New Delhi, Jun 11 (IANS): The government Friday said it is committed to providing affordable housing to all and that work is underway on a real estate regulation bill.

"The government is committed for providing shelter to all, and for this the participation in public sector is being promoted," said Sunil Kumar Singh, joint secretary housing, ministry of housing and urban poverty alleviation at Realty 2011, 7th international conference on real estate.

Speaking on improving the service levels, Singh said that the government is focused on integrated development of infrastructure services, securing linkages between asset creation and maintenance for long term project sustainability and accelerating the flow of urban sector investments and that the reforms have to be implemented on state and central level.

"We are also working on the Real Estate Regulation Bill which will focus on augmentation of land supply to increase the stock of affordable housing, much transparent system and empowering the consumer," Singh said.

A report jointly prepared by industry lobby Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Grant Thornton pointed out the changes that the Indian cities should bring about to address challenges of sustainable growth, quality of life and climate change.

The report highlights five key aspects that are critical for ensuring brighter future of the Indian real estate sector and Indian cities at large as planning, governance, infrastructure, finance and green technology.

According to Vishesh Chandiok, national managing partner, Grant Thornton India, only 35 percent of population of India is urban while that of China is 65 percent. With India becoming a second favourite investment destination after US, there would be immense pressure on urban India.

Therefore 1 trillion dollar investment is required for infrastructure development in India in contrast to 500 billion dollars as allocated in the 11th Five Year Plan.

For better infrastructure development, Pradeep Kumar, chief executive officer, India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd called in for participation of local bodies.

He sought that merely creation of real estate pockets like in Gurgaon will not help unless the municipal corporation steps forward to support local infrastructure.