Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry (MCHI) has embarked on an ambitious plan of facilitating the creation of five lakh affordable houses by 2015 in co-ordination with the state Government.

The total investment will be around Rs 15,000 crore and more than 500 builders will participate in the project.

"We are closely working with the state Government and its officials to come up with the modalities of the scheme," MCHI president Pravin Doshi told reporters here on Tuesday.

The aim of the project is to provide affordable homes to middle-and-lower income groups living in the metropolis and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Doshi said.

The MMR, besides Mumbai, consists of some areas in neighbouring Thane and Raigad districts.

MCHI, a prominent body of real estate builders and developers, will be working with the Government to examine and identify measures to strengthen the housing industry's role in the State's socio-economic development, Doshi said.

A convention will be held here on April 28 and MCHI will also sign an MoU on the same day with the Government to create confidence among investors for this project, he said.

"Mumbai has an immediate demand of around 1.4 million homes, of which 80 per cent is expected to emanate from the Rs 3-5-lakh income group. There is an unmet demand for basic affordable housing in Mumbai and the MMR region due to rise in land, labour and construction costs," Doshi said.