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“Budgeting is not just for
people who do not have enough money. It is for everyone who wants to ensure
that their money is enough.” … Rosette Mugidde Wamambe
―
Rosette is from the City of
Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa, & holds the position of Ethics
Officer at African Development Bank. She is a Leadership and
Productivity Coach and is also a Certified DISC Trainer with the John Maxwell Team.
She Co-founded The Africa Women Leadership Summit. The union budget is the
biggest financial event of every year & many will frown what's a big deal
in it, as it’s a routine but so is Diwali & yet we celebrate it with equal
enthusiasm, right? And then for 150 plus crores of Indians this union budget is
not just figures, it’s a hope for them to keep their dream of achieving many
things alive! And it's on these people’s (read as aam aadmi i.e. common man)
hope many businesses men & women’s dream of making their respective careers
big are riding, that’s why though a financial ritual yet union budget is very
much important for the country & its path ahead! And then on the background
of the new govt in place & a very tricky political situation in the
country’s politics, the new budget was more eagerly awaited by all the nation
as it will be deciding the course of the country’s politics also ahead!
Well, my journalist friend a
day before asked me to write my take on the budget from real estate aspect,
something which rarely comes to my way as I am by no way is a person leave
apart an authority to comment about budget yet after being in some business
(that too real estate) I can apply some logic to those figures & I said I
will try that & share, on which he agreed! Later I felt why not pen down a
bit in elaborate fashion what I have understood of the budget & more than
that what it could have been or expected as that can be used by others &
unless you share what you have understood, how can you will improve, right? So,
disclaimer one, please read as a common businessman’s view about the budget
(like common man there are common businessmen too, with no godfather behind
them or who wants to make some money by following laws & rules & ethics
types things) & disclaimer two, you are free to laugh if some suggestions
you felt are foolish!
Speaking about budget & real estate rather I will say housing industry), first and foremost a proper (legal) house is one of the basic needs of every human being though it is also the most expensive item and hence it is the last on the wish list for the common man. As most people buy a home only once (if at all they can buy) in their entire lifespan, this aspect govt (read as Finance Ministry) always ignores is what I feel after going through the budget details! At the same time, real estate is a very local industry & the budget must consider this fact as you can’t generalize policies related to housing for a country with a population of 150 crore & spread over nearly
33 lakh sq kms & with diverse needs as well their respective income! In this country a flat (read
as a home) can range from Rs 100 crore (I am not counting Antlia) to Rs 20,000,
such is the difference in making, in pricing & in buying capacity of the
clients. No other commodity has got such a vast scale to compare the price of
it & the best part is, may it be a hundred crore of or few thousand rupees
one, the expectations from it are the same from the owner of that home! The
home should be safe, it should be legal, it should have all facilities
essential for living & if anything goes wrong then by law (RERA) the
builder is only responsible for that wrong doing & yet it should be
affordable to the masses! This affordable aspect has been mentioned hundred
times in the budget but the definition of affordable & ways to achieve that
definition hasn’t been touched in the budget, is my first comment! We must now
define affordable housing & set parameters for the same as well
responsibilities of every segment associated with the housing to achieve those
parameters also must be set as on one side govt wants to make an affordable
home but don’t want to reduce anything from its cut (read as taxes in every
& all forms) neither says so for the materials (if not labours) costs or
raw material i.e. land cost, so it’s the builder who should bear all the burnt
& yet make it affordable, is something we need to give a thought in the
budget as that’s the main reason, millions of people are homeless or can’t even
dream to buy a home!
Make housing as an industry & make one single body governing it & taxation for the same, make only two categories in it, affordable & free pricing homes, at least give a thought for doing this! The 24th Budget has emphasized on employment, urban development as well as infrastructure which goes well for real estate because it’s the employment which leads to sale of homes. Yet, in reality, I think nothing will change in real estate until your declarations are made into policies and put into practice. There are three direct pinching aspects for real estate, ease of doing business, availability of cheap finance and taxation regime especially GST and Gain Tax types. Unfortunately, nothing has been done on demand for GST which is strange i.e. no GST on completed projects making affordable housing impossible for the developers. Because due to such policy more & more people are deciding to go for ready possession flats & with no control on land prices as well the govt charging you for every sq inch you are building the burden of completing the project (in most cases) only on the builder’s pocket. Omitting the indexation (well, it’s giving you some rebate per year on the price you have bought your property, is what I understood) while calculation gain tax in both short term and long-term gain tax slabs is a negative impact for investors but it is a good option for reinvestment in new projects as well a big blow for those holding ancestral properties! This gain tax’s new policy may make more people reinvest in homes but then please don’t look at home buying as an investment avenue, this will make home for the real buyer more costly, is what I feel as a common businessman! I know my statement or logic will not make many fellow builders happy but please forgive me as by me, a movie makes itself hit by the movie watchers & not by its sale in the black market, that’s all I can say!
Provision of Rs 10 lakh crore for affordable housing / urban development is a good step, question is how it will be spent, as the government does not have the means to build affordable homes, nor that’s govt’s job. What I think should be done is, either make this amount available to develop basic infra for the homes & then cap the sale value of homes at such lands or make this available in way of finance to the builders with a system ensuring the money is being utilized for making such homes & being delivered to the needy ones only or else this will be a just big figure on paper! PMOY Affordable Housing Scheme has been revived and it's good for middle class & lower middle class types houses. Substantial provision for infrastructure is most important because the raw material for real estate is developed land that is equipped with basic necessities like roads, electricity, and water. The problem is, till this date this provision remains on paper and in the reality, builders face inadequate infrastructure at ground zero, take the latest example, the latest water fight in PMRDA, on one hand the government is promoting house construction and on the other hand refusing new projects to take responsibility for basic things like water. Then there is something like, if a woman buy house in her name more facilities will be given but such announcements are good to win elections, but according to me if the govt really wants to help housing industry then it should remove all the things that are bothering it like suggesting stamp duty reduction on expensive transactions rather give clear directions than just suggesting such things. In the first place, think about the stamp duty percentage which is nearly 7% on the deal & at times this figure is even less than the income tax we pay for that project! Make policies (system, taxation, provisions, whatever you call) by which more people will build more legal & right homes to make more people to buy these homes easily without getting stressed for their entire life as that will be in true benefit of the masses & it will fetch govt big revenue also, is what my simple logic!
One last thing, there is a war going for housing not just amongst humans but between humans & all other species too (read as wildlife), so please, please think for housing for wild animals also & make provisions for them because if you don't make provisions for human's home we are capable of building something on our own & will survive but a tiger or an elephant can't do anything on their own about the home if we don’t make provision for it, just mind it! To conclude, all I will say, Hon'ble Finance Minister please know that the success of the budget related to housing industry depends on the implementation of the provisions made by you as in the end for a common man it’s not what govt wish but what govt delivers, is what matters, bass baki sub first class hai, adios with this note!!
--
Sanjay Deshpande
Sanjeevani Dev.
Please view my sharing about finding a Right Home/
Office in Pune, at YouTube link below & share if liked..
https://youtu.be/27j3I3rwGPQ?si=-ODYBxVI2Dl_C345
Please do visit my blog
links below to read about real estate & home buying!
https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2024/01/choosing-your-home-along-with-future-of.html
http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2023/02/blog-post.html
Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way (Click link below)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/72157627904681345
For any of your complaints about city, log in at link below
www.punecorporation.org
Take your issues to Hon PM at link below..
Think Green, Think Life
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