Maharashtra cuts stamp duty by 1% for two years

Presenting a Rs 9,511 crore deficit budget for 2020-2021, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday hiked VAT on petrol/diesel by Re 1 per litre to mop up an additional revenue of Rs 1,800 crore for the cash-starved state coffers. Presenting the maiden budget of the Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress Maha Vikas Aghadi government as it completed 100 days in office, Pawar, who holds the Finance portfolio, said that the additional amount would go towards creation of a special 'Green Fund' which would be used for environment conservation and projects of sewage disposal, and waste management. Simultaneously, he announced concessions for two years in stamp duty for registration of documents which is expected to breathe new life into the ailing realty sector in Mumbai, Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad and Nagpur. The duty will be down by 1 percent from existing 6 percent to 5 percent in these areas and would give a fillip to the construction sector. Pawar's budget estimates a total of Rs 4.34 lakh crore would flow into the state kitty from various capital accounts of which 5.184 per cent will be from the state's own taxes and 4.72 percent from non-tax sources.