Quote on behalf of Mr Amit Jain - MD, Arkade Developers:

"With a lot of talk about the current Indian economy, slowing GDP, Increasing the Standard Deduction with Income Slab and not Fixed slab, reduction of tax burden, restructuring of tax slabs or removing the surcharges for the middle class will help in boosting consumption.The industry hopes that the government take some initiatives to provide stimulus and promote the buying sentiment in the market for instance, a Hike of Rs 2 Lakh refund on housing loan interest rate would help increase demand for housing especially in mid-segment and affordable housing categories. Government should also look at including Input Tax Credit benefit in GST or rationalise GST on Steel and Cement. Also, providing incentives for private sector in affordable housing will help developers to get funding from NBFCs or financial institutes at lower interest rates.The Real Estate and Infrastructure is the second Largest contributor to GDP after Agriculture industry is in a need of revival and the builder community is looking forward to receiving the fillip from the government in the upcoming union budget 2020"

Quote on behalf of Mr Rahul Grover - CEO, SECCPL:

“The real-estate sector contributes around 8% to the overall GDP, which is one of the most sizable sectorial contributions, leading to a plethora of expectations from the upcoming budget for the year 2020 — right from tax cut reduction and the addition of Input Tax Credit in GST for under-construction homes, to the rapid enactment of AIF. Providing ITC benefits to developers will offer a generous incentive to progressively reduce property prices, which will be a catalyst for under-construction housing demand. Also, providing a single-window clearance mechanism to the sector as it will help in swifter completion of projects.

The sector also expects the forthcoming budget to provide it the required industry status that will further help in raising low-cost funds, and make land acquisition simpler. This would in turn, enable the developer to cut capital costs and pass benefits on to consumers.

To achieve the goal of ‘Housing for All by 2022’, rental housing should be considered a pivotal segment that lacks a substantial boost so far. We are optimistic that certain announcements of the budget will benefit it to a large extent. Lastly, the implementation of allotted stress funds (AIF) of 25,000 Cr needs to be rolled out soon and efficiently utilised to maximise its potential, without delays. The successful completion of stressed projects will improve homebuyer sentiment, and fuel demand. We look forward to these expectations being met so that necessary measures benefit the industry to seamlessly progress in the long haul."