With the Government of India focusing more and more on making India digital and with the launch of a number of websites for the same, the Government of India also has plans of creating its own real estate portal. In the initial phase, the government wants to start it in a very low scale, covering only about 50,000 residential properties that the users can bid for online.
In the government’s property portal, the government is planning to cover those properties that the banks have allowed to sell through auctions. These are referred as properties cleared by debt recovery tribunals (DRTs). These are the residential properties where their owners defaulted on the repayment of loan. This portal will be managed by state-run MSTC. MSTC Limited is a Mini Ratna Category-I Public Sector Unit under the control of the Ministry of Steel, Government of India.
Objective of the Portal
The purpose of setting up a property portal and holding electronic auctions is to make the entire process of buying and selling real estate properties fair and transparent. There were few reports earlier that the auctions conducted by DRTs are controlled by a handful of people who have formed their own lobbying parties.
What will come in GOI’s real estate portal?
The website has not yet been launched. It will include the following:
- It will provide details like as the pictures and the floor area of the properties available for sale.
- It will include all those properties that are cleared by DRTs and without any encumbrance.
- It will allow interested customers to bid directly online by electronically paying the initial deposit.
- It will held auctions on an on-going basis.
- Once the initial phase is completed successfully, the government will also include commercial properties on the portal.
How will it work?
At present, banks advertise the auction of those properties when the loans are not repaid back for these properties and the recovery officers issue the notice for sale. The government portal once launched will remove banks from the auction process. However, the sale proceeds will flow into the banks’ accounts for loan recovery.
How to participate?
To participate in the auction, the interested customer will have to first register on the portal. Here, he or she has to submit the Know-Your-Customer (KYC) information. This includes PAN and Aadhaar number.
