Disparate housing strategies and practices of public and private enterprises in India: Analysis of middle class housing and new towns

This paper focuses on housing provision in the context of Indian New Town policy (with special emphasis on new towns such as Rajarhat and Navi Mumbai) and the upsurge of the middle-income group (MIG) and its access to housing. It argues that alternative schemes for housing the growing middle income population should be promoted and—if planned inclusively—new towns can contribute to solving the housing crisis. New policies for housing the middle income groups (such as “Pradhan Mantry Awas Yojna”) are unlikely to affect MIG housing, as in spite of the subsidies offered, the market price of housing stock continues to be beyond the reach of the MIG. Unless policy measures to boost the housing stock for MIG is formulated while controlling the pricing and incentivising the developers, it is unlikely that gaps in terms of demand would reduce substantially. •The provision for housing of the middle income groups in India is less emphasized upon.•In spite of the demand from the rising middle income groups, the absorption rate of existing stock is stagnated.•The housing crisis of urban India is mostly driven by the inclination of the suppliers towards market-based demands.•Designing new areas might not ensure thriving urbanization, unless built with adequate infrastructure and economic base.