Nano home at $300? Mahindras tap Harvard dons

After the world's cheapest car, India is likely to roll out the world's cheapest housing model costing less than Rs 14,000, with a touch of Harvard.

After the world's cheapest car, India is likely to roll out the world's cheapest housing model costing less than Rs 14,000, with a touch of Harvard.

HT Image

Mahindra Partners, a private equity arm of the Mahindra group, has conceptualised a $293.7 or Rs 13,217 house (not including land cost) that could be explored for global commercial application.

Last year, Vijay Govindarajan of Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business along with Christian Sarkar, a marketing expert, had written a blog on the website of Harvard Business Review about the possibility of a house for less than $300. After the post received phenomenal response, a crowd-sourcing forum had announced a $25,000 award for anyone who suggests the best way for its construction.

A team from Mahindra Partners had submitted an entry and has now been invited to the US for a prototype workshop.

When asked if this could mean that Mahindras could foray into the ultra low-cost housing space, Zhooben Bhiwandiwala, managing partner, Mahindra Partners, told HT, "The project is at just at an ideation stage and we will be required to do a commercial feasibility. But if our concept is selected as a feasible option in the US and then there would be a global commercial application."

"The team has conceptualised a development and identity scheme on the lines of the unique identification number where people enrolled in a government database would be eligible for rural financing to build their own homes," said S Mohan Raghavan, team mentor.

Mahindra group is present in real estate through Mahindra Lifespaces, a BSE listed company that has constructed some affordable housing projects.