The Union Budget 2025-26, to be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, holds high expectations for the real estate sector. Industry stakeholders anticipate transformative measures to propel the sector’s growth. Key demands include easing the GST burden on developers, revising home loan interest deductions, reviving the Credit Linked Subsidy Scheme (CLSS), and relaxing FDI norms to attract investments.
The residential segment, especially luxury housing, showed remarkable performance in 2024, drawing significant interest from buyers and end-users. Recognizing real estate as an industry could unlock affordable funding, streamline approvals, and attract investments, benefiting both developers and homebuyers. Enhanced tax benefits, rationalized GST rates for under-construction properties, and incentives for green and sustainable projects are on the sector's wish list.
Experts like Sudeep Bhatt of Whiteland Corporation and Kirthi Chilukuri of Stonecraft Group stress the need for policies that boost housing demand, enhance liquidity, and promote urban infrastructure development. Proposals include increasing the home loan interest deduction limit under Section 24(b) to ₹5 lakh, revisiting capital gains taxation, and introducing single-window clearance systems to expedite project approvals.
Mohit Bansal of GMI Infra and Mohit Agarwal of Conscient highlight the importance of affordable housing, eco-friendly initiatives, and better urban development. These steps can align with national goals such as "Housing for All" and climate objectives. Additionally, stakeholders like Ashish Bhutani of Bhutani Infra emphasize facilitating foreign investments in mixed-use and Grade-A office spaces to bolster the sector's growth.
Tier-II cities, identified as emerging economic hubs, also seek infrastructure development, improved connectivity, and streamlined GST rates to drive urbanization. Overall, a balanced and forward-thinking budget can transform the real estate sector into a stronger contributor to India’s economic development, creating jobs and fueling the $5 trillion economy vision.
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