The state government has began working on a housing policy,which is expected to be tabled in June. This comes three years after the Central government tabled the National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy. Most of the other states too have already framed their own housing policies. A committee has been constituted and several meetings have been held on framing the policy, said Debashis Sen,Principal Secretary,Urban Development Department. We have emphasized on the Public Private Partnership model of having housing complexes in the state. The planning needs to be redirected and are now inviting the stake holders to sit with us to discuss the policy, he added. The government will also assign a separate channel called green channel to help get the projects approved quickly. Providing tax-breaks could also be one the highlights of the policy. In absence of a housing policy in the state,the realtors interested in setting up projects in the state remained in dark about the land use and the infrastructure available where a housing project can be started. This is a high time for the state to wake up to its need. It is seen that the real estate industry has started booming in the state. But,at this crucial time,the state government is yet to frame its housing policy. We,the developers,do not know where we can start our project because for starting a project we need to have adequate infrastructure and availability of land, said Santosh Rungta,President,Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India. . This is not abundantly clear to the developers where the state will be able to provide the infrastructure needed to develop a housing complex, Rungta added.
