Roti, Kapda, and the missing promise of Makaan : Dr. Venkatesh Panchapagesan

In the piece ‘How affordable housing can be propped up’ for The Hindu BusinessLine, Dr. Venkatesh Panchapagesan, Chairperson, Real Estate Research Initiative (RERI) and faculty of Finance & Accounting, examines why India’s affordable housing debate has persisted despite decades of policy intervention.

Nearly six decades after Roti, Kapda, Makaan became a political lodestar, he observes that housing remains a stubborn, unresolved promise. “This is not for lack of trying”, says Dr. Panchapagesan, pointing instead to a repeated reliance on familiar tools such as tax incentives, credit subsidies, and redefinitions of affordability that have historically delivered limited results.