#RealtyNewsRoundUp: Infra Push To Turn India Into World's 5th Largest Economy By 2018

India's economy was expected to overtake that of Britain and France to become the world's fifth largest in dollar terms in 2018 and the third-largest in 2032, the World Economic League Table (WELT) said on December 27. While forecasting that the Indian economy would become the world's third-largest by 2032, the report highlights how construction and infrastructure projects will change the shape of the world, including India, by 2032. Indian infrastructural projects, says the report, will rebuild the world's most populous country, which will spend an amount as large as Canada's gross domestic product on infrastructure.

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The Lok Sabha on December 27 passed a Bill to protect slums and unauthorised colonies in the national capital region (NCR) from punitive action till a framework for orderly arrangements are in place. The National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Second (Amendment) Bill gives immunity to slums and some unauthorised constructions till December 31, 2020. The sealing exercise by the Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee had created panic among the slum-dwellers and traders in part of the city. This legislation is expected to allay their apprehensions to a large extent.

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Despite a global economic slowdown, India's commercial real estate saw a net absorption of nearly 30.57 million square foot (sqft) of office space in top eight cities in 2017, indicating growing investor confidence in India's growth story, according to a survey. However, the net absorption of office space in 2017 dropped by seven per cent to 30.57 million sqft as compared to 32.85 million sqft last year, says the survey by Cushman & Wakefield. The total supply also dropped by 11 per cent this year to 32.20 million sqft as against 36.34 million sq ft in 2016.

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Observing that air quality in the national capital was "severe" for most of the month, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed implementation of a graded-response action plan to combat different levels of air pollution. The NGT divided air pollution into four categories ─ Category-I (Average), II (Severe), III (Critical) and IV (Environmental Emergency) ─ and suggested measures that should be implemented category-wise.

Meanwhile, the Delhi government has deployed 14 environment marshals in seven municipal wards of the city to flag instances of open burning of waste, violation of construction norms and spillage of garbage at roadside dumps.

Source: Media reports