Since when did gardens, swimming pools and gyms cost so much money. Money is chasing money using real estate as the medium. There can only be so many SRT, SRK, Aamir Khans, Bacchans and the Aftab Shivdasani's and so called diamond merchants :). Hurray to black money
Wednesday, 28 May 2008
Saturday, 24 May 2008
Mumbai sinking
Posted on 20:20 by Unknown
Its not just water entering your doorsteps, its salt eating away the foundations of the building structures. Most people dont think about it but nature makes no exceptions between skyscrapers or slums
Bangalore residents cheated by VIP's
Posted on 15:01 by Unknown
Scams comes in all shapes and sizes. We are used to politicians buying land cheap before carrying out major developments like Mr Gowda and company's association with Devanhalli. Now NDTV reports on scams in BDA plots which are bought by poor VIP's. A country of a billion scams. For every scam detected there could be 99% more undetected. Such is the state of the land of the Mahatma
Bangalore VIPs fake poverty for land
Yogesh Pawar
Tuesday, May 20, 2008 10:48 PM (Bangalore)
At the centre of Bangalore's land grab controversy is the very agency that's meant to build a better city, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA).
They are meant to ensure affordable housing to those who cannot pay the high rates in Bangalore's real estate market.
But instead, BDA finds itself charged with selling the same land to a host of VIPs and politicians.
All the scam needs is, simple paper work to falsely prove that you are eligible for subisided BDA land.
To qualify for the land an applicant needs to prove:
* He/she has been a resident of Bangalore for over 20 years.
* He/she does not own any property in Bangalore.
* Most significantly that their annual family income is not more than Rs 1.20 lakh.
Many VIP's by using false affidavits have managed to get land allotted to them, they have also been passed off as Bangalore's underprivileged to get prime land at very low rates.
List of these ministers and former ministers cut across party lines like, Baburao Chavan, Ramalinga Reddy, M Diwakar Babu, S S Mallikarjuna, M Mallikarjuna Nagappa.
Former Members of Parliament, Vinayakumar Sorkae, R S Patil and Iqbal Ahmed Sardagi.
There are other former Members of Legislative Assembly and Council Venkatrammanappa, Yogesh Bhat, Basantha Reddy, Marilinge Gowda, A Narayanswamy, Sharanappa Thipanna Sunagara, B T Parameshwara, Gopala Pojar, R Narayana, Dinesh Gundu Rao, A S Guruswany, G V Sidappa, D G Shantha Gowda, B S Basavaraju, Katta Subramaniam Naidu, Sirak Shaikh, Vadnal Rajanna, Anasyumma Nataraj, H R Alaguru, M Shankara Reddy, Raja Venkatappa Naik, N Sampangi, Syed Azeem Peer S Khadri and S P Mudda Hanume Gowda Nagappa, Dr M Akbar Ali, K Kushal
T S Mruthyujayappa, V R Sudarshan, C Ramesh, Winfred Fernandes, Jalaja Naik, Profulla Madukar, Vimala Gowda and Nirmala Venkatesh.
S Nagraj, a petitioner said, "The mandate rule is that they should not own sites when they apply for ministers quota. but on the pretext of ministers' quotas, they have taken these plots. People who are standing in queue for getting these sites, have been deceived by the government."
It's a staggering scam and is only possible with the full cooperation of corrupt BDA officials. A scam which exposes the claim that Bangalore, has no land for low cost housing.
Activists have gone to court about this blatant corruption on the part of BDA officials.
R Shivaswamy, advocate and anti-corruption activist said, "BDA have cheated the government by giving the lowest stamp duty and the lowest land cost."
Bangalore VIPs fake poverty for land
Yogesh Pawar
Tuesday, May 20, 2008 10:48 PM (Bangalore)
At the centre of Bangalore's land grab controversy is the very agency that's meant to build a better city, the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA).
They are meant to ensure affordable housing to those who cannot pay the high rates in Bangalore's real estate market.
But instead, BDA finds itself charged with selling the same land to a host of VIPs and politicians.
All the scam needs is, simple paper work to falsely prove that you are eligible for subisided BDA land.
To qualify for the land an applicant needs to prove:
* He/she has been a resident of Bangalore for over 20 years.
* He/she does not own any property in Bangalore.
* Most significantly that their annual family income is not more than Rs 1.20 lakh.
Many VIP's by using false affidavits have managed to get land allotted to them, they have also been passed off as Bangalore's underprivileged to get prime land at very low rates.
List of these ministers and former ministers cut across party lines like, Baburao Chavan, Ramalinga Reddy, M Diwakar Babu, S S Mallikarjuna, M Mallikarjuna Nagappa.
Former Members of Parliament, Vinayakumar Sorkae, R S Patil and Iqbal Ahmed Sardagi.
