Business
GST Reforms 2025: How A Two-Slab Structure Will Transform Indian Real Estate
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Govt plans a two-slab GST reform by Diwali 2025, cutting rates on cement and materials, promising 8-15% savings for homebuyers and transforming real estate with transparency.
The GST reform is expected to particularly benefit affordable housing, with ripple effects across the sector.
Authored By Sahil Agarwal
India’s real estate sector stands on the brink of a revolutionary transformation as the government proposes a simplified two-slab GST structure, replacing the current complex four-tier system. Expected to roll out by Diwali 2025, this reform promises substantial savings for homebuyers while fundamentally reshaping the real estate industry.
The proposal consolidates GST into just 5% and 18% slabs, eliminating the existing 12% and 28% brackets. Research by ClearTax indicates that 99% of items in the 12% bracket will move to 5%, while 90% of items in the 28% bracket will shift to 18%. This rationalization will significantly lower construction costs, with homebuyers emerging as the primary beneficiaries.
Cement, currently taxed at 28%, will drop to 18%, a 10 percentage point reduction. Paint and other construction materials will see similar cuts. These reductions are expected to translate into 8-15% savings for residential buyers. For a Rs 50 lakh apartment, this could mean potential savings of Rs 4-7.5 lakhs.
Industry surveys suggest the reform will alter how developers approach project planning and pricing. With simplified tax structures and lower input costs, the focus will shift from tax optimization to customer value creation. Developers are likely to adopt transparent pricing models and customer-first strategies, broadening the homebuyer base and compelling innovation in design, amenities, and financing partnerships.
The reform is poised to particularly benefit affordable housing, with ripple effects across the sector. Price-sensitive buyers in tier-II cities such as Pune, Ahmedabad, Kochi, and Indore are expected to drive unprecedented demand growth. Data from ASSOCHAM indicates the simplified GST structure will bring millions of first-time buyers into the market. Developers will need to tailor projects for young professionals and growing families, reshaping portfolios and accelerating residential expansion beyond metros.
On the supply side, the two-slab structure will revolutionize real estate operations. Predictable tax rates will enable developers to forge long-term supplier relationships and streamline procurement, reducing project timelines and enhancing quality. Simplified compliance will free up resources for PropTech adoption, digital customer experiences, and process automation, modernizing industry operations.
Banks and housing finance companies will also benefit, with clearer cost structures leading to faster loan approvals and innovative financing products. Stronger partnerships between developers and financial institutions are expected, expanding homebuyer financing options. Smaller developers will gain from reduced compliance costs, while larger players will need to compete on innovation and customer service rather than tax structuring expertise.
Ultimately, the industry will witness a clear shift toward innovation, customer focus, and operational efficiency. This reform represents one of the most significant structural changes in Indian real estate in decades — one that promises to democratize homeownership while driving transparency, efficiency, and customer-centric growth across the sector.
(The author is the chief executive officer of Nimbus Realty)
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Business
India charts strategy to soften 50% US tariff on exports, govt working overtime with stakeholders: CEA Anantha Nageswaran – The Times of India
Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) Anantha Nageswaran on Saturday said the government, along with various stakeholders, is working overtime to cushion India’s export sector from the impact of the 25% additional tariff imposed by the United States, which has raised the overall duty to 50%.Speaking virtually at an event organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce, he said crises, whether minor or major, often act as catalysts for action by the government, private sector and households, PTI reported. Since the US tariffs took effect on August 27, “conversations have been happening in the last three to four days” involving exporting bodies, promotion agencies and ministries, he added.The Ministry of Finance and other ministries are “working overtime” to frame a strategy that would provide both a “time cushion” and a “financial cushion” so affected sectors can “weather the present storm and also emerge stronger,” Nageswaran said. He also noted that a proposed agreement with the US, negotiated “in good faith” and nearly concluded, had been delayed due to “unexpected developments,” though not denied.The CEA also referred to India facing a penal tariff for buying Russian crude oil, which the Ministry of External Affairs has described as unreasonable. He expressed hope that the tariffs would be “short-lived” and that “an understanding of the importance of the larger dimensions of the India-US relationship will eventually prevail.”Highlighting “silver linings,” Nageswaran