Bangalore, March 2 2016:  IndiaTechOnline brings you the 2nd set of budget reactions.  We pride ourselvs on  featuring the most comprehensive  collection of industry opinion every year...  we believe  every feedback from startup to Fortune 500 company is  a valid viewpoint, which is why we don't pick and choose but carry all reactions  that we receive. We regret  the large numbers and the tight  frame prevented us from organising these opinions better into logical groups. The  earlier set of reactions can be found here

Partha Iyengar, Country Manager Research (India), Gartner: The budget has a number of positives in it - though in some cases they are ‘baby steps’. Focus on rural skills development and improvement of rural digital literacy. Incenting the creation of domestic IP, driving domestic innovation. Creating a favorable environment for startups. Focus on infrastructure outlays. Continuing the ‘Make in India’ focus with a few more specific ‘catalysts’ announced in the budget. The focus on ‘Quality of Education’ as a specific initiative. As always though, the devil is in the implementation of these schemes. It is good to see a mention of review of program effectiveness as one of the goals in the budget, but till we see that followed up religiously it is hard to give it credence.
Hemant Joshi, Partner, Deloitte Haskins & Sells LLP: The emphasis on accountability and rationalization for driving efficiency, and effectiveness across the 9 pillars mentioned in the budget, has implicit in it the use of technology and Digital India.FM clarified that the transfer of spectrum is service and not transfer of intangible asset which means that service tax would be applicable on transfer of spectrum. We believe that CENVAT credit would be available on such service tax payment and therefore is tax neutral for assessee. This clarification has bought in clarity and would avoid litigations.All the above proposals, will not only use IT but will also need to use the telecom infrastructure extensively and therefore will give boost to Digital India initiative.
R. Narayan, Founder & CEO, Power2SME:The Union Budget 2016-17 acknowledged some of the challenges hindering progress in the MSME sector. In its present form the allocations designed only continue to support the measures that were previously extended to the Startup & SME ecosystem.These measures, however, may not reflect significantly tangible results for the startup & SME space as yet. The sector still looks forward to developments related to GST and clarity on utilization of funds being allocated towards Mudra Yojana in previous and in current Budget, to harness the sector’s full potential.
Manish Kumar, Co-founder & CEO  GREX – a startup which has developed an exchange like transaction platform for fund raising for startups and unlisted companies: We believe the Union Budget 2016-17 is well aligned with Prime Minister’s ‘Make in India’ and ‘Startup India’ campaign. The budget focuses clearly on growth, development, job creation and creating a better environment for doing business in India. Besides a particular focus on startups by giving them exemption on their profits for the first three years is a welcome move. The relaxation in capital gain tax for investment in Funds of Funds and reducing the time frame to two years from three for availing long term capital gain tax benefit in the unlisted space will further boost the investment in startups
Dinesh Malkani President, Cisco India and SAARC: For the IT industry, the Budget has outlined proposals and schemes that add thrust to the Government’s vision of digitization in India. The budget has been one of the most technology-oriented budgets we’ve ever seen. From technology platforms and data analytics to automation, the Finance Minister has bet largely on technology to encourage the digitization of G2C platforms, digital literacy, employment generation, and Smart Cities. The Internet and education are great equalisers and the government’s push for skills development of 1 crore youth in the next 3 years is a powerful initiative to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.
Co-Founders of eMediNexus, Nilesh Aggarwal and Amit Sharma: Given a plethora of overall economic and social considerations, the Finance Minister had a massive task ahead of him. The budget's populist orientation and the fiscal restraint demonstrated were positive. From a standpoint of assistance to the healthcare sector though, aside from a health scheme providing Rs. 1 lakh cover per family, access to cheaper medicine through public distribution, and a focus on providing dialysis services through the PPP modality, there was little to cheer about. We were particularly hoping for focus on healthcare education, which is the major bottleneck to increasing the supply of healthcare provision in the country. These include freezing accreditation standards for continuing education, increased incentives for the pursuit of further medical studies, and solutions to the chronic lack of educators at medical colleges across the country. 
Ramesh Mamgain, Area VP, Commvault India and SAARC: The large budget outlay for infrastructure segment, smart cities, Digital India, education, healthcare, citizen service projects, insurance and Skill India will a give boost to modernisation programs. This will create a spinoff effect on an enterprise's IT spend too. Besides, bank recapitalisation will help in improving the health of banks, and thereby allow them to finance old as well as new-age ventures.
