Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman may increase the tax benefits on home loan principal and interest. The Centre may extend the interest subvention scheme to houses that cost Rs 35 lakh from Rs 25 lakh in the budget.
The budget could increase the allocation under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) from Rs 27,500 crore in 2021-22 and putting the National Urban Rental Housing Policy on fast-track. The cabinet last month extended the rural housing scheme till March 2024 to cover the remaining 1.5 crore of the total 2.95 crore houses under the scheme.
The Vice-Chairman of Naredco and Managing Director of Hiranandani Group Industry veteran Niranjan Hiranandani said that the budget should expedite last-mile funding by enhancing the amount of stress fund and increase the income tax deduction on housing loan to up to Rs 5 lakh.
The Chairman of Anarock group Anuj Puri said, “There is a need to hike the Rs 2 lakh tax rebate on housing loan interest rates under Section 24 of the Income Tax Act up to at least Rs 5 lakh. This could kick-start healthier demand for housing, especially in the affordable and mid-segment categories.”
The Partner of Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co Ashoo Gupta said, “There is an expectation of the introduction of new financing schemes and upgrading the existing ones such as the National Urban Housing Fund to address the liquidity crunch among developers, especially in the affordable and mid-housing segment.”
