Mr. T Chitty Babu, CREDAI (Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Association of India ) Tamil Nadu chapter President said, ''The two regulatory agencies, the CMDA (Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority ) and the DTCP (Directorate of Town and Country Planning), were sitting on applications seeking clearances for projects.
The piling up of about 700 files started 3 months before the assembly elections and there has been no respite even after the polls. The resultant loss to the exchequer in the form of infrastructure and amenity charges, scrutiny fee, development charges, property tax, stamp duty and value added tax was approximately Rs 1,750 crore.
On an average, projects take 18 to 24 months for CMDA and DTCP approvals. But now, it has overstretched by 6 more months and there is no sign of any relief.".
Prakash Challa, Former Vice President of CREDAI said,'' In all, about 4.35 crore sq ft of projects are awaiting approvals before the CMDA and DTCP. Nearly 450 of those files are with the CMDA. About 80% of them are residential projects. Any delay in their approvals would only add to housing shortage in the state, which stands at a staggering 28 lakh houses. It may result in about 3 lakh people in the construction sector going jobless".
Mr. N Nandakumar, secretary, CREDAI Tamil Nadu said, ''The procedural delays, increase in home loan interest rates and the mounting input cost, prices of sand, bricks, cement and labour are forcing builders to increase the selling price of projects by Rs 200 per sq ft"
Some CREDAI members also spoke about hidden costs involved in project approvals. However, they hastened to add, "Ours is a transparent organisation and we do not encourage unfair trade practices.
One of the members said files of even approved projects were being reopened by officials.
Asked about the delay in giving approvals for projects, state housing minister R Vaithilingam said, "There is some amount of delay owing to shortage of staff at various levels in the CMDA and DTCP. I convened a meeting of housing secretary, member secretary CMDA and DTCP director and instructed them to speed up the approval process. I have given an ultimatum that no file should be kept pending for more than 4 months."
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