NAREDCO welcomes government move to reduce import duty on raw materials of iron and steel

"The move to reduce the import duty on raw materials of iron and steel and steps to ease supply of cement would help curb the inflation and the soaring prices in the real estate segment. NAREDCO and the developer fraternity highly appreciates the Central Government and Honourable Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs & Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas of India Shri. Hardeep singh Puri on the timely and apt measures. High input cost have been impacting the developers over the past several months and property prices too have seen an uptick of late, bringing concerns for the nascent recovery of the realty sector in the country. Now, the measures should help further improve the home buyer sentiment. Better availability of cement through improved logistics also comes as a welcome move, however, the steps should be complemented with GST rationalisation on cement, which forms a major part of the construction expenditure.

The steep excise duty cut on petrol and diesel also would eventually lower the cost pressure with transportation costs going down. All the measures are significant decisions as they would provide the much needed relief to the common man and also calm down inflationary concerns. Multi-year high inflation had raised fears of growth slowdown. If inflation is under control, interest rate hikes too may be restrained, supporting the growth momentum."
- Rajan Bandelkar, President, NAREDCO