The NITI Aayog’s latest report, “S.A.F.E. Accommodation—Worker Housing for Manufacturing Growth,” has triggered hopes for scores of migrant industrial workers from the Northeast region for secure and affordable housing near their workplaces. Affordable housing facilities near industrial hubs will help the migrant workers to save more. Increased savings in turn will help strengthen the remittance economy of the region. The report highlights that inadequate housing near industrial hubs results in high rates of workers leaving a manufacturing company, low productivity, and workforce instability. Moreover, this prevents workers, particularly women, from migrating in search of better employment opportunities, thereby impacting the manufacturing sector’s competitiveness and undermining the sector’s growth potential, it adds. Under the S.A.F.E. (Secure, Affordable, Flexible, and Efficient) Accommodation Initiative, the NITI Aayog proposes that the development of long-term, dormitory-style housing near workplaces, equipped with essential amenities, will essentially reduce commute time, improve worker well-being, and also boost productivity. Regulatory barriers and economic constraints are the two primary bottlenecks for the market identified in the report to address this critical infrastructure gap. The report points out that existing regulatory laws stipulate separation of residential and industrial activities and often prohibit or limit the construction of residential units in areas zoned for industrial use. However, such restrictions do not account for the practical need for affordable workers’ accommodation in proximity to industrial hubs. By revisiting and reforming zoning laws, India can create a more flexible SAFE Accommodation Worker Housing near industrial sites, the report suggests. Dwelling on economic constraints, it points out that private housing developers have not been able to enter the market for worker housing due to lack of financial viability on account of high capital cost. At the current market cost, accommodation developed by private developers will require every worker to pay Rs 4000 as a monthly lease rental for 80 square feet, which constitutes around 30% of the minimum-wage worker’s salary and therefore will not be affordable for many workers. The report explored four primary models for the development of SAFE accommodation on a large scale: government-owned and operated, government-owned but privately operated, public-private partnership (PPP), and privately owned and operated. Among these, the PPP model, the report states, shares responsibilities between the government and private sector, with the government often providing land and/or subsidies and private entities handling construction and management. This approach enables cost-sharing and scalability, making it ideal to cater to high demand. The NITI Aayog recommends launching a SAFE Accommodation Scheme that provides Viability Gap Funding (VGF) for SAFE projects from the centre, available to states conditional on regulatory reforms. The conditions to be met by the states for availing VGF include permitting mixed land use zoning in industrial areas and allowing unrestricted construction of SAFE accommodation or designating such accommodation as permitted land use within industrial zones; liberalising building height regulation and allowing building height permission based on cost efficiency. Any such relaxation cannot overlook safety aspects, and such buildings and occupants must be well protected from disasters. Another key recommendation is that the PPP model in the infrastructure VGF scheme should be amended to include affordable rental housing in the list of eligible sectors to enable SAFE accommodation facilities to avail themselves of the scheme. The financial support from the central government envisaged in the recommendations includes providing VGF up to 30% of the total project cost (excluding land) to be jointly provided by the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), contributing 20%, and the sponsoring nodal Ministry of Government of India, contributing 10% on the lines of the “Financial support to Public Private Partnerships in Infrastructure” scheme. The VGF can also be used to retrofit/upgrade existing brownfield workers’ accommodation facilities, it states. Thousands of workers belonging to farm families migrating outside the Northeast region, many of them seasonally, have been playing a crucial role in expanding agricultural activities through the remittance of their savings to families back home. Apart from contributing to agricultural investment, the remittance money is also utilised by the farm families to construct additional rooms or buy household furniture or goods. The farm families can expect to receive more remittance by members working in industrial sites in other states if they are able to get affordable accommodation. Besides, the family members of migrant workers from the region are gripped by worries about their safety as they must commute long distances to industries and factories. If their accommodation is located near their workplace, it will also lessen the worries of family members. States in the region can explore collaboration with destination states of migrant workers to build SAFE accommodation near the industrial base in those states, thereby increasing the financial viability of such projects. The states attracting workers from the Northeast region reciprocating such initiatives will go a long way in addressing the workers’ need for safe, secure, and affordable housing.