That brings us to the end of our live coverage from Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's press conference. We leave you with all the key takeaways from the press conference here. Stay tuned to Moneycontrol for more updates.
Sep 14, 05:56 PM (IST)
Amit Modi, Director ABA Corp and President Elect CREDAI western UP, "We really appreciate the recent steps announced by the Finance Minister to boost the Housing Sector and are happy that certain provisions demanded by the Real Estate Sector since long, have finally been brought on paper, especially the direct linking of Repo Rates to interest rates as this was a constant complaint from both the Homebuyers and Real Estate Industry that while the RBI was reducing the rates at regular intervals, the banks were using it to shore up there bottom lines rather than passing it to the end consumers, hence Homebuyers were always left in the same situation.
We also welcome the additional deduction of up to Rs.1.5 lakhs interest paid on home loans for properties up to Rs.45lakhs, and will request the Finance Minister to provide the same benefits for the bigger base, since most of the population living in Metro cities like Mumbai and Delhi will never be able to find accommodation upto Rs. 45 lakhs.
Overall we really appreciate these and other steps taken by the government to boost the Housing sector and realise Prime Ministers vision of Housing for All 2022."
Sep 14, 05:50 PM (IST)
Parveen Aggarwal, Founder and Chairman, Signature Sattva, "FM announced encouraging steps for the real estate sector especially the affordable segment, which has the maximum demand. Apart from contributing Rs 10,000 crore to complete construction of unfinished projects in affordable and middle income category housing, the FM announced relaxation of ECB guidelines for the affordable housing. By easing the financing for the home buyers, the government has paved the way for faster sale and possession of the projects. This will surely speed up the process of reaching the 'Housing for All' target."
Sep 14, 05:39 PM (IST)
Dhiraj Jain, Director, Mahagun Group, "The biggest relief came in the garb of last mile funding where projects that are 60% complete will get funding through special window. It is expected that around 3.5 lakh stuck units will benefit from the decision. With this support from the government the market will become more potent and many buyers will get the possession of their homes soon. Additionally, many unsold units of these stuck projects will come in the market opening an options galore for the property seekers. We welcome the FM for taking such a decision that is going affect so many lives and ease out the burden of real estate sector."
Sep 14, 05:31 PM (IST)
Pradeep Aggarwal, Co-Founder & Chairman, Signature Global and Chairman - ASSOCHAM National Council on Real Estate, Housing and Urban Development, "The latest announcement by Hon'ble Finance Minister of establishing a special window will go a long way in helping affordable and mid-income housing. The move will ensure that mid-income and affordable income projects that are 60% complete and are non-NPA and non-NCLT, will witness faster completion thereby benefiting the buyers. It will also help the Government in achieving its objective of 'Housing for All by 2022'. Today's announcements also indicate as Government's effort of boosting the affordable housing as it had also announced in the budget an additional deduction of up to Rs 1.5 lakh for interest paid on home loans borrowed up to March 31, 2020 for purchase of house valued up to Rs 45 lakh. This s going to help increase the sale of affordable housing in tier II and tier III cities."
Sep 14, 05:22 PM (IST)
Mohit Goel, CEO, Omaxe Ltd, "Finance Minister’s announcement of setting up special window of Rs 10,000 crore for projects, which are 60% complete and are non-NPA and non-NCLT, is likely to ensure speedy delivery of projects. Needless to say, the measures will play a pivotal role in enhancing the confidence of home buyers in the real estate sector. Moreover, the prevailing yield on 10 year T-bills is hovering around 6.6-6.7%. The Government decision to link House Building Advance to it effectively means reduction of interest rate for government employees, which constitute the biggest chunk of home buyers. This also augurs well for the sector ahead of festive season."
