Nod to restart 25 Gurgaon projects

The approved projects include real estate projects of developers including DLF and M3M, along with some infrastructure projects.

The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) has approved 25 projects for immediately restarting construction activity, with strict instructions to the builders to maintain social distancing norms during work.

Developers are free to start construction at 45 sites after approval and sites with less than 10 workers need not take any approval to restart work, GMDA CEO VS Kundu told ET.

The approved projects include real estate projects of developers including DLF and M3M, along with some infrastructure projects.

“Small sites can start work without taking approval while we are giving instant approval to those outside the containment zones. About 1,700 applications have been received, of which 300 have been granted approval, which include 45 construction sites. The rest are manufacturing units,” said Kundu.

The Union home ministry had allowed construction to resume after April 20 but most of the towns in the National Capital Region, except Gurugram, decided to continue with the ban.

According to a report by PropEquity, a real estate data analytics firm, Gurugram saw a 51% month-on-month fall in new launches in the first quarter of 2020, while Noida witnessed a 9% increase in new launches. Sales fell 26% month-on-month to 1,177 units during the January-March period in Gurugram.

Developers said the resumption of construction would boost sales as it would assure customers of timely delivery.

“M3M group has received the permission to commence construction on most of its sites. However, we are taking a lot of caution before initiating work on the sites as safety of employees/workers remains our primary concern. We have drafted detailed SOPs (standard operating procedures) to be followed at all the sites which are in line with the detailed guidelines issued by the competent authorities,” said Pankaj Bansal, director, M3M Group.

On April 15, the home ministry had issued a set of guidelines to be followed during the lockdown and allowed certain industries, including real estate, to resume work after April 20. But most states have decided to play safe and continue the lockdown till May 3, when the nationwide lockdown ends.

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