'Investment in real estate plummeted 6% in 4 years'

Investment attracted by the real estate sector from various public and private sources across India have declined by 6 percent in the last four years, says a survey.

New Delhi: Investment attracted by the real estate sector from various public and private sources across India have declined by 6 percent in the last four years, says a survey.

The investment fell to Rs 14.3 lakh crore in 2014-15 from a level of Rs 15.2 lakh crore in 2011-12, the survey by Assocham said.

Real estate projects involving about 76 percent of the total investments attracted by the sector remained non-starter during the period between 2011-12 and 2014-15, the poll found.

On a state-wide analysis, Maharashtra (21 percent), Uttar Pradesh (14 percent), Gujarat (13 percent), Karnataka (12 percent) and Haryana (8 percent) emerged as the top five states with the highest share in total investments attracted by the real estate sector in India as of 2014-15.

Clocking a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 82 percent, Assam has recorded maximum growth in attracting investments in the real estate sector during 2011-12 and 2014-15 followed by Bihar (19 percent), Odisha (17 percent), Uttar Pradesh (16 percent) and Uttarakhand (12 percent) amid top five states in this regard.

While Jharkhand (40 percent), Himachal Pradesh (37 percent), Madhya Pradesh (29 percent), Haryana (16 percent) and Gujarat (7 percent) have registered maximum fall in real estate investments, according to the survey.

The survey drew feedback from 100 small and big companies operating in realty sector in top cities of Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Lucknow, Mumbai and Pune to ascertain the implications of the Budget.

Majority (75 percent) of the real estate developers covered by the poll felt let down by the government for lack of focus on improving demand/supply in the sector.

The survey indicated that the Union Budget disappointed the realty sector with exclusion of the plan for '100 Smart Cities,' in the country.

Moreover, increase in rate of service tax to 14 percent will make real estate a bit more expensive and impact sales as it would wear down purchasing power of an average consumer.

Real estate developers are also concerned about increase in service tax on construction and excise duty on input goods, as also increased on petrol and diesel coupled with increase in freight rates on cement will lead to rise in construction costs.

Referring to urgent need for speeding up procedural requirements for real estate sector, the real estate industry has pressed for a single window clearance system for various approvals leading to operational efficiencies and cost saving, along with need for a predictable and stable policy framework.

Ownership-wise, private sector accounted for 85 percent of the total investments attracted by the real estate sector across India while government/public sources accounted for remaining share of 15 percent.

Zee News App: Read latest news of India and world, bollywood news, business updates, cricket scores, etc. Download the Zee news app now to keep up with daily breaking news and live news event coverage.