‘Affordable housing must get infra status in Budget’

To give boost to the affordable housing, the Union Ministry of Housing has decided to ask the Finance Ministry to give infrastructure status to the segment in the upcoming Budget.

'In order to create more affordable housing stock, we have decided to ask the Finance Ministry to give infrastructure status to affordable housing segment in this Budget,' Union Minister for Housing and Poverty Alleviation Ajay Maken said on Monday. The infrastructure status will help banks get access to bank loans easily, Maken said. The Finance Ministry has sent the proposal to the Reserve Bank of India for consideration, he said. Currently, since housing falls in the ambit of commercial real estate, if a project fails to be operational within two years after the commercial operation date, banks have to classify the project as non-performing. 'Since these projects have to be declared NPAs, banks do not come forward to lend to developers. If infrastructure status cannot be provided to the entire housing sector, we expect at least the affordable segment to be declared infra status,’ he said.