The Jammu and Kashmir government on Monday opened the Union Territory to the country’s real estate investors by signing 39 MoUs worth Rs 18,300 crore for the development of housing and commercial projects. Terming the signing of the MoUs at J&K Real Estate Summit at Jammu “historic”, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said it is a major step towards the 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 emphasised that the UT government will consider reducing stamp duty on registration of properties and set up a single-window system for faster approval of projects.
The real estate summit—the first of its kind—was meant to encourage people from across the country to buy land, or a “second home”, in Jammu and Kashmir. Outsiders—those not classified as “permanent residents”—had earlier been barred from purchasing or owning land, but this was changed after the government had scrapped Article 370 and 35A in August 2019, thereby removing the special status for J&K in the Indian Constitution.
“We have signed 39 MoUs today. We have received investments proposals of Rs 18,300 crore,” Sinha told reporters. 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 direct and indirect employment opportunities in J&K. He also announced that a similar real estate summit will be held in Srinagar on 21-22 May 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.
The Lieutenant Governor said the real estate developers have been asked to partner with local builders of the UT. There have been revolutionary changes in J&K during the last two years, he said asserting that the UT is providing 100% more incentive than Uttar Pradesh. Sinha said the government has identified 6,000 acres of land for the development of projects and that it has also made rules for change of land usage of agriculture land. He asserted that the government
will also offer its own land under the new industrial policy for the development of projects.
Sinha said the people who own the land should have the freedom to decide how they want to use their land parcels. As many as 20 MOUs were signed at the summit for the development of housing projects, while 7 were inked for commercial, 4 hospitality, 3 Infratech, 3 film and entertainment and 2 finance projects. The real estate companies which have signed the Memorandum of Understanding include Signature Global, Samyak Group, Raunak Group, Hiranandani Constructions for housing projects. Chalet Hotels Limited signed MoU for hospitality. Raheja Developers, Goel Ganga, GHP Group and Shree Naman Group signed initial pacts for housing projects.