The raging pandemic has left most of the sectors crippled, and now these sectors have set their eyes on this year's budget in hopes of policy decisions which will help them to come out of the current slowdown. Even as the real estate sector has seen a lot of backing by the government amid the unprecedented COVID crisis, industry experts believe the sector is still looking for a big push which will set the wheels of the second largest employer rolling.

Experts expect the government to keep giving realty its support in terms of financial and policy aid along with the granting of industry status to the sector. Granting of industry status to the sector will aid economic growth,while reintroduction of the input tax credit will further ease the liquidity crunch on under-construction properties as it will help in bringing down the cost of construction which will result in reduced property prices in the market. The sector also expects a waiver in GST for under-construction properties as this will help boost demand in the sector.

The industry expects if 1% GST for affordable housing can be extended for another fiscal year along with the removal of ₹45 lakh cap to push the affordable housing segment," said Ashok Mohanani, president, NAREDCO Maharashtra in a report by Mint. The extension of timelines of schemes to avail benefits of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (PMAY) beyond March 2021 and differential pricing between circle rate and agreement value beyond June 2021, will help real estate to achieve faster recovery.

The sector also hopes that the government considers exemption extension under section 80C to invest in REITs starting with Rs 50,000. Experts also hope that a rise in tax rebate from 2 lakh to 5 lakh on housing loan interest rates under section 24 of the Income Tax Act will further pusing housing demand in 2021. Also, the income tax benefit should not just be limited to residential purchasers but should also be for commercial purchasers.

The government has always been a big supporter of affordable housing for a few years now, however experts believe that this year the capping of 45 lakh for an affordable house should be extended to 60 lakh and this would expand the benefits to more homes and in turn boost demand. Along with this, the incentives to boost the segment also needs to see a reduction in terms of cost of land, development premiums so that more and more developers come forward to build budget homes.

The real estate sector has a direct contribution of around 6-7 to percent of the GDP. Granting industry status will encourage foreign investments, churn more jobs, while single window clearance of projects will help in swift execution of projects , thus significantly bringing in the much needed changes in the realty sector, believes experts.