The scheme for profit linked income tax deduction for affordable housing is encouraging for both consumers and the real estate sector

- Sandeep Runwal, Director, Runwal Group   Sandeep Runwal, Director, Runwal Group, on the Union Budget 2017-18: The focus of the Union Budget 2017 on making affordable housing an infrastructure status is a very positive move by the government in order to ensure housing for all. The scheme for profit linked income tax deduction for affordable housing is also very encouraging for both consumers and the real estate sector, as the demand for homes will rise. The proposal for the National Housing Bank to refinance individual housing loans of about Rs 20,000 crore in 2017-18, will certainly alleviate the burden of consumers considering buying homes in the near future.  While the government has proposed to construct 1 crore houses for the homeless by 2019, it would have been apt to also consider a similar initiative for the metro regions too, where a large part of the population is based today.