There are other former Members of Legislative Assembly and Council Venkatrammanappa, Yogesh Bhat, Basantha Reddy, Marilinge Gowda, A Narayanswamy, Sharanappa Thipanna Sunagara, B T Parameshwara, Gopala Pojar, R Narayana, Dinesh Gundu Rao, A S Guruswany, G V Sidappa, D G Shantha Gowda, B S Basavaraju, Katta Subramaniam Naidu, Sirak Shaikh, Vadnal Rajanna, Anasyumma Nataraj, H R Alaguru, M Shankara Reddy, Raja Venkatappa Naik, N Sampangi, Syed Azeem Peer S Khadri and S P Mudda Hanume Gowda Nagappa, Dr M Akbar Ali, K Kushal
T S Mruthyujayappa, V R Sudarshan, C Ramesh, Winfred Fernandes, Jalaja Naik, Profulla Madukar, Vimala Gowda and Nirmala Venkatesh.
S Nagraj, a petitioner said, "The mandate rule is that they should not own sites when they apply for ministers quota. but on the pretext of ministers' quotas, they have taken these plots. People who are standing in queue for getting these sites, have been deceived by the government."
It's a staggering scam and is only possible with the full cooperation of corrupt BDA officials. A scam which exposes the claim that Bangalore, has no land for low cost housing.
Activists have gone to court about this blatant corruption on the part of BDA officials.
R Shivaswamy, advocate and anti-corruption activist said, "BDA have cheated the government by giving the lowest stamp duty and the lowest land cost."
Times of India and Builders desparate to raise prices
Posted on 14:53 by Unknown
First it is the Times of India which predicted a rise in housing prices due to higher input costs. The very next day the KOAPP has said an 8% rise in prices is inevitable due to the same reasons. The bottom line is that builders are trying to create a FUD (Fear, Uncertainity and Death) phenomenon in the bangalore market. Similar things happened in Pune last month where PBAP has gone on record saying they will hike prices. Instead of passing the increased costs to the consumer, why dont the builders lower the land bank prices which are quoted by the land owners. In a heavily politicized business the builders are beginning to feel the pinch.
Below is the Times article
Realty prices may go up in Bangalore TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Bangalore: A bullish inflationary scenario, ever-rising commodity prices, hardening of interest rates and strengthening of the rupee. These are the key factors that are making real estate developers in the city wake up to hard realities. Despite all these odds, realty players, so far, have been trying to have their feet on the ground shielding severe competition in terms of price pressures and uneven demand and supply conditions.
City realty developers have now decided to pass a portion of their burden to their patrons, realising the fact that they cannot afford to bleed anymore.
According to well-informed realty sources, the developer community is mulling a end-buyer price hike of 3% to 7%, to take a bit of respite. The price rise will impact all kinds of projects across the city in various stages of development. “Depending on stage of construction, the percentage price hike will vary. First only an incremental rise will be passed on. If the market situation continues to remain the way it is, another rise will take place,’’ said a source.
In the last 9 to 12 months developers in city have borne an input cost rise between 20% and 30%. Rising prices of steel, cement and labour have been driving input cost higher.
REALTY CHECK
Inputs costs rise between 20% and 30%
Rising prices of steel, cement, labour drive input costs higher
Real estate price may therefore go up between 3% and 7%
Below is the Times article
Realty prices may go up in Bangalore TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Bangalore: A bullish inflationary scenario, ever-rising commodity prices, hardening of interest rates and strengthening of the rupee. These are the key factors that are making real estate developers in the city wake up to hard realities. Despite all these odds, realty players, so far, have been trying to have their feet on the ground shielding severe competition in terms of price pressures and uneven demand and supply conditions.
City realty developers have now decided to pass a portion of their burden to their patrons, realising the fact that they cannot afford to bleed anymore.
According to well-informed realty sources, the developer community is mulling a end-buyer price hike of 3% to 7%, to take a bit of respite. The price rise will impact all kinds of projects across the city in various stages of development. “Depending on stage of construction, the percentage price hike will vary. First only an incremental rise will be passed on. If the market situation continues to remain the way it is, another rise will take place,’’ said a source.
In the last 9 to 12 months developers in city have borne an input cost rise between 20% and 30%. Rising prices of steel, cement and labour have been driving input cost higher.
REALTY CHECK
Inputs costs rise between 20% and 30%
Rising prices of steel, cement, labour drive input costs higher
Real estate price may therefore go up between 3% and 7%
Saturday, 17 May 2008
Land price correct all over the country
Posted on 10:29 by Unknown
Now that the acreage cost seem to be dropping, the sq/ft price drop should follow.
Economic times reports...
Land prices in the national capital region (NCR), Mumbai suburbs, Bangalore and Hyderabad have corrected by up to 25% as property developers slow down their land purchases. Poor sales and lower availability of credit at higher cost have prompted property developers to end the mad rush to acquire land. Some of the developers have even backed out of land deals which were agreed upon as the slowdown hit the sector.
Prices have come down by up to 25% in Mumbai's distant suburbs, including Thane and Belapur, and pockets of Hyderabad and Bangalore, according to property consultancy firm Knight Frank India. Prices in the NCR, with an exception of Faridabad and Delhi, too have witnessed a correction of up to 25%, says a senior Unitech executive, adding that transaction volume has dried up. Land prices in Faridabad have risen 10-30% in the past 3-4 months.
