Amarjit Bakshi
NEW DELHI: The Government of India has enhanced allocation for the Infrastructure Sector in the Union Budget 2018-19, recognizing its role as the growth driver of the economy.
The budgetary and extra budgetary expenditure for the Sector has been increased from Rs.4.94 lakh crore in 2017-18 to Rs.5.97 lakh crore in 2018-19. An all time high allocation of Rs 1,34,572 crore has been made for the transport sector while the efforts to develop disaster resilient infrastructure is being given a push with an allocation of Rs. 60 crore in 2018-19. This was announced by the Union Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley while presenting the General Budget 2018-19 in Parliament..
“After laying the foundation for a more robust and organized real estate sector, we anticipated the government to further reinvigorate the industry by way of lowering the GST rates, allowing single window clearance and affording an industry status to the real estate sector. These changes would have contributed positively to hasten the recovery of the industry which is today one of the largest employer and contributor to country’s GDP,” said Amarjit Bakshi, Managing Director, Central Park.
Having said that, the Government’s continued focus on affordable housing with an establishment of a dedicated fund will further propel the realization of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) which aims to bring more people under the ambit of inclusion. Greater focus on developing the infrastructure layout by way of increased budget allocation for highways, acceleration of rural roads construction is a welcome move as it will drive greater socio- economic development around these regions,” he said.
India’s Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Arun Jaitely said in his Budget speech that the government will “establish a dedicated Affordable Housing Fund (AHF) in National Housing Bank, funded from priority sector lending shortfall and fully serviced bonds authorised by the Government of India.”