Realty stocks down on stringent penalties in Bill

Shares of real estate companies were down in early trade on stringent penalities in the Realty Bill aimed at organising and monitoring the sector.

The Union Cabinet late Tuesday cleared the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill. The Bill is aimed to protect buyers from scheming developers and usher transparency in the sector, unregulated until now.

Many in the sector have opposed the Bill in the current form since it contains stringent penalties and even a jail term for a maximum period of three years for developers convicted of malpractice.

Anant Raj Ind was down 2%, HDIL eased 1.3%, Parsvnath Developers slipped 1%, Prestige Estates fell 2.5%, Unitech was down 0.4% and DLF was trading flat.