The Hindu : Front Page : Margin-free market for building materials

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Wednesday, May 21, 2008
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Margin-free market for building materials

Staff Reporter

One per cent of high cost houses to go into Government kitty

Photo: Vipinchandran

NEW VENTURE: Minister for Housing and Forests Benoy Viswom inaugurating the new retail outlet for building materials in Kalamassery on Tuesday.

KOCHI: The government was considering to tax the high-cost luxurious houses in a new policy that would call for one per cent of the cost of the houses to be remitted to the government, said Benoy Viswom, the Minister for Housing and Forests, here on Tuesday.

He said that the policy would outline how much land and money need to be spent on housing above which it would be considered luxury. Such a policy was considered necessary because it had become extremely difficult for the poor to buy land and construct a house.

Mr. Viswom said this in his address after inaugurating the first Nirmithi Kalavara Margin-Free Market at Kalamassery at the Nirmithi Kendra office that would provide building materials at a reasonable rate. The Kalavara was intended to be a solace for the poor in the face of rising costs of construction materials. This was perhaps the first such step in the country by any government to tackle the soaring prices, Mr. Viswom said. He said that Kalavara outlets would be opened soon in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode as a next step.

The Kalavaras would make available ISI stamped steel, cement, hollow bricks, concrete solid blocks, concrete window and door frames, ferro-cement products etc., at rates lower than the market rates. Kalavara would provide building materials at no profit to a person below poverty line who wanted to build a 600 sq. feet house. The person would be provided a maximum of 100 bags of cement and 500 kg steel under the scheme. For renovation work, the individual would be provided 25 bags of cement under the scheme. Ration card and approved plan is a must to benefit from the scheme.

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