Property World News

Property Awards 2011 for Commercial Excellence

Property Bureau — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 16:38:00 GMT

The second edition of the prestigious Property Awards 2011, recognising excellence in Commercial Real Estate was a grand success with participation from leading developers and other real estate professionals. The evening at Westin Hotel, Mumbai on December 13, 2011 saw developers and architects of state- of -the -art projects emerge winners.
UBM Asia’s Executive Vice President, Michael Duck gave the welcome address which was followed by a thought provoking panel discussion on the topic, “Commercial Real Estate: The Harbinger of Economic Growth.” The discussion emphasized the role and importance of commercial real estate in boosting the economy and how both ...

Property Awards 2011 for commercial excellence

Properety Bureau — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 12:04:57 GMT

Property World and UBM bring to you Property Awards 2011, recognizing excellence in various facets of commercial real estate. This follows the overwhelming response and success of Property Awards 2010.

Property Awards 2011, organized by Property world online and UBM India, part of the global $2.5 billion UBM plc, seeks to honour excellence in the various facets of commercial property development. These awards are a tribute to the milestone achievements and contributions of various players in this industry who have created worldclass buildings, inspite several challenges.

Indian real estate market has in recent years gained prominence
with its immense ...

Turmoil in US, European stock markets

Agency — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 16:51:18 GMT

Most Asian markets opened down on Thursday morning, following another nightmare day's trading in Europe and the US.
Agency reports said European governments scrambled to reassure turbulent markets after the continent's major stock exchanges plunged Wednesday amid concerns that core eurozone economies such as France and Italy were saddled with unsustainable public debt.
London's FTSE-100 index fell by 3.05 percent and in Paris the CAC-40 dropped by 5.45 percent while in Frankfurt the DAX tumbled 5.13 percent. In New York, the Dow Jones closed down 4.62 percent.

The losses came as rumors swirled that France, which currently leads the Group of ...

DDA’s undue favour to Emmar MGF in CWG

Property World Bureau — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 16:18:01 GMT

Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has said that “undue favour” was shown to Emaar MGF in the award of the contract for construction of Commonwealth Games residential complex. DDA allowed “several financial concessions” to Emaar MGF including revision of milestones and delay or non-levy of liquidated damages, it said. The report also noted that there had been Floor Area Ratio violation. The FAR constructed by the project developer substantially exceeded not only the sanctioned plan, but also the maximum permissible FAR under the Master Plan for Delhi 2021, it said.
“There was a series of misrepresentation and accommodations at the ...

Oberoi Group partners with Reliance

Property World Bureau — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 16:11:20 GMT

The Oberoi Group is headed towards a strategic partnership with Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Group for developing hotels and real estate property complexes in Bangalore and Goa. The hotel and leisure group’s patriarch, P R S Oberoi, said at a press conference after the 61st AGM of EIH Ltd on Tuesday that the Reliance Group, the “friendly investor” in EIH, could be the strategic partner of the group in a separate venture.
The emerging alliance, other than the present one in EIH, between the two groups will “most probably” be formalised in the near future. “We are preparing the plans,” Oberoi ...

Leela to sell Kovalam Hotel for Rs 500 cr

Property World Bureau — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 15:40:20 GMT

Five-star hotel chain Hotel Leelaventure is set to sell its property in Kovalam in Kerala for Rs 500 crore to cut its debt.
The property, Leela Resorts Kovalam, is being sold to non-resident Indian industrialist Ravi Pillai. Leela will subsequently enter into a management contract with Pillai to manage the property for 30 years.
Hotel Leela has a debt of Rs. 3,830 crore at the end of FY11 and has an ongoing capital expenditure plan of more than Rs 4000 crore.
In April, the firm had launched a 260-room property in Delhi and plans to open one in Chennai later ...

Sensex ends 113 points down

Property World Bureau — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 17:16:21 GMT

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex ended the session today down by 112.83 points or 0.66 per cent at 16,877.35.
Similarly, the broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty was down 35 points or 0.68 per cent at 5,083.50.
Among the sectoral indices, IT was down 3.39 per cent, healthcare 2.75 per cent, teck 2.62 per cent and metal 2.38 per cent. FMCG was up 1.56 per cent and auto 0.68 per cent. Of the total 2,956 stocks traded, 835 advanced, 2.036 declined and 85 remained unchanged.
The stock market turned highly volatile with the benchmark index plunging back into the ...

