'Govt streamlining approval procedures for housing projects'

The government is streamlining approval procedures for housing projects by delegating powers to local bodies and adopting a consultative process at the national level, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Secretary Nandita Chatterjee said today.
As per a statement here, Chatterjee also said that states were being pursued to create land banks for making land available for housing projects while central ministries were being urged to release land in cities in exchange for land elsewhere.
She was speaking at an event organised by FICCI here.
Responsing to some suggestions at the event, she said efforts were on to rationalise taxation on affordable housing and states were being asked to prepare affordable housing policies with specific incentives, including tax exemption and lower tax rates.

She also talked about the recently-launched Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) at the event, the statement by FICCI said.