Construction activity in India’s capital city will now be regulated via a new set of building bye-laws, the first revision of these rules in 33 years. The new, improved, unified and simplified rules come at a time when scores of illegally and haphazardly developed residential colonies dot the landscape, leaving little land available for development within the city. Here are the top 6 ways in which the new rules will make development in the city easier.

1) Finally all approvals at one place

You will not need to send separate applications for permissions to various agencies anymore. Instead, the new bye-laws allow you to use a common online application form to apply for different permissions from the urban local body. That applies to payments too, with the new bye-laws letting you make a single payment instead of sending multiple payments to different agencies. A move that is sure to bring down the potential for corruption, while considerably reducing red tape.

2) Fixed Timelines to Speed up Development

In order to improve ease of doing business, the new bye-laws also mandate fixed timelines for authorities to grant different permissions. For instance, the time limit for granting building permits has been reduced to just 30 days from 60 days earlier. What’s more, a 15-day time frame has been imposed for receiving approvals and No-Objection Certificates (NOCs) from agencies like the Airports Authority of India (AAI), the Delhi Metro and the ministry of environment among others.

3) Fewer Documents, Faster Approvals

Even the number of documents has been reduced, with only 14 documents needed to get a building permit compared to 40 earlier. Likewise, Commencement of Construction (CC) certificates need only 9 documents now, down from a whopping 36 earlier. Developers also don’t have to wait for permission to start construction, and can instead apply for a CC while construction work goes on.

4) Environmental Clearances Become Easier

Urban local bodies have also been empowered to grant environment clearances for projects as large as 150,000 sq. meters. This is significant as developers have so far had to obtain permissions from the State Environment Authorities for projects ranging from 20,000 sq. meters to 150,000 sq. meters; a process that has so far delayed projects by up to a year or more.

5) A ‘SARAL’ Road for Small Residential Development

The new bye-laws also contain the ‘SARAL scheme’, which frees small contractors from having to obtain building sanctions for residential plots of up to 105 sq. meters in size. Instead, all you need to do is submit an undertaking declaring you are building a house, submit the requisite fees and start construction. For residential plotted buildings and warehouses, storage facilities and godowns ranging from 105 sq. meters to 500 sq. meters, the architect/engineer is empowered to issue building permits. While this makes life easier for small developers and land owners who want to build their own homes, the safety of these structures is a cause for concern as there will be no oversight.

6) Promoting Green & Safe Construction

The new rules also emphasize making new constructions in Delhi environmental friendly by making it mandatory for all buildings on plot sizes of more than 105 sq. meters to conform to green building norms in order to obtain sanctions. This includes making provisions for water conservation, solar energy utilization and increasingly energy efficiency. The new bye-laws also focuses on strict structural safety measures by ensuring earthquake & disaster mitigation measures are in place.

Reporter : Neetika Bajaj, NDTV
Web Editor : Nikhil Narayan Sivadas, NDTV