However, Faridabad is just catching up with its neighbouring locations. The prices in Faridabad are still lower than in Gurgaon or Noida and the current price rise is more towards building a parity with them. Land prices in Delhi are said to be stable.
But a recent land deal struck in Delhi's prime commercial centre Connaught Place indicates that prices in the capital too are cooling off. Parsvnath Developers bought 1.18 acre, jointly owned by Mahajan Industries and Videocon Industries, for Rs 200 crore. The deal came at a discount of almost 17% at Rs 169 crore per acre, compared to what hotel major Leela Group paid for acquiring 3 acres in Chanakyapuri last year for Rs 611 crore.
"Real estate sector is facing a major cash crunch. That's why the companies are focusing on completing the project at hand, instead of adding to their landbanks," says Omaxe executive director Vipin Aggarwal.
Till recently, real estate players were in a land acquisition frenzy, with some players even pledging their equity shares to acquire land. A large landbank was showcased as the biggest asset for a company tapping the capital market. "Most real estate firms have formed big landbanks. So, there is hardly any need for them to go for further acquisition, especially in these times, when money is expensive," said Anshuman Magazine South Asia chairman CB Richard Ellis. Developers are also showing lower interest in agriculture land, once their prime target because of the substantial margins it offered.
At the same time, given the slowdown in the sector, some of the land deals which were earlier agreed upon have also fallen through. "The situation has completely changed since January. The developers are now exiting the deals because they do not think that the project can fetch them the profits they had originally expected," says Knight Frank India chairman Pranay Vakil. The correction is more pronounced in plots of less than 25 acre in size, since they are not FDI-compliant. "For a larger piece of land, there is FDI. But for smaller size projects, there are very few takers," he adds.
Economic times reports...
Land prices in the national capital region (NCR), Mumbai suburbs, Bangalore and Hyderabad have corrected by up to 25% as property developers slow down their land purchases. Poor sales and lower availability of credit at higher cost have prompted property developers to end the mad rush to acquire land. Some of the developers have even backed out of land deals which were agreed upon as the slowdown hit the sector.
Prices have come down by up to 25% in Mumbai's distant suburbs, including Thane and Belapur, and pockets of Hyderabad and Bangalore, according to property consultancy firm Knight Frank India. Prices in the NCR, with an exception of Faridabad and Delhi, too have witnessed a correction of up to 25%, says a senior Unitech executive, adding that transaction volume has dried up. Land prices in Faridabad have risen 10-30% in the past 3-4 months.
However, Faridabad is just catching up with its neighbouring locations. The prices in Faridabad are still lower than in Gurgaon or Noida and the current price rise is more towards building a parity with them. Land prices in Delhi are said to be stable.
But a recent land deal struck in Delhi's prime commercial centre Connaught Place indicates that prices in the capital too are cooling off. Parsvnath Developers bought 1.18 acre, jointly owned by Mahajan Industries and Videocon Industries, for Rs 200 crore. The deal came at a discount of almost 17% at Rs 169 crore per acre, compared to what hotel major Leela Group paid for acquiring 3 acres in Chanakyapuri last year for Rs 611 crore.
"Real estate sector is facing a major cash crunch. That's why the companies are focusing on completing the project at hand, instead of adding to their landbanks," says Omaxe executive director Vipin Aggarwal.
Till recently, real estate players were in a land acquisition frenzy, with some players even pledging their equity shares to acquire land. A large landbank was showcased as the biggest asset for a company tapping the capital market. "Most real estate firms have formed big landbanks. So, there is hardly any need for them to go for further acquisition, especially in these times, when money is expensive," said Anshuman Magazine South Asia chairman CB Richard Ellis. Developers are also showing lower interest in agriculture land, once their prime target because of the substantial margins it offered.
At the same time, given the slowdown in the sector, some of the land deals which were earlier agreed upon have also fallen through. "The situation has completely changed since January. The developers are now exiting the deals because they do not think that the project can fetch them the profits they had originally expected," says Knight Frank India chairman Pranay Vakil. The correction is more pronounced in plots of less than 25 acre in size, since they are not FDI-compliant. "For a larger piece of land, there is FDI. But for smaller size projects, there are very few takers," he adds.
Friday, 16 May 2008
Some sense returning to the real estate market
Posted on 11:53 by Unknown
Mint reporting on the slowdown in PE deals.
New Delhi: India’s real estate party may be cooling down rapidly. Global private equity firms say that they would rather invest in the US realty market than in the Indian one because US property prices have fallen so sharply that yields on investments there will be more attractive—without the hassle.
Private equity firms made a beeline for India after the government allowed foreign direct investment in real estate in 2005. They were attracted by returns of 25-30%, but with home prices falling in the US, global private equity firms now believe it makes more sense to park their investments in that country.
See:Realty deals
“Last year, Japan was a more attractive market to put money in. If you look at the US, we can now get an internal rate of return of 25% there, so why would anyone want to come to India?” asked a senior executive at an international financial services group, who did not wish to be named.
Four out of six private equity funds Mint spoke to said they are no longer investing in India. They didn’t want to be identified.
