Noida property owners face deadline

Noida is witnessing a last minute rush for registration of property by hundreds of group housing society apartment owners as only three days are left to do so which otherwise will invite penalties ranging from Rs. 2 to 8 lakh. Since the last several years, over ten thousand allottees belonging to group housing societies have failed to get their flats registered. Earlier the local administration of Noida allowed sub-lease registration of flats which could be done on a stamp paper of Rs. 100. Stamp duty used to be levied on the land that was registered under a group housing cooperative society. Later officials thought of stopping the practice of levying stamp duty because structures came up on the allotted land. Thereafter land registration officials asked allottees to pay stamp duty and register their respective flats in their names otherwise they will not get the ownership of flats.

A writ petition was filed in the Supreme Court by the Indian Railway Welfare Organisation (IRWO), the Air Force Naval Housing Board (AFNHB), the Army Welfare Housing Organisation (AWHO) and several others where it was stated that had levying of stamp duty is not required. They pleaded with the court that the circle rates charged presently by the registration department should be replaced by charging of allotment rates for the first allottees.

Panel to probe role of officials in housing scam

Following the high court order a judicial commission has been set up by the Uttarakhand government to look into the allegation of involvement of some officials in a housing project scam in Rishikesh. According to a government spokesman the one-member judicial commission is being headed by B C Kandpal a former judge of Uttarakhand High Court and the commission will investigate about the involvement of government officials in the housing scam. The spokesman also said that another probe panel set up by the state government is being headed by Justice Kandpal. This panel will examine the 56 alleged scams that were unearthed during the previous Congress regime.

Last year the state was rocked by the issue following protests made by opposition parties led by the congress. The opposition parties demanded a CBI probe on the alleged allotment of project to Sturdia Developers, a Mumbai based real estate company, by the government allowing the developer to develop a project on an industrial land belonging to Citurgia Bio-chemicals Pvt Ltd on banks of the river Ganga. The opposition parties alleged that the said project violated environmental norms and that the land was sold to Sturdia Developers at a throw away price on the behest of the BJP government.

Construction growth to outpace GDP this decade

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in the next decade the growth of GDP will be overtaken by global construction. By 2020 there will be a will be a $4.8 trillion increase in output and China and India will account for 38 per cent of this increase. Citing a report sponsored by it PwC said that China’s construction sector has already overtaken the United States and has thus become the biggest construction market in 2010 and by 2020 it will increase its size to more than double ($2.5 trillion) and will account for a fifth of world construction.

PwC said that by 2020 55% of global construction will be handled by emerging markets with rapidly developing populations which will accelerate urbanization and lead to a robust economic growth. At present 46% of global construction is under these markets. Market research firms Global Construction Perspectives and Oxford Economics which conducted this study has forecasted that during the next 10 years $97.7 trillion will be spent on global construction and every year the sector will expand by 5.2 per cent on an average. This they claim will outpace the growth of GDP. At present more than 11 per cent of global GDP is accounted for the global construction sector and the predictions suggest that by 2020 it will become 13.2 per cent of world GDP.

Realty issues ignored?

The budget speech of finance minister Pranab Mukherjee echoed mixed feelings about the real estate sector which was embroiled recently in the bank loan scam that saw the involvement of some real estate companies. Moreover the allegation of flow of easy money into the sector and subsequent directive by the Reserve Bank of India to tighten this flow painted an overall picture of lack of transparency and this too featured in the speech of the finance minister. Mr. Aditya Verma, the CEO of makaan.com said that maybe it was because of these recent events that occurred in the realty sector that Mr. Mukherjee did not make any meaningful announcement in the budget concerning the sector.

On the other hand Mr. Anuj Puri, the chairman and country head at Jones Lang LaSalle India said that the realty sector which is gradually moving on the path of revival and growth has some larger issues that required to be assessed and addressed to but the budget seems to have ignored it. However he was quick to add that the government’s focus on affordable housing has gladdened some developers. In this aspect Tata Housing seems to have gained a point as it has been implementing several low-cost and affordable housing projects through its new subsidiary named ‘Smart Value Homes Limited’.

