SC sets Rs.30,000 Crore Pimpri-Chinchwad Housing Projects on Hold

Following a Supreme Court injunction, more than 100 major housing projects in Pimpri-Chinchwad and the surrounding areas have ceased operations. The announcement loosened clearance requirements for developers in the Pune area by permitting state-level permits for housing projects up to 1.5 lakh square meters.

These projects, which are worth over Rs 30,000 crore, are once more uncertain due to the stay, which causes major delays for both developers and homebuyers. The notice was sent to Pimpri-Chinchwad, a heavily polluted district, to resolve delays brought on by stringent environmental clearance standards.

Bottlenecks resulted from earlier rules that required the Union Ministry's expert group to approve projects larger than 20,000 square meters. Developers were given a much-needed relief when the January announcement transferred approval authority to the state-level Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Committee.

Delays resulted from the Supreme Court's intervention, which now requires central-level environmental approvals once more. As a result, home projects ranging in size from 20,000 to 1.5 lakh square meters are stalled, delaying construction schedules and driving up developer expenses. Developers are financially impacted by this slowdown, which also restricts the supply of dwellings and could raise real estate prices. The government loses out on money from property sales, stamp duty, and GST revenues, and homebuyers experience additional delays in getting ownership of their properties.

CREDAI-Pune Metro, a real estate association, has strongly opposed the Supreme Court's stay, claiming that it is negatively affecting the real estate sector, which creates a lot of jobs and boosts the economy. Despite Pimpri-Chinchwad's CEPI score of less than 60, the real estate association emphasized the confusion created by the Maharashtra State Environment Committees, asserting that neither state nor central officials are processing the required environmental clearances for the area.