The Jammu and Kashmir government opened the union territory to the country’s real estate investors by signing 39 MoUs worth nearly Rs 19,000 crore for the development of housing, hotel and commercial projects.
Terming the signing of the MoUs at J&K’s first Real Estate Summit here as “historic”, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said it is a major step towards transformation of the UT. Addressing a press conference at the summit, he said the government has already implemented the realty law RERA and adopted the Model Tenancy Act in the UT. He assured realtors that the government will reduce stamp duty on registration of properties in line with other states and set up a single-window system for faster approval of projects.
“We have signed 39 MoUs today. We have received investment proposals of Rs 18,300 crore,” he told reporters here. The industry body Naredco said in a statement that MOUs worth Rs 18,900 crore have been signed by many developers including Hiranandani group, Signature Global, NBCC and Raheja Developers. The summit was organised by the J&K government, Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and realtors’ body NAREDCO.
Sinha said these MoUs will help generate employment opportunities in J&K, and also boost the economy of the UT. He also announced that a similar real estate summit will be held in Srinagar on May 21-22 next year. Asked about opposition parties’ allegations that land parcels of the local people will be taken away in the name of development, Sinha said this is an “effort to create fear and incite people”. There will be no demographic change, he added.
Earlier addressing the event, Sinha said some people do not want the people of J&K get facilities and development like other states. There have been attempts to mislead people of J&K, he said, and cited this as one of the reasons for unemployment and lack of development. Stating that J&K has talent and potential, Sinha said the days are not far when the UT will be at par with other States. “We will break all such walls” that will try to create hurdles in development for the interest of the common people of J&K, he asserted.
