A new era has begun in the Jammu and Kashmir real estate market at the first ever J&K Real Estate Summit held at Jammu on December 27. The decisions unfurled at the summit threw open Kashmir real estate market to all Indians. So investors from all parts of India can invest in the real estate sector there, and home buyers can have a home away from their home, in Kashmir. Any Indian can now own non-agricultural land in Kashmir.
Earlier, when Article 370 was in place those who were not classified as permanent residents could not buy property in Kashmir. However, after Article 370 was scrapped, the ban on people from other parts of India had been removed. The newly promulgated Jammu and Kashmir Development Law has removed the condition of permanent resident of Kashmir, mandatory for anyone buying non agricultural land. There.Last week the J&K administration, headed by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, changed land use laws and allowed re-classifying agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes.
The decision triggered strong criticism from regional parties, who said the land would be used to settle non-locals. Various groups in Kashmir have opposed the real estate summit too, as they are against people from other parts of India buying property there.
Training Construction Workers
Meanwhile, as a corollary the National Real Estate Development Council (NREDCO), State Urban Livelihood Missions under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs Government of India and Government of Jammu and Kashmir signed a tripartite agreement to train and certify 10,000 construction workers, in a span of two years. The newly trained and certified workers will play a key role in the development off real estate sector there.
Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri while inaugurating the real estate summit said opening up of the Real Estate sector, the second largest employer in the country, will create innumerable opportunities in J&K in terms of employment, investment and will result in overall economic growth.
Mr. Puri also said that the demand for real estate construction in J&K is not only in housing but in tourism, hospitality and warehousing sectors also, which could amount to at least 2.5 to 3.0 lakh units. The Minister further said that J&K has land and ready demand, and the summit will accelerate development of the real estate business. He expressed the satisfaction that the Real Estate Regulatory Authority Act (RERA) and the Tenancy Act have been implemented in J&K which will help in the ease of doing business here.
Mr. Puri also said that the Metro Railway Project in J&K is in the final stages of approval. Union Minister of State PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Dr. Jitendra Singh who spoke predicted that the investment proposals in J&K will reach Rupees one lakh crore in the coming years.
Lieutenant Governor J&K, Manoj Sinha in his address said that this first ever Real Estate Summit in J&K will have a multiplier effect on J&K in terms of investment, employment, GDP etc. LG further said that the erstwhile laws have been amended after 2019 and all the Central Laws have been applied for the welfare of the people of J&K as the erstwhile laws were the real hurdles in the development of the union terrrtory. LG emphasized that with the opening of plethora of avenues in J&K after abrogation of Article 370, the time will come when it would become Davos of new India.
