Interest deduction on home loans raised by Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 3.5 lakh for affordable housing

Agencies
July 6, 2019

New Delhi, Jul 6: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Friday raised tax deduction limit to Rs 3.5 lakh on interest paid on housing loan sanctioned during this fiscal for purchase of first home worth up to Rs 45 lakh, a move aimed at boosting the affordable housing segment.

Besides, the government will initiate reform measures to promote rental accommodations and will finalise and circulate a model tenancy law to states, the minister said.

In her maiden Budget, Sitharaman announced that 1.95 crore homes will be provided to eligible beneficiaries till 2021-22 under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Gramin (PMAY-G). The regulation of housing finance companies will now be done by the Reserve Bank of India instead of the National Housing Bank, she added.

To align definition of affordable housing under the Income Tax Act with GST Acts, Sitharaman proposed to increase the limit of carpet area from 30 square metre to 60 square metre in metropolitan regions and from 60 square metre to 90 square metre in non-metropolitan areas. The cost of the affordable house has been fixed at Rs 45 lakh and below.

The finance minister said the interest paid on housing loans is currently allowed as a deduction to the extent of Rs 2 lakh.

"In order to provide a further impetus, I propose to allow an additional deduction of up to Rs 1.5 lakh for interest paid on loans borrowed up to March 31, 2020 for purchase of an affordable house valued up to Rs 45 lakh," she added.

The minister elaborated that a person purchasing an affordable house will now get an enhanced interest deduction of up to Rs 3.5 lakh. "This will translate into a benefit of around Rs 7 lakh to the middle-class home buyers over their loan period of 15 years."

As per the budget document, this interest deduction will be subject to condition that the loan has to be sanctioned during the current fiscal only. The home buyer should not have any other residential property in his name on the date of sanction of loan.

To achieve the goal of 'Housing for All' and affordable housing, Sitharaman said a tax holiday has already been provided on the profits earned by developers of affordable housing.

Sitharaman proposed that several reform measures would be taken to promote rental housing.

"Current rental laws are archaic as they do not address the relationship between the lessor and the lessee realistically and fairly. A Model Tenancy Law will also be finalised and circulated to the states," she added.

On land parcels held by the public sector units, the finance minister said that large public infrastructure as well as affordable housing projects could be developed.

Sitharaman said the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Gramin (PMAY-G) aims to achieve the objective of 'Housing for All' by 2022 and a total of 1.54 crore rural homes have been completed in the last five years.

"In the second phase of PMAY-G, during 2019-20 to 2021-22, 1.95 crore houses are proposed to be provided to the eligible beneficiaries," she added.

These houses are being provided with amenities like toilets, electricity and LPG connections. With the use of technology, the DBT platform and technology inputs, average number of days for completion of houses has come down from 314 days in 2015-16 to 114 days in 2017-18.

Stating that efficient and conducive regulation of the housing sector is extremely important, the National Housing Bank (NHB), besides being the refinancer and lender, is also the regulator of the housing finance sector.

"This gives a somewhat conflicting and difficult mandate to NHB. I am proposing to return the regulation authority over the housing finance sector from NHB to RBI. Necessary proposals have been placed in the Finance Bill," she added.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
July 23,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 23: A city hospital here has banned woman Covid patients from wearing dupatta (long scarf) or similar garments, after two women committed suicide, said an official on Thursday.

"Two patients committed suicides with their sarees, that's why we have changed the dress code," KC General Hospital superintendent Venkateshaiah said.

As part of the new dress code, the hospital has mandated that women patients should wear operation theatre dress, even though some older patients are not in favour of it.

Incidentally, both the deceased women went to the bathroom and hanged themselves with their sarees.

Meanwhile, the hospital has also asked the neighbouring patients to be vigilant and accompany them to the washroom.

"With the advice of our psychologist, two adjacent patients have been given the precaution that whenever a depressed patient goes to the bathroom, please go with them and stand outside to take care of them," said Vekateshaiah.

Similarly, the hospital is also thinking of giving a small dose of sedation to make them sleep in the night to avoid waking up.

To rejuvenate the spirits of the patients, the hospital has arranged televisions to show them the best health practices, programmes on meditation, movies and entertainment.

"We are not showing them only news, but also good food habits, how to take care of oneself amid Covid," he said.

Amidst all these efforts, the hospital's psychologist will continuously monitor the mental health of the patients with an aim to avoid any untoward incident.

Bengaluru continues to report the highest number of Covid cases, recording 2,050 on Wednesday, raising the city tally to 36,993, out of which 27,969 are active.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 12,2020

Mangaluru, May 12: Two people hailing from Udupi district tested positive for covid-19 today. The sources of this infection is said to be Mangaluru's First Neuro Hospital.

Fresh bulletin from health and family welfare department revealed that a 52-year-old woman and a 26-year-old man from Karkala in Udupi were tested positive for the deadly coronavirus.

Among them, the woman had undergone treatment at the First Neuro Hospital. She is said to have contracted the infection from P-507 who was also was tested positive  April 27. And the youth was in touch with the woman.

The duo have not visited their home in Karkala for past few days. They were in quarantine and tested positive while being admitted at the same hospital.

With this the total number of COVID-19 cases found in Dakshina Kannada district are 33 now. Three among them have died and 14 have been discharged. Now, the district has 16 active coronavirus cases.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 21,2020

Bengaluru, Apr 21: The group who had attacked police and healthcare workers at the minority-dominated Padarayanapura in the city on Sunday night had raised slogans ''kill police'' when the team went to quarantine some people, the police alleged in an FIR.

Around 100 to 120 people rushed out onto the road targeting the police and health workers who wanted to pick up primary and secondary contacts of coronavirus patients.

Cases have been registered against the miscreants based on the complaint of police officers.

In one of the FIRs, police sub-inspector Raman Gowda complained that when he went to quarantine 43 people with the healthcare officers, around 120 people rushed out and attacked them.

"The group of people holding sticks and stones rushed from Arafat Nagar," Mr Gowda said.

When he was trying to stop them from destroying a CCTV camera, the mob attacked him shouting slogans ''Kill the police. Don't spare them," he alleged in the FIR.

"They wanted to kill us with stones and sticks and some of our staff sustained injuries," the officer said.

According to police, 59 people have been arrested including A woman who had allegedly masterminded the attack.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.