Real estate players oppose 10% EWS quota in Odisha

The department scaled down the mandatory reservation for EWS to 10% from 15% proposed earlier

Real estate developers in the state have opposed the mandatory provision to reserve at least 10 per cent of the total residential built up area for the economically weaker sections (EWS) in the apartments and group housing projects developed by the private players.

The reservation has been made compulsory by the state housing & urban development department in its recently notified Revised Scheme for Affordable Urban Housing Scheme- 2013 for all such residential projects developed by private players over a plot size exceeding 2000 sq metres.

The department scaled down the mandatory reservation for EWS to 10 per cent from 15 per cent proposed earlier after modifying certain provisions of Scheme for Affordable Urban Housing in Odisha-2012.

“The compulsion to build residential units for the EWS category in the projects exceeding plot area of 2000 sq meters is not feasible for the developers as it does not fulfill the planning criteria of the Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA)”, said Binay Das, President , Confederation of the Real Estate Developers Association of India (Credai), Odisha region.Das proposed that the size of the plot should be enhanced to a minimum of one acre of land within the city for construction of housing units for the EWS category.

Earlier, Credai has proposed the state housing and urban development department to bring down the mandatory reservation for EWS to five per cent from 15 per cent proposed originally.