The US, reeling from a subprime lending crisis, is seeing the worst housing slump since the 1930s. The median price for a single-family home has dropped 7.7% in the first quarter of the year, the biggest decline in at least 29 years, as values tumbled in two out of every three US cities, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Sales of single-family houses and condominiums also fell 22% to 4.95 million at an annualized pace, the slowest in a decade.
“It is true that there are certain transactions in the US where you can get similar returns (as in India) of 25%, such as buying a condominium project or a commercial project,” said Subhash Bedi, director at Red Fort Capital Advisors Ltd, a private equity firm. “When you can get similar returns in India and in the US, global private equity firms which have a mandate to invest anywhere in the world, will prefer the US market because there are lesser risks associated with investments there.”
The Indian market is riskier to invest in because government approvals for projects here take a long time and there is also an execution risk because Indian developers do not have a history of completing projects on time, Bedi said.
Project delays can sometimes run to two to three years and there aren’t enough laws in place to effectively protect investors. There is also no central registry of land titles in India, because land is a state subject and the system of record-keeping and rules vary from state to state, making investing compelling only if the returns are high. In the US, there is a central registry of titles and title insurance can be purchased to protect investors.
India, where property values doubled in a year and, in some cases, tripled in less than two years, is now starting to see some cooling off after values shot up so high that they bordered on the unaffordable, eroding returns and turning away investors. Realty values in Mumbai rival that in Manhattan, New York.
To be sure, while global private equity firms might choose to move their investments to the US, nothing changes for funds dedicated to India as they can only invest in Indian real estate.
There are around 125 private equity funds for real estate in the country, out of which 60% are global funds, according to Venture Intelligence, an agency that tracks private equity.
“It can become increasingly difficult for the local team of a global fund to justify investment in India when you can get the same return for lesser risks elsewhere,” Bedi said. “So, for the short term, say a year, global funds might decide to invest in the US real estate market instead of India.”
“There is a big liquidity crunch in the US,” Bedi said. “It is much less in India when compared with the US because banks here are at least not turning away all borrowers.”
While private equity investment will continue to come into Indian realty, the number of firms chasing developers will be fewer, another senior official at one of the world’s leading financial management and advisory companies said.
“We will see fewer private equity firms, say two or three, chasing a developer unlike last year, when 8-10 private equity players were chasing the same set of companies,” he said requesting anonymity.
New Delhi: India’s real estate party may be cooling down rapidly. Global private equity firms say that they would rather invest in the US realty market than in the Indian one because US property prices have fallen so sharply that yields on investments there will be more attractive—without the hassle.
Private equity firms made a beeline for India after the government allowed foreign direct investment in real estate in 2005. They were attracted by returns of 25-30%, but with home prices falling in the US, global private equity firms now believe it makes more sense to park their investments in that country.
See:Realty deals
“Last year, Japan was a more attractive market to put money in. If you look at the US, we can now get an internal rate of return of 25% there, so why would anyone want to come to India?” asked a senior executive at an international financial services group, who did not wish to be named.
Four out of six private equity funds Mint spoke to said they are no longer investing in India. They didn’t want to be identified.
The US, reeling from a subprime lending crisis, is seeing the worst housing slump since the 1930s. The median price for a single-family home has dropped 7.7% in the first quarter of the year, the biggest decline in at least 29 years, as values tumbled in two out of every three US cities, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Sales of single-family houses and condominiums also fell 22% to 4.95 million at an annualized pace, the slowest in a decade.
“It is true that there are certain transactions in the US where you can get similar returns (as in India) of 25%, such as buying a condominium project or a commercial project,” said Subhash Bedi, director at Red Fort Capital Advisors Ltd, a private equity firm. “When you can get similar returns in India and in the US, global private equity firms which have a mandate to invest anywhere in the world, will prefer the US market because there are lesser risks associated with investments there.”
The Indian market is riskier to invest in because government approvals for projects here take a long time and there is also an execution risk because Indian developers do not have a history of completing projects on time, Bedi said.
Project delays can sometimes run to two to three years and there aren’t enough laws in place to effectively protect investors. There is also no central registry of land titles in India, because land is a state subject and the system of record-keeping and rules vary from state to state, making investing compelling only if the returns are high. In the US, there is a central registry of titles and title insurance can be purchased to protect investors.
India, where property values doubled in a year and, in some cases, tripled in less than two years, is now starting to see some cooling off after values shot up so high that they bordered on the unaffordable, eroding returns and turning away investors. Realty values in Mumbai rival that in Manhattan, New York.
To be sure, while global private equity firms might choose to move their investments to the US, nothing changes for funds dedicated to India as they can only invest in Indian real estate.
There are around 125 private equity funds for real estate in the country, out of which 60% are global funds, according to Venture Intelligence, an agency that tracks private equity.
“It can become increasingly difficult for the local team of a global fund to justify investment in India when you can get the same return for lesser risks elsewhere,” Bedi said. “So, for the short term, say a year, global funds might decide to invest in the US real estate market instead of India.”
“There is a big liquidity crunch in the US,” Bedi said. “It is much less in India when compared with the US because banks here are at least not turning away all borrowers.”
While private equity investment will continue to come into Indian realty, the number of firms chasing developers will be fewer, another senior official at one of the world’s leading financial management and advisory companies said.
