Providing GST relief, creation of stressed assets fund, ways to make RERA effective discussed at the meeting
In an attempt to kickstart the real estate sector, the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri convened a meeting on Thursday with all stakeholders to discuss several measures, including providing relief on the GST front, creating a stressed assets fund to provide last mile funding to builders to complete projects, ways to deal with certain provisions of the income tax law and making RERA effective, ministry sources said.
The suggestions for reviving the real estate sector ranged from certain relief on GST, dealing with certain provisions of the income tax law and creating a stressed assets fund to complete the stalled projects of builders by providing last-mile funding to them.
“NBCC has been mentioned in the context of taking over incomplete projects. We are collating all the suggestions and will then see how to take them forward. It may not be possible to agree to all the suggestions,” sources said.
Stakeholders also stressed on the effective implementation of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA) to boost the sector, the sources said.
Builders suggested reduction in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) as part of boosting the real estate sector, sources said.
“The meeting was not concluded but positive suggestions came in how to resolve some of these issues. These positive suggestions will need to be processed and acted on. We will need another meeting with the finance minister other concerned ministers etc to see how to take these forward. The intent is to give highest priority to dealing with problems in this sector, including in particular the problem of stressed assets and the problems of homebuyers,” sources said.
The meeting was initially scheduled to be chaired by Finance Minister Piyush Goyal at Rail Bhavan, but Puri presided over the meeting in his absence. Representatives of the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (HUA), builders, NITI Aayog, banks, National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) and other departments attended the meeting.
The meeting was about the impediments in the real estate sector, said NBCC chairman and managing director Anoop Kumar Mittal after the meeting.
“Developers raised some issues including taxation,” he said after the meeting.
Hiranandani Group MD Nirajan Hiranandani told reporters that there were suggestions for reduction of GST (Goods and Services Tax) from 18 per cent to 12 per cent.vandana.ramnani@nw18.com
