Indira AwasYojana - Provides financial assistance to rural poor for constructing their houses themselves.
Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 - To protect home-buyers as well as help boost investments in the real estate industry.
Fiscal concessions-
Loans granted by banks to the housing financing companies for on lending to individuals are to beclassified under priority sector.
100 per centtax exemption to any housing project being an integral part of a highway project.
Interest on housing loans for owner-occupied property is exempt from payment of income tax and otherwise upto a limit of Rs 1, 50,000 per year.
Conclusion
It is a bit of a paradox that while a basic human necessity like housing is becoming increasingly expensive, luxury items such as smartphones and electronic goods are more and more affordable. The neighbourhood taxi driver may wield the latest mobile technology, but home might still mean a compromised solution. And yet, the future holds infinite possibilities. All it needs for Affordable Housing to become a widespread reality in India is a unified and sustainable approach by all stakeholders with one common goal in mind – Quality Housing that is truly for All.
The New Urban Agenda
The New Urban Agenda is the outcome document agreed upon at the Habitat III cities conference in Quito, Ecuador, in October 2016.
It will guide the efforts around urbanization of a wide range of actors — nation states, city and regional leaders, international development funders, United Nations programmes and civil society — for the next 20 years.
This agenda will also lay the groundwork for policies and approaches that will extend, and impact, far into the future.
The New Urban Agenda, coming on the heels of the crystallization of the Post-2015 Development Agenda, seeks to create a mutually reinforcing relationship between urbanization and development.
The idea is that these two concepts will become parallel vehicles for sustainable development.
IMF Advises India to Adopt Universal Basic Income
In News
The IMF has suggested that India should adopt a fiscally neutral universal basic income and eliminate the food and fuel subsidies.
In its report ‘Fiscal Monitor – Tackling Inequality’, the IMF has discussed UBI,