Jatin Dalal, Chief Financial Officer, Wipro Limited.: I would like to commend the Finance Minister for balancing the investment needs of a growth economy with commitments on fiscal discipline.  The Union Budget focuses on investment in infrastructure and social sectors while attempting to widen the tax base. The measures announced for the rural economy should boost productivity and incomes leading to growth in consumption.  Efforts to enhance the Ease of Doing Business has received a fillip with focus on simplifying tax compliance. The government has responded positively to representation from the Industry to extend the sunset date on units in Special Economic Zone on account of the gestation time taken to operationalize production units in SEZ. I applaud the efforts to increase the use of technology in e-governance as well as steps taken towards Digital Inclusion. I welcome the special patent regime which will encourage research and lead to generation of intellectual property in India.
Sudhakar Ramasubramanian, MD  Aditya Birla Money: Budget is high on purpose with large allocations towards the Rural & Infrastructure economy and administrative reforms to make, “Make in India” happen. FM has adhered to the Fiscal Deficit target of 3.5% for the year which keeps borrowing program at lower level, thereby improving probability of a rate cut in future. Contrary to the market expectation, Budget has left the Service Tax unchanged and LTCG was not manoeuvred. However there was disappointment on the corporate tax front. No mention of timeline for GST implementation though was disappointment. Budget failed to live up to the street expectation on the Corporate Tax front. Effort to address Public Sector Banking problem too fell short of expectation (25k crore recapitalisation fund is far from what is required). We however believe that the FM has set pragmatic targets (there is no credibility gap). Boost to rural demand and infrastructure was much needed. Overall, the broad message of the Budget mirrors our expectation of the thrust on Ease of Doing business. Dispute redressal mechanism was with a focus on “Make in India” initiative.
Bhavish Aggarwal, Co-founder and CEO, Ola: We are excited to have an inclusive, forward-looking budget, that lays a strong foundation for growth and development in the country. Focus on skill development will have a domino effect on employment, financial independence and GDP growth. It was quite encouraging to see the Hon'ble FM also address some key road transportation issues and set aside a requisite budget for infrastructure development. Creating inroads for entrepreneurship in the public transportation space and amendments in the Motor Vehicles Act to allow for innovations will provide a strong impetus towards enabling mobility for citizens. These proposed initiatives give us immense confidence as we work towards our mission of building mobility for a billion Indian
Prateek N. Kumar, Managing Director NeoNiche Integrated Solutions Pvt. Ltd.The Union Budget 2016 announced today is well thought of in terms of focusing back to few key areas , I Particularly liked  Rs. 2.87 cr to village panchayats & increased allocation for PMGSY, MNREGA, rural electrification etc will transform rural India. Budget focuses on agriculture and farmers. Farmer income to be doubled by 2022 & largest ever agri credit of Rs.9 lakh crores proposed.This budget also focus on Road connectivity and uplifting of Infrastructures with Rs.97,000 Crore boost ,there is also something for the common Man with HRA Tax relief being increased now. However, We could have done more for healthcare with Medical exception to be increded to at least Rs.50,000 to be realistic in today’s time.
