Relief for builders in Faridabad

The Times of India

Amid reports of private developers backing out of residential and commercial projects in the NCR, a worried Haryana government has announced flexible schemes for payment of licence fee for builders in Faridabad, Gurgaon, Sonipat and Rohtak. It has also extended the licence validity period from two to four years.
According to officials of the town and country planning department (DTCP), which grants licences to projects, the government has not come out with any financial package despite demands from developers. The present package, besides extending validity of the licence period, has also doubled the licence renewal period from one to two years. This means developers will now get more time to start construction work and at the same time, the renewal fee will come down drastically.

Private developers as well as government agencies will now need to pay only 25% of the licence fee while applying for a licence. The rest will have to be deposited when the licence is granted. Earlier, the full amount had to be paid while applying.

The present licence fee for one acre of residential and commercial property in Gurgaon is Rs 2.5 crore and Rs 1 crore respectively.

In another move, the government has extended the repayment period of external development charges (EDC) of such projects. Now the payment can be made in five years, against the earlier limit of four years. Responding to plea of developers finding it difficult to pay the enhancement fee at one go, the government has relaxed the norm to four equal instalments at 9% interest.