The real estate industry has little to cheer about after today’s Budget anoouncements. Here is a look at what some of the developers across the country have to say:
Pradeep Aggarwal, Founder & Chairman, Signature Global
Extension of capital gains on affordable housing by one year is also a welcome step. Also, Government’s increased focus on infrastructure sector and connecting Mumbai-Delhi corridor is the need of the hour, which Finance Minister has tried to address. This will benefit peripheral towns like Sohna (near Gurugram) immensely.
Surendra Hiranandani, Chairman and Managing Director, House of Hiranandani
The budget announced the initiative to develop five new smart cities in collaboration with states in PPP mode. This is a welcome move and will enhance the real estate prospects. The Budget strengthened the commitment to affordable housing, which is the government’s focal point for real estate.
The previous tax exemptions for both homebuyers and developers have been extended for another one year. Personal tax relief across various income slabs will invariably increase disposable income at the hands of the middle class, and boost their consumption capabilities.
Mohit Goel, CEO, Omaxe Ltd
Liquidity and availability of finance is the biggest issue confronting the real sector today. In this context, the assurance given by Hon’ble Finance Minister that NBFCs and HFCs will not face any liquidity crunch will help calm the nerves for sure. Simplification of tax structure and continuation of some measures announced for affordable housing in the last budget are some other positives.
Dhiraj Jain, Director, Mahagun Group
Continuation of some of the older norms related to affordable housing announced last year has been extended by one more year, which is perhaps a right step. However, considering the overall health of the real estate sector, it would have helped if Government would have given little more incentive to both home buyers and developers
Yash Miglani, MD, Migsun Group
Developers and buyers will benefit from the extension of withholding tax, which will mean that in some cases a property can be sold at rates lower than the circle rate prevalent in the area.
Lincoln Bennet Rodrigues, Founder and Chairman, Bennet & Bernard Group
The Union Budget 2020 had very few measures for the real estate sector which is one of the major contributors to India’s GDP. Apart from the personal income tax relief and few sops for affordable homes, there have been pressing concerns in the real sector that have not been addressed. There was an urgent need to address the challenge of liquidity faced by the sector. The budget could also have revived the Input Tax Credit for housing sector to provide relief to developers and home buyers.
Ashish Bhutani, CEO, Bhutani Infra
Real estate sector was expecting Single Window clearance and industry status. These two demands are very important for the smooth functioning of the sector as a whole. However, there many announcements in the Budget that are going to help the real estate sector to grow. Focus on infrastructure and economic growth in this budget will lead to more activity at the commercial segment as the demand for offices will grow.
Deepak Kapoor, Director, Gulshan Homz
We were expecting that government will at least streamline the bank loans to the developers, but no such announcement was made by the FM. It was important for the FM to address the issues as the sector is struggling with the finances and timely completion of projects. There were no new announcements regarding real estate and we are left to wait for the next announcement by the government for the sector that contributes immensely to the GDP.
Vikas Bhasin, CMD Saya Homes
Many fence sitting buyers are expected to take a call on real estate investment as the Budget has extended additional Rs 1.5 lakh tax benefit on interest paid on affordable housing loans to March 2021. This extension should have been provided for non-affordable housing segment also as housing prices in metros are high. However, not much was announced for the commercial segment directly.
Amit Raheja, CMD, Wealth Clinic
Though real estate has not got anything directly from this Budget but there are announcements that will indirectly help the sector. By extending tax holiday, the developers and buyers will benefit if a developer sells his product at rate lesser than the circle rate. This happens when there is a slowdown in the market and as an urgency measure someone sells it at lower price, the transaction in these cases used to become questionable on the pretext that the rest of amount has been paid in cash.
Amit Modi, Director, ABA Corp
One of major welcome steps in this Budget was that earlier any taxing income from capital gains in respect of transactions in Real Estate if the consideration value is less than the circle rate by more than 5 percent the difference was counted as income, both in the hands of purchaser and seller. Increasing the limit to 10% now will definitely minimize hardship in the sector and provide relief for both the developer and buyers.
Prateek Mittal, Executive Director, Sushma Group
On the similar lines of last year’s budget, this year also the government has focused on boosting the affordable housing. Extending the time span to another one year for additional tax deduction of Rs 1.5 lakh on affordable housing worth up to Rs 45 lakh is a step in right direction.
Ashosk Gupta, CMD, Ajnara India Ltd.
Considering that the Budget has also extended the additional Rs 1.5 lakh tax benefit on interest paid on affordable housing Real estate will indirectly get a further boost with improved infrastructure as the government plans to invest Rs 1.7 lakh crore on infrastructure. The Government’s continued focus on affordable housing and continuation of earlier measures along with the announcement of building 5 new smart cities under PPP also bodes well for the sector.
Rajat Goel, Joint Managing Director, MRG World
The Union Budget 2020-2021 has predominantly focussed on revitalizing the rural economy which is a good move. As per last year measures surrounding “Affordable Housing” was the mainstay from the perspective of the real estate industry.
Sagar Saxena, Project Head, Spectrum Metro
The major announcement government has decided to make of Rs 100 lakh crore for infrastructural development that will support real estate in small cities like tier I and Tier II. We also welcome the thurst on the infrastructure sector outlined in this budget.
Dhiraj Bora, Head Marcomm, Paramount Group
We were expecting that the government will look into the long pending demands of the sector and address the liquidity issues being faced by developers. The best announcement would have been to guide the banks to start extending loans to the real estate developers.
Vijay Verma, CEO, Sunworld Group
The Government’s increased focus on the infrastructure sector and connecting the Mumbai-Delhi corridor is the need of the hour, which Hon’ble Finance Minister has tried to address.
Harvinder Singh Sikka, MD, Sikka Group
There were hopes in the Budget for real estate as some of the announcements by the government will increase the demand of housing and commercial. Some of the steps that will help the demand are Income tax relief, ease in tax for Real Estate Transactions from 5 percent limit presently to 10 percent, and focus on infrastructure.