Minister for Housing and Urban Development S. Muthuswamy on Wednesday announced a series of measures, which top officials in the department said will pave the way for reforms and a paradigm shift from a ‘regulation’ and ‘control’ approach to that of facilitation and development.
The key measures announced during the debate on the demand for grants for the department include delegation of powers, capacity building through creation of a common cadre of town planners, and more public-private partnerships (PPP).
Importantly, the Minister said metropolitan development authorities will be created for Tiruchi and Salem.
Town planners
He said a common cadre of town planners will be created to ensure availability of qualified town planners for creating urban and rural development plans. They will be used by the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority, the Directorate of Town and Country Planning, the Tamil Nadu Housing Board, the Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board, the Municipal Administration and the Directorate of Town Panchayats. The move comes against the backdrop of a severe shortage of qualified town planners across the State.
In addition to this, CMDA and DTCP will grant ₹10 crore to Anna University for starting a Bachelor of Planning (B. Plan) at the School of Architecture And Planning (SAP) campus.
Private partnerships
Noting that a considerable number of housing units constructed by TNHB during the previous regime remained unsold due to poor quality and location, he said the department was considering getting into joint ventures with private players to avoid such issues.
He said such ventures will be cost-efficient for TNHB, while also ensuring quality. For instance, he said, private players will construct housing units on land provided by TNHB. The board will get a section of units that it could sell, while the remaining units will be sold by the private player. Mr. Muthusamy said quality will be ensured by the private player, since they can make money only by selling all the units.
The Minister said TNHB will be developing residential units under a joint venture in 125 plots at Hosur in Krishnagiri district at a cost of ₹59 crore. Similarly, integrated residential and commercial complexes will be developed under the PPP model on 16.92 acres in Thirumazhisai at a cost of ₹1,290 crore. TNHB will construct serviced apartments at Sathuvachari in Vellore district. Private players are likely to be roped in for maintenance and operation of these apartments at a later stage.
To encourage private players to construct houses for middle- and low-income groups, the Minister said a 100% fee waiver will be provided for premium floor space index (FSI) for apartment units whose size is less than 400 square feet. Units of sizes 401 to 500, 501 to 600, and 601 to 900 square feet will get a premium FSI fee waiver of 75%, 50% and 25%, respectively.
Delegation
Mr. Muthusamy said new high-rise buildings in the Chennai metropolitan area will henceforth need approval from CMDA. Until now, each high-rise that is over 18.3 metres tall needed approval from the Housing and Urban Development Department through a separate government order, apart from CMDA’s nod.
District-level officials will be granted more powers to help the public get building approvals easily, he said.
Other key announcements included the engagement of the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology in Ahmedabad as a consultant to study and suggest changes to the Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning Act of 1971. The Registrar of Cooperative Societies (Housing) will be renamed as the Directorate of Housing.
