Real estate developers in Mumbai can expect faster environmental clearances and approvals for commercial and residential projects and green clearances will not be required from the Central Government any longer. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has established an environmental cell of 6 members for clearing builder proposals as part of efforts taken by the Governmetn to reduce lags and delays in clearance of projects.
Real estate projects with built-up areas between 5,000 and 1,50,000 square metres required green approvals from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in the recent past. However, this fast-tracking of environment approvals will help developers save on costs and time in Mumbai where close to 1.5 lakh apartments will be ready for possession by December, 2017 as per estimates. Previously proposals would be delayed by up to 1 year in many cases and with this new cell, files are expected to be passed within 2-3 weeks as per officials.
The projects will be examined on the basis of parameters like water conservation & management, waste management, air quality management, transport planning and management, resource efficiency inclusive of building materials and renewable energy and energy efficiency. This decision is expected to boost the real estate sector in Mumbai since the regulatory process framework will get simpler and approvals will be given in quicker time. The environmental cell was set up on the 19th of August, 2017. 26 enquiries have already been received by the corporation about the environmental cell in its very first week. Soft copies of proposals are presently to be submitted in pen drives and CDs though the entire process will be shifted online in 2-3 months as per officials.
For projects with built-up areas between 5, 000 and 20,000 square metres, environment auditors will be assessing the same.
