Real estate to grow at 30% annually

The realty sector is projected to grow at the rate of 30 per cent annually over the next decade, attracting foreign investments worth USD 30 billion, with a number of IT parks and residential townships being constructed across India, industry body Assocham said.

Currently, the domestic real estate market is expected to be worth USD 15 billion in which FDI is estimated to about USD 6 billion, it said.

At present, the foreign developers can undertake construction activities on a minimum space of 50,000 sq ft, Assocham president Sajjan Jindal said in a statement.

The ceiling of 50,000 sq ft would be lifted by the government in want of more FDIs and would go to 2 lakh sq ft in next 10 years, as per Assocham's estimate.

The sector would grow more as expected requirement by the IT sector (like IT parks) will be about 200 million sq ft space across the major and large townships, it added.

It is also estimated that in the residential sector, the housing shortage is around 20 million units of which nearly 7 million units are estimated for urban India, it said.

Commenting on the problem faced by the sector, the Assocham said that the involvement of the center and a number of state agencies in setting up of townships is needed.