By Mr. Madhusudhan G., Chairman & MD, Sumadhura Group
On many fronts, this is a favorable and bold budget for the real estate industry. Although many of the expectations, whether it is bringing in a structured single-window clearance or granting infrastructure status to the industry, didn’t materialize, the government’s stance towards reducing the GST burden on homebuyers is seen as a welcome move.
In its ambitious quest to become a 5 trillion economy in the next five years, the interim budget, viewed as ‘Vision 2030’, has struck the right chord on several fronts, whether it is building next-gen infrastructure or building stronger digital India.
Here is the impact on the real estate industry, as I see it:
- The step of making more homes available under affordable housing is in-line with the government’s vision of ‘housing for all’.
- Giving impetus to the real estate sector, by extending the period of exemption from levy of tax on notional rent, on unsold inventories, from one year to two years, from the end of the year in which the project is completed is a slight relief to the developer community.
- The proposed step to the exemption of income tax on notional rent on a second self-occupied house is well addressed.
- Steps which include rollover of capital gains tax on the sale of houses from one to two houses & full tax rebate for individual taxpayers having taxable annual income up to Rs 5 lakhs is definitely a bold move and a great relief to the Indian salaried class.