Contactors hike road costs after bagging orders

Property World Bureau — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 15:44:25 GMT

The BMC, in three years from 2007-08 to 2009-10 , allowed contractors who recently bagged a major roads contract to increase costs in 17 major projects by an average of 51.5 per cent. The projects, executed and tendered separately , were originally pegged at a total of Rs 292 crore, but the escalations were to the tune of Rs 150.43 crore, boosting the final project costs to Rs 442.43 crore.

An 18project, for a road from Worli Sea Face to Haji Ali, was initially worth Rs 11 crore, but costs escalated by a whopping 627.3 per cent. The Rs 80-crore ...

Markets hit, FM says economy is sound

Property World Bureau — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 15:40:22 GMT

Although India’s policy-makers moved to soothe the nervous markets with reassurances on the economy’s fundamentals, stocks fell on Monday, catching the global flu in the aftermath of the US credit-rating downgrade by Standards and Poor’s (S&P) on last week. Also, a fresh question mark loomed over India’s fundamentals, as S&P named it among some Asian economies that have much less elbow room to spend its way out of a crisis.
The Bombay Stock Exchange’s benchmark 30-share Sensex shed 315.69 points, or 1.82%, to close at 16,990.18 on Monday — the lowest in nearly 14 months.
The index recovered from a ...

Indian Real Estate and US credit rating cut

Property World Bureau — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 10:14:03 GMT

The US credit rating cut and uncertainties about Europe’s debt situation is a cause forconcern. According to Anuj Puri, Chairman and Country Head, Jones LangLaSalle India, the potential negatives would be:

A reduction in foreign institutional investment monies, including those targeted at real estate. A reduced spend on IT by the US, given the slackness of the US economy, may have an impact on the IT outsourcing business and affect Indian real estate at various levelsOverall market sentiments are likely to decline

However, there are possible upsides to the situation:

Commodity prices – especially in terms of ...

Sensex plunges 291 points on US downgrade

kanvikav — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 17:56:54 GMT

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex ended the session with a loss of over 290 points due to downgrade of US credit rating by Standard & Poor’s and Eurozone debt woes.
At 3.30 pm, the 30-share BSE index Sensex was down 291.08 points or 1.68 per cent at 17,014.79 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was down 88 points or 1.69 per cent at 5,123.25.
All the sectoral indices ended in red. Among them, realty was down 4.72 per cent, IT 3.96 per cent, metal 3.84 per cent and teck 3.26 per cent. Of the total 2,941 stocks traded, 727 ...

US event can bring down inflation: Kaushik Basu

Property World Bureau — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 17:53:40 GMT

The Finance Ministry on Monday hoped that that recent downgrade of the US will bring down headline inflation. The rating agency Standard and Poor’s lowering the rating of US on Thursday has brought down the prices of major commodities such as crude.
"It can have a dampening effect on inflation because we all have been worried about commodity prices. But we will have to watch how long this will happen," Chief Economic Advisor, Mr Kaushik Basu, told reporters.
The 52-week average of the rate of inflation for primary articles has been recorded as 15.38 per cent. While for June, the ...

Jaipur property prices on the upswing

Property World Bureau — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 18:09:42 GMT

If rising interest rates are compelling you to stall the idea of purchasing a house then think again. When it comes to buying property any time is a good time. While interest rates are cyclical, real estate prices progress in a linear fashion and always head north. The advice holds good especially for Jaipur, shows global research agency CRISIL.
Its report titled ‘Real(i)ty Next: Beyond the Top 10 Cities of India’ shows that property rates in Jaipur have increased by 11-12% during the period 2009 to April 2011. But, that is not the only reason why buying property in Jaipur ...

DLF to sell two non-core assets this quarter

Property World Bureau — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 17:56:29 GMT

India’s largest real estate company DLF Ltd said it will sell at least two non-core assets in this quarter, helping it partly reduce its net debt of Rs 21,524 crore starting this quarter. “We should be able to achieve that in Q2,” the company’s executive director, Saurabh Chawla.. He said that the company expects to sell at least four non-core assets for the moment.
In a statement in May, DLF had said it plans to raise about Rs 6,000-7 ,000 crore over the next 2-3 years through the sale of its non-core assets such as IT parks, land parcels and ...

