Maharashtra mulls BMC nod for buildings in Mumbai within 30 days

Taking a cue from the recent World Bank report, the state has decided to bring down the number of days required for permissions to construct buildings from 185 to 30.

Taking a cue from the recent World Bank report, where India was ranked 142nd among 189 countries in the ease of doing business survey, the state has decided to bring down the number of days required for permissions to construct buildings from 185 to 30.

Currently, any construction work needs about 30 to 40 approvals, including the permissions related to the CRZ, agriculture, environment, development plans from various departments of the state and Centre.

The government has asked Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) chief Sitaram Kunte to study the feasibility of reducing the number of days, and check whether permissions such as building commencement and occupation certificates could be clubbed. While the main aim is to give a boost to industrial projects, the move may prove beneficial for the real estate sector too.

“When we studied the World Bank report, we found the dip in the ranking was basically because of the delay in the permission for construction work. In Mumbai, the period required for all sorts of permissions is 185 days, against the 30 days in countries like Hong Kong, which are among the toppers on the list. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has asked the civic body to submit a report on the revision in the mechanism,” said Swadheen Kshatriya, chief secretary.

“We are working on the possibility of bringing down the period and number of approvals. By next week, we will be able to submit the information on the revised mechanism,” Kunte said.

Other departments, too, have been directed to simplify the procedure of granting permissions to non-sensitive goods.