Liberalization and the privatization of public rental housing in Kolkata

The paper focuses on the privatization of public rental housing in Kolkata. The State government has decided to sell to its sitting tenants, due to high maintenance costs and loopholes in the rent setting and allocation processes. The success of privatization of public housing in Kolkata is contingent upon the government’s capacity to turn its liabilities into assets for the future, fending off possible negative externalities of privatization on the low income households that constitute the majority population in the city. The paper suggests that considerable benefits can be accrued from the privatization and concludes with two possible alternatives, within a conducive liberalized environment. The alternatives are not conclusive, but designed to promote alternatives in future research.