Lakshmideepa A, Director, Yeldi Softcom Pvt. Ltd, a NFC based -technology company: The 3 year tax holiday on all direct and indirect taxes applicable to start-up companies is a welcome move, as it will encourage the new set of entrepreneurs.  For FinTech Company like ours, reforms targeted towards cashless economy in the form of relaxation of tax in transactions will endorse the concept of digital payments, in our cash sensitive country, in the near future. Additionally, lowering the corporate tax of companies with a turnover of less than Rs. 5 Crores will help in promoting the industrial activity resulting in generating more job opportunities
Sridharan Sivan, Founder and CEO, S10 Healthcare: Considering the initiatives taken by the Government towards start-ups by introducing a 100% tax exemption for three years, will help in boosting innovation for new age entrepreneurs in the healthcare scenario for creation of more jobs. From a healthcare perspective, the new health protection scheme that will provide cover of up to Rs.1 lakh per family and also, a senior citizen will get an additional top-up package up to Rs. 30,000 will allow more patients to opt for better healthcare services. Dialysis is always a costly affair and the Union Budget 2016 has made it very affordable this year by exempting duty for dialysis equipments from the basic customs duty and also, funds will be brought via Public Private Partnership. Additionally, this will benefit the Tier 2 and 3 markets by providing dialysis services in all district hospitals
Ravinder P Singh, Director , Solutions Strategy & Business Development, IoT, Smart Cities & Digitization, Dell India: Today’s announcement of Digital Literacy Mission Scheme in rural areas is a key stepping stone to achieve next level of human capital transformation. India is going through a massive transformation with Smart Cities, Make in India and Digital India initiatives that will have far reaching impact in the growth of urban and rural India. Technology is not only the backbone for these initiatives but also a critical stakeholder for the success and sustainability of these programs.  We welcome the government's initiative as this will help in building digital infrastructure from the ground up that will help India grow much faster and better to enable economic growth. Dell being a global leader in ICT Technology and end user computing, we consider this as a good opportunity to work with both the government and private sector and be an active player in this journey.  We are committed to support these initiatives by providing the next generation of technology solutions and being the digital architects for such programs
Anand Sundaresan, Vice Chairman & Managing Director Schwing Stetter India: The huge investment proposed on the infrastructure development like road, airport, railway and power projects will definitely give a fillip to construction equipment manufacturers. The road equipment manufacturers are likely to be benefitted the most because of the huge investments planned in the national highway sector as well as in the upgradation of state highway roads to national highway level.After a dull period of almost 3 years, the construction equipment manufacturers can look at growth in the coming years.  
 Kenny Ye, Managing Director, UCWeb India, Alibaba Mobile Business Group : Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has presented a well-rounded and constructive budget, focusing on most critical aspects of the economy. Thrust on farm sector, increased spending on rural development and infrastructure planning shows that this government means business. The record digitization plan outlined is another major positive. The new digital literacy mission scheme will cover 6 crore additional households and bolster employability of rural youth.
Farhan Pettiwala, President- Enactus India : We welcome the initiative to setup 1500 multi-skill institute in India, and we welcome initiatives such as allowing retail traders to keep shops open on all seven days of the week. We however do not see any focus on Execution, no Execution agency for Governance, especially with funds of the magnitude of INR 1700 crores being provided in the union budget for Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojna. We also welcome exemption and reduction of duty under Nirmaya scheme for autism & differently abled, this will help students implement Enactus projects in India.
Nigel Eastwood, Group CEO- New Call Telecom : Overall I would view this budget to have a positive push to industries across the board. This budget focuses clearly on growth, development and job creation with particular focus on start-ups by giving them support via exemptions for 3 out of 5 years.  With government initiatives like National Digital Literacy Mission for Rural Households and Stand Up India Scheme in place, these will help boost the startup scenario for the SCs, STs women entrepreneurs as it will help reach out to these under-served sectors of the population by facilitating digital technologies for consumers and markets.
Shuchin Bajaj, Founder Director, Cygnus Hospitals : It is disappointing not to see healthcare in Government’s nine core pillars, quality healthcare is one of the basic necessity for major population of any country and government needs to include the same in their electoral roadmap and prepare robust framework for the same. Though initiative on health promotion scheme is much appreciated and announcement about National Dialysis Scheme is welcome as it has been a benchmark for the willingness of governments around the world to provide healthcare to its populations.  Other initiatives to reduce export duty and affordable medicines were long overdue and will provide positive thrust to the sector.”
Prashant Solomon, Managing Director, Chintels India Ltd.: Union Budget 2016 is comprehensive and well-rounded with some positive initiatives for the real estate sector. 100% deduction for profits to an undertaking from a housing project for flats upto 30 sq. metres in four metro cities and 60 sq. metres in other cities will benefit developers in the low-cost housing space. Deduction for additional interest of Rs. 50,000 per annum for loans up to Rs. 35 lakh for houses under Rs. 50 lakh will encourage low-end buyers to invest in property. Excise duty exemption on Ready Mix Concrete (RMC) will lower the cost for housing construction and, in turn, encourage builders to pass on the benefits to home buyers. Overall, we expected Finance Minister to be more aggressive for the real estate sector during this budget regarding issues like industry status and single window clearance.”
Anubhav Jain, Director, Silverglades: While it’s a pro-poor and pro-growth Budget, there have been no major announcements for the real estate sector. Developers were looking forward to credit break and single-window clearance for projects, which the govt has failed to announce. On the other hand, additional tax deduction of Rs 50,000 for houses up to Rs 50 lakh and no excise on RMC for self-consumption are positive initiatives to encourage affordable home buyers and  developers.
