by anuradha ramamirtham rajiv dograwhile the 201112 budget offered a mixed bag to the realty sector developers believe that very little was extended to them and customers and not enough steps were taken to improve the significance of the housing sector even today the indian real estate sector has been facing its problems like slowing economy delay in decisionmaking process and hike in interest rates says dhaval ajmera director of ajmera realty infra indiahowever the real estate industry remains optimistic and looks forward to some reforms in the coming budget the real estate sector is primarily looking forward to the rbis intervention to control the inflation which has adversely affected the industry a sheer relief could be by bringing in affordable housing we expect revision in tax for affordable housing projects in order address the acute housing shortage in the country says shailesh sanghvi director sanghvi group of companies affordable housing should be considered important with priority lending given to banks who could in return offer concessional costs to keep the cost of tenements within the reach of common man the budget should look forward to extending the existing benefit of section 80 ib10 of the it act for developing affordable housing as the country is still in a huge shortage of tenement adds ajmeralast year a 1 interest rate rebate was provided for affordable housing costing between rs 1015 lakh anuj puri chairman country head jones lang lasalle india is of the opinion that the scope of this rebate should be amplified and broadened to include a wider price band of budget housing so as to boost the flagging sentiments in the housing sector additionally sanghvi is of the opinion that the interest subvention of 1 on home loans could be raised from rs 20 lakh to 30 lakh due to increase in cost of raw materials and various taxes incurred during home buying additionally allocating more funds to the rajiv gandhi avaas yojana will do well to the real estate sectorthe real estate industry is also hoping to get an industry status as the sector is a major driver for economic growth and generates countless jobs across its various verticals as the second largest employer in the country contributing 5 to indias gdp indian realty deserves a preferred treatment to give a further boost to our economy industry status would help the sector to access debt lending at more competitive interest rates and lower collateral valuesgranting the real estate sector an industry status should be acceded to in the forthcoming budget as this would enable it to have access to organised funds from banks and financial institutions in addition to getting easier and cheaper finance the industry status would bring in a much deserved discipline in this sector especially when the government is giving priority to mass and affordable housing projects says manju yagnik vicechairperson of nahar groupthere is a severe shortage of finance and whatever finance is available is coming in at a huge