India is urbanizing rapidly and, as per UN estimates, the urbanization rate is set to cross 50% by 2050, with close to 600 million Indians expected to be living in urban areas by 2030. The increased urbanization, along with rising household incomes, has led to a surge in demand for residential properties. This has been accelerated by the Government of India’s (GoI’s) Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) initiative launched in 2015 which seeks to overcome a housing shortage of close to 10 million units by 2022 in the urban, low-income, affordable housing category.
India has been progressing in its adoption of cleaner energy and moving towards achieving its climate goals. At the 26th Conference of Parties (COP-26) in Glasgow, India set the target to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070. Creating housing stock for the urban influx would exert huge pressure on available resources, subsequently contributing towards carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
The objective of the study is to “help improve access to affordable green housing for low-income borrowers.” It aims to create a demonstrable example for affordable green housing for low-income households (including women-led households). The study focuses on: 1. Identifying and assessing the potential and actual demand for green housing among lower-income groups (affordable segment). 2. Assessing the value chain of supply of green construction materials and financial products. 3. Assessing the housing policy framework on green buildings and finance; and 4. Formulating appropriate product(s) and strategies for penetrating the affordable green housing market and targeted customer segments.