Representational photo
New Delhi: In the next four years, investment in the urban sector is likely to be around Rs 10 lakh crore, housing and urban affairs secretary Srinivas Katikithala said on Friday while urging real estate developers to take up projects along the major transport corridors and areas with infrastructure facilities rather than launching projects where adequate infrastructure is yet to come up.Addressing realtors at a convention of NAREDCO, a major real estate players organisation, Katikala highlighted how govt has been investing and also continuing huge investment in infrastructure, including roads, metro rail, railways, water supply and sewage. “When this infrastructure expansion is happening, are we aligning our projects along this infrastructure expansion?” he asked while suggesting that the real estate industry should align their development activities along existing infrastructure.“Please do not wait for infrastructure to chase us. Let us chase the spaces where infrastructure is already there,” the secretary said. He added that India’s urban infrastructure sector has witnessed a Rs 30 lakh crore investment in the last one decade and the pace of investment will continue. The secretary said that the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) policy specifies that there can be intensive development in the 700 metres influence area along the major transport corridors. On the need to align projects with existing infrastructure, urban experts cited the example of Gurgaon where real estate projects came first and then the civic and transport infrastructure were developed. The Millennium City is plagued with congestion, waterlogging and sanitation issues.In his address, Katikala said that it’s no longer enough for urban local bodies to deliver services on their own and they must come together with the private sector and deliver high quality urban services.
