Navi Mumbaiites seek reduction in stamp duty rates

The real estate market in Navi Mumbai is taking time to recover from the current slump as there is no big demand for property on account of changing needs and depleted budgets of prospective buyers, and also due to the huge percentage of stamp duty charges levied on new property acquisitions.

The General Secretary of the Navi Mumbai Builders and Developers Welfare Association, Atul Agarwal asserts that a prospective buyer tends to suffer the most due to the unreasonably steep stamp duty levied on real estate.

"A buyer has to pay 20 percent of the property value as stamp duty, which is unreasonable. The Association is planning to represent its demand to the state Government to do away with stamp duty levy, specifically for Navi Mumbai. The ready reckoner should not be used in case of Navi Mumbai where City Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) controls the monopoly on land . The state government levies stamp duty applicable for demarcated areas on the basis of a ready reckoner which is revised annually. Last year, the Association had submitted a memorandum to the former Chief Minister Narayan Rane regarding this issue,'' said Agarwal.

Agarwal opines that since Navi Mumbai is rapidly developing into the main information technology (IT) centre of Maharashtra, concessions on stamp duty levy should be generously extended by the government. Otherwise, investors in the real estate market and IT industry, will be drawn away. ``The infrastructure provided by the Maharashtra government for attracting investors to invest their monies in the IT industry, will all go in vain,'' feels Agarwal.


Mani D'Mello