Infra projects to get credit boost

Property World Bureau — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 17:54:27 GMT

The government is expected to clear a new financing tool on Friday, which would help infrastructure project developers access funds at a cheaper rate based on a guarantee and also free funds for banks to lend to industry and retail borrowers. To begin with, this product-called credit enhancement-would provide funding support of around Rs 15,000 crore.

The proposal, which will be considered by the finance ministry, envisages a guarantee by government-promoted India Infrastructure Finance Co (IIFCL), which will subscribe to 25-50 per cent of the bonds being issued by the infrastructure company. This will be backed by an insurance cover ...

Mobile banking will be the future wave

kanvikav — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 17:39:49 GMT

The transaction costs of financial services to the poor are ‘exceedingly large' in comparison to their revenue generation potential in the short term, according to Mr Anand Sinha, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India.
Speaking after presenting the banking technology awards of the Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT), Mr Sinha said the existing banking business model was not able to adequately address challenges like high transaction costs.
“From the demand side too, there is financial illiteracy and the consequent fear of approaching formal institutions,” he said. More than 50 per cent of adult population was still ...

BMC gets 48 hr deadline to fill potholes

Property World Bureau — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 17:29:52 GMT

Realising that it cannot continue to ignore public outcry over the sorry state of Mumbai’s roads, the state government on August 4 ordered agencies responsible to fill all potholes within 48 hours. The government is also thinking of long-term solutions and is planning to change the way road contracts are assigned.
“It’s sad that the chief minister has had to intervene to ensure the municipal corporation does its basic work. He is contemplating a systemic change in the way road contracts are given. He also wants to pin the responsibility of the state of the roads on civic officials in ...

BMC contracts designed for their own clique

Property World Bureau — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 17:19:12 GMT

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been insisting that the bigger companies that handle infrastructure projects have their own reasons for staying away from bidding for the Rs 550-crore road project, but a close look at clauses and conditions in the tender show that they are designed unattractively for anyone but its usual set of contractors.

The BMC, for instance, has split the tender into nine small parts of Rs 60 crore each. A major infrastructure contractor, requesting anonymity, said: “We had indicated that we would want work on a larger scale because the costs involved for big firms ...

9 per cent GDP growth unlikely: Kaushik Basu

kanvikav — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 16:29:50 GMT

The Finance Ministry has admitted that its February forecast of 9 per cent GDP growth is unlikely to be achieved. This comes even as it plans to undertake an interim review of its economic growth forecast for 2011-12 by mid-September.
A rush of forecast downgrades by various domestic and foreign economic think-tanks in recent weeks is said to have influenced the Ministry to go in for a stock-taking in September in addition to its usual mid-term review that is tabled in Parliament in November. In February, the Government had forecast GDP growth of 9 per cent +/- 0.25 per cent ...

July cement sales surge on rural demand

Property World Bureau — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 16:18:45 GMT

It was a July surprise for cement companies as they managed to register a growth in dispatches despite revival of monsoon in most parts of the country. The higher sales were mainly due to growing demand in the rural areas and restocking by major dealers.
The revival in cement demand in July was impressive especially after the sharp fall in sales and production the preceding month.
JP Associates reported 18 per cent jump in July sales at 1.45 million tonnes. The addition of new capacity of 3 mtpa (million tonnes per annum) in December boosted ACC sales and production.
Bulk ...

HDFC raises home loan rates

Property World Bureau — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 16:03:57 GMT

Leading housing finance major, Housing Development Finance Company (HDFC) raised its home loan rates by 50 basis points. Citing the rising interest rate scenario in the economy, the company on Tuesday said it has increased the rate of interest on floating rate home loans by 50 basis points (100 basis points=1%).

The hike comes a week after the RBI unexpectedly raised key policy rates by as much as 50 basis points.

The last time HDFC had raised rates was in May, but had kept its rates unchanged in June when the RBI had raised the key rates by 25 basis ...

Chinese goods may find entry in the garb of FDI

Property World Bureau — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 15:58:49 GMT

At least two ministries have raised fears of Chinese goods flooding shelves in retail chains if the doors are opened to foreign players to set up multi-brand stores in the country. The concern has prompted the government to work out a safety valve for the much-awaited FDI in retail to go through.

