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Established on April 25, 1970, the Housing and Urban Development
Corporation Ltd. (HUDCO) is a fully owned organization of the Government
of India. HUDCO was instituted with the objective of providing long-term
finance for construction of houses, undertaking urban development
programmes and infrastructure facilities.
HUDCO stands out in the burgeoning housing finance industry for its
focus on the social aspect of housing and utility infrastructure
provision. In spite of its commercial orientation, HUDCO has adopted a
policy of preferential allocation of resources to the socially
disadvantaged. It continues to emphasize on sectors which are more
socially relevant rather than only on commercially viable and profitable
sectors.
HUDCO has played a stellar role in the implementation of National
Housing Policy. It has been entrusted with the implementation of the
priority programmes of the Ministry like Low Cost Sanitation, Night
Shelter for Footpath Dwellers, Shelter Upgradation under Nehru Rozgar
Yojana, Rural housing under Minimum Needs Programme.
Although commercial banks and housing finance companies are doing brisk
business in the swelling housing finance sector, the housing needs of
the poor and low income groups have remained unaddressed. In such a
scenario, HUDCO's role has become even more significant. HUDCO's social
orientation of is evident from the fact that about 92 percent of the
150.93 lakh houses financed by HUDCO are for the benefit of Economically
Weaker sections and Low Income categories.
In the face of growing competition, HUDCO has adopted innovation in its
lending operations. HUDCO Niwas, which was launched in 1999, is an
extremely popular housing loan scheme. Under HUDCO Niwas, individual
housing loans are given directly to the borrowers instead of the
established practice of disbursing loans through the state governments
and their housing agencies. Moreover, HUDCO has moved the government
seeking permission to enter the banking and insurance sectors
