NEW DELHI: The government approved 342 proposals till November 16 this year to complete stalled real estate projects, benefit more than 2 lakh homebuyers and unlock projects worth Rs 94,367 crore, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Monday.
In a written reply to a question, Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishore said that these proposals have been approved under the Special Window for Completion of Affordable and Mid-Income Housing (SWAMIH) investment fund.
“As of November 16, 2023, under SWAMIH, 342 proposals aggregating to Rs 37,554 crore have been approved and this will benefit around 2,18,699 homebuyers and unlock projects worth Rs 94,367 crore,” the minister said.
To give relief to those who have booked houses in stalled projects, the government has established a SWAMIH investment fund, he said.
It will fund the stalled projects that are net-worth positive and registered under RERA, including those projects that have been declared as non-performing assets or are pending proceedings before the National Company Law Tribunal under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, he said.
According to the minister, the Central government had constituted a committee under the chairmanship of former NITI Aayog chief Amitabh Kant to examine the issues related to legacy stalled real estate projects.
The committee has recommended various measures to complete these stalled projects and handover the same to the homebuyers, he said, adding that the panel has observed that the primary reason for stress in real estate projects is the lack of financial viability of these projects.
“Accordingly, the committee has recommended a slew of measures aimed towards improving the financial viability of these real estate projects, to enable their completion,” Kishore said in the written reply.
In its report in August, the 14-member committee said to encourage financial institutions to fund stalled projects, a scheme offering subsidised interest rates, similar to MSME, is recommended.
“Additionally, the central government may consider a guarantee fund similar to MSME for such finances. The MoHUA (Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs) will prepare a detailed scheme and send it to the ministry of finance, in this regard,” the report stated.
The committee observed that the steps to improve the internal rate of return of these projects would attract more funding and judicial interventions such as insolvency and bankruptcy code should be used only as a last resort.
Project resolution should be a win-win situation for all stakeholders, it said.
