Construction Industry News
The Union government has taken measures to contain the rising prices of building materials for affordable housing, including those under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Urban (PMAY-U), Secretary of State for Housing & Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishore said.
In the EU budgets 2021-22 and 2022-23, customs duties have been uniformly reduced to 7.5% on semi-finished, flat and long products of non-alloy, alloy and stainless steel, he pointed out in the Rajya Sabha.
The export tax on iron ore/concentrates and iron ore pellets has been increased to 50% and 45% respectively. In addition, 15% export duty is levied on pig iron and various steel products.
In addition, in order to provide relief to the steel industry of secondary and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) engaged in housing/construction, TMT bars less than 8 mm are exempt from the scope of quality control as they are mainly are used for non-critical applications.
The government has also taken steps to increase the availability of iron and steel, including reforms to mining and minerals policies to ensure better production and availability of iron ore.
In addition, the government has taken several initiatives to control the construction costs of affordable housing projects, such as a reduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on affordable housing projects under construction from the existing 8% to 1% without Input Tax Credit (ITC) and in the case of other housing projects, 5% of the existing 12% without ITC, increase the priority sector loans for affordable housing projects from Rs 2.8 million to Rs 3.5 million in metros and from Rs 2 million to Rs 2.5 million in non-metros; and setting up an affordable housing fund in the National Housing Bank.
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