Developer status under section 80IB(10) turns on risk and role, not land ownership, in notified housing projects.

For deduction under section 80IB(10), ownership of the land is not a necessary condition, and the decisive question is whether the assessee acted as a housing project developer rather than a mere contractor. On the stated facts, substantial investment, entrepreneurial risk, completion obligations, and exposure to liquidated damages supported the characterisation of the assessee as a developer. The slum rehabilitation project also fell within the notified housing scheme brought into the section's scope by the CBDT notification dated 05-01-2011. Accordingly, the Revenue's contention that the assessee was only executing a works contract was rejected, and the project was treated as eligible for the deduction.

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Issues: Whether the assessee, having undertaken a slum rehabilitation housing project under a scheme notified by the Central Board of Direct Taxes, was a developer entitled to deduction under section 80IB(10) of the Income-tax Act, 1961, or merely a contractor not so entitled.

Analysis: The project was undertaken pursuant to an SRA tender and agreement, but the critical question was the true character of the assessee's role. The ownership of land was not ative, because deduction under section 80IB(10) does not require the developer to be the owner of the land. The assessee had made substantial investment, carried the financial and entrepreneurial risk, and was exposed to contractual consequences such as liquidated damages and completion obligations. On the facts, the arrangement was not treated as a mere works contract so as to exclude the assessee from the deduction. The notified slum redevelopment scheme was also brought within the scope of section 80IB(10) by the CBDT notification dated 05-01-2011, and the project fell within that approved regime.

Conclusion: The assessee was held to be a developer and was entitled to deduction under section 80IB(10); the Revenue's objection that the assessee was only a contractor was rejected.

Ratio Decidendi: For deduction under section 80IB(10), ownership of land is not a sine qua non, and a project executed under a notified housing scheme by a person bearing the development and investment risk may qualify as a housing project developer rather than a mere contractor.

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