Acquiring project approvals is a cumbersome task, says developers

Over the years, the real estate sector of the nation has been plagued by a number of factors, a project delay being the primary one. A delay in a real estate project adds to the woes of the builders and investors, citing a number of financial obligations. According to market reports, a developer puts up a number of reasons for project delay some of which include funding problems, macroeconomic conditions, approval issues and government formalities.

In addition to it, a project’s lifecycle has a collegial relation with the future ventures of the builder and his finances. Hence, project delays give birth to a vicious cycle of business mismanagement and funding gap. According to key developers, the two foremost reasons for project delays include- acquiring approvals and obtaining the all the clearances.

Obtaining approvals is a hefty task

Procuring the necessary approvals is a cumbersome task, according to property developers. In regard to the fact that developers need to acquire more than 50 approvals from various government departments, the process can be tagged as time-consuming. The process generally sets off with obtaining an ownership certificate that takes around 15 days to acquire, however, it usually ends up taking a few months.

Furthermore, the aviation, EIA clearance along with archaeological clearance consume nearly 1-3 years. In addition to the woes of the developers, there is the approval for building layout, which consumes 1-3 years. Ideally, a building permit takes 30-45 days for clearance, however, it is often extends to 8-12 months.

Single window clearance-The solution

For developers, a “single window clearance” is a distant dream that would prevent them rushing from pillar to post to get different kind of approvals. Builders across the nation have been pitching for such a window for quite sometime now, since they are of the notion that such a move will put a nip in the bud of the issues related to approvals.

Such a move will also curb red-tapism that has emerged as the primary obstacle for acquiring approvals on time. Furthermore, with the functioning of the window, customer satisfaction will reach at its peak and approvals will be received on time. This will cut down the sale price to about 10-25%, reduce the project cost significantly and speed up the time taken to finish the projects.