With just 10 days remaining until Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presents the Union Budget 2026-27 on February 1, 2026, at 11 AM, India’s real estate industry is intensifying its calls for targeted fiscal measures to sustain post-pandemic recovery, enhance housing affordability, and drive long-term urban growth.
Industry stakeholders are urging a balanced approach that combines demand-side incentives—such as higher tax deductions on home loan interest and principal repayments—with supply-side reforms, including GST rationalisation on construction inputs, faster regulatory approvals, improved access to institutional credit, and continued infrastructure investment. These steps, experts argue, are essential to revive demand among middle-income and first-time buyers, reduce project costs, unlock stalled developments, and reinforce real estate’s contribution to employment and GDP.
Manan Joshi, Founder, Sarvam Properties, stressed the need for forward-looking policies to address affordability challenges and stimulate market confidence.
“As India approaches the Union Budget 2026-27, Sarvam Properties hopes the Finance Minister will deliver a forward looking Budget that strengthens homeownership and boosts real estate investment. With affordability still a key challenge for homebuyers, we urge measures that enhance tax incentives on home loans and related deductions, helping more middle income families realise the dream of owning a home. Tax relief geared toward home loan interest, rationalisation of GST for construction inputs, and expanded benefits for affordable housing will be vital to stimulate demand and revive stalled projects creating deeper market confidence and unlocking growth across urban and emerging regions. We also support the broader push for economic resilience and future competitiveness, where policies that encourage infrastructure development, improve ease of project approvals, and advance digital and construction technology adoption will strengthen both supply and investment flows across the real estate sector. A Budget that combines tax relief, affordability measures, and growth incentives will not only benefit homebuyers but also sustain the sector as a dynamic engine of employment and economic activity.”
Navin Dhanuka, Director, ArisUnitern RE Solutions, emphasised the importance of a stable and execution-friendly policy environment to bolster supply-side momentum.
“As India heads into Budget 2026–27, the real estate sector will benefit most from a stable, forward-looking policy framework that prioritises infrastructure development, ease of execution, and regulatory clarity. Measures such as rationalisation of taxes on construction inputs, faster approvals, and improved access to housing finance can meaningfully strengthen supply-side confidence. Coupled with income-tax reforms that enhance household purchasing power, Budget 2026 can unlock housing demand, support planned urban expansion, and drive sustainable, long-term growth.”
Bhavesh Kothari, Founder & CEO, Property First, highlighted opportunities to empower consumers and channel more capital into real assets, particularly in emerging corridors.
“Budget 2026 presents a timely opportunity to strengthen India’s housing led growth story by empowering end consumers and improving capital flow into real assets. We expect continued policy focus on affordable and mid income housing through enhanced tax benefits on home loans, rationalisation of long term capital gains, and easier access to institutional credit for developers. Clearer financing norms, infrastructure led incentives, and faster approval mechanisms for projects will unlock demand in emerging growth corridors, especially among first time buyers and self build homeowners. A sustained push on infrastructure spending, digitisation of land records, and GST rationalisation for construction inputs will further improve transparency, reduce costs, and accelerate project completion timelines. A stable, growth oriented Budget can reinforce real estate’s role as a long term wealth creator while aligning housing demand with India’s evolving aspirations.”
The sector’s expectations align closely with ongoing discussions around increasing the home loan interest deduction limit under Section 24(b), revising affordable housing definitions to reflect current urban realities, and addressing input-output GST mismatches to improve project viability. As the countdown to the historic Sunday presentation continues, announcements in these areas could play a pivotal role in shaping housing trends, investor sentiment, and urban development trajectories in the fiscal year ahead.
Last Updated on: Thursday, January 22, 2026 11:22 am by Digital Herald Team | Published by: Digital Herald Team on Thursday, January 22, 2026 11:22 am | News Categories: Finance