From Input Tax Rates To Roll-back Of GST, What Realty Sector Expects From Budget

After going through a rough patch, the year 2021 turned out to be a good one for the real estate sector since the pandemic hit the world. 

Every industry witnessed repercussions because of the lockdowns and a lot that happened since 2020. Unfortunately, the real estate sector was also affected badly. But the good news is, in adopting and evolving with the new normal, since the second half of the previous year, revival has taken a good pace. According to a recent report, the BSE realty index has jumped to over 60 per cent in 2021, while the Sensex has also gained above 20 per cent, a sigh of relief for the investors! 

While people were at home, the investors anticipated great opportunities and somehow these lockdowns were a blessing in disguise for the stakeholders related to the real estate business. Reason being, the consumer's perception towards buying a property changed drastically, now a consumer considers buying a home a ‘priority’. Well, a major chunk of the credit goes to the government and the new policies. 

A lot happened after last year’s budget. The nation witnessed landmark changes, right from the initiatives taken to boost the sales in the name of affordable housing schemes through tax rebates, loans, or other measures such as debt financing for REITs (real estate investment trusts) and InvITs (infrastructure investment trusts), and the infrastructure upgrades. The results stimulated and accelerated the growth for the sector and hope remains that the same will continue in the coming times as well.  

The real estate business is expected to reach a market size of $1 trillion by 2030, while contributing around 13 per cent to the GDP of the economy by 2025, being the second highest in generating employment in India, said a report. These positive changes in government policies will give a lift to the sector and empower developers to make quality spaces and value for the economy. 

Investors are looking forward to the upcoming budget that would trigger an impactful trickle-down effect on the entire economy - further opening doors for feasible advancement across sectors, and supporting end-user experiences.

The expectations from the government in GST reduction and input tax rates of construction raw material to 5 per cent from the current will definitely provide a much-required breather for the developers who would refrain from increasing property prices to sustain the rising input costs. Additionally, the long-standing requests for new regulations to encourage rental housing, single-window permits can be looked into followed with the introduction of 5G, digitization and automation is the way forward for newer and better outputs in the real estate space. 

Now, to keep the momentum intact, the real estate sector foresees the much-needed reforms in the upcoming budget. Appreciating the government for the already rolled out measures, we hope more is done to catalyze the growth and address both demand and supply sides. 

Let’s await the Budget 2022 going beyond the usual expectations and compensating the long overdues!