Making amends

DESARAJU SURYA
Hyderabad: Fearing a negative fallout of the "stifling" regulations in the
different master plans under Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (Huda), the
Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department has amended certain provisions in the relevant rules but has not provided "required relief" to real-estate developers.
As developers cried foul over the "stifling" regulations in the revised master plan of Huda and also the master plan of ORR Growth Corridor, the MAUD sought to "ease" certain clauses even as a writ petition challenging the provisions in the master plan was slated for hearing in the High Court.
The MAUD came out with the amendments following representations made by builders, property developers and representatives of commerce and industry, who pointed out that the regulations would adversely affect the realty sector and make the projects unviable.
"After careful examination of the matter and having regard to the recent slump in the real-estate sector, these amendments are being issued," MAUD principal secretary S P Singh said. The amendments will also be applicable to the Development Promotion Regulations of Hyderabad Airport Development Authority master plan.
As per the amendments, developers will now be not required to "gift" five per cent of the developed area to Huda but instead will be required to pay for it in a different form -- 1.5 times the basic value of such land in lieu. The earlier rule stipulated that developers gift five per cent of land to Huda "for disposal for residential\commercial use." But now, the amended provisions say the said land was intended for "provision of master plan facilities." This condition will, however, be applicable only to sites located outside the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation limits.
Developers see this as a ploy by the government to avoid legal complications as the provision for "gifting" as such is against the Constitution.
The latest amendments also brought down the reservation of land for Economically Weaker Section housing from 10 to five per cent but another new provision has been added under the Group Housing Schemes wherein the developers will be required to part with three per cent of land free of cost to Huda for provision of master plan facilities.
The percentage of land to be reserved for Low-Income Group housing needs has also been brought down from 10 to five while reservation for Middle-Income Group has been done away with.
One relief which the developers have welcomed is the provision of incentives in the form of waiver of applicable fees and other charges on EWS plots or dwelling units. This besides the scope to develop land for EWS houses within a five-km radius of the existing site.
"The incentives are sure a relief for the developers but we primarily want the gift clause scrapped in toto and in every form," AP Builders Forum chairman C Sekhar Reddy asserted.