Realty, infra gain as RBI signals cheaper loans to priority sector

Jaypee Infra, IVRCL, Puravankara, DLF, Prestige Estates, Oberoi Realty,Mahindra Lifespace, Godrej Properties are up 2-6% on BSE.

Shares of real estate and infrastructure companies are trading higher by up to 6% after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said banks would not have to maintain cash reserve ratio (CRR) or statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) and will not have to meet priority-sector lending targets for funds raised through bonds for extending credit to these sectors.

Under the new definition of affordable housing, loans of up to Rs 50 lakh in metros for houses valuing up to Rs 65 lakh and those of up to Rs 40 lakh for houses valuing up to Rs 50 lakh in all other cities are now part of affordable housing.

The S&P BSE Realty Index, a gauge for real estate companies, the largest gainer among sectoral indices, was up 1.5% compared to 0.31% rise in benchmark S&P BSE Sensex at 0935 hours.

Among the individual stocks Jaypee Infratech has rallied 7% to Rs 30.85, while IVRCL gained 5% to Rs 24.60 and Puravankara Projects by 4% to Rs 120 on BSE.

DLF, Prestige Estates, Mahindra Lifespace Developers, Oberoi Realty, Godrej Properties, Anant Raj Industries and Sobha Developers are up 2% each.