PHD chamber seeks deduction on interest paid on home loans

 In order to give a boost to housing and construction sector, the PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry (PHDCCI) on Wednesday sought a deduction of up to Rs 5 lakh on interest paid on home loans while calculating income tax.

 At present a deduction of up to Rs 2 lakh is given on such loans. “This will reduce EMI and help increase in disposable incomes of the people and help increase investment in the real estate sector,” said the newly elected PHDCCI President Mahesh Gupta.

He said, this stimulus to real estate sector will provide a significant fillip to the economy.
Gupta also emphasised that the government expenditure in infrastructure needs to be increased to boost industrial demand.

Releasing the PHDCCI’s Vision Document, Gupta lauded the government’s economic thrust which he said has led to an economic breakthrough during the past 18 months.
He said the GDP growth is strong on the back of acceleration in industrial activity in the recent months.

He said economic reforms like Make in India, Digital India, Swachh Bharat, Jan Dhan, Pension schemes, Smart Cities and e-Biz platforms will go a long way to put India’s growth on the high road in the near future.

“We look forward to strong industrial growth recovery with the sector registering double digit growth in the coming times, he said, adding that revival of demand scenario is also becoming visible as consumer goods grew at around 18 per cent during 2015,” Gupta said. Gupta appealed to all political parties to unite for smooth passage of the economic bills, particularly GST, in Parliament to help achieve inclusive growth.

“We believe GST will be implemented soon to create a common market within India to reduce the transaction costs and cascading impact of complex tax system, he said, adding that with the implementation of GST, the growth trajectory will improve by two per centage points with a significant improvement in ease of doing business,” he said.

Seeking a revisit of the new Companies Act 2013, he said it is not synchronous with the growth of the businesses as the compliance is extremely high. It is also not conducive to the growth of not just large enterprises but micro, small and medium enterprises, he added.