrative that at a time when a big aircraft company, I will not name it, has sieged its operations in April 2019, then 540 aircraft were operating in our skies and today the number has gone up to 560-580. This number will continue to go up and reach a figure of around 600 in the next two months. To say that the passengers have faced inconvenience then they would have faced it for a certain period of time. When it comes to airfares on the trunk route Delhi-Mumbai then it has been the same levels 2001, 2010 and today in 2019. The basic trunk fare between Delhi and Mumbai is still Rs5,100. So, airfares, domestically, hasn't gone up.

How do you see the Udan scheme, and do you think that it will be able to connect the small cities?

The scheme was announced in 2016 and it is a demand-driven scheme, and in the process, 100 unserved and under-served airports will be made operational. Just to give you the good news, we have already operationalised 174-routes and it is a lot.

What is the timeline for Air India privatisation and disinvestment?

It didn't happen last time but this time we will get it right and I feel that the alternate mechanism will be prepared soon, and my full effort will be to expedite this and bring it to a successful conclusion at the earliest.

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