"Piyush Goyal Urges CREDAI to Form a Team to Assess the Impact of Construction Activities on Air Quality."

Union Minister Piyush Goyal on November 25 urged real estate developers to adopt environment-friendly construction techniques and suggested that CREDAI set up a team to study the adverse impact of construction activities on air quality of 20 major cities. "I had asked CREDAI to consider setting up a team to study whether, at least in the metropolitan cities or the 20 top towns of the country, where we can see the impact of construction leading to pollution, leading to air quality deteriorating," he said at CREDAI 25th foundation day held in the Capital on November 25

He said that the sector should adopt better construction techniques using steel and precast fabrication to curb pollution and that the adoption of better techniques will help enhance the speed of construction.

"I do believe this can help us significantly reduce the AQI and pollution levels," he added.

He urged CREDAI to take this up as a mission and report back to the government.

"So, you will be able to roll your capital. You will be able to grow your business much faster, satisfy your clients much better, and also have a much better quality of construction if we were to look at steel and precast structures voluntarily, at least in the city areas," he said. He also said that vehicle parking in some urban center's is becoming a big issue and that real estate developers should factor in the requirement for EV charging infrastructure.

Goyal also asked real estate developers to design and build net zero projects.

He also asked realtors to construct affordable rental housing projects to prevent the proliferation of slums in urban centers.

"Rental housing, I think that's another area where the government is also willing to come forward. We have launched a scheme earlier. We are willing to have a discussion on this, with your industry, how we can make affordable rental housing going forward … to make sure that nobody ever has to live in a slum," he said.

Goyal said the government is trying to rehabilitate all slum dwellers with a proper home of their own in situ, exactly where they are staying or in and around that area.

"I do think that if rental housing also were to be made available, we would be able to stop any further slums proliferating, particularly in the cities. These are areas where together we can do wonders," the minister said.

Goyal also suggested that CREDAI members should consider venturing into overseas markets to tap opportunities in real estate development and redevelopment.

“The real estate sector must seriously consider looking beyond Indian shores and add to export of our services,” he said.

Look at greater formalization of the real estate sector

The minister also urged developers to look at greater formalization of the real estate sector. “It's time we looked at greater formalization of the real estate sector such as digital payments and enrolling employees under EPFO,” said Goyal, adding greater formalization will help the sector, which contributes tremendously to India's GDP, to grow much faster.

He asked CREDAI members to provide social security, healthcare facilities and post-retirement benefits to people working in the real estate sector.

He suggested real estate developers ensure that their workers are enrolled in ESIC and EPFO.

This will help the real estate industry in getting recognition for their contribution to employment generation, he added.

On RERA

Goyal said that RERA has helped eliminate bad developers from the market and has improved buyers' confidence.

He said over the last decade, the Modi government has made a concerted effort to clean up the system and improve the ease of doing business. “The bank's balance sheets have been strengthened and the NPAs have come down significantly,” he added.