Realty firm Supertech to develop 255 meter residential tower in Noida

A 255 metre tall residential tower is coming up in Noida which will be developed by Supertech, a realty firm, with an investment of Rs 600 crore. The tower according to the company will be the tallest in North India and will have 1,326 housing units which the company will offer at prices of up to Rs 2.25 crore. Mr. R K Arora while talking to reporters said that this tallest project in North India region which has been named ‘North Eye’ will have 60 floors and to develop the project the company will invest Rs 600 crore.

Mr. Arora said that internal accruals and advances from customers will be used to fund this project. Private equity players are also being roped in by the company to raise funds. Regarding the price of these housing units, Mr. Arora said that price per sq ft has been fixed at Rs 7,700 and prices will range from Rs 35 lakh to about Rs 2.25 crore. There will be 186 large flats and 1,140 studio apartments. The sizes of the flats will range from 1,650 sq ft to 3,350 sq ft. The apartments however will have a fixed floor size of 520 sq ft.

Delhi based realtor and Idea CEO questioned by CBI in 2G scam case

Pursuing the investigations into the 2G spectrum allotment scam the CBI grilled Mr. Sanjeev Aga, the CEO of Idea Cellular and Mr. Amit Sarin, the chairman of Delhi-based real estate company Anant Raj Group. The CBI was probing into the allegation of transfer of money to Shahid Usman Balwa, the managing director of Swan allegedly by Amit Sarin who is said to have played a key role in this transfer. According to CBI officials 2G licences were given to Idea Cellular in 2005 for the Mumbai circle and CBI questioned Mr. Aga about those licences.

On the other hand CBI officials said that it questioned Mr. Sarin who is alleged to have transferred an amount of Rs 102 crores to Sidharth Consultancy. Sidharth Consultancy was earlier known by the name of Giraffe Consultancies. Mr. O P Saini, the special judge had last week mentioned in his order that Giraffe Consultancies Services Ltd had forged its board minutes and had shown transfer of its shares to DB Group people and relatives of Balwa on February 25, 2007. It was also mentioned in the order that ADAG had used Tiger Traders to buy majority shares of Swan Telecom and Tiger Traders was funded by Giraffe Consultancies.

Indiareit, Paranjape in talks to sell stake in Pune SEZ

A 130 acre SEZ named Blue Ridge in Hinjewadi near Pune, developed jointly by Indiareit Fund Advisors Pvt Ltd and Pune based Paranjape Schemes (Constructions) Ltd is up for sale. Both the companies are discussing about selling off its entire stake or a part of it. According to Mint they were earlier negotiating with a Tata Group company. However the deal did not materialize. Mr. Shashank Paranjape, the chairman of Paranjape Schemes said that his company which had created a special purpose vehicle (SPV) named Flagship Infrastructure Pvt Ltd for the special economic zone is now thinking of diluting its stake. Paranjape Schemes has a majority stake in the SEZ. Already 1.4 million sq ft of space out of the total 2.9 million sq ft have been developed and leased out.

Mr. Paranjape said that the total value of this space has been estimated at Rs 1,000 crore. He revealed that talks were at an advanced stage till December between Flagship Infrastructure Pvt Ltd and Tata Realty but the deal fell through. Without divulging any specific detail he said that talks are on with a number of funds that are interested to invest in assets that generate rent. A monthly rental yield amounting to Rs 4.9 crore is expected from the 1.4 million sq ft space in the SEZ which has already been developed. Moreover the rent is expected to escalate about 15% annually.

Infra and realty sector expecting stimulus from budget 2011

Infrastructure development in India is being given topmost priority since the past several years. Since the economy of the country is a growing one its development is highly dependent on infrastructure development. However development of infrastructure requires huge capital investments. Even infrastructure development projects require a long gestation period for completion. These are significant challenges faced by this sector. In addition the growth of infrastructure gets hampered at times because of issues which are environmental, land related and legal.