Sep 14, 05:16 PM (IST)
Manoj Gaur, MD, Gaurs Group & Chairman, Affordable Housing Committee, CREDAI, "Announcements by Hon'ble FM to boost housing sector is indeed welcome. Several mid-income and affordable housing projects which are witnessing slow progress due to lack of funds, will be expedited as the result of setting up of special window having a corpus of Rs 10,000 crore. It should help faster delivery of close to 3 - 3.5 dwelling units. The fact that the special window will be managed and monitored by professionals from housing and banking sector is another step in right direction. Also, govt decision to link housing building advance with yield on 10-year T-bill is likely to reduce effective interest rate for government employees, which should encourage them to buy new homes. Relaxation of ECB norms for affordable housing should also boost housing demand as the cost of funds will reduce for HFCs as a result of the move."
Sep 14, 05:06 PM (IST)
Mr. Mahesh Singhi, Founder & MD, Singhi Advisors.“FM Sitharaman has made a series of announcements to redress consumer concerns and kickstart the investment cycle in the economy with a specific focus on the revival of real estate and boosting the export competitiveness of the country. The roll-out of the special funding window for affordable housing reiterates the government’s commitment to provide low cost funding to home buyers in the lower and middle income housing segment. The announcement of an automated e-assessment system and the complete removal of human interference will lead to improved tax compliance measures and with the assessment unit remaining anonymous, instances of taxpayer harassment will be significantly reduced. The deployment of a fully electronic refund module for automated refunds of Input Tax Credit will accelerate the processing of refunds and place higher capital at the disposal of traders and businessmen.”
Sep 14, 05:00 PM (IST)
S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities says, "Measures to Boost Housing is a positive for Mortgage Companies in our view. Special Window to provide the much needed last mile funding for Housing Projects which are non-NPA and non-NCLT would also enable completion of unfinished homes. Moreover the relaxation of ECB guidelines for Affordable Housing including interest rates on house building advance is a good step. Exporters in labour intensive sectors should be happy with the new RODTEP scheme from 01-01-2020 as it proposes to more than adequately incentivise exporters. Speedy ITC refunds and higher insurance cover for exporters should help in our view".
Get Annual plan at only Rs 289. 
highlights
Govt announces steps to boost housing, facilitate homebuyers
Mega shopping festival by March 2020
MEIS to discontinue from Jan 1, 2020
FM's presser at 2.30pm
That brings us to the end of our live coverage from Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's press conference. We leave you with all the key takeaways from the press conference here. Stay tuned to Moneycontrol for more updates.
Amit Modi, Director ABA Corp and President Elect CREDAI western UP, "We really appreciate the recent steps announced by the Finance Minister to boost the Housing Sector and are happy that certain provisions demanded by the Real Estate Sector since long, have finally been brought on paper, especially the direct linking of Repo Rates to interest rates as this was a constant complaint from both the Homebuyers and Real Estate Industry that while the RBI was reducing the rates at regular intervals, the banks were using it to shore up there bottom lines rather than passing it to the end consumers, hence Homebuyers were always left in the same situation.
We also welcome the additional deduction of up to Rs.1.5 lakhs interest paid on home loans for properties up to Rs.45lakhs, and will request the Finance Minister to provide the same benefits for the bigger base, since most of the population living in Metro cities like Mumbai and Delhi will never be able to find accommodation upto Rs. 45 lakhs.
Overall we really appreciate these and other steps taken by the government to boost the Housing sector and realise Prime Ministers vision of Housing for All 2022."
Parveen Aggarwal, Founder and Chairman, Signature Sattva, "FM announced encouraging steps for the real estate sector especially the affordable segment, which has the maximum demand. Apart from contributing Rs 10,000 crore to complete construction of unfinished projects in affordable and middle income category housing, the FM announced relaxation of ECB guidelines for the affordable housing. By easing the financing for the home buyers, the government has paved the way for faster sale and possession of the projects. This will surely speed up the process of reaching the 'Housing for All' target."
