India's Housing Woes: 2,000 Projects Frozen, Mumbai At Forefront; Check Details

The city-wise data released on Thursday shows that 1,981 projects across 44 cities have stalled over the past eight years, affecting both homebuyers and real estate developers

One in five homes currently under construction across India has stalled over the past eight years, reveals a recent report by PropEquity, a real estate data analytics firm. This freeze in development impacts more than 500,000 housing units nationwide. According to the report, even the remaining four out of five homes still under construction have faced significant delays, with delivery often postponed by 3 to 4 years.

The city-wise data released on Thursday shows that 1,981 projects across 44 cities have stalled over the past eight years, affecting both homebuyers and real estate developers. By July 2024, the number of stalled units rose to 508,202, reflecting a 9 per cent increase from 2018, when the total was 465,555.

The report provides a detailed breakdown of the stalled housing projects across various cities. In total, 1,636 projects with 431,946 units have been affected in 14 Tier-I cities. Additionally, 345 projects for 76,256 units have stalled in 28 Tier-II cities. 

Mumbai has the highest number of stalled projects, 234. Following Mumbai, Bengaluru has 225 stalled projects. In Tier-II cities, Bhiwadi is the leading location, with 13,393 stalled units distributed across 33 projects, representing 18 per cent of all stalled units in this category.

Among the Tier-I cities, Greater Noida in the National Capital Region is the most impacted, with 74,645 stalled units across 167 projects. This accounts for 17 per cent of all stalled units in Tier-I cities throughout India.

“The problem of stalled projects and the subsequent rise is due to the lack of execution capabilities of developers, cash flow mismanagement and diversion of funds to buy new land banks or retire other loans,” said Samir Jasuja, Founder and CEO of PropEquity.

He highlighted that what is urgently needed is an independent third-party audit service for homebuyers. This would enable them to make well-informed decisions regarding developers’ ability to complete projects on schedule.