Online building permission system in all cities by March next year: Housing Secretary

New Delhi: The online building permission system will be implemented across all cities by March next year from about 2,500 cities currently to facilitate ease of doing business in the real estate sector, Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra said on Thursday.

Addressing a real estate conference organised by CII and JLL India, the secretary also highlighted that the government has already sanctioned 1.14 crore homes under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Urban (PMAY-U) to achieve 'housing for all' in the country.

Mishra highlighted that in the World Bank's ease of doing business report, under the construction permits category, India's rank has jumped to 27th out of 190 nations from 181st position.

"At present, online building permission system has been made operational in around 2,500 cities," he said, adding that this has resulted in 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.

The online system has been fully implemented in 19 states and Union Territories (UTs) and will soon be operationalised across all 36 states and UTs, he noted. On the PMAY-U scheme, Mishra said the government has sanctioned 1.14 crore houses so far and works have started on 89 lakh homes. He said around 52 lakh homes have already been completed.

"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 works on the remaining homes under this scheme will be completed in the next two years.

Talking about reforms in the real estate sector, Mishra said the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, known as RERA, has been implemented across all states except Nagaland and the legislation has brought confidence and trust in this important sector of the Indian economy.

He said around 70,000 real estate projects and 55,000 property agents are registered under RERA, while about 75,000 cases have been resolved by the authority.

The secretary also highlighted the government's recent initiatives like Model Tenancy Act and Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHC), saying both would open up new opportunities for the real estate players.