Online building permission system to be implemented from March next year across all cities

At present, online building permission system has been made operational in around 2,500 cities, said Housing Urban Affairs Secretary Durga Shankar Mishra.

To implement ease of doing business in the real estate, the government is set to launch its online building permission system across all 2500 cities by March next year, said Housing and Affairs Secretary Durga Shankar Mishra on Thursday.

The announcement came when the secretary was present at a conference organized by CII and JLL India. He also mentioned government achievement for sanctioning 1.14 crores homes under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U).

He highlights India’s growth in ease of doing business in the construction category which led the country to rank 27th out of 190 nations from 181st position.

At present, the online building permission system has been made operational in around 2,500 cities,” he said, adding that this has resulted in a reduction in compliance cost and time.

“I am confident that by March next year, we will implement this system 100 per cent in all cities,” the secretary said.

He mentioned that the online system is fully implemented across 19 states and union territories, and will be soon operational across all 36 states and UTs.

Giving importance to PMAY-U Scheme, Mishra said the government has successfully given sanctions on 1.14 crore houses and out of those houses 89 lakh are already in development. Moreover, he said 52 lakh homes have already been completed under the scheme.

“We have committed Rs 1.85 lakh crore for this scheme and out of that Rs 1.13 lakh crore has been already provided,” he said.

The secretary said the remaining homes under the scheme will be completed in the next 2 years.

Highlighting the real estate reforms, he said Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, known as RERA is successfully implemented in all the Indian states except Nagaland. The act has helped boost the real estate economy and brought transparency to the system.

He mentioned that around 70,000 real estate projects and 55,000 property agents are registered under RERA, and the RERA authority has resolved around 75,000 cases across regions.

He said new initiatives like Model Tenancy Act and Affordable Rental Housing Complex (ARHC) will bring new opportunities to the real estate people.

Mentioning the ARHC which provides affordable housing to migrants, he said private players are excited about the scheme and the government has already processed many applications.

He said in the last seven years, the government has given financial support and implemented new reforms to the real estate sector.

He told builders to adopt new technology in project construction and sales. He said e-commerce in the real estate sector has huge potential. He complemented industry bodies CREDAI and NAREDCO for starting their online e-commerce portals.

He praised the future of the real estate sector by mentioning that it is bright with exceptional economic growth.

Although the real estate industry was affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March last year, the sector has bounced back sales and launches during the October-December quarter of 2020 and January-March period this year, he said.

The second wave again impacted the sector during the April-June quarter of this year but the revival has started in September, the secretary said.

Stating that the Indian economy is witnessing a “V-shaped recovery”, Mishra said the economic growth will aid fast revival in housing demand.

Published by– Press Trust of India