The Hindu Business Line : Urban Land Ceiling Act may go in Maharashtra

The Union Government had made it clear it was mandatory for the State to scrap the ULCA Act for receiving funds under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission.

THE MUMBAI SKYLINE

Mumbai June 2 The Maharashtra Government will introduce a Bill in the monsoon session of the State Legislature to repeal the Urban Land Ceiling Act. Once the Act is repealed, Mumbai city will get 500 hectares of additional land, said Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh, Chief Minister.

He was talking to reporters at the sideline of a seminar on `affordable housing' here on Saturday.

The Union Government had made it clear that it was mandatory for the State to scrap the ULCA Act for receiving funds under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission.

Mr Deshmukh said that a new housing policy for the State would also be announced soon. The policy would address the issue of redevelopment of old and dilapidated buildings in the cities.

"About Rs 5,000 crore would be required for redeveloping 60,000 old buildings of Mumbai city. We also plan to create a housing sector regulator, which will arbitrate between the developer and house-owner," Mr Deshmukh said.

The Chief Minister said no decision had been taken regarding development of saltpan land and the issue was still being discussed at the Group of Ministers level. In the eventuality of saltpan land being redeveloped, the State and Union Government will get equal share," he said.

The Union Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Ms Kumari Selja, said that the Ministry was in the process of formulating a centrally sponsored interest rate subsidy scheme to make housing more affordable for the economically weaker section (EWS) and lower income group (LIG) in the society.

A provision has been made in the 2007-08 Budget. The subsidy will be given through housing financial institutions.

Earlier, addressing the national conference, she said the Central Government would make it obligatory for any urban housing scheme to have 10 to 15 per cent of its land or 30 per cent of its housing stock reserved for the EWS and LIG. The guidelines would be incorporated in the National Urban Housing and Habitat Policy to be announced shortly.

Ms Selja said the shortage in housing, at the beginning of the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007), was estimated at 24.7 million dwelling units in urban areas. This was expected to rise to over 26.53 million units by 2012.

With over 95 per cent shortage in the EWS and LIG segments alone, the sector would need an investment of Rs 3.6 lakh crore to fill the gap.

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