Builders give black money thumbs down Say once this goal is achieved, flat prices will come down by 15 per cent

Builders give black money thumbs down

Say once this goal is achieved, flat prices will come down by 15 per cent

The Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) has decided to do away with all black money transactions in the sector. Addressing the media, Lalit Kumar Jain, the President of CREDAI, said that there are several reasons behind the presence of black money in the market. “A majority of the share demanded during land transactions is black money,” he said. “People believe that real estate is the best sector where they can park their ill-acquired money.” Jain added that developers are mostly compelled to indulge in corruption and shell out money and as such transactions are never recorded, they invariably become black money. “The prices of flats go up by nearly 15% because of this. If the government seriously tackles this issue, the prices can go down by 10 to 15%,” he said. Jain believes that the government should implement a single window approval system which will allow proposals to be sanctioned in record time. Jain blames the government for the significant drop in the real estate sector’s contribution to the country’s GDP the last couple of years. He thinks they should be more proactive and adopt the best available options, and also adds that implementing the single window system can help them contribute a lot more and help achieve a double digit GDP growth. In Bihar, projects are approved in just 15 days and after it is signed by the project architect, the local corporation does not see much. In Gujarat, developers are sent the approval letter by post while in Singapore, the concerned official is penalised and his salary is deducted if he does not approve or reject the plan within the specified number of days. “We are the victims and not the beneficiaries of the present corrupt system,” Jain said. “We have been exploited and do not want to be a part of this corrupt system.” Experts in real estate see this move as a good beginning for developers. “We cannot bring an end to this corrupt system overnight, but we have to start somewhere,” said an expert requesting anonymity. “I am sure this will go in the right direction.”