Real estate growth, predominantly in Hyderabad and in the rest of Telangana, has been good compared to other cities across the country, but if the tempo is to be kept, the government has to help speed up clearances, permissions and also invest in civic infrastructure, said Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India-Telangana on Thursday.
“It is taking a long time to get environment clearances, about 13-14 months, and occupation certificates from the authorities concerned. There are also delays for getting change-in-land use clearances and DPMS- online building clearances too. We have brought this to the notice of Municipal Administration Minister K.T. Rama Rao,” said CREDAI-TS chairman G. Ram Reddy, president Ch. Ramachandra Reddy, D. Muralikrishna Reddy and others on Thursday.
CREDAI representatives said the ‘incentives’ announced by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman would be of a little help and wanted the Central government to rationalise GST by allowing builders to have input credits which would bring down rates and the same would be passed onto customers.
“Right now, 5% GST without input credit is favourable to cities like Delhi, Mumbai and others where the land cost is very high, but for places like Hyderabad, we are forced to charge purchasers more because there is a tax on every commodity,” they said.
Quicker processes like TS-iPASS and providing industry status have been other long-standing demand as it would provide funds at less interest rate as right now, they were being charged from 14%-18% while sourcing funds when compared to 8% home loans available to purchasers. Early completion and notification of the Master Plans for cities like Hyderabad and Warangal would go a long way in easing business and controlling unauthorised constructions. There was not much of inventory in terms of residential apartments in twin cities. Demand for office space is high but there could be a lull for up to three years for new projects to come into the market so there might not be much of price correction, was their considered opinion.
“We are a still affordable market when compared to other cities because of stable government policies and available civic infrastructure. But, the government can help the industry further with proactive policies and ensuring there is equitable growth around the capital region including the growth corridor around the Outer Ring Road (ORR) to reduce pressure on west zone,” they added.
