IIFL Home Finance Ltd. (IIFL HFL), in collaboration with Asian Development Bank (ADB), organized its flagship event Kutumb which is an initiative to promote Green Affordable Housing in India. The event took place at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi on December 14th, 2021 with the presence of Mr. S.K. Hota (MD, National Housing Bank) & Mr. Nirmal Jain (Founder & Chairman, IIFL Group) as chief guests. The event also had speakers from development finance institutions (DFIs) such as the Asian Development Bank and Proparco (an arm of Agence Française de Développement Group (AFD Group).
Under the project ‘Resilient & Green Affordable Housing for Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and Low-Income Group (LIG) categories in India’, IIFLHFL, with the support of ADB, will be hosting a series of its flagship event ‘Kutumb’ at various locations across the country. The objective of Kutumb is to enable and support the green building ecosystem in the affordable housing sector in India. Kutumb, Delhi Chapter, titled ‘Climate Resilient & Green Affordable Housing in India’ focus on affordable, low-carbon, and resilient homes. The program witnessed over 120 attendees, a mix of housing developers, financiers, subject matter experts, and consultants.
Mr. Monu Ratra (ED and CEO, IIFLHFL) said, “The pandemic has brought in high consciousness towards green and sustainable construction amongst the developers, as well as the homebuyers. Also, considering buildings contribute around 35% of carbon emissions and with the vast majority of housing stock yet to be built in India, it is imperative to hold platforms such as Kutumb to build an ecosystem to foster green, sustainable and affordable housing in India.”
Sharing her views, Ms. Susan Olsen, Senior Investment Specialist for South Asia, ADB said, “Building climate-resilient and sustainable communities begins by giving access to affordable and green homes, particularly for lower-income groups that are highly vulnerable to climate change impacts. IIFL HFL is our partner in broadening the scope of green affordable housing in India.”
The event witnessed discussions and deliberations between industry experts such as Priya Sunder (Senior Investment Officer, Asian Development Bank), Diane Jegam (Directrice Régionale PROPARCO Asie du Sud chez Proparco), nationally renowned architect Ashok B Lall (Principal Architect, Ashok B. Lall Architects), Mohua Mukherjee (Economist & Green Finance Professional, Independent Director, IIFL Home Finance Ltd.), Dr. Sejal Patel (Professor & Chair, Faculty of Planning, CEPT), Ravi Aggarwal (Co-founder & MD, Signature Global Group of Companies), and Saswat Bandyopadhyay (Project Director, CEPT). The event was conducted in a panel discussion format supported by presentations. The panels focused on subjects ‘Sustainable Finance in Affordable Housing’ and ‘Importance of Climate Resilience in Affordable Housing’ in India.
In the series of Kutumb, the next event is likely to be scheduled in Ahmedabad, in the first week of February, where IIFLHFL and ADB aim to bring together the affordable housing developers, planners, architects, consultants and potential homebuyers on one forum and address subjects relevant to green affordable housing in the area.