For some months, COVID-19 brought construction activity to its knees in 2020, followed by a restricted on-site activity. Despite this, as many as 190 stuck/delayed housing projects accounting for over ~73,560 units were completed in 2020, reveals a recent ANAROCK study.

As of 2020-end, altogether 1,132 projects accounting for approx. 5.02 lakh units (launched in 2013 or before) are stuck in various stages of (non) completion in the top 7 cities. Towards 2019-end, there were as many as 1,322 stuck projects comprising approx. 5.76 lakh units.

The total value of the current stuck or delayed housing stock exceeds INR 4.07 lakh Crore.

MMR saw maximum completions of 84 stuck projects comprising ~29,750 units in 2020, and now has ~1.80 lakh stuck/delayed units worth over INR 2, 02, 145 Cr.

Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants says, “Project delays have been the bane of the Indian real estate sector over the last decade. Even the implementation of RERA had only a little impact on this. Among other factors, the liquidity crunch threw up roadblocks for developers, which is why the government intervened with the creation of the Alternate Investment Fund (AIF) in late 2019 with a corpus of INR 25,000 crore. This last-mile capitalization mechanism couched in the SWAMIH fund has proved to be effective in getting stuck projects going again.”

“The government and RBI’s liquidity-generation initiatives in 2020 also helped. 190 projects with over 73,560 units which can finally be handed over to their purchasers or marketed as ready-to-move options getting completed in the year are especially remarkable considering the backdrop of the unique COVID-19 impact on construction activity.”

City-wise Breakup

Data reveals that NCR and MMR together hold a 74% ‘majority share’ of currently stuck/delayed units, while the southern metros of Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad account for a mere 8%. Pune has an approx. 16% share, while Kolkata accounts for a minuscule 2% overall share of stuck or delayed projects.

Source: ANAROCK Research

• MMR saw the maximum completions – of 84 stuck projects comprising ~29,750 units – in 2020. Currently, the region has 500 stuck/delayed projects comprising ~1.80 lakh units worth over INR 2,02,145 Cr. Towards 2019-end, MMR had approx. 584 stuck or delayed projects with 2.10 lakh units worth INR 2,34,654 Cr.
• NCR, which had occupied the 2nd spot after MMR in 2019, now has the maximum stuck housing stock among all cities with ~1.90 lakh units worth approx. INR 1,19,290 Cr. Towards 2019-end, the region had 2 lakh stuck or delayed units worth approx. INR 1,26,040 Cr.
• Pune saw 44 previously stuck/delayed projects (of approx. 14,520 units) get completed in 2020. By 2020-end, the city has nearly 230 stuck projects consisting of ~80,480 units worth nearly INR 49,667 Cr. By 2019-end, Pune had 274 stuck projects with approx. 95,000 units worth ~INR 57,000 Cr.
• Bengaluru saw 20 stuck projects comprising over 9,150 units get completed in 2020. Currently, there are 60 stuck/delayed projects comprising ~29,850 units worth over INR 22,276 Cr. By 2019-end, the city had approx. 80 such projects with 39,000 units worth INR 28,080 Cr.
• Hyderabad saw the completion of 6 projects comprising ~2,380 units in 2020. Presently, the city has 16 stuck/delayed projects comprising ~6,520 units worth over INR 4,305 Cr. By 2019-end, the city had approx. 22 stuck/delayed projects with 8,900 units worth INR 5,467 Cr.
• Kolkata saw 10 such projects comprising 3,830 units get completed in 2020. Currently, the city has 22 stuck/delayed projects comprising ~9,180 units worth over INR 5,436 Cr. By 2019-end, the city had approx. 32 stuck/delayed projects with 13,000 units worth INR 7,327 Cr.
• Chennai saw 8 projects comprising 4,060 units get completed in 2020. Currently, the city has the least burden of stuck projects among the top 7 cities, with approx. 12 stuck/delayed projects comprising ~5,940 units worth over INR 3,886 Cr. By 2019-end, the city had approx. 20 projects with 10,000 units worth INR 6,493 Cr.

In the present end-user driven residential market environment, delivery of RTM inventory was the veritable Holy Grail in 2020 and will continue to be the single-most impactful factor throughout 2021.

(Note: Stuck/delayed projects include all projects that were launched in 2013 or before and are yet to be completed. These are classified as ‘highly delayed’ units. It also includes completely stalled projects.)

About the author- Anuj Puri, Chairman – ANAROCK Property Consultants