Realty sector welcomes coronavirus lockdown extension, seeks relief package to cushion liquidity crisis

The real estate industry on Tuesday welcomed the decision to extend the lockdown period till May 3, but said the government should allow limited construction activities with proper safety and also provide a relief package to ease the liquidity crisis faced by builders.

"We support the prime minister's announcement on extension of the lockdown. We are looking forward to the blueprint by the government to be revealed on April 20 and would also urge the government to permit limited construction activity as this will help the real estate sector unfold its economic movement in a staggered way," CREDAI National Chairman Jaxay Shah said in a statement.

The need of the hour is the economic package by the RBI to address the liquidity challenges being faced by the housing sector, he added.

Ashish R Puravankara, MD Puravankara Ltd, said, "the quarantine lockdown has been extended and it is primarily for the health and safety of the nation, which is the focal point at this time. Industry sectors will certainly take time to revert to sync once the lockdown is lifted. We will await the individual state advisories on the plans for post 20th April."

Property consultant Anuj Puri said, "it’s the right thing to do given that life is much more important to protect at this stage than the economy."

"We however hope that some of the areas where COVID-19 hasn’t hit would start to open and at least with social distancing business will start production," Puri added.

"Considering that the risk of the spread of the Coronavirus is still high, it was the right decision on the part of the government to extend the lock-down," Dhruv Agarwala, Group CEO, Housing.com, Makaan.com and PropTiger.com, said.

"However, it is quite obvious that this will have a further adverse impact on the economy that is already under severe stress. We sincerely hope that the government will, at the earliest, announce a relief package for businesses, many of which are struggling to stay afloat with revenues coming to a virtual standstill," Agarwala said.

Dhiraj Jain, Director, Mahagun Group, said: "we stand firmly behind PM’s decision to extend the lockdown."

However, he said the government should announce measures to help this sector.

Deepak Kapoor, Director, Gulshan Homz, welcomed the move but demanded one-time restructuring of developers' bank loans to tide over this liquidity crisis.

Property brokerage firm Investors Clinic founder Honeyy Katiyal supported the move but said this would have a huge impact on the real estate sector.

"Considering the overall risk, it was expected that lock down will be extended further. However, considering the adverse economic impact, the Government must announce a relief package for the industry," Sagar Saxena, Project Head, Spectrum Metro said.

"The nationwide lockdown was bound to be extended. Having said that, we would welcome a gradual opening of economic activity including resumption of construction activity at project sites," said Kaushal Agarwal, Chairman, The Guardians Real Estate Advisory.

KW Group MD Pankaj Jain said it is a tough decision but the right one. PTI MJH RUJ