Chennai: Realtors and environmentalists in Chennai are finding fault with the Union budget for not offering clarity on the ‘smart cities’ project nor chalking out any major eco project for Tamil Nadu. Much was expected from the budget, and last month, a conference on smart cities was conducted by the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (Credai) in Chennai and inaugurated by Union urban minister Venkaiah Naidu, with recommendations having been made through the Union urban ministry, but the budget had failed on urban development, Credai sources said.

“The government had announced building 6 crore housing units under the ‘Housing for All by 2022’ plan, but there are no clear guidelines on how this goal shall be achieved. We are disappointed for the real estate sector,” opined T. Chitty Babu, senior member, Credai Council. There are also no clear guidelines on various indirect taxes that this sector is forced to pay. The long pending demand of the real estate sector, which is the second largest contributor to the GDP, to be granted infrastructure status went unnoticed.

“Realtors expected this government to give some impetus to real estate this time, but we have been left empty- handed yet again,” he said.“However, we are hopeful that the government would come out with guidelines for smart cities and housing for all schemes at the earliest,” Chitty Babu added. “Real estate is in a bad shape currently, thousands of flats in suburban pockets are unsold even after completion. The market will thrive only if the cost of new flats and plots can be reduced, and for that, the Centre and state should bring in reforms. In this, the budget is a disappointment,” said D. Vijayakumar, a realtor based in Tambaram.

The budget spoke about development and defence, but in the wake of global warming and pollution, while foreign nations are treating the environment as a serious subject, the Budget hardly referred to any new projects, said R. Govindaraj, joint general secretary, Exnora International. “Swach Bharat, Clean Ganga and renewable energy are all existing projects. There is no context for any state-centric environmental issue. The polluted rivers and toxic air we breathe will have an impact on public health. “By implementing Swach Bharat, the garbage can be swept away from the roads, but what next? Do we have a system to reduce waste or recycle,” wondered Govindaraj.