“We will see fewer private equity firms, say two or three, chasing a developer unlike last year, when 8-10 private equity players were chasing the same set of companies,” he said requesting anonymity.
Thursday, 15 May 2008
Nusli Wadia sues Gopal Raheja for ‘breaching deal’
Posted on 16:32 by Unknown
Something has seriously gone wrong with this deal now that Mr Wadia is sueing the Rahejas. The Raheja's on their part have encroached on mangrove plantations and conducted massive landfills on the swamp adjoining to Mr Wadia's trust. Some of the complexes there were supposed to be sold to middle and low income groups as per the government statutes. 1 bed-room flats were constructed but these flats were never sold individually but they were sold as jodi-flats to different members of the family. The builders gained IT sops due to the nature of the scheme. Mr Wadia is now asking for his pound of flesh since prices have quintupled over the last 5 years.
MUMBAI: Industrialist Nusli Wadia has dragged builder baron Gopal Raheja to court for alleged fraud and breach of agreement regarding the development of over 400 acres of prime land belonging to the estate of late Eduljee Framroze Dinshaw at Malad (west).
Wadia terminated the agreements with Raheja and his 49 companies on May 12. The development agreements were entered into on January 2, 1995, and April 12, 1995 between Wadia, as the sole administrator of the Dinshaw estate, and Raheja.
Wadia has withdrawn all authority given to Raheja including the powers of attorney given Raheja’s children, Sandeep and Sonali, to deal with the various units, flats and other premises built on the contract land.
In a suit filed in the Bombay high court, Wadia has called upon the Rahejas to raze all construction on the 400 acres of prime land at Malad including three buildings at Palm Springs Centre and four at Unique Commercial Centre.
In the interim, Wadia has sought the appointment of a receiver and that the Rahejas be restrained from carrying out further construction and creation of third party rights on the contract land.
In February, Wadia had filed a suit against Gopal Raheja’s brothers Chandru L Raheja and Suresh L Raheja and their sons. He asked the court to stop the Rahejas from carrying on construction on 200 acres of prime land in Malad (west) belonging to the EFD estate and sought demolition of eight of their commercial towers including the Inorbit Mall, Hypercity Mall, Infinity Towers, IV Dimension, Spectrum Towers, Magnum Tower, Intelnet, Prism Paradigm and Athena, all located off Malad Link Road.
Wadia alleged that Chandru and others had “fraudulently” sold or leased properties constructed on the contract land to their “own sister concerns and shell companies created for the purpose” instead of genuine third parties. Wadia demanded damages worth Rs 350 crore from the Raheja brothers.
MUMBAI: Industrialist Nusli Wadia has dragged builder baron Gopal Raheja to court for alleged fraud and breach of agreement regarding the development of over 400 acres of prime land belonging to the estate of late Eduljee Framroze Dinshaw at Malad (west).
Wadia terminated the agreements with Raheja and his 49 companies on May 12. The development agreements were entered into on January 2, 1995, and April 12, 1995 between Wadia, as the sole administrator of the Dinshaw estate, and Raheja.
Wadia has withdrawn all authority given to Raheja including the powers of attorney given Raheja’s children, Sandeep and Sonali, to deal with the various units, flats and other premises built on the contract land.
In a suit filed in the Bombay high court, Wadia has called upon the Rahejas to raze all construction on the 400 acres of prime land at Malad including three buildings at Palm Springs Centre and four at Unique Commercial Centre.
In the interim, Wadia has sought the appointment of a receiver and that the Rahejas be restrained from carrying out further construction and creation of third party rights on the contract land.
In February, Wadia had filed a suit against Gopal Raheja’s brothers Chandru L Raheja and Suresh L Raheja and their sons. He asked the court to stop the Rahejas from carrying on construction on 200 acres of prime land in Malad (west) belonging to the EFD estate and sought demolition of eight of their commercial towers including the Inorbit Mall, Hypercity Mall, Infinity Towers, IV Dimension, Spectrum Towers, Magnum Tower, Intelnet, Prism Paradigm and Athena, all located off Malad Link Road.
Wadia alleged that Chandru and others had “fraudulently” sold or leased properties constructed on the contract land to their “own sister concerns and shell companies created for the purpose” instead of genuine third parties. Wadia demanded damages worth Rs 350 crore from the Raheja brothers.
CNN-IBN touting the builders line
Posted on 16:02 by Unknown
Mumbai house prices soar but no shortage of takers
Looks like the property marketing folks are at it again. With prices beyond the reach of the common man who will buy. Cushman and Wakefield are pimping the builders by coming out with useless data. If no-one can afford prices have to drop. 11000 per sq/ft in the outskirts of Mumbai is more then most places in the world. The builders will put up a brave face until they will relent. The property prices have not risen due to high demand since as we can see the demand is almost non-existent. Builders with surplus cash have caused inordinate high prices by bidding against each other. Now they are attributing the price rise to the rise of steel, cement and labor costs. The common man could be fooled but right now his wallet cannot support 11000 rs/sq ft. Maybe it can support 4000-6000. 11000 seriously doubt anyone not born with a golden spoon or inheriting is capable of paying so much
IBNlive reports
Mumbai: A two BHK apartment in Nariman Point at Rs 3 crore or even a Rs 11,000 per sq ft apartment in the far-off suburb of Mulund might sound atrociously expensive, but that definitely does not mean there are no takers.
