Maharashtra Legislative Council Chairman Ramraje Nimbalkar today directed the state government to make a statement on the negative impact of steady rise in the ready reckoner (RR) rates.
RR rates are the guide to the official market price of a housing property in a particular area, and are used to calculate the stamp duty. These rates were increased last month.
Nimbalkar also asked the government to arrange a meeting of concerned officials in his chamber on this issue.
MLC Sanjay Dutt (Congress) raised the issue, saying that in the last five years the government had increased the RR rates by almost 300 per cent when the housing industry was going through a recession.
"It is a vicious cycle wherein thousands of flats remain unsold and yet the government is increasing ready reckoner rates which leads to further rise in cost," he said.
After agriculture, housing industry was the fastest rising employment generator (21 per cent) and there were about 250 ancillary industries linked to it, the legislator said.
It contributes nearly eight per cent of the GDP, and this contribution was expected to grow to 15 per cent by 2025, he said.
"While the government speaks of smart cities and affordable houses for all by 2020, it's ready reckoner policy is in fact slowly but surely destroying the housing Industry," Dutt alleged.
The builders were unable to absorb the frequent rise in these rates, and passed it on to the buyer, he said, adding that if the RR rates were reduced, it would benefit the common man and bring him "acche din".
