'Govt Earning More Than Real Estate Brokers..': FM Sitharaman Stumped By Question On Difficulty In Buying House In Mumbai (VIDEO)

Real estate is a complicated business throughout India, but no territory is as intricate and consequential as the Mumbai real estate market. Mumbai is one of the most exorbitant avenues when it comes to buying or renting a place to live or work.

Broker Takes On FM

In a recent interaction conducted by the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the country's finance minister took a question from a Mumbai-based broker named Praful Shah, who went on a tirade against government policies that allegedly resulted in a decline in the profits of Mumbai's real estate agents.

While asking a 'question', the man said, that the government is a 'sleeping partner', and the real estate agent is a 'working partner'. He claimed that the government, by means of taxes, was making more money than the real estate agent.

According to the Shah, compared to the previous decades, real estate agents and builders were attracting more taxes, resulting in the depletion of their profit margins.

The Reign of Taxes

He invoked myriad taxes, that are apparently applicable to the sector, this included CGST, IGST, stamp duty, securities transactions tax , and long-term capital gains tax.

While, Shah was accusing the government of taking away their profits, he also claimed that buying a house in Mumbai is a nightmare.

This comes in a city, that set a new record for prices, when, in 2024, the city started seeing prices of 2 lakh per square foot in the city's priciest regions, including Bandra, Colaba, Malabar Hill and Juhu.

According to No Broker, the average price of flats in Mumbai ranges from Rs 65 lakh to Rs 9 crore. With a 1 BHK costing an average of Rs 65.5 lakh, a 2 BHK costs Rs 1.5 crores, a 3 BHK cost Rs 3 crore and a 4 BHK at 9 crores.

He also invoked the issue of cash components in transactions, and took a jibe at her party colleague Mangal Prabhat Lodha, who is a major developer in the city, and invoked the issues with cash and cheque transactions.

The finance minister eluded answering the question by saying, if the government were indeed a sleeping partner, it would be sitting and answering the question.