As India eagerly awaits Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s sixth Union Budget, to be presented in Parliament on February 1, 2024, the nation’s real estate sector, particularly the affordable housing segment, is poised in anticipation. To realise the government’s vision of ‘Housing for All,’ experts and industry leaders have shared their insights, proposing vital measures to boost the affordable housing landscape. The proposals include revisiting GST rates, tax deductions, land allocation, and fund boost. The upcoming budget is seen as an opportunity to fortify the real estate industry’s pivotal role in India’s economic development.
In an impetus to achieve the target of ‘housing for all’, the National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO) suggested to the finance ministry the creation of the second tranche of the Special Window for Affordable and Mid-Income Housing (SWAMIH) fund with a corpus of ₹50,000 in the Union Budget 2024-2025.
There is widespread anticipation that the residential sector will get industry status, which could unlock financial advantages and streamline project approvals, according to Sudhir Pai, CEO of Magicbricks.
In the fiscal year 2019-20, the central government spent around Rs 63,000 crore on health. The Union Budget for 2019-20 included a Rs 6,400 crore provision for the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY), which Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced. Budget estimates for 2020-21 rose to Rs 80,020 crore. However, as the number of pandemic cases increased, so did health-care spending. The Ministry of AYUSH had been allotted 2,122.08 crore, while the Department of Health Research had been allocated 2,100 crore. In the next year, health funding was enhanced to roughly Rs 84,090 crore.
The allocation to health in the Union Budget 2021-22 was aimed at addressing the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Health spending was reduced to roughly Rs 77,000 crore in the revised estimates for 2022-23. The budget had a long-term goal and believed in building additional infrastructure. However, in the previous year’s budget, health spending exceeded even pandemic levels. The budget for 2023-24 was estimated to be over Rs 89,000 crore, with the government also proclaiming a commitment to eliminate sickle cell anaemia by 2047.
Join our whatsapp group for Latest updates