« Top Headlines » Open DEMAT Account in 24 hrs  Tax planning for 2025: How to maximise your savings before March 31 deadline  New income tax bill reaches Parliament: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tables I-T Bill 2025 in Lok Sabha  5 major changes in the last 6 months every taxpayer should know!  Good news for taxpayers: ITR forms updated to allow 87A tax rebate claims, but there's a catch  Top 10 income tax changes from 2024 to look out for while filing ITR in 2025 «  Lottery cos may come under service tax net... Govt mulls tax cut on rental income for aged... » Builders may get tax sops for housing poor January, 21st 2008 The government may revive tax benefits for real estate developers for constructing houses for the economically weaker sections (EWS). The scheme was discontinued last year. Section 80 1(B) of the Income-Tax Act allows a developer constructing houses with an area up to 1,000 sq ft in Delhi and Mumbai and 1,500 sq ft in other cities to avail tax exemption on profits. The urban housing ministry has asked the finance ministry to consider the proposal. According to a housing ministry estimate, the urban housing backlog in India is huge, especially for EWS and low income groups (LIG), which constitute more than 99% of the total urban housing shortage of 24.71 million. Almost 21% of the total urban population lives in slum-like conditions and 35% in one-room tenements. In order to give this segment better housing at affordable rates, there is a need to incentivise the industry, an official said. It was public housing agencies, which were in the forefront of providing housing for EWS. But given the magnitude of the shortage and budgetary constraints, it is clear that public sector efforts will not suffice in fulfiling the demand. Therefore, the private sector has to play a more proactive role in taking up housing programmes on a massive scale for the poor and low-income groups, the official said. The government also intends to involve the private sector in the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) for completion of 1.5 million dwelling units in the country by the end of 2012. According to a National Housing Bank (NHB) data, the government has not been able to meet its target on housing low income groups. In 1999-2000, against a target of 44,000 LIG houses, the government could construct only 27,000, while in the EWS category, it could build only 28,541 houses as against the target of 96,571. The housing ministry is of the view that premium housing has already taken off in a big way and the private sectors contribution to the segment has been well established. With market forces determining the return on investment here, it is expected that the private sector will continue to build the category.