Indian cities see highest growth in whole of Asia

According to a recent report by Oxford Economics which studied the 30 largest cities in Asia, the fastest growing urban areas over the next five years will be in India, particularly the capital Delhi. In 2017 the World Bank has estimated a growth rate of 7.2% in India.

The country is now home to over 50 cities with more than a million inhabitants. With the Housing for All initiative, spearheaded by Prime Minister Narenda Modi, the house building sector is expected to see strong growth. A further boost to the sector comes from the strong growth of the middle classes, which according to the Brooking Institute now make up half of India’s population. By 2022, India may overtake the US to become the world’s second largest middle-class market. The number of ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWI) in India has exploded by 290% during the past decade and is expected to double over the next ten years. Along with housing, the government is also boosting expenditure on infrastructure and commercial property and Smart Cities.

At the same time the green building market is expanding rapidly. India’s green building stock accounted for 5% of the total in 2016 and is expected to reach around 20% by 2018. Construction industry growth is also driving demand for machinery and equipment for ceramics, roofing materials, and masonry blocks. Increasingly, Indian buyers’ preferences are shifting away from purely price points and towards product quality.