New Delhi: A day after Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman announced the extension of all real estate projects by six months, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Durga Shanker Mishra said that the decision to extend real estate projects due for completion after March 25 is a win-win situation for all stakeholders.
Speaking to ETV Bharat, Mishra said, "This is a win-win for every stakeholder involved in real estate projects. Projects will not be stressed and there will be no litigation too. Homebuyers, though, can get their home a little bit delayed."
Referring to a lot of projects of the pre-RERA era, Mishra said that in projects like Amrapali, Jaypee, Unitech people who have invested their hard-earned money to get a dream home are still struggling as all such projects are stalled now. He said that the post lockdown period will also have reverse migration of construction labour.
"There will be a total disruption of the supply chain of materials...In fact, projects can't revive soon," said Mishra.
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As soon as Finance Minister Sitaraman announced the relaxation period, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in a letter issued to the Chief Secretaries of States and UTs, Principal Secretaries(Housing) have intimated the same.
After consulting Real Estate Regulatory Authorities of States and UTs, representatives of NAREDCO, CREDAI, FICCI, ASSOCHAM, and other stakeholders, the ministry observed that at this time of COVID 19 pandemic work on the real estate projects will take some time to restart in full gear. As many as 51,850 real estate projects and 40,481 real estate agents have registered under RERA across the country.
"The extension will be done by invoking the 'force majeure' clause under RERA for the COVID19 pandemic. Regulatory Authorities may extend the timeline further up to 3 months, if the situation in the State/UTs, so demands," said Mishra.
He said that the extension will provide relief from unnecessary litigation and stress on projects.
"The extension period will ensure the delivery of homes as per revised timeline to home buyers who have invested their life saving for their dream homes. It will ensure that Covid-19 does not lead to a complete breakdown of the real estate sector which is one of the largest employers and contribute to GDP," Mishra said.
Notably, in line with the government's focus on Ease of Doing Business (EoDB), RERAs gave been advised to issue 'Revised Registration Certificates' with new timelines 'suo moto' without taking individual applications.
It is pertinent to be mentioned here that RERA came into effect on May 1, 2017, to wipe out drawbacks in the real estate business. Under RERA, builders are also bound to complete their ongoing projects within a specific time.
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