The real estate sector has launched an online campaign seeking the government’s intervention as the Covid-19 pandemic has compounded the difficulties of the already crisis-ridden industry.
The campaign, which has already raised 25,000 signatures from across the country, also states that the sector supports 250 industries. The Rs 20-lakh crore package announced by the government offers miniscule benefit to the crisis-ridden industry, as compared to the massive impact, it said.
The campaign - #ReviveRealEstateReviveEconomy - also sought the Prime Minister’s intervention.
The real estate industry contributes about 8 per cent to the GDP and hence needs an immediate attention. This is significant in view of the RBI forecast of a negative economic growth for the country, it added.
Petition
A petition by Mumbai Metropolitan Region Action Committee of Credai MCHI sought reduction of home loan interest to 5 per cent, passing of the RBI repo rate cut benefit to the end consumer, one-time restructuring of developers’ loans, extension of project completion timeline by RERA by a year, apart from GST reliefs.
“We request for an urgent intervention at the highest level in the government so that the industry is revived to rejuvenate the economy as a whole,” said Ajay Ashar, spokesperson of the MMR Action Committee of Credai MCHI.
“The lockdown to check the spread of COVID-19 virus has resulted in halting the entire economic activity. The pandemic has compounded the difficulties of the crisis-ridden real estate industry,” he said.
The petition sought extension of the GST Input Tax Credit for new projects as well, increasing the SWAHIM fund to Rs 1-lakh crore, scrapping of the market-value basis for GST, speedy clearance of Indian Navy and aviation Non Objection Certificates for want of which over 25,000 buyers are stuck.
Every rupee spent on construction results in an increase in the overall output of the economy by Rs 2, while each Rs 1 crore of revenue results in employment generation for 25 workers. Thus, the contribution of real estate is far more than any other sector, the petition said.
The revival of real estate will also kick-start as many other industries such as cement, steel, electric, paint, plumbing and elevators and all these will help safeguard jobs.
Even in this crisis of Covid-19, real estate has contributed to PM CARES Fund, provided accommodation for doctors and paramedics and also provided space for creating temporary hospitals. During the lockdown, when labourers were not able to move from their site, all developers were taking care of those labourers by providing them food and shelter, the online petition added.