ahmedabad having remained dormant for almost a decade the gujarat housing board ghb has now sprung into action it has decided to develop 600 acres that it holds in different parts of the state the board which has not built a single housing unit since 2002 will once again be constructing houses for the low and middle income groups residing in urban areas of the statethe way real estate prices have increased the state government has thought it right to begin constructing houses for the low and middle income groups of the society said jayanti barot the chairman of the housing board which has built 175 lakh houses since its inception in 1960barot who was appointed chairman last year told a media gathering that the government in january 2010 had instructed the board to begin constructing homes he said that the board was looking at various sources of income including the recovery of rs 600 crore from people it sold houses to in the past we also have about 550 shops that we had leased out at nominal rates we are looking to renew those leases as well mr barot addedwe are looking to provide people with homes at nominal rates barot said when asked if it was a political move as the state assembly elections are scheduled in 2012 barot said i cant help if you wish to interpret it that way according to ghb officials the government in 2002 had asked the board to suspend construction activities as the supply had overshot demand and ghb was not able to sell houses it was constructing at that point in timeghb has not built a single housing unit in the last eight years it had even sent all its architects surveyors and engineers on deputation after 2002 said a ghb official during 2002 real estate prices were at its lowest when the communal frenzy had gripped the state the property market began to catch up after 2005 and within a short duration real estate prices in ahmedabad alone have leapfrogged by 10 times in some locations the situation is very similar in other urban centres of gujarat say real estate expertswhile ghb has built 175 lakh houses in 50 years its compatriots in other cities have been more active mhada maharashtra housing and area development authority which is in charge of providing affordable housing solutions in neigbhouring maharashtra has developed over 42 lakh housing units since it was established in 1977 similarly as per the 2007 figures depicted on the website of delhi development authority dda the agency that is in charge of the development and housing needs of delhi has allotted a total of 367724 flats including the reallotment of surrendered and canceled flats in gujarat a backoftheenvelope analysis points to an annual demand of at least 140000 homes in ahmedabad alone most of this demand comes from low and middle income groups who are looking to buy houses that range between 420 lakh says a real estate developer