Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Union budget for 2023-24 in Lok Sabha last Wednesday. Nirmala said that the budget has been prepared for development of real estate as well as the infrastructure. Prashanth Rao, director of Poulomi Estates, explained to the Reg News various salient features of the budget.
- The allocations to Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana has been increased by 66 percent to allot Rs.79,000 crores to the weaker section housing scheme.
- A limit of Rs.10 crore has been imposed under section 54, 54F on capital gains concession on residential properties.
- Some guidelines have been proposed for calculation of capital gains in case of joint property development.
- Municipalities should improve their creditworthiness by ring-fencing user charges on urban facilities and implementing property tax governance reforms.
- An Urban Infrastructure Development Fund will be created on the lines of RIDF to overcome the shortage of priority sector loans. It is managed by the National Housing Bank. This fund will be utilized for setting up urban facilities in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. Rs 10,000 crore will be made available annually through this fund.
- The newly-established Infrastructure Finance Secretariat will assist in attracting private investment in infrastructure including railways, roads and energy.
- Encourage reforms in urban planning to develop cities into sustainable cities of tomorrow. These include efficient use of land resources, adequate resources for infrastructure, transport development, available urban land resources, and opportunities for all.
- Any income accruing to any organization or board or trust or commission established under a Central or State Government Act for housing, planning, development etc. in cities, towns, villages will be exempted from tax.