The growth of the infrastructure sector is very crucial for the real estate sector. The country’s real estate investment market is an emerging one. Some of the top real estate investment locations of the world are located in India. Indian cities like Mumbai, New Delhi and Bangalore are ranked 3rd, 5th and 10th as most preferred locations for real estate investment. Therefore the real estate sector of India has the potential to offer huge investment opportunities.

Developers admit that it may not be possible to address all the problems faced by these two sectors through the annual budget. However they suggest that if tax reforms are provided and directional policy measures are taken a lot can be achieved. Therefore there are expectations from all quarters that the Government will make the upcoming budget more entrepreneur and investor friendly.

DLF to launch plots in sector 91 & 92 Gurgaon

DLF to launch plots in sector 91 & 92 Gurgaon

DLF Ltd, the real estate major and the largest realty company of India which has to its credit several large real estate projects is again on a launching spree. According to company sources plans are afoot to launch plots in Gurgaon. These plots will be launched in Sector 91 and Sector 92 in Gurgaon. Though the exact sizes have not been revealed yet, company executives said that the tentative sizes of these plots would be anywhere between 300 to 350 square yards.

DLF Ltd has been involved with the real estate industry for more than 60 years. During the entire course of its involvement it has recorded a sustained growth. It is known for its innovative techniques which it applies to every project developed by it. Customer satisfaction is one of its topmost priorities. The company has built its reputation in terms of revenue earnings, market capitalisation and area developed so far.

The company is currently focusing on what it has been all these years. Development of residential, commercial and retaiproperties zare its core and primary business. A majority of its earnings are realized from development and rentals that are actually based on a unique business model. Market down-cycles hardly affect this real estate giant because of its wide exposure to different businesses, segments and geographies. Off late it has entered into infrastructure, SEZ and hotel business development.

Chairman of Tata real estate group questioned in 2G scam case

Keeping up the heat on the 2G spectrum allocation scam CBI grilled two top officials of Tata real estate group namely R Krishna Kumar the Chairman of the group and Sanjay G Ubale the Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Kumar and Mr. Ubale who arrived at the CBI headquarters were questioned by CBI sleuths on the basis of an allegation that a loan amount of Rs 1,600 crore was provided to Unitech for the purpose of procuring 2G spectrum.

CBI had questioned Ubale once earlier and this is the second time that he has been summoned by the investigative agency. The questioning is based on the alleged link up of the group with Unitech. The CBI had filed an FIR on October 21, 2009 in which it had mentioned about Unitech as an alleged beneficiary of the infamous 2G spectrum allocation scam. Mr. Sanjay Chandra of Unitech (a company which received the 2G spectrum license) was also questioned earlier by the CBI on charges of offloading of majority stake to Telenor, a Norway based company. The probe by CBI seeks to ascertain the truth behind the alleged Rs 1,600 crore pay off to Unitech by Tata Real Estate for a certain land deal. The Tata group is alleged to have paid the amount in 2007 when Unitech was applying for 2G license.

Unitech to develop 10 million sq ft area in next four months

Leading real estate player of the country Unitech has announced its plans to develop several simultaneous projects in the next four months. According to Unitech sources the company will shortly launch a project through which it will develop 10 million square feet of area. The estimated cost for constructing this project will come to the tune of Rs 1,500-2,000 crore. A senior company official while talking to reporters said that Unitech is in the process to launch several real estate projects throughout India and the total area will be around 10 million sq ft. He said that most of the projects will cater to mid-segment housing demand.

Unitech revealed to its investors in a presentation that the company has in the first nine months of this fiscal raised Rs 3,348 crore by selling 7.9 million sq ft of area. Now the company plans to raise another Rs 5,000 crore by selling 10 million sq ft of area. For the period between October-December of 2010 the company had reported a dip of 36.73% in its consolidated net profit. It incurred losses to the tune of Rs 111.36 crore which was because of disposal of a capital asset. However as on December 31, 2010 Unitech managed to reduce its net debt by Rs 555 crore through realty operations.