The Maharashtra government has sparked off a controversy by including real estate developers Shahid Balwa and Vinod Goenka — both were accused and later acquitted in the 2G spectrum scam — in a steering committee to review issues concerning the real estate sector.
However, this is not the first time the duo have been part of government consultation and at least one of them was on the 20-member consultative committee formed by the BJP to formulate a housing policy for the State in 2015.
The committee comprising senior officials and industry representatives was set up following a meeting of industry representatives with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. The MVA government later denied having included the two on the panel.
The committee includes Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad, Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde, Transport Minister Anil Parab, senior officials besides leading developers such as Niranjan Hiranandani, Rajan Bandlekar, Nayan Shah, Shahid Balwa, Boman Irani, Ajay Ashar, Vinod Goenka, Dominic Rommel and Dilip Thakkar. The announcement of names on committee was made by the Chief Minister's Office (CMO).
Both Mr Balwa and Mr Goenka were accused in the 2G scam but were later acquitted by a Delhi court.
''The news circulated on social media is not factual and unrealistic @OfficeofUT (Uddhav Thackeray) has asked me and @mieknathshinde (Eknath Shinde) to be the members plus some secretaries of housing Industry will be on the committee,'' the minister tweeted.
Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad tweeted that reports of their appointment were politically motivated.
In the meeting on Monday, the developers’ lobby had sought concessions for the sector in the Budget, including a 50% cut in stamp duty, which would bring relief to home buyers and help push sales.
A delegation comprising members of the National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO) and Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) met Chief Minister Thackeray to demand relief for the struggling construction sector.
The government is said to have shared details on the final plans for a unified Development Control Rule (DCR) for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).
