After SC stay order, housing projects over Rs 30k cr on hold in Pimpri, developers and homebuyers hit

Developers in limbo

The Pimpri-Chinchwad region, identified as highly polluted, had been placed under stricter environmental clearance norms. Projects exceeding 20,000 square metres required approval from the Union Ministry’s expert committee, which led to bottleneck in execution. The January notification aimed to streamline the process by shifting approvals to the state level, but environmental concerns led to a legal challenge and subsequent Supreme Court intervention.

As a result, over 100 housing projects in Pune—ranging between 20,000 square meters and 1.5 lakh square meters—are now stuck. The delays have lasted for over six months, increasing costs for developers and limiting the supply of homes, which could push property prices higher.

With approvals on hold, developers are now struggling with financial burdens, while homebuyers may face further delays in possession. The government, too, is losing revenue that would have come from property sales, stamp duty, and GST collections.

Call for urgent resolution

Real estate body CREDAI-Pune Metro has opposed the Supreme Court’s stay stating that the real estate industry, which supports more than 250 allied industries and si the second largest employment generator, is adversely affected.

The official said that the Maharashtra State Environment Committees, in their misplaced interpretation of the Bhopal NGT order, are not hearing the cases lined up for the environmental clearances, thereby adversely impacting the real estate industry, home buyers, construction and employment and economy.

Ranjit Naiknavare, president of CREDAI Pune, said that they they have been following this issue since August last year.

“Neither state environment committees nor central government wants to appraise and issue Enivornmental Clearance (EC) for construction projects in the PCMC area and 5 km around it. Despite the CEPI score of below 60 for PCMC mandates the SEIAA to appraise and issue EC,” he said.

He further said that even though the said Bhopal NGT order is applicable to all the states and UTs, no other state is facing such a problem.

As per the recently released Housing Report by CREDAI and CRE Matrix, new project launches have reduced by 25 percent due to this adverse action. Due to limited stock availability, the rates are bound to increase.