As if the delay in securing permissions from the civic body is not gruelling enough for them, getting the environmental clearance for projects is the proverbial last straw for those from the realty fraternity, claim builders.
“Getting the environment clearance delays projects by almost two years,”says Lalit Kumar Jain, national president of Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI), adding that instead of having a checklist in place to ensure full compliance, the environment clearance process is kept deliberately vague to leave every project free for individual interpretation by its officials.
Demanding that the antiquated laws that govern urban development be done away with, the developers’ body is pushing for a practical approach by the environment ministry.
The developers maintain that while they are all for protecting the environment and implementing eco-friendly initiatives, it is the red tape under the cloak of environment protection that they have taken umbrage to.
The builders argue that while on the one hand the government department delays environment clearance, on the other, the green lobby is pushing for implementation of eco-friendly measures which substantially add to the developers’ costs. “The green ratings and certification processes have become a necessary evil. We are being pushed to adopt these expensive propositions under the name of compliance, which adds 30% to our construction cost,” explains a leading developer, adding that the need of the hour is sustainable development and not idealistic initiatives which are not cost-effective for the developer as well as the buyer.
At the end of the day, the additional cost is borne by the home buyer.
“Till the green initiatives don’t reach a critical mass and become cost-effective, the government should give incentives or cross-subsidy, failing which the entire burden will be passed on to the buyer,” says Paras Gundecha, president of the Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry, a body of real estate developers.