The government had earlier planned to get Cabinet nod for allowing FDI in retail in August but there could be some delay. Senior government officials told TOI that the ministries of telecom and information technology, and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) suggested that the government first put ...

Navi Mumbai builders guilty of FSI violations

Property World Bureau — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 15:42:13 GMT

Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan admitted in the state assembly on Tuesday that 21 of the 23 Palm Beach Road high-rises under probe have violated construction norms, putting the heat on Navi Mumbai builders.

A three-bedroom apartment on Palm Beach Road, often called the 'Queen's Necklace of Navi Mumbai' , can cost upwards of Rs 1 crore. The chief minister's admission threatens to expose the web of malfeasance that besets the real estate sector in the satellite city.

Earlier this year, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) had found 23 high-rises on Palm Beach Road in violation of floor space index ...

Innovative construction to drive the future

kanvikav — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 18:11:23 GMT

Innovative technology and sustainable green materials have brought about a revolutionary change in the construction and building sector. Modern construction has broken free from the conventional building materials used with the introduction of innovative materials like Ready Mixed Concrete (RMC) and Glass Fibre Reinforced Plastics (GRP) which are sustainable and cost-effective.

These and other insights were shared at the one-day seminar on
Metamorphosis in Construction & Building Industry organized by MMR Events, a part of Asian Industry & Information Services Pvt Ltd (AIISPL) – on July 30, 2011 in Mumbai.

In his inaugural remarks, Mr G Chandrashekhar, Associate ...

Shriram Prop enters hospitality & logistics

Property World Bureau — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 17:03:25 GMT

After Shriram Properties Ltd recently secured a $100 million (Rs 440 crore) investment from private equity (PE) firm TPG Capital, in one of the largest such deals in India’s real estate sector, the company is working on expanding across India with two new businesses –hospitality and logistics. The company, so far focused on residential developments in southern India, will deploy most of the new money in setting up two wholly owned subsidiaries as it diversifies its portfolio, managing director M. Murali said.
It will spend the balance on buying about 600 acres of land in the next 18 months to ...

Govt prepares draft bill on land acquisition

Property World Bureau — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 16:52:59 GMT

To take on the discontentment against land acquisition process, rural development minister Jairam Ramesh has cleared a draft bill for public comments
The minister’s land acquisition and rehabilitation bill will be up on the ministry website just a fortnight into his term at Krish Bhawan. The Bill proposes a compensation of more than six times the circle rate of land, acquired for industrial and real estate projects. This is in line with the recomendations of the National Advisory Council but given the time constraint is unlikely to be cleared by Parliament in the next monsoon session.
The Bill sticks to ...

Singapore to channel China savings into India

Property World Bureau — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 11:02:38 GMT

Singapore plans to act as a facilitator to bring in China’s savings into the Indian economy and other South Asian countries. Similarly, it has evinced interest in promoting the concept and practices of real estate investment trust (REIT) in India. These were some of the immediate spin-off ideas that emerged during the South Asian Diaspora Convention (SADC), held recently. Hosting the first-ever global event under the SADC banner, Gopinath Pillai, chairman of the Singapore-based Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), said the conference was designed as a confluence of scholars, businessmen, thinkers and the doers.
Speaking at the Diaspora meeting, ...

Builders, buyers hopeful in Noida case

Property World Bureau — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 10:57:55 GMT

With the Allahabad High Court giving farmers an option of out-of-court settlement with GNDA, flat buyers and builders in Greater Noida today expressed hope that a solution will emerge before the August 12 deadline. “It’s a positive development. From blame game, now we are moving towards solution,” Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association (CREDAI) president (NCR) Pankaj Bajaj, said. Echoing Bajaj’s views, Noida Extension Flat Buyers Welfare Association president RP Tyagi said the court’s decision was in the best interest of all the affected parties.
Pointing out that interests of one lakh flat-buyers and several builders along with contractors and ...

