New Delhi, Aug 3 (UNI) The government of India’s hyped Low Cost Housing programme seems to be on track as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is well informed about the essential fact that low cost housing is precisely “not low cost technology”, a key construction player has said. “Unlike many among the political class and even administrative officials, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is well informed about things he want to do and understands well that Low Cost Housing is not low cost technology.

This fact helps because , one needs to pump in money for technology,” Ani Ray, Managing Director of Arabian Construction Company told UNI in an interview. Mr Ray, who had a meeting with Prime Minister earlier this month, was all praise for him and said, “ He was extremely well informed about us and low cost housing technologies and keen to implement that fully in India.' “A low cost house would not come out of air...this ought to be understood, and he is well informed about that,” Mr Ray said. He explained that contrary to general impression even among a section in media, the low cost construction technology does not mean that construction will be with “cheap quality materials”. He said one modus operandi is to reduce the ‘unwanted expenditures. Thus, scientific methods are deployed to reduce the consumption of cement in construction of wall and plastering. But other works like flooring, kitchen platforms , electricity wiring and plumbing for water etc would require good quality materials to make the final product sustainable and acceptable to the ultimate consumers. Projects and working modules can be also based on eco-friendly system, he said. In fact, low cost housing projects can be eco-friendly and for this GFRG – Glass Fibre Reinforced Gypsum can be used. This reduces total cost by ensuring less use of cement which can also reduce Carbon di-oxide emission. “We are bidding for a project of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority for low cost houses at Bombay Development Directorate (BDD) Chawl Worli in Mumbai. An area of 2.5 crore square feet has been ear-marked for it,” Mr Ray said. Mr Ray said, his company is trying to explore works with other state governments as well and may enter into some tie-up with the Andhra Pradesh government for similar Low Cost Housing projects in some of the districts. He said recently, the Maharashtra government under the supervision of the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has initiated steps to fast track the redevelopment of Bombay Development Directorate (BDD) chawls located in central and south Mumbai. In this connection, certain hurdles and contentious conditions mandating that only those residents, who do not own houses elsewhere in Mumbai, are eligible for new houses in redeveloped colonies, have been removed. In this context, Mr Ray also said as real estate in India is essentially a state-government and municipality related subjects, most states need to ratify the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) Act. “I am stressing on this because, in some states lobbies would be working to delay it. But in the larger interest of the real estate sector, consumers interest and overall transparency in the system, we need RERA”. Sharing his views about working with government sector in India, he said, “I don’t mind working with states and some central government agencies, but ....dealing with a private builder is always easier”. “Because there is a single decision maker or a director. In government, you require to handle many players. We did not have the footprint to handle government organisations. And moreover we are new in India”. He said ACC started working in India in 2012 and “now after four years, when we have a footprint and we have done projects, we are confident that we are capable of doing government projects”. UNI DEVN ADG 1818