New Delhi: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee for the first time will meet the representatives of the crisis-hit construction sector separately as part of the pre-budget consultation exercise.
The consultation with the constructions group, scheduled for Thursday, assumes importance in view of the crisis being faced by the sector and also the Commonwealth Games for which building work is on in full swing.
The third pre-budget consultation meeting will provide an opportunity to the major players of this sector and their associations to present their problems and suggestive corrective steps which could be initiated in the 2010 budget.
The construction industry is also expected to press for the inclusion of tax concessions on housing loans in the Direct Taxes Code (DTC), on which the Finance Ministry has invited comments from public and stake holders.
Among those who have been invited for the pre-budget consultation meeting include Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Association of India (CREDAI), the apex body of real estate players.
Developers are likely to make a case for relaxation in FDI norms for the sector such as three year lock-in period.
Mukherjee had kicked off the pre-budget consultation exercise by meeting representatives of chambers on January 5 and met the agriculturists on Wednesday. Meeting with the representatives of trade union has been scheduled for January
14.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, January 06, 2010, 22:28