Budget Leaves Odisha Realtors Disappointed

Bhubaneswar: Realtors in Odisha were hoping for some major announcements in the Union Budget for revival of the pandemic-hit real estate market. But the annual fiscal plan presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday has left them disappointed.

“The real estate industry was expecting some fresh measures for revival of the housing sector. But, no such announcement was made except extension of the benefit of Rs 1.5 lakh standard deduction towards interest payment of home loan and tax exemption for affordable housing projects for another fiscal year,” Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) Odisha chairman DS Tripathy was quoted as saying by The New Indian Express.

“The current rate of GST is around 18 per cent on normal housing and 12 per cent on affordable housing. The reduction of GST at this juncture would have been more appropriate to revive the sluggish market conditions by attracting more home buyers,” he added.

President of Odisha Real Estate Developers (AFORD), Nishith Ranjan Nanda said the sector was hoping for reduction in GST, stamp duty and home loan interest.

According to Nanda, the only good thing about the Budget is increase in safe harbour limit from the present 10 per cent to 20 per cent, up to Rs 2 crore, for sale of primary properties and provision of tax holiday. “This, however, will not be of much help for the Odisha market where most houses are sold in the range of Rs 25 lakh to Rs 75 lakh,” he added.

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