Budget 2020: The real estate wish list

Real Estate, accounting 8% of Gross Domestic Product is also the second-largest employer after agriculture. Over the last few years in India, the real estate sector has to cope with institutional changes including RERA, GST and IBC. The fall in the growth of GDP from trend rate of 8% to around 5% has also adversely affected the demand side in real estate. The Real estate industry has huge expectations from the upcoming Budget 2020-21. Here's a lowdown on what the sector expects: Dr. Niranjan Hiranandani, National President, NAREDCO, "In this Budget 2020, the Indian real estate sector expects a holistic solution rather than the piece-meal solutions that have been offered so far. The problem of liquidity is a complex one, what is needed is a resolution with execution speed – so, there is a need for ‘acceleration’, and NAREDCO hopes that the Hon’ble Finance Minister does the needful in the upcoming Budget proposals." Surendra Hiranandani, Chairman and Managing Director, House of Hiranandani, "Given the policy reforms undertaken by the government over the last few years, we are hopeful that the upcoming budget will provide much needed stimulus to the real estate sector. We expect the budget to push for investment in infrastructure, relax income tax slabs, assist the private sector and announce more measures that will boost the real estate industry. There are a few key points that should be looked into by the government in the upcoming Budget that will positively impact the real estate industry." Ashish R Puravankara, Managing Director, Puravankara Limited, "The Real Estate fraternity is expecting few big sweeps at the ‘Union Budget 2020’. Real Estate will have a huge part to play in India INC’s journey to a 5 trillion economy, and boosting the sector will help in employee generation and have other beneficial cascading effects. We expect government to expand its gambit of incentives to the industry at large which will further amplify the momentum displayed in 2019." Ashok Mohanani, Chairman EKTA World and Vice President NAREDCO Maharashtra,"The real estate sector definitely needs a stimulus which the budget announcement can provide. Some of the key expectations from the government by the sector are to improve liquidity, balance fiscal discipline with stimulus, and expedite resolution of stressed projects, few of which are already underway. " Rajan Bandelkar, President, NAREDCO Maharashtra, Managing Director, Raunak Group, "We are highly optimistic about the union budget and are expecting the Finance Minister to take corrective measures that would ease out of the liquidity challenges the sector is grappling with. The ease of liquidity can enable the buyers to make purchases and also support the idea of Housing For All. A real financial impetus to the real estate sector can come with a major overhaul in terms of GST relief and curtailing home loan rates." Rishi Jain, Managing Director, Jain Group, "The long standing demand for Infrastructure status for Real Estate industry could be the single most important step for easing the credit crunch. Long term capital gain benefits, tax breaks on home loans and revival of 80IB could be some welcome changes. Government also needs to provide deeper push towards hospitality sector." Rajesh Jaggi, Vice Chairman, Real Estate, Everstone Group, "We look forward to the Government building on The National Logistics Policy: The draft released earlier this year identifies steps to promote multi-model logistics parks, creating a nationwide logistics e-marketplace and the data-driven national logistics centre initiative. Comprehensive up-gradation of EXIM merchandise flow infrastructure under the Sagarmala and Bharatmala initiatives. Sector-specific reform including a full-fledged revamp of domestic pharma logistics infrastructure, which will contribute to raising compliance standards and reducing instances of counterfeit drugs and spoilage." Abhishek Bhardwaj, Chief Marketing Officer, Shristi Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd., "The real estate sector must be given special attention in the current budget. Tax benefits will be a welcome step to give a push to the dwindling demand. Warehousing is a area that has immense scope, we expect measures from the government so that this sector receives the necessary impetus for growth." Dr Kumar, Managing Director – Navin’s, "Enhancement of the Income Tax exemption limit of Rs.2 lakhs on the interest paid on housing loans under section 24 of Income tax Act to a minimum of Rs.5lakhs. Infact Government of India would do well to completely lift the limits if possible as this will encourage more and more people to invest in housing" T Chitty Babu, Chairman and CEO, Akshaya Pvt Ltd, "We urge the government to create policies for Single Window clearance systems and granting industry status to the real estate sector. These measures will help regulate the flow of funds from banks, investors and other financial institutions and lend buoyancy to Housing for All initiative of the government. Also, we expect that in this budget government addresses the ongoing NBFC crisis and introduce tax benefits for home buyers and real estate developers to reduce the stress on the real estate sector and help in bringing back the buyer sentiment." Srinivasan Gopalan, CEO, Ozone Group, “The long pending and much needed industry status for real estate is expected from this budget 2020 which will make the land acquisition and fund raising process simpler. With stagnant sales across the sectors, speedy implementation of the Government backed Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) will definitely revive stalled projects. Moreover, one time re-structuring or rollover of the existing loans for all projects should be permitted as suggested to RBI by FM and PMO” Aditya Vazirani, CEO Robinsons Global Logistics Solutions, "The National Infrastructure Project (NIP), which is set to develop over 102 Lakh Crore worth of Infra projects in the next 5 years, is designed to aid in faster and cost-effective logistics solutions. While these are progressive policies, effective and timely implementation of these will be vital to generate the expected results. Apart from the above, budgetary policies that can strengthen India’s domestic markets, especially the manufacturing and the transportation sectors, can help boost exports and international trade, thereby strengthening the logistics sector and bring in the foreign exchange."