West Bengal to levy reduced stamp duty till end of March 2022

The West Bengal government has decided to levy stamp duty at reduced rates until the end of March, which will significantly boost the residential property market in Kolkata.

The third extension follows an outbreak of Omicron across the country, which resulted in a state-by-state lockdown. The 2-percentage-point reduction in stamp duty and 10-percentage-point reduction in circle rate, intended to boost demand for residential real estate, was supposed to last until January 2021.

“The financial relief will benefit several projects, and consumers will benefit greatly.” In West Bengal, registrations totalled more than Rs 75,000 crores, generating enormous revenue for the state exchequer. This will allow for further reductions in registration fees, making it a win-win situation for everyone. “We are optimistic that the real estate participants will announce more perks and freebies for consumers, and more units will be sold,” said Sushil Mohta, Chairman, Merlin Organization.

The Kolkata residential property market has maintained its growth momentum as homebuyers continued to purchase properties in response to record-low interest rates and attractive deals offered by real estate developers. According to Knight Frank, residential property registrations in Greater Kolkata in 2021 totaled 44,940 units, a 64 percent increase over the previous year, with 56 percent of these units registered since the introduction of the stamp duty cut in July 2021, according to registration data.

According to December 2021 statistics, there has been a significant recovery in housing registrations following a brief lull in November 2021 due to festivals. The number of residential sales deeds registered increased by 248 percent month on month in the last month of 2021. “After a lower volume in November 2021, Kolkata’s real estate market saw a healthy increase in property registrations in December 2021.” “The massive 248 percent MoM growth over the previous month was largely due to the extension of the stamp duty cut window becoming widely known among homebuyers,” said Shishir Baijal, Chairman and Managing Director.

The enrollment records is for enrolled residential sales records and contains transactions in both the primary and secondary markets.