The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) will soon start issuing building and layout permissions online through the Integrated Online Building Permission Management System (IOBPMS).

This will help avoid corruption in the town planning section and also the delay in getting building plans sanctioned. At present, it would take four to six months, or even more, to obtain a building permission. When the proposed building permission management system (BPMS) is implemented, it will be possible to get the permission within two weeks.

Last month, the HMDA invited Expression of Interest (EOI) from registered companies or consortia for the development of BPMS. The last date is June 18. The contract will be awarded through a two-part bidding.

HMDA officials told Express that online building permission approval system is in practice in smaller cities like Indore, where the owner or builder fills the application online and uploads the building drawings in a given format. Till now, the HMDA is according technical approval to layouts, group housing, and residential, commercial, institutional, industrial, warehousing buildings etc manually.

HMDA proposes to adopt a phased approach to BPMS. Initially, group housing, layout and building permissions will be offered. Layouts, group housing etc would also be synergised with the master plan database at HMDA, they added. As for industrial buildings, the Central and state governments are working on the e-biz project, the officials said.