The Government’s role in private partnerships for urban poor housing in India

Purpose - – The purpose of the paper is to primarily understand the changing role of the government in Housing delivery and envisaged role through public-private-partnerships (PPPs) in Housing. An increased emphasis has been laid on the private sector and particularly on PPPs for delivery of Housing to the urban poor ever since the government changed its role from being a “provider” to “enabler” of housing supply. Design/methodology/approach - – The paper analyses the various projects of Partnership models that have emerged in various parts of the country for Housing the poor and investigates the role of the Government that emerges within the same. Findings - – The enablement and partnership approaches primarily aimed for increasing housing supply have so far seen the government play a backhand role rather than a forthcoming one, not keeping with the spirit of a PPP. The current models of PPPs backed with incentives, cross subsidies and waivers of charges are inadequate and not holistic in approach resulting in a “zero-cost” policymaking stand of the government within the same. The government needs to be in the forefront, devising appropriate PPP innovative approaches and appropriate urban poor housing models to achieve the impact that the policies desire. An enhanced role of the government is crucial along with models along with clear institutional support to meet the desired demand. Research limitations/implications - – Research is limited to cases of PPP that are currently existing in the country. Originality/value - – With policy emphasis in the recent times for PPP in housing, the topic is of utmost importance for research.