According to the Planning Commission's latest report, urban housing shortage in India in March 2007 was around 24.71 million and is all set to touch 26.5 million by 2012.
Little wonder then that the real estate developers are unwilling to give in to the latest slump and reduce prices.
“The market is not growing at the rate we had expected but we are still not feeling the pinch,” says Manager, Akruti City, Tarang Patel.
“We might even witness a further rise in the already increasing land and steel prices,” says Director, Goel Ganga Developers, Atul Goel.
While the developers are refusing to budge, it is the common man with a limited budget who's feeling the heat.
For the average Mumbai citizen, who is battling inflation and rising interest rates, buying a house is just next to impossible. All that one can do is hope for prices to stabilise to own your dream house.
Bangalore
Looks like the property marketing folks are at it again. With prices beyond the reach of the common man who will buy. Cushman and Wakefield are pimping the builders by coming out with useless data. If no-one can afford prices have to drop. 11000 per sq/ft in the outskirts of Mumbai is more then most places in the world. The builders will put up a brave face until they will relent. The property prices have not risen due to high demand since as we can see the demand is almost non-existent. Builders with surplus cash have caused inordinate high prices by bidding against each other. Now they are attributing the price rise to the rise of steel, cement and labor costs. The common man could be fooled but right now his wallet cannot support 11000 rs/sq ft. Maybe it can support 4000-6000. 11000 seriously doubt anyone not born with a golden spoon or inheriting is capable of paying so much
IBNlive reports
Mumbai: A two BHK apartment in Nariman Point at Rs 3 crore or even a Rs 11,000 per sq ft apartment in the far-off suburb of Mulund might sound atrociously expensive, but that definitely does not mean there are no takers.
According to the Planning Commission's latest report, urban housing shortage in India in March 2007 was around 24.71 million and is all set to touch 26.5 million by 2012.
Little wonder then that the real estate developers are unwilling to give in to the latest slump and reduce prices.
“The market is not growing at the rate we had expected but we are still not feeling the pinch,” says Manager, Akruti City, Tarang Patel.
“We might even witness a further rise in the already increasing land and steel prices,” says Director, Goel Ganga Developers, Atul Goel.
While the developers are refusing to budge, it is the common man with a limited budget who's feeling the heat.
For the average Mumbai citizen, who is battling inflation and rising interest rates, buying a house is just next to impossible. All that one can do is hope for prices to stabilise to own your dream house.
Bangalore
Prices won't land; buy that Bangalore house now
Faye D'Souza / CNN-IBN
Bangalore: While property markets in various Indian metros brace themselves for an oncoming correction, Bangalore's residential property rates are not about to drop.
According to a report released by property consultants Cushman & Wakefield, the city has witnessed a stabilisation in prices of homes with the residential rates across the city have recorded a growth of less than 10 per cent in the last year.
But experts say even though the rate increments have slowed down, the prices are not about to fall.
“There are indications that housing loan rates will not go up in the near future, which means that there is no fundamental reason for primary residential market rates to come down. It going to remain the same for the next six months and then it will rise again. So now is a good time to make a purchase,” explains Director, Cushman & Wakefield, Anurag Mathur.
The low market sentiment may have affected small developers but sources say big developers have not witnessed a slow down in sales yet.
While this might be the best time for you to buy a house in Bangalore, experts advise those buying property in the city purely as an investment, to wait a couple of months until after the new airport in Devanahalli is unveiled, as it will change the dynamics and the valuations of Bangalore's property market completely.
“The new airport is now reality. At the end of the month when it will open, the entire dynamics will shift. Access is going to change and that will throw up more opportunities,” Mathur adds.
The Cushman & Wakefield report also states that Bangalore has the highest demand for commercial space in the country, which gives experts reason to believe that the increase in jobs being created will result in more demand for housing.
Faye D'Souza / CNN-IBN
Bangalore: While property markets in various Indian metros brace themselves for an oncoming correction, Bangalore's residential property rates are not about to drop.
According to a report released by property consultants Cushman & Wakefield, the city has witnessed a stabilisation in prices of homes with the residential rates across the city have recorded a growth of less than 10 per cent in the last year.
But experts say even though the rate increments have slowed down, the prices are not about to fall.
“There are indications that housing loan rates will not go up in the near future, which means that there is no fundamental reason for primary residential market rates to come down. It going to remain the same for the next six months and then it will rise again. So now is a good time to make a purchase,” explains Director, Cushman & Wakefield, Anurag Mathur.
The low market sentiment may have affected small developers but sources say big developers have not witnessed a slow down in sales yet.
While this might be the best time for you to buy a house in Bangalore, experts advise those buying property in the city purely as an investment, to wait a couple of months until after the new airport in Devanahalli is unveiled, as it will change the dynamics and the valuations of Bangalore's property market completely.