Aloke Bajpai, CEO & Co-Founder, ixigo: The Union Budget 2016 has laid out big investments for the infrastructure sector which include allotment of funds for the development of roads and highways and an action plan to revive 160 non-functional airports. These steps come as a welcome move for the travel and tourism sector.The focus on travel and tourism is further reaffirmed with the Finance Minister announcing the annual programme “Ek Bharat – Shreshtha Bharat” which will aim at linking states and districts through exchanges in areas of language, trade, culture, travel and tourism.Further, we also welcome the Government’s initiative to increase baggage allowance for international passengers and exempt passengers flying into India from filing the baggage declaration form if they are not carrying dutiable or prohibited goods. This will surely ease inbound tourism.
Chirag Haria, CEO of Aarogyam Energy Jewellery: The overall Union budget 2016-2017 is an optimistic step by the government for entire e-commerce and start-ups industry. We welcome the recent developments and applaud the government's decision to support start-ups by increasing limit for 44AD from 1 crore to 2 crore, this will help start-ups to efficiently focus on work rather taxations."
 Rajeev Vyas, Director  Steel Users Federation of India (SUFI):It's a positive budget as neither import duties nor vat has been tweaked. Increase rural spending and exemption on house rent will improve housing sector and thereby giving a boost to steel consumption. As steel users apex body SUFI would have liked if issues pertaining to MIP, Safeguard duties and BIS were addressed in this budget and some relief was given to users of steel as the protection for Steel Plants has been given which was also necessary. The Govt. has to strike a fair balance between the legitimate needs of steel user industry as well as steel producers.”
 Adarsh Chilukuri, CEO of Bulkhouse Trading India Pvt. Ltd: Modi's new Start-ups India is an excellent and an encouraging move to enable the entrepreneur’s to stand up for themselves and to change traditional Indian trade to a modern e-commerce country. It’s also quite interesting to see how the agricultural sector, which contributes a major part in the Indian GDP, has been emphasized in the current budget. With increased support through more funding sources, insurance and infrastructure, the Indian Agricultural business is set to boom. The e-commerce schemes announced in these lines is the most desirable way of on enabling the farmers to sell their produce at a fair price and even the end customers will get to purchase it at a relatively lesser price.
Brijesh Lohia, Managing Director of Global Ocean Group: Just the fact that the Honorable Finance Minister used the word ‘’warehouse’’ more than 10 times indicates the Union Government Focus on warehousing and logistics. The move to set up logistics support to E-Commerce players by providing designated pick-up centres at identified stations. It would offer supply chain and E-Commerce industries and alternative to the expensive air cargo that they now rely on for delivery.  Rail cargo will be very much cheaper than the existing rates. Increasing 24x7 customs clearance at ports and airports with a solid intent to implement goods and Service Tax (GST) in the coming year. Introduction of GST has been given a thrust.
Vishesh Goel, Founder, FitMeIn: This budget 2016 is a kind of bonus for the startups after ‘Startup India Action plan’. Finance Minister has brought forward the 100% tax exception and no capital gain policy, which will give boost to upcoming start-ups. Also, the One Day Incorporation will ease the hurdles that startup face and propel startups to focus purely on what they do best- value creatio
P. Venkatesh, Director – Product Division, Maveric Systems: Fiscal consolidation: emphasis on fiscal consolidation and sticking to the fiscal deficit of 3.5% of GDP are welcome; this should therefore encourage the markets.  Reform in taxation: the proposed reform in taxation to reduce litigation, certainty of tax and also an affirmation of no retrospective legislation should help foreign investment into India.  FDI in food sector: the emphasis on the rural economy, food sector and also the coordinated move to provide FDI at 100% into the food sector clearly shows the wholesome integration of the policies.
M P Vijay Kumar, CFO, Sify Technologies:Some of the steps taken towards tax administration and social welfare measures are positive highlights of this Budget.In order to make the Government’s social and infra spend effective, a good monitoring and audit system through independent accounting firms across the country is critical. Even if 1% of spend towards audit is actioned, the productivity of spend will increase by 3 times and we will see intent matching action; Intent has to grow beyond mere announcement in the newspapers. Equity of economic growth through social spend will also curtail inflation in the long run and help economic growth.One is surprised (though happy) to see no change in service tax rate. Is this a hint that GST rate will be sub 20%? If so, this would be good.
