GUJRAT RULES, A Gist AHMEDABAD: Ending uncertainty over framing of norms by the state under Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA), 2016, Gujarat government on Saturday notified state rules under the statute, which comes into force from May 1, 2017. In a major relief to real estate developers, projects launched after November 1, 2016 will be covered under the law.
"The state government has notified the rules under RERA.We have made some changes while keeping many rules of the central government issued statute," confirmed deputy chief minister Nitin Patel, who also holds the portfolio of urban development.
The Union ministry of hou sing and urban poverty alleviation had set the deadline of October 31, 2016 for readying rules by various states.
Although all changes made by the state while formulating its own rules under RERA Act could not be learned, sources privy to the development revealed that all the projects to be launched after November 1, 2016 will be considered as "ongoing projects' meaning realty projects taken up before that date will remain out of the purview of the statute.
"It is a major relief to the real estate sector in the state. In Ahmedabad alone, 500-600 projects having total1.72 lakh units are at various stages of construction. All these projects will now not be termed as `ongoing' as the state government has decided to bring projects launched after first of November under the statute," said Dipak Patel, Gujarat Institute of Housing and Estate Developers (GIHED), and the Ahmedabad chapter of The Confederation of Real Estate Developer's Associations of India (CREDAI).
"Although RERA Act will be implemented from May 1 next year, all projects launched from November will be regulated under the law as ongoing projects," Patel added.
In the absence of state rules, the apex associations of real estate developers had held a meeting with the state government and requested framing of norms before the deadline set by the Union government.Among other things, realtors had demanded excluding ongoing projects from the purview of the law.
The developers are also opposed to the provision of maintaining 70% of sale proceeds into an escrow account in case of ongoing projects.
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