Curb your enthusiasm: What developers expect from interim budget 2019

During the Government’s entire term, affordable housing got the maximum attention via infrastructure status for this specific segment, and various other sops and incentives. The subsequent budgets were concoctions of positives, negatives and non-events for real estate.

While outlining what the real estate sector can realistically expect from Union Budget 2019-20, the fact that this is an interim budget cannot be wished away. In such budgets, the incumbent Government usually tries to make a strong electoral pitch by offering tax sops or promises of welfare schemes. Previous Governments have candidly done the same, but all must follow a model code limit.

According to Anuj Puri, Chairman, Anarock Property Consultants, “This year, we must temper our optimism with realism and not expect major boosts for the real estate sector in the Interim Budget. That said, there are certainly electoral parameters to consider — for the common man (vote-bearing homebuyer) tax reliefs will count. For industry players (major contributors to election campaigns), alleviation of the severe liquidity crisis is high on the wish list.”

To woo middle-class taxpayers (who live in perpetual hope of further relief), the Government should (and quite possibly may) offer tax benefits by way of:

Puri says the exemption limit (under Section 80C) was raised last in 2014 after a decade-long hiatus. “This raises high expectations that this route may berevisited in this budget. It is certainly an assured crowd-pleaser, which matters in the electoral year.However, there’s no getting around the fact that raising exemptionlimits comes at a concurrentcost to the exchequer. A fine balancing act is definitely in order here,”he remarks.

For the industry at large, one of the most critical steps that this budget can take is to increase the finance limits for NBFCs. NBFCs constituted more than 50% developer finance in 2018 as against 30% in 2011. The NBFC crisis post the IL&FS default in September 2018 spelt doom for real estate players, and the ensuing fund crunch resulted in stalled projects all around. Puri believes the Government must revive the sector by pumping in more money into NBFCs who lend to developers.

The Government’s focus on infrastructure development should spell good news for the real estate sector. “Though generous funds were allocated for various highways projects in the previous budget, the real estate industry depends on faster road building because improved connectivity is the lifeblood of the industry. Apart from that, the creation of more employment in the infrastructure sector can redeem the incumbent Government’s well-documented shortfall on that front — again, an important electoral consideration,” Puri explains.

As per Ministry of Housing Affairs data, the total estimated investment under PMAY as on January 2019 is INR 3.87 lakh crore, of which approx. 27 percent has been sanctioned by the Central Government while only 32 percent of the sanctioned amount has been released so far. Evidently, despite the Government’s concerted efforts to gain ground on its Housing for All promise, the deficit is too large to ignore.

Puri says that for this year’sbudget, making sweeping funding announcements will not suffice. “These must be backed by a convincing game plan to ensure that the allocated funds are utilised as specified, within a specified deadline. If not, such announcements will earn some half-hearted tableclaps but no real sentiment traction – and sentiment is everythingin an election year.”

There are other initiatives wecan expect from this year’s budget such as a GST rate cut which can boost housing sales further. Or even easing the norms for REITs on the eve of their deployment. “These are rational expectations. However, at the end of the day, the upcoming budget may focus squarely on wooing voterscollectively rather than boosting specific industries. In other words, let’s be realistic and not overly optimistic,” he sums up.