Naidu sets up committee for faster approvals to building plan

Union Urban Development ministry has set up a high-powered review and monitoring committee to fast track approval of building plans in Delhi and give a boost to the construction business in the national capital.
Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu has set up the 16-member committee which would be headed by Vice-Chairman of Delhi Development Authority (DDA).
"The committee has been mandated to review and monitor sanctioning building plan approvals for land area measuring 5,000 square metres and more for commercial/industrial purposes and 10,000 sq mtrs and more for residential purposes," a statement from UD Ministry said.
The committee seeks to enable building plan approvals within 30 days from the date of application to the concerned urban local bodies.

The committee will meet once every month and sort out inter-departmental issues that result in delay in issuing the required No Objection Certificates/clearances, it said.
The committee, if required, could call the applicant to seek clarity to resolve the issues.

The concerned urban local bodies would furnish the summaries of such proposals in the prescribed proforma to the Committee as soon as the applications were received and sent to the concerned authorities for NOC/clearances, the statement said, adding that the aggrieved applicants could directly write to the Member-Secretary for taking up their cases in the next meeting of the Committee.

This Committee has been set up by Naidu in the backdrop of delays in according approvals for building plans which is adversely affecting the ranking of Delhi in terms of 'ease of doing business'.
"This initiative will help in enabling FDI flows into the construction sector in respect of which the minimum built up area has been reduced to 20,000 sq mt from the earlier 50,000 sq mtrs," it said.
Members of the committee include: Chairman/Commissioners of New Delhi Municipal Council and three Municipal Corporations of Delhi, representatives of the Ministries of Environment & Forests and Climate Change and Defence, Airport Authority of India, National Highway Authority of India, Central Pollution Control Board, Delhi Fire Service, Delhi Pollution Control Board, Secretary of Delhi Urban Arts Commission, Member Secretary of Heritage Conservation Committee and Commissioner (Planning), DDA.