Thaindian News

New Delhi, Nov 9 (IANS) The government will soon introduce a regulatory framework for real estate sector to address the concerns of consumers and ensure level playing field for all stakeholders, union Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath has said.

The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill is under consideration of the government and is likely to be tabled in the upcoming winter session of parliament.

“It seeks to address grievances of consumers by making property transactions transparent and accountable by registering promoters, developers and builders and also regulating the secondary market,” Nath said in an interview to Realty Plus magazine editor Vinod Behl.

The minister said a section of developers were opposing the proposed bill fearing punitive action.

“Developers are opposing it on the grounds of punitive action against them
which is being addressed to ensure a level playing field for all stakeholders,” he said.

Nath said making available adequate land at an affordable price for real estate development was a challenge for his ministry.

He said the government was trying to increase the involvement of private players in development of low cost housing for urban poor.

“Rental housing can play an important role in shelter provisioning for the urban poor along with promoting livelihood options. In addition, it is important to designate urban poor pockets near work centres to reduce home to work commutes and ease the pressure on transport,” he said.

He pointed out that the ministry of housing and urban poverty alleviation has initiated a programme to make cities slum free. The government is also considering a property rights bill for slum dwellers.

The minister said providing housing and good infrastructure to the people in urban areas were challenging as increasingly more number of people are moving to urban areas from rural areas.

“The magnitude of the challenge can be understood from the sheer fact that our urban areas may be required to accommodate an additional 300 million people in about two decades from now,” he said.

Urban sector contributes around 60 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) which is likely to increase to 75 percent by 2021.

Over 70 percent of new jobs in future shall be largely created in cities. The link between economic performance of cities and the national economy is increasingly getting stronger, he said.

However, in a rapidly changing world, the minister said the cities were getting increasingly interlinked and would have to compete globally in future for employment generation and investments.

The minister emphasised on the need for regional planning to address the rising challenges due to urbanisation.

“Regional plans are now an absolute necessity. Regional planning has within its ambit efficient placement of infrastructure and zoning for the sustainable growth of a region,” he said.

“It is important to promote regional planning because it can address region-wide environmental, social, and economic issues across the board to promote sustainable habitat responsive to climate change,” Nath added.