The Pune Municipal Corporation has announced a 50% reduction in premium charges for small housing units.
Municipal commissioner Mr. Pravinsinh Pardeshi stated that to promote low-cost housing, the civic body has decided to offer a 50% reduction in premium charges for housing units with an area of less than 50 square meters. For units with an area between 50 to 80 square meters, the concession would be around 25%. This reduction will be applicable from next month. He further added that there are no changes in development charges.
Currently, the premium charges range from 100-200 rupees per square foot, depending on the locality.
The municipal corporation has been directly and indirectly affected by the recession, Pardeshi said. “The civic body gets an annual income of 250 crore rupees from development charges and premium charges. But, for the last few months, very few construction proposals have been submitted for permission.” He added that the average income from development charges has dropped from 20 crore rupees per month to 10 crore rupees per month.
“Real estate business is suffering from the recession and there is no demand for big housing units. Many projects, which are already started, are struggling to attract customers. There are no new proposals. We hope that the concession in premium charges will give a boost to the construction of small housing units for customers who couldn’t afford big houses,” Pardeshi said.
Mr. Pardeshi further said that developers who have already submitted plans could alter their proposals and propose small housing projects to get the benefit of the concessions.