Goa housing board to collaborate with private players to provide affordable homes
: The
Goa Housing Board
(GHB) has decided to undertake all upcoming residential and commercial projects through a joint venture to provide quality construction to Goans.
The GHB will design residential and commercial properties, and private players will be involved to complete the projects on a sharing basis.
GHB chairman
Jit Arolkar
said the decision was taken to generate revenue for the board and purchase new properties to provide
affordable housing
to residents of
Goa
. 'Sharing would be on the basis of floor area ratio (FAR) between the board and the private player,' he said.
Arolkar mentioned that through the joint venture, the board is likely to gain an additional 20% profit besides the profits from projects undertaken by the board itself. In the joint venture, the housing board's investment will solely be land, Arolkar said.
He explained that when he took over as the chairman of the board, its financial condition was negative. 'I saw that the quality of construction was poor, resulting in no buyers for the existing flats and row villas despite repeated auctions,' he said.
The chairman said that considering all the facts, the board has decided to develop residential and commercial properties through the joint venture.
'The land would belong to the board. We will design and plan residential and commercial complexes and put them up for auction,' Arolkar said. 'Private players will bid for projects, and the highest bidder will be selected to complete a project on a sharing basis.'
Arolkar noted that involving private players will help the board complete projects with quality construction without any issues, and the money generated from the projects would be utilised to purchase new properties for the board.
'We have almost completed the existing properties. The board has no money to purchase new properties to develop for Goans,' Arolkar said. 'The joint venture will help generate revenue as the board is an autonomous body, and that money will be used to purchase new properties in Goa for development.'
Arolkar added that affordable housing can be provided to Goans only by the housing board, and that is the reason the board decided to develop the projects through a joint venture.
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