The Gujarat Institute of Housing & Estate Developers (GIHED), an apex body of real-estate developers in the State has demanded industry status for real-estate sector.
“We have requested the Gujarat Government to take initiative to give industry status to real-estate sector as it is one of the highest job creators in the country. GIHED is also in touch with Confederation of Real Estate Developers of India (CREDAI) and present the case of real-estate sector before the Government of India,” said Dipak Patel, president of GIHED.
Talking on the sidelines of the 11th GIHED property show in Ahmedabad, Patel said recently the Gujarat Government had given industry status to tourism sector as it was also creating many jobs. According to him, over past one decade, the real-estate sector across the country has become organised and evolved in many aspects - technology, marketing, branding and legality wise.
It would be a win-win situation for developers as well as end-users if the real-estate sector would get industry status as it would get all the benefits of industry, he said, adding that currently more than 30 per cent of the total cost of real-estate project goes into tax. “With the industry status, taxes would be lower which would be beneficial for customers as well as realtors. Besides, it would be easier for the real-estate developer to get finance at lower interest rate. Again the benefits would be passed on the customers,” he claimed.
Despite the higher project cost, very few real-estate firms have gone for Initial Public Offering (IPO) as it is still highly unorganised sector, opined Patel, adding that in case of industry status many real-estate firms would be encouraged to go for IPO and as result of it the sector would be able to provide adequate number of housing to people, which is also the priority of the Central Government.