The Government of Maharashtra has announced a stamp duty reduction on properties by 1 per cent in the Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur Metropolitan regions for the next two years. With this, the current stamp duty at 6 per cent will now come down to 5 per cent. The MVA government, with this concession in stamp duty made in its maiden budget, reportedly expects to promote the real estate sector in the wake of the slowdown. CW reports industry reactions to the move... Dr. Niranjan Hiranandani, President (National), NAREDCO, and President, ASSOCHAM: “Stamp Duty on real estate has been reduced by 1 per cent for Mumbai, MMRDA Region and Pune for a period of two years. This effectively will result in 4 per cent Stamp Duty and 1 per cent Metro cess. Any cost reduction is welcome, and this move will positively impact home buyer sentiment. I appreciate the concern shown by the state government to help the home buyer as also real estate industry. The suggestion put forward by industry bodies was for a 50 per cent reduction, we view this move as a beginning. Now that the state government has identified industry problems, they will be sympathetic and are expected to take measures to improve the situation. These moves should result in a push to sales, with an increase in numbers. While this move will impact collections, which might go down by an estimated Rs 18 billion, I am confident that this shortfall be recovered through alternative avenues as also the impact of multiplier sales that will happen.” Farshid Cooper, Managing Director, Spenta Corporation: “With the latest announcement by the Maharashtra Government of reduction of stamp duty by 1 per cent for the next two years, we can expect to witness the revival of the sector and sale of the existing inventories. Huge unsold inventory and ready-to-move-in properties in Mumbai, Pune, and Nagpur are likely to benefit from this announcement. The festivities like Holi and Gudi Padwa are also approaching, and we are hopeful that the sales will see an uptick in the next couple of quarters. The real estate industry welcomes the state government’s initiative to provide relief and promote the revival of the sector.” Sujay Kalele, Founder, TRU Realty: “The state government’s decision to reduce stamp duty by 1 per cent for the next two years is a sentimentally positive move for real estate industry.” Vikas Jain, Managing Committee member, CREDAI-MCHI Raigad Unit, and CEO, Labdhi Lifestyle: “Lowering down the stamp duty charges from 6 per cent to 5 per cent is a good step taken by the Maharashtra Government in the Budget. The reduction in Stamp duty will be an overall benefit for a consumer in the home-buying process. During our earlier meeting with the government, we had requested to lower down the stamp duty charges and it has been fulfilled by the government, which will be a positive step for the realty sector. This will take some burden off the homebuyers as purchasing power will increase and will encourage the sales in the coming year. Overall, a positive step by the government before Gudi Padwa.” Rahul Grover, CEO, Sai Estate Consultants Chembur: “It is definitely a positive move, which we at SECCPL welcome. Given that real estate sector is going through testing times, a 1 per cent reduction from the state government bodes well when the Centre has already initiated measures like AIF, specifically aimed at reviving the sector. We believe the Pune and Nagpur markets are different in comparison to Mumbai and the reduction will boost demand in the two cities while the uptick to Mumbai market may still take time as the issues here are structural in nature even after significant price corrections. However, it would have given renewed impetus to Tier-II and Tier-III cities if the reduction had extended to whole of Maharashtra.”