There is an unmet demand for 20.33 lakh houses among Lower Income Group (LIG) in urban areas of Telangana and 8.77 lakh in Middle Income Group (MIG). With a huge demand for houses at affordable costs, developers have to think about construction of one room houses too. Public Private Partnership (PPP) can give a boost to affordable housing. These were some of the observations made at a panel discussion on ‘Investment in inclusion: Prospects in affordable housing’ held as part of the Telangana Rising Global Summit-2025 second day, at Bharat Future City on Tuesday (December 9, 2025).Focus on core urban, peri-urban and the restAcknowledging a gap in demand and supply, Housing and Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy said that a comprehensive Affordable Housing Policy, which will serve as a guide till 2047, is in the works. The focus will be on the “needs in urban areas which will be socially inclusive, environmentally responsible, tech driven and financially affordable. Telangana affordable housing policy focuses on three areas: Core Urban Region focusing on slums redevelopment and mixed and rental housing.” In the peri-urban region, the focus is on satellite and greenfield township with integrated housing, walk-to-work housing. In the rest of the State, small and medium township, rental and worker housing, logistic hubs and emerging economic corridors would be focused.Citing house-to-house surveys, Secretary of Housing Department, V.P. Gautham said that there is unmet demand for over 29 lakh houses in the urban areas. Considerable number of them have purchasing power and the supply is missing.One room segment suggestedWhile the real estate sector is providing housing in urban areas, they are for the upper and middle segment, said PSN Rao, Dean and Professor of Housing at the School of Planning and Architecture.“If developers want to remain in business, better start building small, get into one room segment,” said Mr. Rao. Redefine affordable housing budgetPresident elect of CREDAI National, G. Ram Reddy, said that the current definition of affordable housing is at a budget of ₹45 lakh, which was conceived eight years ago and needs to change now. He said that the Government has to provide lands to the private sector in the PPP model so that developers will build affordable houses and have their own business models.Mumbai model for slums redevelopmentNanda Kishore, MD, Ramky Estates and Farms said that the Mumbai model can be borrowed for slums redevelopment, which developers would be interested in. One of the prerequisites would be for the Government to make available lands to set up transit camps for temporary residence of people and can relocate after redevelopment. The other panelists included Vasudevan Sureshan, former CMD, Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO); Abhijit Shankar Ray, senior urban specialist, World Bank; Ajithesh Korupolu, founder ASBL. The discussion was moderated by Preetham Mehra. The panel also discussed bringing down costs of construction.The Housing Department’s Secretary said that developers and builders who are willing to invest in affordable housing are needed. Banks and housing finance companies for necessary funding. Civil Society to convey the concerns and needs of society.Published - December 09, 2025 03:28 pm IST