AP Minister sees big opportunity for realty sector in smaller cities

Visakhapatnam Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development Audimulapu Suresh on Friday said the State Government's thrust to provide free houses to the poor under Jagananna Townships and affordable housing to all and the mission to ensure decentralised development will offer a big opportunity to the real estate developers.

Taking cue from 'Houses for all'-a clarion call given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has embarked on an ambitious programme to construct and give 30 lakh free houses to the poorer sections. "This will give a fresh impetus to the real estate sector, create new mandays, boost the GDP and create several new cities and townships," he said in the inaugural address at the two-day fourth edition of New India Summit-2022 organised here by CREDAI-the apex body for real estate developers in India.

Suresh said the government has strengthened the Ease of Doing Business by removing bottlenecks for the realty sector in getting clearances in a fast-track mode. He lauded the efforts of CREDAI to host the prestigious event in Visakhapatnam-which is fast emerging as a 'happening city.' He said Visakhapatnam is developing fast as an administrative, financial and industrial hub and promises a lot of opportunities for the construction sector in its suburbs.

He said to overcome the shortage of skilled manpower, the Chief Minister has decided to set up colleges to impart courses on skill development in each parliamentary constituency and a skill development university in the State to introduce high-end professional courses.

The two-day programme brought together over 500 delegates from across the country to share their stories on success being partners in the ecosystem. The industry leaders have assembled to discuss opportunities in tier 2,3 and 4 cities with imminent challenges and plan for upgradation, improvisation and technology-enabled development with an aim to celebrate the emergence and the contribution of non-metro cities towards achieving a $5 trillion economy.

Visakhapatnam MP M.V.V. Satyanarayana, CREDAI national president Harsh Vardhan Patodia, vice-presidents Manoj Gaur, G. Ram Reddy, secretary Pankaj Goel, AP chapter president B. Raja Srinivas, Visakhapatnam president K.S.R.K. Raju, chairman B. Srinivasa Rao, State joint secretary P. Koteswara Rao and NIS convenor V. Dharmender were present.

Patodia later told reporters that in post-COVID digitally transformed economy, geography is becoming irrelevant offering a lot of opportunities for the housing sector in the non-metro areas. The work from home and flexible approach, improvement in logistics sector and low interest rates on housing loan will certainly give a fillip to construction activity in tier-2, 3 and 4 cities with a multiplier effect on allied sectors.

Ram Reddy said the market in South India is growing fast and they are hoping that the rise in prices of construction material in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war will end soon. He asked the government to reintroduce the option of availing input subsidy as part of GST reforms.

Goel said the withdrawal of input subsidy in 2019 has adversely hit the realty sector entailing an additional burden of 250 to 300 per sft towards construction cost of an apartment.