#RealtyNewsRoundUP: Budget Boosts Affordable Housing, No Direct Impact On Real Estate

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Announcements made in the Union Budget 2018-19 have come as major boost for affordable housing. The establishment of a dedicated affordable housing fund under the National Housing Bank for priority sector lending will provide further impetus to the development of housing in this segment. However, the Budget would not have any direct impact on the sector as the demand of a concessional rate under the Goods and Services Tax for the entire housing sector was not granted, said real estate experts. 

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Finance Minister Arun Jaitley made the middle class slightly happy in the Union Budget 2018-19 by bringing back standard reduction of Rs 40,000 for the salaried employee in lieu of transport allowance and medical reimbursement. Stating the standard deduction would benefit 2.5 crore people, Jaitley in his Budget Speech said there would be no further changes to personal tax slabs. 

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The Budgetary allocation for the environment ministry for 2018-19 is Rs 2,675.42 crore, identical to the last Budget's allocation, even as the Centre announced a special scheme to address rising air pollution in Delhi and adjoining states. Presenting his fifth straight Budget in the Lok Sabha, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said air pollution in the Delhi-NCR region was a "cause of concern".

Meanwhile, the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has said that the scheme announced to curb stubble burning has to be implemented quickly as the "clock is ticking”.

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The Centre has kept an outlay of Rs 14,264.60 crore for Metro projects across the country in the Union Budget, a reduction of nearly 20 per cent from the allocation in the previous Budget.

Presenting the Budget, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said infrastructure was the "growth driver" of the economy and urbanisation was the government's "opportunity and priority".

Source: Media reports