Barely a month of changing rule, CMDA approves 17 high-rises

CHENNAI: The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) has approved around 17 high-rise building proposals within about a month of the revised approval system coming into force, matching the total number of approvals issued during the whole of 2024.

The pace of approvals is notable when compared with previous years. Official CMDA data shows that the authority approved 66 high-rise proposals in 2021, 58 in 2022, 30 in 2023, 17 in 2024 and 9 in 2025. Many submissions were found to be seen waiting for approval beyond three years.

An official from the department alleged that several files remained pending under the earlier approval mechanism as applicants were expected to pay a “party fund”. He claimed such delays would no longer arise as files no longer require ministerial approval. CMDA member secretary Rahul Nadh told DT Next that the change was needed as it makes the approvals faster and direct.

While the numbers indicate a faster pace of approvals, the member secretary reiterated it is still too early to assess the long-term impact of the revised system. The earlier approval process required high-rise proposals (above 18.3m), after being cleared by a committee chaired by the CMDA member secretary, to be forwarded to the State government as the minister, in his capacity as chairman of CMDA, had to accord the final approval. The decision to change that was announced through a GO by the Housing and Urban Development Department on June 15.

”Generally it takes two months at the government level to get it approved. We are actually saving those two months now,” the member secretary said. CREDAI Chennai president Mehul Doshi said the change removes one stage of the approval process, adding that obtaining the government order typically took 15 to 30 days.

However, he also noted that developers would still have to obtain necessary statutory clearances, including environmental and aviation-related approvals and that it remained to be seen how effective the overall approval timeline would be.

No more quid pro quo

The earlier approval process required high-rise proposals cleared by a committee chaired by the CMDA member secretary to be forwarded to the State government as the minister, in his capacity as chairman of CMDA, had to accord the final approval.

However, several files would remain pending as applicants were allegedly expected to pay a "party fund" to the minister, according to an official.

Such delays don’t arise now, as files no longer require ministerial approval.