Mumbai: Public sector bank chiefs on Monday assured the Maharashtra government to lend money for the revival of the ailing housing sector in Mumbai. At their maiden meeting with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and NCP chief Sharad Pawar, the bankers said they are keen to provide funds for housing projects undertaken by the state-run Maharashtra Housing and Area Development (MHADA) for lower, middle and higher income groups.
However, the bankers were hesitant to lend money for slum rehabilitation projects in view of the delays in completion, mainly because of the time involved in bringing tenants on board and their agreement with the developers. Bankers pointed out risks involved in providing funds for SRA projects due to uncertainty about the recovery.
FPJ broke the story on January 15 about the meeting between bankers, Thackeray and Pawar.
Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad, who was present at today's meeting, told FPJ, " Bankers welcomed the government's initiative and agreed to finance the housing sector. They don't have an issue with MHADA projects, but with SRA projects. So it was decided that MHADA Vice President Milind Mhaiskar and Slum Rehabilitation Authority CEO Deepak Kapoor will meet with the bankers and work out a plan in the next seven days on how they can lend money for slum rehabilitation projects."
The meeting was attended by SBI chairman Rajneesh Kumar, Bank of Baroda MD & CEO Sanjiv Chadha, Bank of India MD & CEO Atanu Kumar Das, Bank of Maharashtra MD & CEO AS Rajeev, Central Bank of India MD & CEO Pallav Mohapatra and Union Bank of India MD & CEO Raj Kiran Rai.
Awhad said that the government will facilitate all the possible assistance for the revival of the housing sector. He noted that the revival is necessary as it will help boost economic growth and create jobs in Mumbai.
