Revisit sops for loans to push housing sector growth: Khara at BS IMLC

Pointing to economic spinoffs, such as creating jobs, Dinesh Khara, chairman, says it's time to revisit tax benefits for loans

State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest lender, is confident of healthy growth in mortgage loans on the back of improved underwriting, digitising land records, and a reduced response time. Pointing to economic spinoffs, such as creating jobs, Dinesh Khara, the bank’s chairman, tells Tamal Bandyopadhyay, consulting editor, Business Standard, it’s time to revisit tax benefits for loans. Edited excerpts:

I was your home loan customer in 2016 and remember it took a month to get the loan. Around the same time, India’s largest private bank was talking about giving it in a few days. Now, I understand SBI is