Dhiraj Jain, Director, Mahagun Group, "The biggest relief came in the garb of last mile funding where projects that are 60% complete will get funding through special window. It is expected that around 3.5 lakh stuck units will benefit from the decision. With this support from the government the market will become more potent and many buyers will get the possession of their homes soon. Additionally, many unsold units of these stuck projects will come in the market opening an options galore for the property seekers. We welcome the FM for taking such a decision that is going affect so many lives and ease out the burden of real estate sector."
Pradeep Aggarwal, Co-Founder & Chairman, Signature Global and Chairman - ASSOCHAM National Council on Real Estate, Housing and Urban Development, "The latest announcement by Hon'ble Finance Minister of establishing a special window will go a long way in helping affordable and mid-income housing. The move will ensure that mid-income and affordable income projects that are 60% complete and are non-NPA and non-NCLT, will witness faster completion thereby benefiting the buyers. It will also help the Government in achieving its objective of 'Housing for All by 2022'.
Today's announcements also indicate as Government's effort of boosting the affordable housing as it had also announced in the budget an additional deduction of up to Rs 1.5 lakh for interest paid on home loans borrowed up to March 31, 2020 for purchase of house valued up to Rs 45 lakh. This s going to help increase the sale of affordable housing in tier II and tier III cities."
Mohit Goel, CEO, Omaxe Ltd, "Finance Minister’s announcement of setting up special window of Rs 10,000 crore for projects, which are 60% complete and are non-NPA and non-NCLT, is likely to ensure speedy delivery of projects. Needless to say, the measures will play a pivotal role in enhancing the confidence of home buyers in the real estate sector.
Moreover, the prevailing yield on 10 year T-bills is hovering around 6.6-6.7%. The Government decision to link House Building Advance to it effectively means reduction of interest rate for government employees, which constitute the biggest chunk of home buyers. This also augurs well for the sector ahead of festive season."
Manoj Gaur, MD, Gaurs Group & Chairman, Affordable Housing Committee, CREDAI, "Announcements by Hon'ble FM to boost housing sector is indeed welcome. Several mid-income and affordable housing projects which are witnessing slow progress due to lack of funds, will be expedited as the result of setting up of special window having a corpus of Rs 10,000 crore. It should help faster delivery of close to 3 - 3.5 dwelling units. The fact that the special window will be managed and monitored by professionals from housing and banking sector is another step in right direction. Also, govt decision to link housing building advance with yield on 10-year T-bill is likely to reduce effective interest rate for government employees, which should encourage them to buy new homes. Relaxation of ECB norms for affordable housing should also boost housing demand as the cost of funds will reduce for HFCs as a result of the move."
Mr. Mahesh Singhi, Founder & MD, Singhi Advisors.“FM Sitharaman has made a series of announcements to redress consumer concerns and kickstart the investment cycle in the economy with a specific focus on the revival of real estate and boosting the export competitiveness of the country. The roll-out of the special funding window for affordable housing reiterates the government’s commitment to provide low cost funding to home buyers in the lower and middle income housing segment. The announcement of an automated e-assessment system and the complete removal of human interference will lead to improved tax compliance measures and with the assessment unit remaining anonymous, instances of taxpayer harassment will be significantly reduced. The deployment of a fully electronic refund module for automated refunds of Input Tax Credit will accelerate the processing of refunds and place higher capital at the disposal of traders and businessmen.”
S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities says, "Measures to Boost Housing is a positive for Mortgage Companies in our view. Special Window to provide the much needed last mile funding for Housing Projects which are non-NPA and non-NCLT would also enable completion of unfinished homes. Moreover the relaxation of ECB guidelines for Affordable Housing including interest rates on house building advance is a good step. Exporters in labour intensive sectors should be happy with the new RODTEP scheme from 01-01-2020 as it proposes to more than adequately incentivise exporters. Speedy ITC refunds and higher insurance cover for exporters should help in our view".
FM Nirmala Sitharaman's booster shot for exports -- Dubai-like annual shopping festival in India
India will now have its own version of an annual shopping festival on the lines of the one hosted by Dubai.