IREO launches township project in Panchkula

Property World Bureau — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 15:26:24 GMT

IREO, the private equity fund dedicated to the Indian real estate sector, has announced the launch of its new integrated township project “IREO – Fiveriver”. Spread over a sprawling 200 acres, the project is located in Panchkula, on the outskirts of Chandigarh.
Ireo Fiveriver has a unique mix of recreational and wellness facilities catering to multiple ages and tastes. These include multiple wellness and fitness themed parks, special picnic zones, and a central retail and shopping hub. One of the attractions is an exclusive community club house spread over three acres with a wide choice of recreational activities like swimming ...

Delta Corp acquires stake in Daman Hospitality

Property World Bureau — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 15:21:41 GMT

Delta Corp Ltd. has acquired a 51 per cent stake in Daman Hospitality Pvt Ltd (DHPL), the Indian affiliate of Thunderbird Resorts. The deal will see the opening of what is expected to be India’s largest hotel‐cum‐casino property in Daman.

Thunderbird, listed on the NYSE Euronext Amsterdam exchanges is into casino and hospitality services and focuses on markets in Asia and Latin America, with operations in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Peru and the Philippines. It will continue to own 49 per cent in the company along with original Indian partners and will run the upcoming Daman hotel with a management ...

Godrej Properties ties up with SBI

kanvikav — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 15:15:38 GMT

Godrej Properties, the real estate arm of Godrej Group, has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with State Bank of India (SBI) to create multiple platforms to make their projects and services available to customers across India and abroad. Under the pact, both the companies plan to host various co-promotional activities for customers in India and for non-resident Indians in countries like the UK, US, and Singapore, the company said in a statement, .
“We are very excited to associate ourselves with State Bank of India and are looking forward to a long-term relationship that will benefit our customers ...

Parsvanth gets govt nod to pull out of six SEZs

Property World Bureau — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 15:04:43 GMT

The government has allowed realty major Parsvnath group to withdraw its six special economic zone (SEZ) projects in different states, as a fall out of imposition of Minimum Alternate Tax and uncertainty over continuation of tax sops to SEZ. The clearance for Parsvnath SEZ Ltd (PSL) to pull-out of its projects was given by the inter-ministerial Board of Approval, which met in the national capital under the chairmanship of Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar.
Besides, the BoA permitted extension of time to 45 developers, including those of the Rahejas, Mukesh Ambani-promoted Navi Mumbai and GP Realtors to implement their projects. Several ...

Home, auto loans will be costlier

Property World Bureau — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:53:34 GMT

Home and auto loans would soon get costlier after the Reserve Bank of India raised policy rates by a higher-than-expected 50 basis points, or bps, to rein in stubborn price pressures.

Corporates, too, will feel the pinch with increase in cost of borrowing. However, one good news is that interest rates on short-term deposits could move up. A 50 bps increase in policy rates comes as a surprise. The hike in rates would have an impact on high value loan demand, said Keki Mistry, HDFC vice chairman and chief executive officer. In its first quarter monetary policy review on ...

Navi Mumbai, Thane power bills to increase

Property World Bureau — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:43:33 GMT

The power tariff in the state will go up by 20 to 25 paise per unit for the next six months. The increase will affect 1.5 crore consumers across the state, including 30 lakh consumers in Thane, Navi Mumbai, Kalyan-Dombivli and rest of Mumbai metropolitan region.

The Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) on Tuesday allowed the state-run Maharashtra State Power Generation Company Limited (MSPGCL) to recover around Rs 764 crore from its sister concern-the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL). The MSEDCL will eventually recover the money from consumers through monthly bills.

A major amount of the recovery is ...

Thermax in CPV to offer solar power systems

Property World Bureau — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 17:45:55 GMT

Thermax Limited and Amonix, Inc announced an agreement that will bring proven, concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) technology for clean power generation to India. In this exclusive partnership, Amonix will offer high-performance solar power generation systems and Thermax will be the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) partner to provide turnkey solutions to customers in India.

Amonix CPV solar power systems incorporate highly efficient solar cells originally developed for aerospace applications. The dual-axis tracking systems utilise durable state-of-the-art optics to focus sunlight onto multijunction solar cells. As this technology requires no water for power production and uses land more efficiently, compared to ...

State issues new FSI norms to check misuse

Property World Bureau — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 17:41:44 GMT

In one of the major decisions taken by chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, the state urban development department on Monday issued a notification on new building approval guidelines for the city. Chavan, who heads the UD portfolio, had cleared the guidelines on July 21.

