Budget positive for affordable housing
Hyderabad: The Union Budget 2022-23 focuses on a long-term plan for the country with digitisation, urban development, and sustainability at its core. For the real estate sector, the budget placed an outlay of Rs 48,000 crores under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, and construction of 80 lakh homes will facilitate affordable housing. Real estate sector welcomed the move.
Ramesh Nair, CEO, India & MD, Market Development, Asia, Colliers, said, “This, yet again, showcases the government’s commitment on building affordable housing stock. However, we would have liked if there was more push on the demand side, such as extension and expansion of the credit linked subsidy scheme.”
The government repealed about 1,490 union laws in recent years, paving the way for to improve ease of doing business. The government also plans to launch ‘Ease of Doing Business 2.0.’ This should include more dynamic aspects and make India a more investment friendly destination.
“We look forward to the announcement on the replacement of the Special Economic Zone Act with a new legislation. This has the potential to make export-led parks attractive for investments. The new benefits will also trickle down to technology companies who export services and have a positive bearing on commercial office real estate,” Nair added.
Anuj Puri, chairman, Anarock Group said, allocation of Rs 48,000 crore for PMAY Urban and Rural will push forward the government’s ‘Housing for All’ initiative.
Puri further added, “We saw the home loan eligibility for many affordable housing buyers impacted by the pandemic due to loss of jobs and many MSMEs being shut down – resulting in significantly lower sales in this category. Affordable housing demand will gain momentum once the economic impact of the pandemic begins to subside for this target audience.”
Shishir Baijal, CMD, Knight Frank India, said, the government has reiterated its commitment towards ‘Housing for All’ by allocating Rs 48,000 crore towards this scheme, around the same as last year.
The real estate sector is further buoyed by the fact that the Special Economic Zones Act would be replaced with a new legislation for the development of enterprise and hubs. It will cover the existing industrial enclaves and enhance the competitiveness of exports. Another long-standing demand – the capping of surcharge on long-term capital gains tax at 15 per cent has been met too, Anshuman Magazine, chairman & CEO-India, South East Asia, Middle East & Africa, CBRE said.
“I would have personally been happy had the government granted ‘industry status’ to the real estate sector, which is the single largest employer after agriculture in the country. Granting industry status would have paved way to introduce many more reforms in the real estate sector, into which many common people invest their hard-earned life savings,” Dr Y Kiron, chairman, Suchir India Group opined.
