India May Need 15 Crore More Urban Homes by 2047: CREDAI

India could need nearly 15 crore additional urban homes by 2047 as urbanisation accelerates and household purchasing power rises, according to CREDAI National President Shekhar G. Patel.

Speaking at the ETRealty Realty and Beyond Ahmedabad event, Patel, who is also managing director and CEO of Ganesh Housing Corporation, said urban India currently has roughly 12 crore homes. By 2047, that requirement could rise to around 27 crore homes, creating an incremental demand of about 15 crore units.

The projection points to a housing challenge much larger than simply increasing the number of residential projects. Patel said India's urban population could rise from around 55 crore people, or about 38% of the population today, to close to 100 crore, or around 60%, by 2047.

Meeting that expansion would require urban India to add approximately 70 lakh homes a year over the next two decades, Patel said. He compared that requirement with current housing supply across both urban and rural India of around 40 lakh units annually.

The gap, if the estimates hold, would put pressure on developers, governments and city planners to increase construction capacity while also providing the infrastructure needed to support new communities.

Patel said future urban development cannot focus only on housing. Cities will also need commercial properties, retail spaces, schools, hospitals, transport systems, utilities and other social infrastructure to support a rapidly expanding urban population.

That creates a different challenge for India's property sector. Building millions of additional homes will require land, but Patel argued that the country cannot rely simply on converting agricultural or rural land around cities. Existing urban centres will also need greater capacity and density.

The need for better urban planning becomes particularly significant as incomes rise. Patel said higher purchasing power could strengthen housing demand as more households become capable of buying homes and participating in urban consumption.

The projection also puts the scale of India's real estate opportunity into perspective. A requirement for 15 crore additional urban homes would represent decades of sustained construction activity, but it would also require cities to expand infrastructure at a comparable pace.

Patel said India's economic growth, demographic profile and urbanisation are converging to create favourable conditions for the real estate sector. But the opportunity, he stressed, will not be limited to constructing more buildings.

The larger task will be creating urban areas capable of supporting a much larger population while maintaining mobility, utilities, public services and liveability.

For homebuyers, the implication is equally significant: India's future housing shortage is likely to be concentrated in expanding urban centres, where demand for homes will increasingly intersect with the availability of land and infrastructure.

Source:

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