Realty stocks surge up to 11 per cent

Stocks of real estate companies were on buyers' radar today, rising as much as 11 per cent, after the Cabinet deferred a decision on setting up a regulator for the sector.
Shares of Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd zoomed 10.79 per cent, Anant Raj gained 6.46 per cent and D B Realty climbed 5.08 per cent on the BSE.
Among others, Unitech was up 3.92 per cent, Indiabulls Real Estate rose by 3.56 per cent and Oberoi Realty went up by 3 per cent.
Led by the rally in these stocks, the BSE realty index settled 2.47 per cent higher at 1,510.81.

According to sources, the Cabinet yesterday discussed the Real Estate Development and Regulation Bill but deferred a decision on it.
The bill, which was introduced in the Rajya Sabha in August last year, seeks to protect home buyers from unscrupulous developers.

It was then referred to a Parliamentary Standing Committee, which had submitted its report in February.
The bill provides for mandatory registration of all projects, besides mandatory disclosure of information like details of promoters, layout plan, land status, schedule of execution, status of various approvals and carpet area.
Real estate developers have been opposing the proposed law, saying it does not cover all stakeholders, including the government authorities that give project approvals.