KATHMANDU, July 10

National Planning Commission (NPC) Vice Chairman Govinda Raj Pokharel has floated the idea of employing real-estate developers to construct residential buildings in the earthquake shattered areas for integrated settlement development.

Speaking during a pre-budget interaction programme organised by the Media Academy Nepal, on Friday, Pokharel said that the government can translate its vision of constructing houses for the earthquake victims in partnership with real-estate ventures of the country.

“The government should facilitate in land acquisition to develop the houses in the earthquake affected areas and the victims can pay for the houses on installment basis with the concerned companies,” Pokharel said, adding, “A buyer can purchase a house in his/her locality by deducting Rs 200,000 cash incentive announced by the government for victims to construct their homes.”

In this way, the government could revive the real-estate business, which is one of the most affected sectors by the earthquake. Moreover, utilising the cash incentive of Rs 200,000 to individual victim families would also benefit the quake victims, as per Pokharel.

“The government’s incentive is not sufficient for the victims to construct homes and it is also tough to borrow from banks without collateral,” he said. “Hence, real-estate developers are the best means to rebuild the houses and ensure houses for the victims at the earliest.”

The government has announced that homes for quake victims would be constructed within two years and also announced soft credit of up to Rs 2.5 million in Valley and Rs 1.5 million in areas outside the Valley at two per cent interest rate.