By IANS,
New Delhi : Hours after Finance Minister P. Chidambaram called upon industry to cut down prices of products, a leading real estate baron Tuesday said it was the government’s duty to ensure higher supply of affordable housing in the market to bring down prices.
“Not that we will bring it (prices) down. The market forces will bring it down,” K.P. Singh, chairman of real estate giant DLF Group, told reporters here on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum-India Economic Summit.
The government should play its role in the matter, he said, adding: “The government has to ensure through regulatory mode and policy to facilitate larger supply of housing in the market, then the prices will come down,” said Singh.
Earlier in the day, Chidambaram said at the summit that sectors like automobiles, hospitality and realty should consider cut in prices to stimulate growth in the market.
Singh said DLF had floated housing schemes in places like Kochi (Kerala), where prices were already “rock bottom”.
He added that prices in the realty sector could go down further as the raw materials prices were falling.
“My feeling is that prices would come down further, as they are tied with input prices. Steel, cement, everything is coming down, so it will automatically reflect in the prices,” Singh said.