Bankers CM Meet In A Bid To Fund Govt. Housing Projects

In a bid to infuse money into government housing projects in Mumbai and the rest of Maharashtra, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad on Monday held a meeting with representatives of top banks. Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar also attended.

The meeting was in continuation with the State government’s plan to invite financial institutions to help the struggling real estate industry by promoting government projects.

“We are not aiming at a particular real estate project at this moment. This is an attempt to create a consensus among the banks to get ready with their finances. We are asking banks to invest in government housing projects with fixed returns,” Mr. Awhad said.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the State Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, Bank of Maharashtra, Central Bank of India, and Union Bank of India. Two weeks ago, in a review meeting of the housing department, Mr. Thackeray too had said that the thriving real estate industry would help revive economy.

Mr. Awhad on Friday had said that he had been pushing the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) to develop the land bank available with it on its own instead of asking builders to do so and allow them to benefit. “The real estate industry needs to be promoted and infused with money to complete housing projects. For any economy to thrive and grow, the real estate industry has to be powerful and in working condition. The government has been reviewing the sector since it was formed, and it has been found that it needs a financial push,” the minister had said.

“Instead of private builders, let the MHADA earn money by constructing houses. It is already in profit and coming more money to the MHADA would mean it can help the government in more ways financially,” he had said, adding a study group had been set up to find out various methods to do so and a report would soon be available.

(Source: The Hindu)