Ramani Sastri – Chairman & MD, Sterling Developers Pvt. Ltd. on the recent budget

Despite the fact that the real estate industry was expecting a number of immediate demand-side pushes for the sector, some significant opportunities were missed. However, the push to infrastructure spending and sops for affordable housing have kept the sector hopeful of positive changes. While affordable housing continued to remain a priority area for the government with few additional reforms, the government could have given further boost to overall real estate which fuels the Indian economy and supports over 250-allied industries.

There is a huge opportunity in real estate that would enable faster economic recovery. The real estate sector has started showing signs of recovery after the pandemic disruption. However, it requires careful support from the government in order to sustain the recently-achieved growth momentum. There are currently several grey areas when it comes to schemes, taxation, funding and others where the government should provide a helping hand going forward. It is imperative for the government to pay special attention to the real estate sector and have provisions for its well-being in the near future.