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Government urged to stabilise construction sector

Special Correspondent

KOZHIKODE: The Kerala Builders Association (KBA) has said the building sector in the State is on the verge of collapse. The association said it would resort to agitations if the Government failed to change its policies and bail out the construction sector.

M.D. Jairaj, president, and Sani Francis, general secretary, said here on Saturday that the KBA would organise a dharna in front of the Kanayannur taluk office on Monday.

Making out a strong case for Government action, KBA said the construction sector provided direct employment to nearly 3.5 lakh workers and indirect employment to another 2.5 million. It also disbursed Rs.7 crore as daily wages. "The construction sector should be declared an industry so that it will be eligible for several concessions and benefits available to industries," said association spokespersons.

The KBA sought comprehensive master plans for each district within two years on the basis of the development needs for the next 50 years. An expert committee comprising architects, town planners and builders should draw up the plan. The KBA also said the plans for Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode should be finalised within six months considering the commercial importance of the cities.

The KBA demanded that VAT on building materials be lowered from 20 per cent to 12.5 per cent since tax had increased construction costs and affected the common man's dreams of building a house.

The builders also demanded that the building complex tax on each apartment be fixed on individual basis and liability to pay the tax fixed on allotteesDespite Government rules and court orders stating that building tax should be paid by the allottees and not by the contractor or the builder, a system of one-time tax settlement system prevails in building complexes, by treating each complex as a single unit.

The KBA said excessive stamp duty on registration had resulted in a steep rise in the cost of buildings and made transactions difficult. Stamp duty should be fixed at five per cent, the KBA said.

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