West Bengal Budget brings cheer to home buyers and sellers with another rebate extension | Kolkata News – Times of India

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KOLKATA: The state Budget announced on Wednesday provided a bigger impetus to the real estate sector than the Union Budget had done a fortnight ago, extending a sop that has already paid handsome dividends over a year-and-a-half, and benefited home buyers, sellers and the government.
In the Union Budget, only the Prime Minister Awas Yojna outlay was hiked by 66%, but there was no relief for home buyers to offset the successive hikes in home loan interest rates.

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The 2% rebate on stamp duty and 10% rebate on circle rate, which was extended for the sixth time, have accounted for more than 80,000 registrations of residential sales agreements. In the 18 months since July 2021, when the sops were introduced, 76,064 residential properties have been registered till December 2022. That is a 61% upswing from the 47,317 residential sales registrations recorded in the 18 months preceding the sop announcement.
“The move to extend the rebates by six months will lead to savings for home buyers and fuel sales. It will also mean more revenue for the exchequer. It shows that the government is sensitive to and appreciative of the needs of homebuyers and our industry,” said Siddharth Pansari, president of the Bengal chapter of Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (Credai).
The sops were first introduced in July 2021 to provide incentive to those who wished to buy homes, help the beleaguered real estate industry reeling from the pandemic, and also to shore up the state’s revenue that had nose-dived while expenditure had zoomed.
The overwhelming initial response led to the government extending the offer by three months initially, and then again for three-six months. The latest announcement extends the incentive till September 30, 2023.
Credai West Bengal president Sushil Mohta said the extension of the incentives would be a relief to buyers at a time when repo rate hikes have resulted in home loan rates becoming dearer by 2.5%-3%. “There was no relief to home buyers in the Union Budget. So this sop will have a very positive impact on sales of residential units in the state this year and will help maintain the growth momentum,” he said.
Mohta estimated the total collection of revenue to the exchequer due to the rebates would exceed Rs 7,200 crore by March 2023.
Abhijit Das, senior director (east) at real estate consultants Knight Frank India, felt the announcement augurs well for home buyers who continue to get incentivised to advance purchase of homes or complete registration of previously purchased homes. This extension also helps the government’s efforts to augment revenue from stamp duty, which is budgeted at Rs 7,473.8 crore in 2023-24.
Shrachi Realty MD Rahul Todi said the announcement would hasten launch of projects that will create employment and have a multiplier effect on the economy.

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