Budget 2026: Senior living real estate pitches for infra status and pension-linked support

Ahead of Budget 2026, senior living real estate players are seeking targeted policy support as demand rises with India’s ageing population. Key asks include formal recognition of senior living as a core real estate segment, infrastructure status, and pension-linked, tax-efficient products to help seniors convert retirement savings into a steady monthly income for living and care needs.

A key demand is the creation of pension-linked, tax-efficient financial products that allow seniors to convert their retirement corpus into predictable monthly payouts, either to support living and care expenses directly or to be routed to care providers. Such mechanisms, they argue, would address the biggest affordability gap in senior care, where monthly costs often far exceed returns from traditional savings instruments, while also providing operators with stable cash flows to scale responsibly.

Subhankar Mitra, independent consultant and former MD of Colliers India, said policymakers should look beyond healthcare benefits and address the larger issue of predictable cash flows for seniors.

“The government can consider creating pension funds where payouts are either routed directly to senior care institutions or structured as assured monthly support,” Mitra said.