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Sanjay Dutt, Managing Director & CEO of Tata Realty
Buying a home is one of the biggest aspirations for India’s middle class — but it’s also becoming increasingly out of reach.
At the India Today South Conclave, Sanjay Dutt, Managing Director and CEO of Tata Realty, highlighted how government levies, land costs, and poor urban planning have together made housing unaffordable.
“Government Takes Nearly 50%”: Dutt on the Tax Burden
According to Tata Realty CEO Dutt, the real issue lies in the hidden layers of charges that buyers don’t always see upfront. While GST on residential properties is capped at 1% for affordable housing and 5% for others, that’s just the beginning.
Stamp duty, registration fees, municipal charges, development cesses, and premiums for additional floor space often push the government’s take to 30–50% of the total project cost.
“Government only takes away nearly 50% through the taxes on the property. So they need to first fix that,” Dutt said, pointing to how these levies directly drive up home prices.
Land is another heavy burden. In metro cities, it accounts for 50–85% of a project’s cost. Dutt suggested that large parcels of unused land with the Railways, Defense, Port Trusts, and municipal bodies should be unlocked for housing development to make homes affordable.
He also flagged weak connectivity as a major roadblock.
“What’s the point of going 50 km from the city and doing affordable homes when people can’t commute?” he asked, underlining how infrastructure and housing must grow hand-in-hand.
Dutt’s comments underline a sobering reality: the middle class isn’t priced out of homes because of construction costs, but because of systemic inefficiencies that inflate prices. Without tax rationalisation, better land access, and stronger infrastructure, affordable housing risks remaining just a slogan, not a solution.