VADODARA, March 31: Trade and industry, building associations and builders in Vadodara have welcomed the repeal of the Urban Land Ceiling (Regulation) Act by the State Government. They said the move would boost the stagnant construction industry and provide houses to the citizens without much problem.According to official sources, in Vadodara and nearby 102 villages an estimated 2 crore square meter land has been released with immediate effect.Talking to Express Newsline, former president of the Baroda Land and Building Developers' Association Dilip Mehta said prices of houses would not go down immediately as people have been waiting for the past three months to purchase houses. However, the speculation has gone.Mehta said even farmers would benefit as they would be able to sell land to prospective buyers and get better price unlike earlier when they could sell it to only developers.Prominent builder and former mayor Dalsukh Prajapati said the move would wipe out corruption and bring an end to litigations. Residents will no longer be bogged down by housing norms, he added.Prajapati said the repeal would add to the State Government's income in form of stamp duty. ``Earlier, stamp duty of Rs 2 had to be signed even though the land price was high,'' he said.The former Mayor, however, said the State Government should formulate a policy for weaker sections and provide them with houses.President of Central Gujarat Chamber of Commerce (CGCC) Bhupendra Patel said repeal of ULC Act would make large area of frozen land available for housing construction and lower property and land prices. He said that the ULC Act had not served it purpose and had resulted in increase in corruption and prices of land. In a letter, president of Federation of Gujarat Industries (FGI) Rakesh Agrawal congratulated Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel for repealing the Act. Agrawal said they were confident that the move would give a fillip to the housing and transport industry and other key sectors due to higher and easier availability of land.FGI secretary Paresh Raval said the decision would not only help generate employment, but would also benefit ancillary industries.
