CW presents industry views on the recently approved Real Estate Bill 2015.
Several amendments to the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2015, suggested by the select committee of Rajya Sabha, have now been accepted by the Union Cabinet.
A welcome move
For most, the Bill is a welcome move. Here are a few quick bytes from the industry bigwigs on the approved Bill:
Surendra Hiranandani, Founder & Managing Director, House of Hiranandani: The bill will bring in a systematic approach and enhance transparency, thereby giving a boost to domestic and foreign investments, which will aid growth of the sector.
Sanjay Dutt, Managing Director, Cushman & Wakefield: The Bill will ensure that only the well-capitalised developers remain operative in the sector.
Shishir Baijal, Chairman & Managing Director, Knight Frank India: The amendments should be implemented within the timeframe and we should not lose the momentum now.
Navin Raheja, Chairman, Naredco Advisory Council and Real Estate Committee, FICCI, and Managing Director, Raheja Developers: The Bill is expected to instill confidence among both domestic and international investors. The important expectation from States is setting up of single window clearance mechanism to facilitate time bound clearance of projects.
Ramesh Nair, COO-Business & International Director, JLL India: The Bill will tremendously help the end-users, the consolidation of the industry and regulate the broker community.
Pankaj Kapoor, Founder and Managing Director, Liases Foras: It will bring accountability and efficiency. The disclosure will make things transparent. The government has indicated that it will streamline the approvals´ process and finally move towards a ´single-window clearance´ system.
The missing link
However, the Bill also has a few drawbacks.
Hiranandani says, ´Lack of clarity on the various mechanisms proposed will add to costs through delay, making affordability a distant dream. The implementation of the Bill should be accompanied by regulatory reforms.´ Manoj Gaur, President, CREDAI NCR, adds, ´A sanctioning authority has not been made part of this bill, which leads to delays in projects.´ On his part, Dutt says, ´The Central Government has to ensure that apart from making the developer community regulated, state government and various state run approval bodies are also aligned and made more accountable.´ Overall, the passing of the bill will have a long term impact on creating a better environment for investment in the country. Hopefully, this will provide an impetus to India´s rating as a global investment destination and improve the Indian real estate sector.
Salient Features of the Bill
Major Amendments Approved by the Union Cabinet