The section referring to tax concession states that a tax holiday is provided to enterprises carrying on the business of developing, maintaining and operating any infrastructure facility under sub-Section (4A) of Section 80-1A.

Such a tax holiday allows 100 per cent deduction of profits for the first five assessment years of a company registered in India, when it enters into an agreement with the Centre or state government for developing, maintaining and operating a new infrastructure facility which shall be transferred to the Centre/state within a stipulated period.

Subsequently, 30 per cent of the profits are allowed as deduction while computing the assessable income for another period of five years. It is proposed that this deduction maybe extended to housing projects approved by a prescribed authority under the scheme to be framed by the central government.

The proposed amendment is scheduled to take effect from April 1, 1999 and will accordingly apply in relation to assessment year 1999-2000 and subsequent years.

The sub-Section 4A under Section 80-1A clubs housing development with infrastructure facility like roads, bridge and highways and says that after a stipulated period of time the project should be handed over to the government.

But according to advocate Anil Harish, "This does not conform with the ideal manner of developing housing. The builders fraternity wanted benefits of infrastructure status for housing as they needed incentives like interest-free loans, easy availability of funds, as far as taxation is concerned. But housing is not like a road, bridge, or highway."

According to property experts the nature of business is that of a private sector. Even public-sector housing developers like CIDCO develops property andoffers it for private ownership and not to the government. Harish adds: "Housing, which generates so much of employment, certainly needs concession but the conditions such as this are totally unworkable.

This is completely off the mark from giving concessions to the housing sector." Niranjan Hiranandani of Hiranandani constructions says: "This clause about handing over the housing project after a stipulated period of time was a wrong inclusion and the government plans to come out with a clarification on it soon."