Environment laws now incorporate model building bylaws

Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has agreed to integrate environmental conditions and norms in building approval process and has now included in the model building bylaws of the ministry of urban development.

Once states also adopt this model building bylaws, there shall be no need separate clearance by MoEF for buildings of up to 1.5 lakh sq mtrs.

Revision of National Building Code, 2015 was finalised after incorporating the urban development ministry's model building bylaws.

Urban development minister Venkaiah Naidu assured the industry that with the establishment of a regulatory mechanism there would be greater flow of investment, both national and foreign, into the sector, resulting in reduction in the cost of borrowing.

The bill requires project promoters to register their projects with the regulatory authorities disclosing project information, including details of promoter, schedule of implementation, project layout plan, land status, status of approvals, agreements along with details of real estate agents, contractors, architects, structural engineers etc. Naidu said that this would enable transparent, accountable and timely execution of projects.

The minister further said that the Real Estate Bill, 2016 would enable people meet their genuine aspirations of owning a house, including those of urban poor, by giving a fillip to affordable housing initiative under which the government intends to enable construction of 20 million houses by the year 2022 under Prime Minister's Awas Yojana (Urban).