Talking about the efforts done by Government towards transformation of urban landscape under visionary leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Housing & Urban Affairs and Petroleum & Natural Gas, said that the investments in urban sector have seen a significant rise from Rs. 1,78,053 Cr ( 2004- 2014) to Rs 18,07,101 Cr ( 2014 onwards). The Minister reiterated indomitable will and resolve of Government towards growth and development of urban sector in India.
The Minister was speaking at the launch of an updated e-booklet (2014-2023) titled, “Transforming Urban Landscape”. Shri Manoj Joshi, Secretary, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs and senior officials of MOHUA also attended the event. The booklet launched by the Minister today encompasses the data/information on progress of various schemes/ initiatives/ programmes/missions that aims towards development of urban landscape in India. These Schemes/Missions include Swachh Bharat Mission- Urban (SBM-U), Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana- Urban (PMAY), Atal Mission for Rejuvenation & Urban Development ( AMRUT), Prime Minister Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) Scheme and Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM) among others.
While briefing the media during the event, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri recalled a statement of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi towards urban development which says, “We see urbanization as an opportunity and we are committed to make cities world class urban spaces that further Ease of Living”. He said that in line of the vision of Prime Minister, the Government has utilized the opportunity to transform the Urban sector in last 9 years. He emphasized that this sector was neglected previously.
The Minister highlighted the progress made under Sawachh Bharat Mission(U). He articulated that the mission has led to 100 % access to toilets with construction of 67.10 lakh Household Toilets and 6.52 lakh Community & Public Toilet Seats. The mission has led to four-fold increase in waste processing from 18 percent in 2014 to 75.20 percent in 2023. Segregation and door-to-door collection of Municipal Solid Waste has also witnessed a remarkable increase as a result of efforts done under SBM-U.
Drawing attention to the achievements under PMAY-U, Shri Puri informed that so far, the scheme has achieved a milestone of sanctioning of 1.19 crore houses. More than 113 lakh houses have been grounded for construction of which, 76.34 lakh have been completed and delivered to the beneficiaries. He highlighted that the mission promotes women empowerment by providing the title of houses in the name of female member or in the joint name. More than 94 lakh houses under PMAY-U are in the name of women or joint ownership. He further added that the Government is using latest technologies to build the project’s/houses under PMAY-U. Fifty four ( 54) new technologies have been identified through a Global Challenge process and these are used in construction of various Light House Projects.
Referring to the outcomes of various initiatives undertaken towards strengthening of Urban Transport, the Housing & Urban Affairs Minister said that today about 872 kms of metro lines are operational in 20 different cities namely, Delhi & 7 NCR cities, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Jaipur, Kochi, Lucknow, Mumbai, Ahmadabad, Nagpur, Kanpur and Pune with average daily ridership of 85 Lakhs. Further, about 988 Kms of metro rail projects (including Delhi-Meerut RRTS) are under construction in various cities across the country namely Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Kochi, Mumbai, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Pune, Kanpur, Agra, Bhopal, Indore, Patna, Surat and Meerut. He said that country is on path to become world’s 2nd largest metro network system.
He also mentioned about “PM-eBus Sewa”, a scheme recently approved by cabinet for augmenting city bus operation by 10,000 e-buses on PPP model.
Secretary, MoHUA, Shri Manoj Joshi, elaborated on the recommendations of a committee constituted under the Chairmanship of Shri Amitabh Kant, G20 Sherpa to recommend ways to complete the legacy stalled real estate projects. The Committee submitted the report to Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs on 21st August 2023.
Shri Manoj Joshi talked about various suggestions made by committee to address issues related to stalled projects including the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) led resolution, and use of IBC for resolution of projects among others. Some of the recommendations suggested by the Committee are:
Ø Mandatory Registrations with RERA: The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 [RERA] mandates the registration of all Real Estate Projects. Further, to ensure accountability and transparency, the Committee recommends that this provision needs to be strictly enforced and the Regulatory Authority will facilitate registration by waiving pre-requisites and penalty/fines.
Ø Execution of Registration/Sub Lease Deeds for All Occupied Units: The Committee recommended immediate registration/ execution of subleases in favour of the homebuyers who have occupied the units and this should not be linked to the recovery of dues from the builders. It would benefit approximately about 1 lakh homebuyers. The Committee also recommended that rigorous and strict proceedings should be initiated simultaneously to recover the outstanding dues from the defaulting builders. In cases where the homebuyers are expected to remit outstanding dues to the builders, the Committee suggests that RERA should directly collect these payments from the homebuyers, bypassing the builders.
Ø Occupancy/ Possession of all substantially completed Projects: The Committee recommended that the Regulatory Authorities should identify such projects for resolution where the construction is substantially completed but the possession remains undelivered for want of No Objection Certificates/Completion Certificates. The Committee further recommends that the clearance process including Occupation and Completion Certificates for these projects should be expedited, irrespective of whether developers have paid their dues to the authorities.
Ø Proposal for State Government’s Rehabilitation Package: The Committee recommended that States may announce a rehabilitation package for the stalled projects to make these projects financially viable.
Ø Framework for RERA and Administrator Led Revival of Projects: The Committee recommended that projects where the developer does not take responsibility of completing the project under the package or fails to do, such projects may be dealt by a RERA led revival framework. In case homebuyers propose to complete the project themselves, they should be accorded preference. Under this framework, Committee suggests equitable haircuts among all stakeholders and entire process from administrator appointment to bid awarding to be completed within not more than 6 months.
Ø Financing of Stalled Projects: The Committee recommended that financing for completing the projects may be treated as priority financing and SWAMIH fund should proactively provide finance for completing these stalled projects.
Ø Use of IBC for resolving projects as a measure of last resort: The Committee recommended that the IBC should be employed only as a last resort in case of real estate projects. The Committee also advised that State Governments/ builders/ bankers/ buyers/land authorities should avoid further litigation where judgments of Hon’ble Supreme Court have been received.
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