The Confederation of Real Developers Association of India has said the Government could consider a scheme along the lines of the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit allowed in the US with the benefits going directly to the consumer.
I am relatively dissatisfied with the budget focus on the sector as no efforts made to the growth of the sector. My wish list to the Finance Minister is to relax the provisioning norms of banks for Real Estate loans, sector status to real estate, clarity on service tax & VAT, with some relaxation and to increase the interest exemption on Housing loan. But then the Finance Minister has not consulted the industry representatives in the last few years.
I would say I am relatively dissatisfied with the focus of budget on realty sector in the last ten years. Our expectations have never been fulfilled and I now demand investments in infrastructure sector should be set as a priority, as good infrastructure is very necessary for the economic growth of the country.
India is today facing a unique challenge of dealing with high inflation, while continuing on its high growth trajectory. Boosting of supply in all industries, including through incentivizing of infrastructure development, streamlining of regulatory process to reduce time and costs for business and tax incentives for low cost housing are all important areas which will help reduce inflation and also enable growth rates to be maintained.
Value and Affordable housing remains a segment where government should definitely continue to provide developers with tax free status which was available earlier. Rather than restricting it to unit sizes as in the past of 1,000 / 1,500 sft per housing unit, the government could instead have a maximum per unit value of say Rs. 15 lakhs for units near Tier I Cities, Rs. 10 lakhs for Tier II Cities.
Chicago-based Vestian Global Workplace Services, an integrated real estate services provider has announced to invest Rs 1,500 crore in India and China over the next 18 months. The company, which raised the fund from global investors, said about 70 per cent of the proposed investment was earmarked for the Indian market.
New research from Jones Lang LaSalle reveals that positive business sentiment and solid corporate hiring are buoying leasing demand in the office markets of Asia Pacific. In 2010, aggregate net take-up across major Tier I markets was more than double the level of the previous year.
Bharti-Walmart, a 50:50 joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and US-based Walmart, has roped in real estate company, Ansal API, to set up its cash-and-carry store in Lucknow.The ‘Best Price Modern Wholesale’ store in Lucknow will be spread over 60,000 sq feet in Sushant Golf City, a high-tech residential township being developed by the Ansals.
It seems the revival in the realty market has once again started attracting big ticket investments in the sector and even the corporate in the allied business want to reap the benefits. Nitco Ltd, known for flooring and interior aesthetics solutions provider, has now marked its foray in the real estate sector with the inauguration of its first commercial project- Nitco Biz Park.
While the realty sector is cribbing for under representation in budget for the last few years, Atul Modak, Head of Mumbai-based Kohinoor City goes a step further to say realty sector not only gets under represented but also it is treated with a bias. He asserts that instead of seeing it as one of the sector responsible for growth of the economy, it is looked with a bias and taxed accordingly. In an interview with Ravi Sinha, he shares his budget wish list and concerns for the sector.