Ajit Patel, CEO & Founder of n-gage: The devil lies in the detail, but overall the Union Budget 2016-2017 sounds exciting and promising for the IT and IT related industries. Governments ambitious announcement to achieve 100% village electrification by 1st May, 2018 and a new Digital Literacy Mission Scheme for rural India to cover around 6 crore additional household within the next 3 years is commendable. The allocation of Rs. 1804 crore for skill development and the proposed 1500 Multi Skill Training Institutes to be set-up, will definitely boost the employable population and generate more jobs for rural youths and in turn would help release the pressure in urban cities for want of employment.
Geetha Kannan, MD, Anita Borg Institute: It seems with the nine-pillar budget our government has really gone the whole nine yards on focusing on the bedrocks of our economy. The thrust on agriculture, rural, social healthcare, infrastructure and education could have a big push on the economic growth of India. The allocation of Rs 500 cr under the Stand-Up India scheme for SC/ST and women entrepreneurs is very positive. Now it’s up to all the women entrepreneurs out there to capitalize on this opportunity. The budget still seems to fall short on benefits and incentives offered to improve the financial well-being of women who make up close to half of our population. The budget also offers very little for the individual tax payer.
Abhayanand Singh, the founder of  Muvizz.com:With the government already fueling and making initiatives for boosting start-ups, the Budget 2016 was an event everyone deciding to venture into the game was looking forward to. With much emphasis being laid on making India digital, online growth is only booming. The budget announcing amendment in the companies act to ensure speedy registration will most certainly boost the start-up industry as the process will become a little easier. Which also means there will be more companies coming into the business, more money flowing in, more revenue generation if they work out fine
Dinesh Aggarwal, Joint Managing Director, Anchor Electricals : The removal of Service tax for less than 60 sq meters house and an additional exemption for housing loans up to Rs.35 lacs will help in catalysis for the housing infrastructure sector that has suffered low demand for over 3 years. The Government's commitment on a stable taxation regime, aggressive outlay for infrastructure growth and skill development will ensure that foreign investors retain and grow their interest in India; as a market and as a manufacturing base.
Ambika sharma, Founder, Instappy: Government has recently been focusing a lot on the growth of woman Entrepreneurs in the country, cheering them to establish themselves. Allotting funds of Rs. 500 crores especially for them will encourage the startup ecosystem to reach another level. Furthermore, since last budget, service tax has been the topic of discussion and by giving 100% exemption; the Finance Minister has done his bit to act as an enabler. Startups can now more effectively and efficiently concentrate on establishing their businesses and weave their path.  
Soumitra Gupta, CEO, Togofogo: We appreciate the Finance Minister’s move on Tax holiday for startups as every startup takes minimum three of five years to setting up the company. We welcome the effort by Indian government for startup industry. It will give a strategic boost to the current ratio of Indian entrepreneurs and will support the Startup India campaign by Modi Government.
Puneet Gupta, CEO, Buzzmeeh: We welcome the Budget 2016-17 as it’s a well strategized move for Indian startup industry. 100 % deduction on profits for 3 out of first 5 years will definitely strengthen the base as it will assist in setting the right pace for the company. Additionally, the amendment to the Companies Act in order to ensure speedy registrations of fresh startups will also lend a positive boost to the startup ecosystem. These positive moves will surely encourage the entrepreneurs wanting to establish themselves as a key part of the economy."
Padmanabha Krishnamurthy CFO, Paladion Networks: It is a comprehensive budget covering various sectors and is focused on growth. With regards to IT sector to be more specific, few positive aspects are - thrive on innovation and patents from India, extension of SEZ deduction, increased focus on digital initiatives spend including rural areas are few things to mention.  Though we will have to wait for more specifics, overall I think it is balanced budget.  If government can emphasize on implementation of various schemes announced, it can be a real boost to our economy. 
Koichiro Koide, MD, NEC India:The Union Budget 2016 has laid out big investments for the infrastructure sector which is a positive in the transformation of  India envisaged by the NDA Government. We hope that the investment in infrastructure sector will also focus on execution of the smart and safe cities initiative. The statutory backing for Aadhaar will reduce leakage and ensure targeted disbursal of subsidies to the needy, eventually driving financial inclusion. Further, we hope that government’s ongoing reform programme will also result in the passing of the Goods and Services Tax bill soon, which in turn will contribute to the ease of doing business in India
Ramesh Mamgain, Area VP – Commvault: The large budget outlay for infrastructure segment, smart cities, Digital India, education, healthcare, citizen service projects, insurance and Skill India will give boost to modernisation programmes. This will create a spinoff effect on an enterprise’s IT spend too. Besides, bank recapitalisation will help in improving the health of banks, and thereby allow them to finance old as well as new-age ventures.