The guidelines, prepared by civic chief Subodh Kumar, seek to prevent the rampant misuse of certain building areas like flowerbeds, voids, lily ponds and pocket terraces, which were earlier counted as free of floor space index. Many builders sell these spaces to buyers at market rate and rake in huge profits.

The BMC now wants to levy ...

MCHI calls for rationalization of FSI premium

Property World Bureau — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 17:18:44 GMT

The Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry, the leading association representing developers in Mumbai and MMR region has welcomed the new FSI guidelines proposed by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Commissioner Subodh Kumar.
The proposals were consumer friendly and would lead to transparency in clearing building plans and speeden up the process which will ultimately reduce the scope for corruption as well as individual interpretation, MCHI President Paras Gundecha said.
Mr Gundecha however expressed reservation on the 100% premium proposed to be charged to developers for fire check areas, refuge floors, service floors, AC plant room and so on as these are mandatory ...

RBI rate hike will hit the industry says CREDAI

Property World Bureau — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 16:59:16 GMT

The RBI move to raise the repo rate by 50 bps comes as a shock to the real industry as the burden of increased interest rates will not only impact developers but home buyers as well, said Lalit Kumar Jain, National President CREDAI.
The cost of borrowings would be higher as banks are bound to increase their lending rates, said Mr Jain who is also the Chairman and Managing director of Kumar Urban development Limited (KUL) said.
The industry, he said, is facing a crunch and the fund gap over the next five years alone would be US $70 billion. ...

RBI hikes repo rates to curb inflation

Property World Bureau — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 14:31:17 GMT

In a surprise move, the Reserve Bank of India hiked its main policy rates by 50 basis points today in its first quarter review of its monetary policy.
Consequently, the repo rate is now at 8 per cent while the reverse repo rate is at 7 per cent. The marginal standing facility (which is at 100 bps above the repo rate) will be at 9 per cent. The rate hikes are the eleventh successive hike since March 2010.
The market had expected a 25 bps hike in this quarter because of inflationary conditions. However, bankers had appealed to the RBI ...

Govt trims GDP growth forecast to 8.6%

Property World Bureau — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 18:11:07 GMT

The government today lowered its GDP growth projection for 2011-12 to 8.6 per cent from about 9 per cent and added that inflation, currently hovering above 9 per cent, would continue to remain high till December.
"The apparent slowdown in headline growth rates on a sequential basis and slowing automobile sales suggest that growth outlook for 2011-12 may be lower," the finance ministry said.
The economy grew 8.3 per cent in the third quarter of the last fiscal and 7.8 per cent in January-March, the lowest in five quarters. It is estimated to have expanded 8.5 per cent in ...

Greener, safer skyscrapers to be made mandatory

Property World Bureau — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 18:03:07 GMT

A city that looks like a cramped row of shiny, tall matchboxes in places, Mumbai is finally going to get some respite. The civic body has accepted a set of guidelines that make it mandatory for developers to build safer, better, airier high-rises .

The norms, which were formulated by a state-appointed committee under the chairmanship of retired Justice Shafi Parkar demand that at least 20m space be left between skyscrapers , parking space be provided for guests' vehicles and the use of glass facades be minimized.

They dictate that swimming pools be built on lower storeys of a ...

Banks' exposure in Noida Extn worth crores

Property World Bureau — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 17:56:16 GMT

Banks and housing finance companies (HFCs) are trying to figure out their exposure to real estate projects in Noida Extension, which have come under cloud after courts cancelled land acquisition in several villages by Greater Noida authorities.

It is estimated that banks and HFCs have disbursed Rs 1,000-1,200 crore (Rs 10-12 billion) of home loans to buyers who have booked flats in Noida Extension though they may have sanctioned loans worth Rs 10,000-12,000 crore (Rs 100-120 billion).

Besides, banks have also lent directly to builders, not known yet, as builders are not willing to discuss their debts.

Nearly 100,000 flats ...

PE Funds the preferred investment option for HNI

kanvikav — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 16:53:57 GMT

Domestic private equity funds in the real estate space are emerging as a preferred investment option for high net-worth individuals and family offices in the country. Over the last few years, money from institutional investors that was part of such funds has dried up. Banks have been directed by the central bank to reduce their exposure to real estate. “In such a scenario, HNIs are investing with fund houses as these offer better yield to the investors,” says Sandeep Kotak , executive vice president and business head for commercial real estate at Kotak Mahindra Bank . As a portfolio, capital ...

