Infrastructure investments expected at USD 1.3 trillion by 2030: CREDAI

Investments in the country’s infrastructure sector is estimated at USD 1.3 trillion by 2030, real estate body Confederations of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (CREDAI) said on Saturday.

“We estimate it (infrastructure investments) to be USD 1.3 trillion, across the country. Presently Rs. 65 lakh crore investment is required for the current year,” CREDAI National Chairman Kumar Gera told reporters here.

Gera said people living in rural areas are expected to relocate to urban areas in another 20 years and added that the requirement in the infrastructure sector in “preferred” cities alone is expected to grow by 90 per cent.

“When people in rural areas move to preferred cities like Chennai, Coimbatore, Pune, Bangalore, the infrastructure sector should be geared to meet the requirements,” he said.

He said CREDAI would convene a meeting soon at Delhi to discuss the ‘poor’ water treatment and sewage management in the country.

On the proposed Real Estate Regulatory Bill, which seeks for a regulator and tax reduction for the real estate sector in the interest of customers, and is likely to be passed, Gera said they were holding talks with government officials in this regard.

“Basically, the bill is aimed to protect the consumer but it will make real estate business more expensive and increase the time line for processing approvals. The bill is in the process of development. We are holding discussions with them...,” Gera said.

CREDAI also urged the Centre to reduce the time to clear processing of application forms for construction of apartments.

“Just because of the time taken for approval, the cost of an apartment becomes expensive... If we reduce the timeline then the ultimate beneficiary will be the customer,” CREDAI National President Santosh Rungta said.

He said some States like Kerala and Gujarat take just 15 to 30 days to process applications compared to an average of six months and suggested a single window clearance.

Top CREDAI officials are here to take part in the National Executive Committee Meeting today and tomorrow.

Various topics including the impact of Direct Taxes Code, Goods and Services Tax are likely to be discussed in the meeting, officials said.

source;PTI