Government decides to postpone passage of Real Estate Bill to next year

NEW DELHI: The real estate Bill, which had cleared all hurdles including parliamentary committee scrutiny and Cabinet approval, won’t be passed in the ongoing winter session of Parliament, delaying one of the government’s key reform initiatives.

Facing formidable opposition in the Rajya Sabha and persistent disruptions, the government has decided against moving the amended Real Estate (Development and Regulation) Bill in the current session and will seek to get it through parliament next year, said people aware of the development. The government wants to use the remaining two days of the session to push through other crucial legislations that are not controversial.

The real estate Bill is likely to be challenged by the Opposition, even though the government has sought to incorporate its suggestions.

The Bill had been referred to a select committee, which had given its report in July. However, Congress, Left and AIADMK had expressed reservations on the report through dissent notes.

Given the opposition, the government had formed an informal group of ministers to formulate a politically acceptable Bill.

The ministry of housing and urban poverty alleviation, which is spearheading the legislation, accepted all changes suggested by the select committee and the Cabinet gave its approval with further amendments on December 9.

A ministry official confirmed to ET that the Bill won’t be introduced but denied that it would go back to the drawing board because of reservations expressed by real estate developers.