Real estate sector needs incentives: Rajeev Talwar

Industry had expected the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to lower the rates to promote growth but Governor D Subbarao has chosen not to do so.

One will have to take a call on growth. Internally our markets are strong, but every sector in the economy is getting impacted by a clear lack of growth.

Industry is not asking for any stimulus or any additional measure. It is just looking for ways of promoting growth. Even as we have a robust market, we need to create jobs as well.

One can justify conservatism. But since it has not yielded any result in the last three years or so, still persisting with the same approach may not be quite right. As an industry, we are still waiting with bated breath.

When inflation was high, RBI had said it had to tackle internal factors. Now the governor is talking of external factors. It was possible for the central bank to take some steps, and those could have been rolled back in case of contrary results.

There has to be a stimulus to growth. The moment you lower growth, your strength will be known by that.

The real estate sector is a great driver for the economy, but one needs to offer some incentives. If it's (incentives) not there, then it will be dependent on the general state of economy. That said, we do not expect a huge change in the realty sector with today's policy.

In retrospect, Subbarao will introspect.

Rajeev Talwar
Executive Director, DLF Ltd