T he State Conference of CREDAI-Karnataka earlier this week witnessed an outpouring of grievances from the real estate fraternity. Delay in approvals and plan sanction from the authorities formed the main axis of deliberations in a session devoted to ‘Housing for All’. CREDAI pleaded for constituting a task force for housing by the government and reducing the stamp duty to 1% for affordable housing on the lines of Telangana.
A. Balakrishna Hegde, Mentor, CREDAI, in his keynote address said real estate is an engine of growth geared towards realising the Prime Minister’s goal of making India a $5 trillion economy. He urged the government to abolish all NOCs for plan sanction and ensure that RERA registration is done in 30 days as per the statutes. He also pleaded for scrapping the outdated 1904 village map in the Comprehensive Master Plan and said insistence on bandidaris (cart roads), kaludaris (pedestrian pathways) and non-existent dry nalas in the Master Plan areas causes unreasonable delays as these have become redundant in the age of well-planned road network. He alleged that these provide a ruse for raising of objections by the authorities and consequent delay and corruption. He appealed to the government to introduce a strict timeline of 15 days for plan sanction which, he said, will also help expedite revenue generation for the State.
Mr. Jagdish Shettar, Minister for Large and Medium Scale Industries, who was a special guest, urged the developers to focus on cities including Gulbarga, Hubballi, Dharwad, Mysuru and Chikkamagaluru and avoid being Bengaluru-centric. He said Hubballi has already come on the air map of the country while Gulbarga will have a flight from Bengaluru from November 22. He asked the developers to comply with the law and care for the environment.
Cumbersome process
Irfan Razack, Chairman, Prestige Group, while moderating a panel discussion on “Housing for All: Agility in the Changing Landscape” pointed out that buying agriculture land in the State and turning it into non-agriculture land was a cumbersome process. He observed that even when the land was under the Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP), the authorities insist on its conversion into non-agriculture land while it is deemed to be ‘converted’ as per the CDP. He said that in matters of fixing the guidance value the authorities apply varying values from building to building in the same area whereas uniform value should apply across the same locality. He said the authorities fix one guidance value while the project is being launched and yet another while it is ready for occupation.
“This causes hassles for the developers, as the gap between launch and delivery ranges from three to four years,” he noted.
Karnataka Chief Secretary T.M. Vijay Bhaskar, while responding to the developers’ pleas, agreed that buying of land was cumbersome and said that a cabinet sub-committee has been set up to review the Land Revenue Act.
E.V. Ramana Reddy, Additional Chief Secretary, IT, BT and ST Department, said the department is working for introducing digital signature and digital lock for all certificates. More computerisation is on the anvil in order to cut delays and bring in transparency. Building plan sanction would be automated soon in BBMP, which will be done online, provided approvals of other agencies have been secured, and relevant information keyed into the portal.
This system has already been implemented in 151 urban local bodies in the State. He also announced introduction of Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) in the State.
M.R. Kamble, Chairman, RERA-Karnataka, said it would come up with a simplified portal for registration. He said 500 projects had been registered in the last six months and the registration of agents too has increased. He said if the inputs like khata number, encumbrance for 12 years, engineering aspects and approval from the town planning authority were accurately filled, the process gets easier for the authorities.
Ramprasad Manohar, Chairman, Rajiv Gandhi Housing Corporation, said that the Corporation is constructing one lakh houses under affordable housing scheme in Bengaluru. A colony of affordable housing units is coming up on a 120-acre site in Ballari. He said the Corporation also faces hassles in procuring several approvals and has proposed to the Chief Secretary that a single-window system for approvals within 60 days be introduced.
Deputy Chief Minister C.N. Ashwath Narayan, who inaugurated the conference, said that the State government will address all the concerns of builders.
V.K. Jagdish Babu, Chairman, CREDAI-Karnataka, pointed out that government support was critical in improving the ease of doing business index of the State.
