New Delhi, January 19, 2022: Throughout the pandemic, the real estate sector has shown substantial resilience in an otherwise gloomy macroeconomic environment. Given that the sector along with the construction sector is one of the largest employment generators in the country and contribute nearly 10% to India’s GDP, some handholding by the Government especially on the consumer side will go a long way in keeping the momentum going. For several years, the exemption limits provided under Section 80 C and Section 24 have remained stagnant and have not been indexed to inflation. Providing a separate exception for principal repayments under section 80 C delinked from other categories like PF and insurance will encourage investment in real estate. Another long overdue request from the sector is to be granted industry status. While on the consumer side, interest rates are at an all time low, the same is not true for developers. Access to low cost funding and easier access to capital will lower the cost of doing business in the sector and will ultimately result in making homes more affordable. Finally, I hope the budget will address the issue of rapidly rising input costs. Raw material prices have seen an unprecedented increase over the last 12 to 15 months and a continuation of this trend will put margins of the sector under pressure and push developers to pass on these increases to the consumer.
Corporate Comm India (CCI Newswire)
