Will study and consider reduction in Stamp Duty, Maha CM bats for slum-free city with affordable housing

@the_news_21

Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister, Eknath Shinde on Sunday termed the construction industry as an important sector and should be able to provide housing for all. It is everyone’s dream to own a home of good quality and at affordable rates, he added. The Chief Minister was addressing the Homethon Property Expo 2022 organised by NAREDCO Maharashtra at the Jio World Convention Centre, at BKC.

The Chief Minister further stated that holding of expos like NAREDCO Maharashtra’s HOMETHON becomes an important platform for people to have options before them. The Chief Minister specially appreciated the availability of e-registration at the Expo venue to expedite the process of registration.

Sandeep Runwal, President of NAREDCO Maharashtra while welcoming the Chief Minister said that NAREDCO has always been supportive of the government’s initiative of affordable housing and police housing. He also urged for a reduction of stamp duty once again so that the benefits could be passed on to the home buyers.

In response to Sandeep Runwal’s suggestion, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde urged the builders’ body to give a proper chart of what they would like to have in the form of stamp duty reduction. Thereafter, in consultation with the finance department, a viable golden median could be reached.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that he was happy that the state of Maharashtra was leading in the fields of housing and provision of better network of access roads. The latter would help in promoting the housing sector. As a minister of Urban Development in the previous government he had already given concession on premium to the construction industry which helped its revival to a large extent and now too he is willing to extend support to the industry.

Underscoring the need for affordable housing, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde pointed out that his team was working towards better cluster development of old and dilapidated buildings and also give precedence to housing for the police personnel. His vision was to make Mumbai a slum-free and healthy city.

Earlier, Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik, stated that affordable housing is a major issue and the construction industry should work out on rational use of increased FSI.

Rajan Bandelkar, National President of NAREDCO said that he was hopeful of overcoming the backlog of the slowdown caused during the Covid-19 pandemic period. He suggested that the government should reduce the stamp duty by 50% and the balance 50% could be borne by the industry. In this manner, more homebuyers will get the benefit.