“BuildNow ensures that everyone, irrespective of their status, receives online permission only. Our main objective is to deliver a transparent administration to the people, and this is what we call good governance. This is the Telangana Model,” Revanth Reddy said
Hyderabad: Effecting a major reform in the state’s building permit system, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Thursday launched BuildNow, an AI-powered platform, aimed at eliminating irregularities in granting approvals.
With this, BuildNow will replace the previous Telangana State Building Permission Approval and Self-Certification System (TG-bPASS).
Speaking after the launch, Revanth Reddy said BuildNow will offer a transparent system that ensures equal access to online permissions for all, regardless of status or influence.
“BuildNow ensures that everyone, irrespective of their status, receives online permission only. Our main objective is to deliver a transparent administration to the people, and this is what we call good governance. This is the Telangana Model,” he said.
Revanth Reddy criticised the previous BRS government's TS-bPASS system, alleging that it was biased and favoured influential individuals. He claimed that while the system mandated online approvals for common people, those with connections to the previous rulers managed to secure illegal approvals through manual processes.
“Those close to the previous rulers secured approvals in violation of all norms through manual methods. No manual records are available to examine how these approvals were granted. Builders met the then-rulers, struck deals by paying commissions, and obtained approvals manually,” the Chief Minister alleged.
Speaking at the launch, MA&UD principal secretary Dana Kishore said that Revanth Reddy had insisted on zero manual intervention while issuing building permits, which led to the development of BuildNow.
The principal secretary explained that if the area where structures were being built was large — summing up to lakhs of square feet — pre-scrutiny had to be done before submitting the building permit application. This process previously took approximately two weeks to two months and required manual intervention.
The principal secretary added that the department is also developing a mechanism to virtually monitor permits online, eliminating the need for officials to visit sites to check for deviations.
“Keeping in mind the difficulties in granting permissions through the online system in the past, and in accordance with the orders and guidelines of the Chief Minister, the BuildNow application has been developed for the first time in the country to grant building construction and layout permissions with lightning speed, ease, and transparency,” said Dana Kishore.
The Principal Secretary stated that several states are already interested in introducing an application like BuildNow. “BuildNow will be crucial in the development of a mega city,” he said.
