The challenges of the real estate sector in India and the market outlook for 2023 were discussed at the third meeting of the CREDAI National executive committee governing council in Kolkata on January 21.
The meeting at Taj Bengal was hosted by CREDAI (Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India) West Bengal, the apex body of the state comprising CREDAI Bengal and CREDAI Howrah-Hooghly.
CREDAI holds its governing council meetings across India.
Debashis Sen, managing director, WBHIDCO, the chief guest on the occasion. Satish Magar, chairman, CREDAI National; Boman Irani, president elect, CREDAI National; Harsh Patodia, president, CREDAI National; Sushil Mohta, president, CREDAI West Bengal; Deepak Goradia, treasurer, CREDAI National; and Shekhar Patel, vice-president, CREDAI National; were also present at the meeting. The meeting was attended by CREDAI national office-bearers and functionaries from various parts of the country along with leading developers of Kolkata and West Bengal.
“Kolkata, the cultural capital of India with rich legacy, has also proven to be a hub of affordable residential market as well as a major real estate destination. I feel proud that CREDAI West Bengal has hosted the national executive meeting in the city this year,” said Sushil Mohta, president, CREDAI West Bengal, and a founder-member of CREDAI in the West Bengal and at the national level. “A clutch of corporates from across the nation participated in the executive meeting. This meeting was a crucial one as various issues such as recommendations for the upcoming Union budget were discussed. CREDAI has been working to bring good practices in the real estate industry and champion the cause for customers at large and the industry.”
“The real estate sector is expected to perform well in 2023 too and with housing loan interest rates increasing there may be a short-term impact on demand across various categories,” CREDAI president Harsh Vardhan Patodia said.
Some of the key points discussed at the Kolkata meeting were restrictions on availing input tax credit for real estate projects, increasing tax exemption on interest for home buyers, exempting rental income up to Rs. 20 lakhs per year to encourage homeowners, ‘Housing for All’ supplemented by the ‘Affordable Housing Policy’ & ‘Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana’ and how they have fulfilled the dreams of owning a house for many underprivileged families
“There have been discussions on current affairs pertaining to real estate industries such as banking, interest rates, government initiatives, affordable housing, direct and indirect taxes. The forum has also discussed issues related to environment clearance, civil aviation, labour laws, – skill development, new initiatives such as CSR and MSME. CREDAI is also building an e-library which will also have current legislations, information for the benefit of its members,” said Nandu Belani, immediate past-president, CREDAI Bengal
The CREDAI executive committee and governing council (EC GC) meetings are held once every quarter to discuss various issues pertaining to the real estate sector, update members on the various activities and work done in the previous quarter, key developments and future plans. The CREDAI executive committee and governing council is made up of national office-bearers, including chairman, president, president elect and vice-presidents. The presidents of all CREDAI state federations, chairpersons of various CREDAI national committees, executive committee members, conveners of youth wing & women’s wing attend these meetings.