Redevelopment is a process, not an event
A Pune housing society's decision to redevelop is rarely the hard part. The hard part is the sequence — General Body resolution under the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act, 1960, structural audit, tender, developer selection, the Development Agreement and its many annexures, planning sanctions from the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) or Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), registration of the new project under Section 3 of the RERA Act, 2016, and finally the new building.
This guide walks the sequence. The tax stack is in our redevelopment taxation guide. The conveyance precondition is covered in our deemed-conveyance guide.
Step 1 — Conveyance precondition
Before redevelopment can be cleanly executed, the land and building must be conveyed to the society. A society without conveyance can proceed in some cases, but the legal certainty is much weaker, and lenders and developers prefer conveyance to be in place. Where the promoter has not conveyed, the society pursues deemed conveyance — see our deemed-conveyance guide.
Step 2 — Structural / feasibility study
A licensed structural engineer assesses the building's condition. The report typically determines whether redevelopment is necessary (advanced deterioration, dangerous-to-life status) or commercially desirable (potential to gain additional FSI / TDR). The report becomes the foundation document for everything that follows and is uploaded as part of the project file.
Step 3 — The General Body resolution
Under the Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act, 1960 and the model bye-laws issued by the Cooperative Department, the decision to redevelop is taken in a Special General Body Meeting. The notice and process should follow the bye-laws strictly — improper notice is the single most common ground for later challenge.
The standard practice for Pune redevelopment resolutions:
- A special notice to all members with the redevelopment proposal.
- A quorum as per bye-laws and the Act.
- A majority threshold for the resolution — practical convention and many bye-laws require 75% or higher consent for redevelopment, though the precise threshold should be confirmed against your society's bye-laws and Cooperative Department directives in force.
- Minutes recorded and signed, with the resolution lodged with the Registrar.
The resolution authorises the Managing Committee (or a special redevelopment sub-committee) to proceed with the tender and shortlisting.
Step 4 — Tender, shortlisting and the offer matrix
The society invites bids from developers, typically through a published Request for Proposal (RFP). The key parameters in the bid evaluation:
- Rehab area offered per member (free to existing members) — typically expressed as percentage increase over existing carpet area.
- Corpus per member — cash payment at agreement signing.
- Monthly rent compensation during construction.
- Construction period and completion guarantees.
- Brokerage / shifting allowance.
- Penalty for delay — Section 18 RERA underwrites this but the agreement should specify the per-month rate.
- Quality and specifications — the new building's specification annexure.
- Banking and security — bank guarantees against rent compensation, completion deposit.
Members evaluate offers in a comparative matrix. Most Pune societies engage a professional Project Management Consultant (PMC) at this stage to run the evaluation and negotiations.
Step 5 — Selection and Letter of Intent
The General Body votes on the preferred developer. A Letter of Intent (LoI) is issued to the selected developer, with commercial terms locked in and a window for due diligence and final Development Agreement drafting.
Step 6 — The Development Agreement
The Development Agreement is the binding contract between the society and the developer. Key clauses to nail down:
- Subject property and approvals.
- FSI computation and any TDR / FSI loaded for the project.
- Free area (rehab) per member, in writing, with specifications.
- Free-sale area to the developer, with the developer's commercial logic.
- Construction timeline, with critical-path dates.
- Corpus and monthly rent payment schedule.
- Possession date and Section 18 RERA penalty for delay.
- Quality specifications annexure.
- Bank guarantees — rent compensation, completion deposit.
- Default and termination clauses — what triggers exit.
- Dispute resolution — typically MahaRERA + arbitration carve-out.
The Development Agreement, registered with the Sub-Registrar, becomes the primary document for all downstream tax, GST and RERA positions — see society redevelopment taxation.
Step 7 — PMC / PCMC sanctions
The developer obtains planning approvals from the local planning authority (Pune Municipal Corporation for PMC limits, PCMC for Pimpri-Chinchwad, or the relevant Special Planning Authority). Typical approvals include:
- Intimation of Disapproval (IOD) / commencement certificate.