“The new airport is now reality. At the end of the month when it will open, the entire dynamics will shift. Access is going to change and that will throw up more opportunities,” Mathur adds.
The Cushman & Wakefield report also states that Bangalore has the highest demand for commercial space in the country, which gives experts reason to believe that the increase in jobs being created will result in more demand for housing.
Monday, 12 May 2008
Bandra-Kurla Complex can build more now
Posted on 15:15 by Unknown
Now Mr Ambani and Mr Wadhwa have doubled their investments in a time span of 1 year. Builders are going to rake in a billion dollars by milking this cash cow.
Mint reports
Bangalore: Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC), a much-sought-after business district in Mumbai, is all set to see frenetic action after Maharashtra state authorities doubled the space developers could build in certain blocks, thereby releasing an additional 8.5 million sq. ft of premium commercial space.
A notification released by the state government on Friday raised the floor space index (FSI) from the existing 2 to 4 on 178ha in G Block in BKC. FSI is the amount of construction allowed on a plot. The higher the FSI, the taller a building can rise.
With the the central business district of Nariman Point nearly saturated, BKC has become popular with large firms.
By some estimates, the rise in FSI will allow the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), appointed to develop BKC in 1977, to sell land at a better price and thereby earn revenues of nearly Rs 20,000 crore.
Milind Mhaiskar, joint metropolitan commissioner, MM-RDA, said: “Those who are interested to benefit this additional FSI can approach MMRDA and it (will) execute the process.”
Among the projects in G Block that will benefit from this move is the commercial complex and convention centre of Reliance Industries Ltd on an 18.5 acre plot. G block is at the heart of the finance centre, which also has Citibank, Nabard, ICICI Bank and the Bharat Diamond Bourse.
Mint reports
Bangalore: Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC), a much-sought-after business district in Mumbai, is all set to see frenetic action after Maharashtra state authorities doubled the space developers could build in certain blocks, thereby releasing an additional 8.5 million sq. ft of premium commercial space.
A notification released by the state government on Friday raised the floor space index (FSI) from the existing 2 to 4 on 178ha in G Block in BKC. FSI is the amount of construction allowed on a plot. The higher the FSI, the taller a building can rise.
With the the central business district of Nariman Point nearly saturated, BKC has become popular with large firms.
By some estimates, the rise in FSI will allow the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), appointed to develop BKC in 1977, to sell land at a better price and thereby earn revenues of nearly Rs 20,000 crore.
Milind Mhaiskar, joint metropolitan commissioner, MM-RDA, said: “Those who are interested to benefit this additional FSI can approach MMRDA and it (will) execute the process.”
Among the projects in G Block that will benefit from this move is the commercial complex and convention centre of Reliance Industries Ltd on an 18.5 acre plot. G block is at the heart of the finance centre, which also has Citibank, Nabard, ICICI Bank and the Bharat Diamond Bourse.
Sunday, 11 May 2008
Sell or hold your realty investments?
Posted on 11:19 by Unknown
Sell or hold your realty investments? - Outlook Money
Did you put money in real estate during the past year or so with the express objective of gaining through capital appreciation? If yes, depending on a number of factors, you might have a bit of a problem on your hands. For, over the past year, the gains have tapered off.
The decision
The extent of the problem depends partly on your investing horizon. If you had taken a long view and plan to hold it for a decade or so, there is nothing to worry about. While there may be a few ups and downs, returns from real estate have been next only to stocks in the long term.
If, however, you were looking to sell off your property within a year or two and earn some capital gains, that plan may need some tweaking. As mortgages and prices continued their upward journey, since around the middle of last year, end-use buyers started staying away in larger numbers. Merrill Lynch, for instance, estimates that sales volumes in the NCR are down 50-70 per cent from last year.
Whither prices? Prices, too, have softened in areas of high speculative interest as property got priced out of the market. Smart investors like Delhi NCR lawyer Dheeraj Seth, 31, sold his Gurgaon house when real estate was still hot and parked the proceeds in another property that is under development.
In January 2008, the stockmarket tanked, pulling down sentiments, and real estate in its wake. Experts say prices will climb 20-30 per cent off their peaks. Those who have held on to their investments, have clearly missed the top this time around.
Over the hill? "Short-term investors in markets where the values have peaked could explore exiting," says Sanjay Dutt, joint managing director, Cushman & Wakefield, a real estate consultancy firm.
Has the price of your property passed the summit? The following three checks will tell you. First, if prices in the area have gained 100-200 per cent in the past year, says Dutt, they are unlikely to rise substantially soon. Second, if the area has lots of speculators, then supply will continue coming into the market and keep price rise in check. Third, if a property with better location or amenities are coming up nearby, that will keep yours off the coveted list. If any of these is true, sell.
Once you take the sell decision, you have to find the best deal.
The process
The channels. Once you decide to sell, cast the net wide to reach as many prospective buyers as possible. For that, tap both conventional as well as online channels. Contact real estate agents and tell them your asking price and by when you would like to sell. If a project is not sold out, you can also approach the developer's office.