UID may help streamline outdated records

Property World Bureau — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 16:40:13 GMT

Property holders across India may get a unique identity number, or UID, for their real estate, as a working group set up by the ministry of urban development has suggested doing away with the current system of registration and transfer of property. Such a move is expected to not only streamline and organise India’s outdated land records, but also reduce the burden on courts by enabling faster resolution of property disputes. “The current system of property registration is based on who pays the tax on the land or property,” said an official with the Planning Commission. “When property is transferred, ...

Developers seek approval to scrap SEZs

By Our Bureau — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 17:04:20 GMT

Many developers have applied to the Government asking to drop their plans to build Special Economic Zones.
They say the economic slowdown, lack of demand for SEZ space, imposition of 18.5 per cent Minimum Alternate Tax on SEZ developers and units as well as the Direct Taxes Code proposing to withdraw profit-linked deductions for SEZs have made their projects unviable.
Their applications will be taken up by the Board of Approval (BoA) for SEZs on July 22, according to the agenda note for the BoA meeting.
Parsvanath has sought the BoA's nod to withdraw the in-principle approval given for its ...

Regulator the panacea to Greater Noida woes

By Our Bureau — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 16:55:03 GMT

With the apex court upholding the judgment of Allahabad High Court on the legality of the land acquisition process in Greater Noida and with more land owners joining issue -more instances of land being acquired under the emergency clause of the Land Acquisition Act are coming to light - the pall of gloom over the real estate sector is not likely to lift any sooner.
Builders and consumers, who have been at the receiving end, are already at loggerheads. The plight of the consumers won’t have been so miserable had a real estate regulator been in place. For about seven ...

Crisis deepens in Greater Noida

By our Property Bureau — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 16:40:49 GMT

The Allahabad High Court cancelled land acquisition in Greater Noida’s Patwari and Dewla villages, deepening the crisis in the Noida Extension area. It may even throw a few builders out of business.
Builders fear similar decisions when the court takes up petitions by residents of other villages in the area in the next couple of days.
At stake in Noida Extension is nearly Rs 37,500 crore, 17 projects and 250,000 flats under construction. Builders have already sold 100,000 apartments and completed 40-50 per cent construction.
Acting on a bunch of petitions by farmers, a Division Bench comprising Justice Sunil Ambawani ...

OPIC to invest $ 820 mn in renewable sector

Property World Bureau — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 16:06:52 GMT

The US financial agency, Overseas Private Investment Corp (OPIC) expects to mobilise investments of $820 million by the year-end to finance projects in the Indian renewable sector.
“We have doubled our portfolio of investments in India since last November. By the end of calendar year, we hope to have generated $520 million in brand new investments of US companies into solar and renewable sector,” Ms Elizabeth Littlefield, President and CEO of OPIC. Besides, the OPIC expects to mobilise $300 million in private equity fund to invest in smaller firms in the renewable sector, Ms Littlefield told the US India Business ...

International Furniture Fair in Mumbai

By our Property Bureau — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 15:55:01 GMT

Leveraging on the growing demand for quality furniture, the inaugural edition of the India International Furniture Fair (IIFF) will take place in Mumbai at the Bombay Convention and Exhibition Centre from November 16 to 18, 2011.

Organised by MP International Pte Ltd (MPI) in partnership with the International Furniture Fair Singapore (IFFS) Pte Ltd, the show will have about 80 participating companies and brands from leading furniture names from around the world. The trade show expected to gross 5,000 square metres will feature special country pavilions including Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, China and Spain. Over 70 per cent of ...

HNIs investing in Commercial properties

Property World Bureau — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 15:54:24 GMT

The super rich in India are not just buying luxury homes, but they also betting their money on pre-leased commercial properties offering good rental yields. These big-ticket investors are locking 30-40 per cent of their portfolio in real estate, higher than any other investment category including equities.
A majority of ultra HNIs—some define them as those with a net worth of over Rs 100 crore while others as those with a networth of over Rs 25 crore—are mandating what are called family offices to help them cherry pick grade ‘A’ commercial properties. Family offices are specialized financial firms managing investments ...