Sanjay Sehgal - V.P. SMB, TP-LINK India Pvt Ltd: I feel the budget announced on 29th Feb is in the right direction and will benefit overall economy in long run. While there has been focus on providing infrastructure to rural areas in India there also has been focus on expanding the reach for internet connectivity. As the impetus is to Make in India I feel there should have been more support by giving exemptions from BCD, CVD and SAD while importing parts, components and accessories required for manufacturing of IT Hardware such as desktop PC and notebook PC.
Zakir Rangwala,Country Head,ESS Distribution Pvt Ltd: As an IT company we are happy to see that the new budget brings technology into various sectors from agriculture to education to healthcare and infrastructure, and rural areas aretargeted equally as the urban centers. This gives hope for increasing investments both in IT projects and infrastructure, including IT security. As more and more projects will deal with huge data, and most importantly, very sensitive one – people’s data, the question of protecting it adequately from cyber threats is crucial. Finance minister spoke about a bill for Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies,Benefits and Services by using the Aadhar framework that will be introduced in the current Budget Session of the Parliament and which proposes using Aadhar to develop social security platform and accurately target beneficiaries.

Nidhi Mehta , Co-Founder, NeedyBee.com We welcome the announcement by the government on tax exemption on start ups for three years . This positive moves will spark a new energy in start ups sector and also genetrate employement opportunities. The policy initiatives and the scheme announced  will help to ease the hurdles in start up space , boost MSMEs in the country and make the busin ess environment conducive for start ups.  The reduction in the holding period of long term capital gain tax from 3-2 years has provided some relief to unlisted companies, however we are still far behind from our global counterparts who have 0% CGT saving founders and investors millions of dollars. 
Ashish Mehrotra, CEO&MD, Max Bupa Health Insurance.This year’s budget takes forward the Government’s clear resolve to accelerate the momentum in the health insurance space and make quality healthcare affordable and accessible to all sections of the society. Healthcare needs of the rural sector and those of senior citizens have been declared as of the critical pillars of the Union Budget 2016-17. The government has announced a universal health insurance programme that will cover the BPL population. Given that the category is seriously underpenetrated, this will provide health protection to one third of the country’s population. With this scheme, the existing health coverage limit for BPL families (Rs. 30, 000 under RSBY) has been significantly increased, with the provision of one lakh health coverage for each BPL family. This will boost health insurance penetration which is currently under 5% and mostly restricted to urban areas, curtail OOP expenses,  stimulate industry growth and provide access  to those  below the poverty line to avail quality healthcare.
 Ravi Kiran, angel investor and Co-Founder, VentureNursery, India’s first angel backed accelerator: The 2016 Budget is commendable as it decouples vision and policy from financial planning.It’s a Budget that aims to benefit our farmers, poor women, new employees, very small and small businesses. What’s good for the poor and the Economy cannot be bad for any business, including start-ups. While the one-day company registration, SC-ST entrepreneurship, are useful, they are not sufficient. Income Tax waiver for 3 years for start-ups, reduction of time frame for long term capital gains to 2 years, waiver of capital gains tax if the gains are invested in Government approved Funds, and if the investment is made by an individual in a company majority owned by him, all look good as head line thoughts, but aren’t meaningful in the real world.
Arun Kumar, Managing Director & Founder, real estate company Casa Grande Pvt. Ltd: In comparison with the prior budget sessions in the real estate sector, the current session has provided more incentives for the first time buyers in the affordable sector. The Additional exemption of Rs. 50,000 for housing loans up to Rs. 35 lakhs, provided cost of house is not above Rs. 50 lakhs will encourage more buyers to invest in properties from the mid-segment. The complete relaxation in the service tax for construction in houses less than 650 sq ft will expand the scope in the affordable segment. With these incentives, there will be an improvement in the current real estate market. The government is yet to focus on single window clearance and approvals enabling developers to cope up with the challenges with regard to the delay in handing over the projects. Over the forthcoming sessions, there should be undivided initiatives on the real estate industry considering the sector plays a crucial role in the contribution to the country’s GDP.