Coronavirus impact: Govt to issue guidelines for real estate sector soon

Stating that the COVID-19 outbreak is ‘unprecedented’, housing and urban affairs secretary Durga Shanker Mishra has said that the government will soon bring out guidelines and regulatory measures to help the real estate sector in dealing with the crisis even as the real estate developers’ body NAREDCO has sought a $200-300 billion economic package from the government and has asked it to lift the ban on work at construction sites.

In a series of tweets, the secretary said he held discussions with 2,600 leading real estate developers through a video conference. These developers are part of realtors' body Naredco. He said several issues were discussed that are prevalent during the lockdown, and measures being taken to overcome those issues.

"We are caught up in an unprecedented scenario that has captured the whole world in its grip. In these crucial times, we need to take up measures that would help us in reviving our economy & all industry & business sectors," Mishra tweeted.

The secretary said he asked all real estate developers to pay special attention to their labour force and workmen in this time when the projects have been temporarily suspended.

"Special guidelines & regulatory measures for all real estate sectors including RERA would be soon issued to combat this crisis situation. We need to see through the situation for the long term benefit of our workers as well as the country," he said.

Naredco chairman Rajeev Talwar, president Niranjan Hiranandani and vice chairman Parveen Jain were part of the meeting. Naredco-Uttar Pradesh president R K Arora also took part in the deliberations.

Meanwhile, NAREDCO has sought a $200 billion relief from the government to reduce the impact of COVID 19. The idea is to provide a breathing space to companies who have faced huge losses due to rapidly decreasing stock prices, which has made high net worth companies prone to be taken over by foreign investors, the results of which can be devastating for India, Naredco said in a statement. NAREDCO has requested that all NCLT activities be suspended for the next six months.

“Since real estate accounts for 6-7% of India’s GDP and employs nearly 10-11% of population, we urge the government to focus on the demand of the developers. NAREDCO has also suggested lifting the lockdown partially on construction site to continue the work while following all the guidelines given by the Government to ensure safety of the people,” it said.

In the presence of Durga Shankar Mishra, NAREDCO also unveiled the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) guidelines to ensure the safety of the people working on construction sites.

“We urge the government to provide us with a stimulus package to deal the current situation while we take care of our labor force to ensure that their health and safety is not compromised,” Rajeev Talwar, chairman NAREDCO said.

“The country’s economy is under tremendous pressure owing to exponential losses across sectors. Real estate has been under consistent stress with rising unsold inventories, liquidity crunch and now with COVID-19. As a body we urge the government to come up with an economic relief package keeping in mind the current status of the real estate,” Niranjan Hiranandani, National President, NAREDCO said.