Ficci seeks sops on affordable housing

Press Trust of India
Posted: 2008-12-20 02:14:05+05:30 IST
Updated: Dec 20, 2008 at 0214 hrs IST

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New Delhi: Industry body Ficci on Friday sought various fiscal incentives to encourage real estate players for building affordable housing in the country. In a pre-Budget memorandum to the ministry of housing & urban poverty alleviation, Ficci said, "The realty firms must be encouraged through fiscal incentives to construct small dwelling units at affordable prices which should go a long way in uplifting the social status of 'aam aadmi'."

The chamber said increase in construction activities would simultaneously give a fillip to other industries, including cement, iron and steel, limestone and chemicals, besides generating employment opportunities. The tax holiday, currently available for housing projects approved before March 31,2007, should be extended by at least five years in the context of sluggish real estate market owing to higher interest rates and property prices, global financial turmoil, stock market crash and fears of job curbs.

Ficci also asked the government to uniformly apply stamp duty across all states and reduce it by further 4-5%. "This would avoid the resultant cascading effect of stamp duty, thereby reducing the cost of a property. The concept of credit for taxes paid on subsequent transactions already exists in other statutes such as excise duty, VAT, MAT etc," it said, adding stamp duty should be exempted for houses below Rs 5 lakh. The chamber also suggested that the limit for deduction of interest paid on loans for acquisition or construction of residential house should be increased to atleast Rs 3 lakh from the current Rs 1.5 lakh.

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Ficci seeks sops on affordable housing

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