Realtors have expressed optimism that the proposal to set up several new industries and institutions in the Sate will spur housing activity.
The proposals on port development and hardware manufacturing near Kakinada, Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor, Agriculture University, AIIMS, and IIT mark a good beginning, says Chairman of Visakhapatnam chapter of Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India B. Raja Srinivas.
Real estate sector is seeing some hectic activity only in the Vijayawada and Guntur area owing to the talk that the State’s capital will be established there. In the rest of the State, real estate has been going through a steady phase without an upward trend.
“If the new developments come, they will kick-start the real estate sector,” he points out. But what is vital is that they should take off promptly.
The announcement of additional tax breaks for the young, mission on low-cost, affordable housing and cheaper credit through NHB for urban poor, economically weaker sections, and LIG would also increase housing activity, he says.
The proposal to provide incentives for real estate investment trusts with complete pass through taxation will lead to bigger projects coming up. The announcement of 100 smart cities will also bring its share to Andhra Pradesh, he says. The announcement that the country will move towards GST by the year-end will save the realtor of the trouble of paying sales tax and service tax through two departments.
Land rateThe only silver lining appears to be I-T exemption and tax breaks. Otherwise, it does not address the basic problems involved in housing and lacks vision, says architect Y. Narasimha Rao.
The budget does not address the key issue of land rates. With land cost going up to 70 per cent of the housing in some cases, and a minimum of 40 per cent, there has been no promise on the issue. The budget has no mechanism that ensures that land is made available at reasonable rate.
It also does not say anything about improving supply. Right now, with infrastructure focus limited on some pockets, demand is going up there. If infrastructure is spread, one will have a choice of moving to new areas.