Realty stocks today gained up to 5 per cent after the Union Cabinet approved amendments to the long-pending real estate bill, paving the way for regulation of the sector.

Shares of Anant Raj Ltd rose by 4.67 per cent and that of Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL) gained 3.93 per cent on the BSE.

Among others, shares of Sobha Ltd went up by 3.39 per cent, Unitech climbed 2.92 per cent and Indiabulls Real Estate was up 1.99 per cent.

Paving the way for regulation of realty business, the Union Cabinet yesterday approved amendments to the long-pending real estate bill to bring under its ambit commercial and all ongoing projects as also brokers, while safeguarding consumers.

While the Bill already provides for strict penalties including jail for errant builders, the amendments seek to make it mandatory for all developers, including of housing projects, to keep minimum 50 per cent of funds collected from buyers in an escrow account to meet construction cost.

Developers welcomed the proposal for having a regulator under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2013, but expressed concerns over retrospective application with regard to registration of all ongoing projects.

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