60-day window to clear housing projects soon

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday announced the launch of a clearance window for group housing projects for a period of 60 days, beginning next week.

Khattar, who was speaking at a real estate summit in Gurugram organized by the national real estate development council (Naredco), an industry lobby group, also announced the extension of a transit-oriented development (TOD) policy by another three months so that developers can be benefitted by it.

The opening of a clearance window for group housing will mean that more leftover areas in the developed sectors would be available for development in Gurugram and in other parts of the state. In the last four years, the Khattar government has issued licences for roughly 700 acres to 800 acres — a minuscule achievement when compared to the previous government.

“Our government has taken every step to reduce problems in the real estate sector and to boost infrastructure. We have regularised 628 colonies at very nominal development charges and launched the ‘Deen Dayal Jan Awas Yojana’ to bring housing to every strata of the society,” said Khattar.

As per the department of town and country planning(DTCP), the state government will advertise and auction the development rights in leftover areas in the developed sectors. “Earlier, the norm was that 20% of land for group housing was licensed on a first-come-first-serve basis. This will change now. The rights will now go to the highest bidder,” said an official, who preferred anonymity.

Khattar also announced the extension of a TOD policy for another three months. The policy received a lukewarm response from developers, although it offered an increased Floor Area Ratio(FAR) to projects falling within 500 and 800 metres of the mass rapid transport system. The CM said that his government was ready to offer more to landowners if they agreed to land-pooling. HTC