Response from Mr. M R Jaishankar, CMD, Brigade Group
Central Budget presented by the Finance Minister Mr.ArunJaitley is a balanced budget and a step in the right direction and can be termed positive over all and in particular for the Real Estate. Some of the positives are:
· Interest payment deduction from income tax towards home loans has gone up by 33% from Rs.1.50 to Rs.2.00 lakhs;
· Rs.4,000 Crores will be given to the National Housing Bank to support Affordable Housing;
· Investment of Rs.7600 Crores is allocated to improve the infrastructure in 10 cities. In addition, the much awaited REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) will at last become a realty bringing in substantial funds to the commercial Real Estate Sector.
· Extension of IT Section 80-IA benefits for 3 more years and renewed importance given to SEZs are positive steps
· Importance given to Tourism and increase in FDI limits to 49% in Defense & Insurance sectors are major positive steps and will also bring substantial foreign exchange to the country.
· In addition, increase in personal tax exemption from Rs.2.00lakhs to 2.50 lakhs and section 80cc deduction from Rs.1.00 to Rs.1.5 lakhs should help in giving more disposable income in the hands of the citizen.
Response from Mr.R Nagaraj, President, CREDAI Karnataka
This budget is emphasized more on infrastructure which will result in more job opportunities. As far as real estate is concerned FDI investment for projects upto 10 hectares is a good sign. So now FDI can invest in real estate. It will boost real estate industry in terms of finance.
Now the purchaser will also benefit because of this budget since tax exemption has been increased from Rs.1.5 lakh to Rs.2 lakh. Those who are availing home loans will be benefited from this.
FDI has now been relaxed to invest in real estate sector. So the industry will grow. And also government is coming with Rs.7000 crores for development of small cities. Overall in this budget the importance is given to infrastructure. So the GDP growth will increase. It is a good sign.
This budget proposes to resolve tax issues with Realty REITs, which also a good move from the government toward the real estate industry. The real estate industry can raise their funds through this source.
