Insights from Trip to India

Our trip to India in March was instrumental in helping us better understand the landscape, scope, and challenges of building a $300 house. As a result of our visiting several slums in urban and rural India, and our meetings with stakeholders in the private sector, government, and NGOs, we now understand the demand side of the equation and will focus our energies on the supply side. The resounding message we heard from everyone was "if you can build it, we will buy it." 

In terms of geographic focus, we learned that big urban centers such as Mumbai or New Delhi should not be our focus, but rather Tier 2 and 3 cities, where people live in shabby, makeshift homes or do not have homes at all. Cities are undergoing immense urbanization and local politics coupled with expensive land prices would make it difficult to build a $300 house. We were surprised to learn about slum dwellers' aspirations for upward mobility. In Tier 2 cities or towns, although the local governments are beginning to address the issue of low-income housing, they are not targeting the economically weaker sections (EWS). Yet EWS account for nearly 90% of people facing a housing shortage in India, mainly because they represent the bulk of rural-urban migration in the country. According to the Indian Government, housing shortage in urban areas for EWS will significantly increase in the coming years.  As a result, our objective should be to develop affordable housing  for Indians in the EWS who are migrating to Tier 2 and 3 cities.  

We have identified several potential customers for the $300 house. The government could be a potential customer under the Rajiv Aaways Yojana, a housing scheme in which the government subsidizes housing for low-income populations. Other customers could include migrant workers and local service provides such as housekeepers, nannies, and watchmen.  Additionally, the $300 house could serve as temporary housing (post-disasters) or as rental housing, as some people might simply want to rent low-cost housing until they find permanent housing.  Finally, there is the possibility that middle-class Indians might be interested in buying a $300 house as a home for their servants.

While the obtaining land will be challenge, we must focus on building on a $300 house  that fully leverages existing or new technology.