Pitch Report: Realty players continue to look for taxation support for buyers and developers in Budget 2025

Real Estate

The asks of the real estate sector from this Union Budget are not very different from what they were in the previous one.

On February 1, when the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announces the Union Budget 2025-26, the realty players are hoping for taxation support for both home buyers and developers, and revising size and price parameters when defining affordable housing.

In the previous Budget, there was a significant allocation made for urban housing through the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U) program which got an outlay of Rs 80,671 crore.

But despite the budgetary support, developers continue to face execution challenges such as rising price of raw material and land costs. In such an environment, industry players believe that tax support given to home buyers, in the form of reduced stamp duty and increasing the tax-deduction limit from the current Rs 2 lakh, will encourage more demand and support the developers.

Also read: Budget Snapshot: Weak capex could drag Centre’s spending to a 6-year low in FY2025

What will also help, according to them, is revising the definitions of affordable housing particularly in metropolitan areas. Analysts too emphasize the importance of revising size and price criteria to align with city-specific dynamics.

Real-estate developers also continue to ask for industry status, which can make financing more affordable and draw the interest of institutional players including foreign investors to invest in the sector.

Developers will also be closely watching to see if there are targeted measures to support urban development, such as increased allocation for Smart Cities Mission, which in turn can drive up demand for housing in the cities. Analysts Moneycontrol spoke to are optimistic that the budget will simplify regulations and introduce incentives to attract foreign investment in commercial real estate.