- Building permit with FSI grant.
- Environmental clearance where applicable (project size).
- Fire NOC and other agency clearances.
- Tree authority NOC for tree removal.
The PMC sanctions form part of the MahaRERA application file.
Step 8 — MahaRERA registration of the new project
Under Section 3 of the RERA Act, the new project must be registered with MahaRERA before any advertisement, marketing or sale of the free-sale apartments. The application uploads include:
- Society resolution and Development Agreement.
- PMC sanctions.
- Promoter (developer) details and registration history.
- Project plan, FSI, apartment count.
- Stage-wise completion schedule and stage-wise cash flow.
- Disclosures under Section 11 RERA (encumbrances, litigation, approvals).
Once registered, the project gets a MahaRERA registration number — verifiable using the steps in our MahaRERA registration check guide.
Step 9 — Construction, quarterly progress reports, possession
During construction, the developer files quarterly progress reports on the MahaRERA portal under Section 11. The society's redevelopment committee tracks progress against the agreed milestones, monthly rent compensation is paid by the developer, and the bank guarantees stand against delay.
On completion, the developer obtains the Occupation Certificate from PMC / PCMC, hands over possession to the members of the redeveloped flats, and registers conveyance of the new building to the (continuing) society. The developer's free-sale flats are sold to outside buyers.
Where redevelopments go wrong — and what prevents it
The recurring failure points in Pune redevelopments:
- Poorly drafted Development Agreement — vague specifications, soft delay clauses, no bank guarantees.
- Insufficient majority for the resolution, opening it to challenge later.
- Developer financial fragility — the project stalls midway; rent compensation stops; members are out of their homes with no recourse short of Section 18 / Section 31 RERA complaints.
- Tax structure not modelled before the agreement — Section 45(5A) and Section 54 positions and 194-IC TDS positions discovered too late.
- Conveyance not in place — the society fights two battles at once (deemed conveyance + redevelopment dispute).
The fix for each is upfront due diligence and a tightly drafted Development Agreement.
Pune note: we run the end-to-end redevelopment advisory for societies
At RDA Tax Advisory Services, Baner, our society-redevelopment advisory runs across the full sequence. We coordinate with the structural engineer on the feasibility report, draft the resolution and tender, run the developer evaluation, negotiate and review the Development Agreement with a tax lens (Section 45(5A) deferral, Section 54 sheltering, 194-IC TDS, GST exposure on the developer side), check PMC sanctions and the MahaRERA application, and monitor the quarterly progress reports and rent-compensation discipline through completion. Office No. 102, Snehraj Apartment, Baner, Pune 411045 · call +91 77570 45059.
Run your Pune society's redevelopment cleanly
Your Pune society at the redevelopment-resolution stage? RDA runs the end-to-end advisory — agreement, tax, RERA, sanctions and completion oversight. Book a society-redevelopment consult at rdatax.in or call +91 77570 45059 — RDA Tax Advisory Services, Baner, Pune.
Verification note: Material legal positions — Maharashtra Cooperative Societies Act, 1960 (society resolution, bye-laws and Registrar's role); RERA Act 2016 Section 3 (project registration), Section 11 (disclosures, quarterly progress reports), Section 17 (conveyance), Section 18 (delayed-possession remedies), Section 31 (complaints), Section 59 (penalty for non-registration), Section 61 (penalty); the Maharashtra Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Rules, 2017; PMC / PCMC Development Control and Promotion Regulations — Pune-specific (DCPR-2017 as amended); MahaRERA model agreement for sale; Section 45(5A), 54, 54F and 194-IC of the Income-tax Act, 1961; GST Notifications 03/2019, 04/2019, 11/2017 — all Central Tax Rate — are sourced from the Maharashtra Housing Department, MahaRERA portal, CBIC Tax Information Portal and Income-tax Department. Local FSI / TDR computations and the exact resolution majority should be confirmed against the society's bye-laws and the prevailing Cooperative Department directives.
