Huge Support For Finance Minister's Request To States To Reduce Stamp Duties

The real estate sector welcomed the Budget speech of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in which she asked state governments to consider lowering stamp duty on property registrations, particularly for women homebuyers. While stamp duties for women are somewhat lower across most states, on an absolute basis, they are among the highest in the world, ranging between 4 and 8 per cent. The Union Budget makes a case for further reducing this levy to bring down the cost of home ownership. Manisha Natarajan discusses strong rationale for lowering stamp duty and other taxes on India's real estate sector with Niranjan Hiranandani, Founder and Managing Director of Hiranandani Group, and Ashwin Chadha, CEO of India Sotheby's International Realty.