Union Budget 2025: Game Changer for Bengaluru Real Estate?

Bengaluru, Feb 1 (PTI) Even as the IT hub, which dominated the Indian commercial office market space in 2024, is expected to continue the trend in 2025, real estate and coworking experts in Bengaluru feel that the Union Budget 2025 will be a "game changer" for the industry as a whole.


The union budget for 2025-26 was presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday.

Ramani Sastri, Chairman & MD of Bengaluru-based Sterling Developers, in a statement, said that the government's concentrated efforts on infrastructure development promise to significantly enhance housing demand.

"It will also benefit around 250 ancillary industries, generating numerous job opportunities and bolstering overall economic growth," he added.

According to him, the establishment of the India Infrastructure Fund and emphasis on Public-Private partnerships for infrastructure in the budget is also a game-changer for the real estate industry.

"The establishment of an Urban Challenge Fund of Rs 1 lakh crore will fuel the ongoing momentum in rebuilding urban infrastructure and drive greater demand for real estate in urban and semi-urban areas," he said.

SWAMIH Fund 2, he added, is also a much-welcome step and will definitely help complete a number of stranded projects, thereby meeting housing demand and enhancing liquidity in the real estate sector.

"Also, the change announced in Budget 2025, allowing taxpayers to claim the annual value of two self-occupied properties as zero, will provide significant tax relief, reduce compliance burdens, and encourage homeownership by making it more affordable for middle-class families, without having to pay income tax on notional rental values of self-occupied homes," he added.

Sastri said the budget could have also offered a degree of relief to first-time homebuyers to stimulate the real estate sector.

He said that to sustain the upward trajectory of the Indian real estate market, the government should provide more tax breaks, make provisions for single-window clearance, and accord industry status, he added.

Manas Mehrotra, Founder of 315Work Avenue, a coworking firm with a presence in Bengaluru, Pune, and Mumbai, in a statement, said that the union budget 2025-26's focus on making cities growth hubs will impart a massive fillip to the commercial real estate sector.

"With corporates and MNCs keen on setting up and expanding office establishments in high-growth metros, the coworking sector will benefit hugely from this initiative," he added.

According to him, the push for Global Capacity Centres in tier-2 cities will boost overall real estate investment in these areas, making them prime locations for future company expansions, thereby giving a massive boost to coworking firms.

"The government's announcement of a Rs 10,000 crore Fund of Funds for Startups (FFS) is poised to significantly bolster India's startup ecosystem and generate huge demand for the coworking sector, as essential hubs for innovation," added Mehrotra.

Meanwhile, Lalit Ahuja, CEO of ANSR, which helps in building, managing, and scaling high-performing global capability hubs, also said that the proposed framework for expanding Global Capability Centres into tier-2 cities marks a strategic pivot in India's tech evolution.

"With 80 per cent of global firms yet to establish GCCs in India, this initiative unlocks tremendous potential for transforming India's attractiveness as the global GCC capital, while creating millions of skilled jobs across the country's emerging urban centres," he added.