|
 |
 |
|
REAL ESTATE ULCRA: Boost To Builders The repeal of the Act promises growth in the real-estate sector. By Mainak Guha
The Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act (ULCRA) is to be repealed to give states the freedom to utilise their excess land for real-estate development. According to Urban Affairs Minister Ram Jethmalani ulcra (1976) has failed in its objective of utilising vacant land for housing activities. Under the new Act, unused land, taken over by state governments under the provisions of the old Act, will be given to the original land owners. The Government also intends to allow foreign direct investment into this sector but with a cap on equity. A series of fiscal concessions have been proposed for housing finance institutions (HFIS) to attract Indian as well as foreign investors. For NRIs, income earned from real-estate will be exempted of income tax under 80 hhc of the Income Tax (IT) Act. Granting of infrastructure status, permitting finance companies to get concessions for raising resources at low cost, continuation of tax exemption benefits under a special reserve to which 40 per cent of the profits of the hfis are transferred and tax deduction limit on rental income to be increased to 50 per cent are on the cards. Permission for extra commercial borrowings for housing and real-estate development, removal of wealth tax provisions from rental housing and relief from capital gains for income earned from sales of housing assets. Further, the urban land held as stock-in-trade by the realtors is to be exempted of wealth tax assessment for more than five years. To encourage rental housing, the limit of deduction out of the actual rent received is to be hiked to 50 per cent from the existing 20 per cent. The entire cost of construction taken as loan will be allowed as deduction under the it Act. Amendments to the nhb Act have been proposed for speedy fore-closure procedure in case of default of loans. In addition, for the national capital region of Delhi—which includes parts of Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh—a development plan, Regional Plan-2001, has been drawn up with the objective of reducing pressure of population in the capital. [More] |
|
© Living Media India Ltd |
 |
Metropolitan cities in India have witnessed
unprecedented growth in the last decade. The problems of housing and real estate too have
grown manifold. Of late, the Government has woken up to these problems and has initiated
measures to tackle them by primarily addressing three key issues: availability of urban
land for development, investment in the housing sector and availability of easy financing
for developers and consumers.
