DLF urges govt to down interest rates

Hurt by the establishment's statements that have the potential to dampen demand, the country's largest real estate player DLF Ltd today asked the government to rather focus on augmenting supply and cutting interest rates to further boost growth in the sector.

"The government should think of augmenting supply and not curtailing demand, which is a theoretical exercise," DLF chairman Kushal Pal Singh said.

Only last week, finance minister P Chidambaram said that the government was keen to curb demand in overheated sectors like real estate and housing. Incidentally, the finance minister's statement came when bidding process for the initial public offer of DLF was going on and the impact was seen immediately on Dalal Street with a sharp fall in the share prices of listed realty firms. Market observers said that the statement also hurt the investors' sentiment toward the IPO.

DLF could raise Rs 9,625 crore through the public issue - subscription for which closed on Thursday. Bids were received for 3.5 times the size of the issue comprising 17.5 crore shares of Rs 2 each.

"The only way to contain the increasing (property) prices is to flush the market with more supply than demand. (and) by thinking positive," Singh said.

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