pointed out that India’s real GDP grew 7.8% year-on-year in Q1, while nominal GDP rose 8.8%, above private economists’ estimates. He attributed the lower nominal growth compared to earlier quarters to “good deflation,” driven by easing input costs such as crude oil and industrial metals, even as enterprises retained pricing power.The manufacturing sector’s Gross Value Added rose 10.1% in nominal terms and 7.7% in real terms, reflecting resilience. He said this underpins optimism that full-year nominal GDP growth will stay near the 10.1% assumed in the Union Budget.Nageswaran flagged that the “huge tax cut” for households with annual income up to Rs 26.7 lakh, announced in February, is already showing in higher advance tax payments. Further relief is expected through GST rationalisation and simplification.He also pointed to the new employment-linked incentive scheme, which rewards both employers and employees, calling it crucial to balance job creation with competitiveness in the AI era.On the global front, the CEA underlined India’s credit rating upgrade by Standard & Poor’s — the first in 30 years — and expressed confidence that Fitch may follow. He stressed that fiscal prudence, with the deficit brought down to 4.4% this year from 9.2% in 2021, has reduced borrowing costs and the private sector’s cost of capital by three percentage points over the last decade.Nageswaran said India is actively diversifying trade ties through FTAs with the UAE and UK, and ongoing talks with Oman and Bahrain, some of which could materialise before year-end. Calling the current situation an opportunity, he urged industry to diversify export markets, invest in R&D and product innovation, and improve practices to stay competitive.“Each one of us has an obligation to ourselves, society, our employees and our customers to use this opportunity to improve the way we do business and strive for innovation and excellence,” he said.He added that the government will double down on deregulation, ease of doing business and job creation while engaging with the US to resolve the tariff issue.
A sign for the CDC sits outside of their facility at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Roybal campus in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., May 30, 2025.
Megan Varner | Reuters
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told staff it expects them to return to offices by Sept. 15, roughly five weeks after a gunman’s deadly attack on the agency’s headquarters in Atlanta, CNBC has learned.
“Your safety remains our top priority. We are taking necessary steps to restore our workplace and will return to regular on-site operations no later than Monday, September 15,” Lynda Chapman, the agency’s new chief operating officer, said in an email sent Thursday that was viewed by CNBC.
Chapman said all staff will be expected to return to their offices by that date, according to the email. For employees whose workspaces remain impacted by the shooting — including physical damage from the gunman’s attack — the CDC will provide alternative spaces on its campus, Chapman wrote in the email.
She said the agency has made “significant progress” on repairs at the CDC Roybal Campus in Atlanta. CDC leadership and a “Response and Recovery Management” team are working to address staff concerns and ensure a safe environment as the agency transitions back to in-office work, Chapman added.
CDC staff had been instructed to work remotely following the Aug. 8 shooting, with options to return to the office in the weeks that followed, according to two people familiar with the matter, who requested anonymity for fear of retribution for speaking to the media.
The Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The internal announcement comes at a tumultuous time for the CDC and its workforce. The shooting didn’t result in injuries among CDC staff but shell-shocked a workforce that was already reeling from sweeping changes under HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., including staff cuts and heated controversy over his efforts to change CDC immunization policies and fire the agency’s panel of vaccine advisors.
The return-to-office guidance also comes as the CDC grapples with a leadership upheaval: The White House earlier this week said President Donald Trump had fired the agency’s director, Susan Monarez. Four other top officials resigned, some of them citing the politicization of the agency and a threat to public health.
Authorities identified the gunman behind the shooting at CDC headquarters as Patrick Joseph White and said they recovered five guns and more than 500 shell casings from the scene. During the attack, agency employees were forced to barricade themselves in offices.
White fatally shot a responding police officer, 33-year-old David Rose, and then killed himself. White had blamed the Covid-19 vaccine for making him depressed and suicidal.
Before her firing, Monarez appeared to directly blame the role of misinformation in the shooting, according to an email sent to staff on Aug. 12 that was viewed by CNBC.
In the note, Monarez said, “the dangers of misinformation and its promulgation has now led to deadly consequences. I will work to restore trust in public health to those who have lost it- through science, evidence, and clarity of purpose. I will need your help.”
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