india

Updated: Apr 30, 2020 20:26 IST

The Centre will draft special guidelines for key infrastructure projects, including the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (urban) while anticipating a higher demand in the housing and construction sector, after the nationwide lockdown restrictions, which have been imposed from March 25 till May 3 to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak, are lifted, according to officials aware of the development.

Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Puri chaired a review meeting of key projects, including the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (urban) and the Swachh Bharat Mission (urban), on Tuesday. The ministry is looking at a higher demand in the realty sector after the lockdown is lifted and accordingly drafting standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the resumption of construction activities.

“The government is expecting the demand in housing to go up after the lockdown is lifted and we’ve to be prepared accordingly. Our target is to sanction 1.12 crore houses. The Centre’s priority will be to provide housing for the poor,” a ministry official said, requesting anonymity.

According to the ministry’s data, 1.04 crore houses have been sanctioned so far under the scheme, out of which construction work has started in 64 lakh and completed in another 33.5 lakh. The Centre has a target to sanction1.12 crore houses and to deliver them to the intended beneficiaries by 2022.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also chaired a meeting on Thursday to discuss schemes to be developed to promote more plug-and-play infrastructure in the existing industrial lands, plots, and estates across the country and provide necessary financing support.

“The PM directed that the action should be taken for a more proactive approach to handhold the investors, to look into their problems and help them in getting all the necessary Central and state clearances in a timebound manner,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement.

The Centre will soon also issue an advisory to state governments and Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, (RERA) authorities on the measures required to protect the interest of homebuyers as well as the depressed real estate sector.

An urgent meeting of Central Advisory Council (CAC), constituted under the provisions of RERA, was held Wednesday to discuss the impact of the pandemic on the real estate sector and to treat it as an event of ‘force majeure’ under its provisions. Puri and Niti Aayog chairman Amitabh Kant also attended the meeting.

The concerns of the real estate sector, particularly the impact of Covid-19 and consequent nationwide lockdown restrictions, were deliberated in the meeting.

“There was a demand for providing special relief to the real estate sector in a bid to help it cope with the adverse impact of the current crisis. Covid-19 has already disrupted construction activities due to reverse migration of labour at a large-scale and the disruption of the supply chain of various construction materials,” the ministry said in a statement.

Puri said the Centre would issue an advisory to the RERA authorities and states about the special measures that need to be taken to safeguard the interest of homebuyers and all other real estate industry stakeholders.

Maneesh Upadhyaya, chief business officer, 99acres.com, a real estate database website, put the industry’s expectations in perspective. “We expect homebuyers to return to the market gradually after the easing of social distancing norms, as real estate prices are likely to come down. The government’s pro-realty measures, including a voluntary three-month moratorium on the payment of home loans and .75 percentage-point cut in interest in borrowing rates, have calmed the homebuyers’ nerves, but we’re looking for more institutional support,” he said.