Realty firms disappointed with Budget

Realty firms disappointed with Budget
The Hindu Business Line, July 8, 2009, Page 2

Our Bureau, New Delhi

Reactions to the Budget from the realty companies battling cash crunch and slowdown in property sales: “Utterly disappointed”, “ignored”, and “let down”.

Waiting in the hope of provisions that would pull the sector out of its woes, real estate companies were left disappointed at the absence of any specific incentives for them.

“We are also upset about the fact that the industry, which has an impact of over 200 services and industries, with forward and backward linkages, has been let down…. Since the Government has set a target of achieving 9 per cent growth, we were expecting housing and real estate sector to substantially contribute towards achieving the target.

“The Budget has failed to provide any incentive even to the purchasers of affordable homes,” Mr Kumar Gera, Chairman of CREDAI, said.

Mr Sanjay Chandra, Managing Director, Unitech Ltd, said he wished that the Finance Minister had announced some incentive for the affordable housing sector.

No boosters

Mr Vijay Jindal, Chairman and Managing Director, SVP Group, said: “We were expecting a good increase in income-tax exemption limits to help increase the buyers’ purchasing power.

“Another thing that we were expecting was FDI, but the Budget did not mention FDI or REITs (real estate investment trusts) and REMFs (real estate mutual funds). The Budget has not given any measures that will boost the buyer sentiment.”

Mr Anshuman Magazine, Chairman & Managing Director, CB Richard Ellis, South Asia, said the Budget had largely ignored the housing sector.

“None of the expectations from the industry was touched upon; ranging from increase in tax exemption on people taking housing loans to infrastructure status for integrated townships (Section 80-1A), reduction in housing loan interest rates, etc. There was no impetus given for low-cost housing,” he said.