COVER STORY
MANISH AGARWAL Partner and LeaderInfrastructure, PwC India
BHAIRAV DALAL Partner-Real Estate Tax, PwC India
Affordable Housing continues to get preferential treatment given the ‘Housing for all’ agenda. Creation of the Affordable Housing Fund will certainly ease the funding gap. While providing a safe harbour is a welcome move for property transactions, the margin of 5% may not serve the purpose. REIT investors would have to now factor LTCG tax while evaluating investment opportunities which would increase their return expectations.
12 |THE GLOBAL REALTY| MARCH 2018|
50 lakh crore for infrastructure is welcome is as it reaffirms continued funding of various initiatives in Roads, Railways and Urban Infrastructure. Quantum leap in airport capacity is key requirement to keep pace with the rapid growth in aviation. Other initiatives, outside the budget, to revive private sector play in these sectors, will complement and further the impact of the budget allocations.
YADUPATI SINGHANIA Chairman and Managing Director, JK Cement
On the infrastructure front, the Finance Minister has shown remarkable restraint, and therein lies the brilliance of his announcements. India is at the cusp of an infrastructure revolution, and the budgetary support of Rs. 5.97 lakh crore for FY19 will be a big positive for the sector and supplementary industries such as cement. The focus of the government will likely remain on effective and timely execution of existing projects, with the FM promising construction of 9,000 km highways by the end of FY19. Also, it was encouraging to see the reinforcement of the government’s commitment to the Bharatmala Project, which will be a major boost to demand in the next financial year. Besides this, the announcement of the Affordable Housing Fund was also a positive announcement, especially since it will create an impetus for the housing sector, which contributes around 65% to India’s cement demand.