Housing for all project on slum clearance board land?

The hitch is the new Transferable Development Rights Policy, which is being formulated by the government.

CHENNAI: Real estate developers are eyeing the Slum Clearance Board lands to help the government develop housing projects under the ‘Housing for All’ scheme but the hitch is the new Transferable Development Rights Policy, which is being formulated by the government.

Addressing reporters after releasing a Vision 2025 document for the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI), Chennai Chapter, Suresh Krishn, president of CREDAI, said that they were awaiting the new Transferable Development Rights policy which is being formulated by the government before being part of the public-private partnership to develop the lands.

Government lands are available with the Slum Clearance Board for constructing affordable homes, he said. “We will help the government in developing it, once the policy on TDR is finalised. We also have issues pertaining to guideline value in TDR,” said Krishn.

The Transferable Development Rights is a mechanism where the government compensates the owner of the land by entitling him to floor space index through a development rights certificate after taking over his land.

Though the TDR came into being after the Second Master Plan was implemented by the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority, the biggest issue is there is no mechanism or provision on how to encash it or sell it. Planners feel that the TDR could be successful if it had a legal backing and a dispute redressal mechanism.

He also said that CREDAI was looking forward to single window clearance where all approvals would be in one place. “Now, we have to go to 20 different departments to get approval. Once the single window scheme comes into being, all approvals will be in one place,” he said.

He added that the focus of CREDAI was to protect consumer interest and hoped that once the Moulivakkam building was brought down, then flat owners would be compensated by the government. “The government will come out with a policy in supporting the buyers,” he said.

According to him, CREDAI is planning to desilt a water tank and beautify a crematorium under the Corporate Social Responsibility activities.

CREDAI is also planning to set up material testing laboratory in association with Anna University, Kings Institute to test new technologies.

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