Budget 2018: Realty Is In Dire Need Of Measures That Will Make Buyers Leave The Fence, Says Hiranandani

The economic scenario as we have entered 2018 is challenging, to say the least. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has focused on different aspects of the economy in the previous Budgets. It is expected that the upcoming Union Budget focuses on infrastructure and housing. These will be ideal for giving a boost to the country's GDP, and, I hope, the finance minister will craft Union Budget 2018-19 in a manner that would boost the economy and ensure GDP growth happens at a higher rate when compared to 2017-18.

It was in Budget 2017-18 that affordable housing was awarded an infrastructure status. This year, I expect further sweeteners to encourage the private sector real estate developers to provide the much-needed push to the target of the Housing-for-All-By-2022 mission. To ensure that the private sector participates and helps make the mission a success, we need to look beyond the disparity between the public and the private sectors. Creating houses for the ever-growing number of homebuyers is something our leaders have spoken about over the years, and the private developers have stood by the Indian government, supporting the various initiatives.

The objective of Housing for All will not be achieved only by the private or the public sector; it will be the public-private-partnership (PPP) model that will help achieve this goal. The fundamental strategy underlying this model is to combine the strengths of both private and public sectors in order to overcome the challenges faced by the affordable housing segment and achieve superior outcomes.

We have seen positive moves in the form of eight models for public the private partnership, which were recently unveiled by the minister for housing and urban poverty alleviation. Initiatives such as these, along with ease of doing business, would go a long way in boosting the economic scenario.

To make sure the PPP model works, enhanced transparency in the taxation system would also be required.

The government has in past one year introduced reforms in real estate, including demonetisation, the real estate law, the goods and services tax (GST) and the bankruptcy law. While some refer to these as challenges, I term them as the tsunamis that have slowed down the buying decision. These have put home seekers on a wait-and-watch mode. I hope the finance minister ensures that the Budget helps overcome the effects of these tsunamis.