Insertions in newspaper property classifieds also help and can cost up to Rs 1,500. "If it's a ready project where people are living, promote the property within the building complex," says Dutt. There would be people who could pass the word to other interested parties. The same holds true for friends and relatives.
The six-fold path
Evaluate the property sale decision against goals. Factor in loss of tax breaks claimed on mortgage repayments if you sell within five years of buying.
Spread the word. Use both conventional as well as online channels to inform as many prospective buyers as possible.
Get a fix on asking price by benchmarking against the latest sale prices of similar property in the project or the area.
Time your sale. Avoid lean periods and low-interest seasons such as summer or the monsoons.
Be clear about payment terms. Fuzziness here could hit the buyer's plans and jeopardise the sale.
Sign an agreement for sale if you do not have the funds to pay off your loan. Help the buyer with the necessary paperwork.
Most property portals such as 99acres.com, indiaproperties.com and maakan.com allow a basic free listing. For example, Makaan.com allows 50 basic listings free, beyond which you will have to pay Rs 200 per listing. If you opt for the fast response listing then you will have to pay Rs 900 per listing.
If you contact a buyer directly, you can save on agent commission, which is usually about 1 per cent of the sale price.
The price. Be realistic and quote a fair price, or actual buyers might pass you over. "Fair value of the property would be the last sale done by the developer in that particular building complex," says Dutt. On that benchmark, put a discount (if rates have softened in the area) or premium (if rates have risen). If there has been no sale in the project in six months, identify projects within 5 km of yours and take the last sale price there as a benchmark.
The timing. Don't sell during lean times. There is no point trying to sell during vacations or during the monsoons, when sales are traditionally low.
The payment. Try and keep the payment norms clear and be upfront about it. This will give the buyer the much-needed confidence in dealing with you.
The mortgage. If you are trying to sell a house that still has an outstanding loan, a fair bit of paperwork will be necessary. The simplest way is to pay off the loan and then sell the house. But that may not be possible always. In that case, you have to sign an agreement for sale with the buyer laying out the payment terms. This document will be registered and stamp duty paid.
Next, you have to get an NOC from the society/builder (in case of an unregistered society). If the buyer wants to take a mortgage for the house, he has to submit fresh documents to the lender. Once that loan is approved, your outstanding, along with prepayment penalty if any, is set off and you are paid the rest. The property papers, if the new buyer has taken a loan, will have to be given to his lender.
The profits
If you make a capital gain on the sale (a tax consultant can tell you how to calculate that), you are liable to pay tax on it unless you deploy it in specific ways. If you use the money to 'construct' a house within three years from the date of sale, the tax is waived.
You also get a break if you use the money to pay for a ready house bought within a year before the sale or two years after. You can also avoid capital gains tax if you invest the gains in specified bonds under Section 54 EC which typically pay 5.5 per cent per annum and have a lock-in of three years.
If you want to invest in other asset classes, such as equities, mutual funds, gold or debt paper, then you will have to first pay 20 per cent tax on the capital gains (after indexation).
And, finally, keep tax implications in mind. If the holding period of a mortgaged property is less than five years, you may lose all the tax benefits you have claimed on loan repayments.
Despite these deterrents, if you are still getting a good deal, sell. But keep in mind all the variables before you sign on the dotted line.
Did you put money in real estate during the past year or so with the express objective of gaining through capital appreciation? If yes, depending on a number of factors, you might have a bit of a problem on your hands. For, over the past year, the gains have tapered off.
The decision
The extent of the problem depends partly on your investing horizon. If you had taken a long view and plan to hold it for a decade or so, there is nothing to worry about. While there may be a few ups and downs, returns from real estate have been next only to stocks in the long term.
If, however, you were looking to sell off your property within a year or two and earn some capital gains, that plan may need some tweaking. As mortgages and prices continued their upward journey, since around the middle of last year, end-use buyers started staying away in larger numbers. Merrill Lynch, for instance, estimates that sales volumes in the NCR are down 50-70 per cent from last year.
Whither prices? Prices, too, have softened in areas of high speculative interest as property got priced out of the market. Smart investors like Delhi NCR lawyer Dheeraj Seth, 31, sold his Gurgaon house when real estate was still hot and parked the proceeds in another property that is under development.
In January 2008, the stockmarket tanked, pulling down sentiments, and real estate in its wake. Experts say prices will climb 20-30 per cent off their peaks. Those who have held on to their investments, have clearly missed the top this time around.
Over the hill? "Short-term investors in markets where the values have peaked could explore exiting," says Sanjay Dutt, joint managing director, Cushman & Wakefield, a real estate consultancy firm.
Has the price of your property passed the summit? The following three checks will tell you. First, if prices in the area have gained 100-200 per cent in the past year, says Dutt, they are unlikely to rise substantially soon. Second, if the area has lots of speculators, then supply will continue coming into the market and keep price rise in check. Third, if a property with better location or amenities are coming up nearby, that will keep yours off the coveted list. If any of these is true, sell.
Once you take the sell decision, you have to find the best deal.
The process
The channels. Once you decide to sell, cast the net wide to reach as many prospective buyers as possible. For that, tap both conventional as well as online channels. Contact real estate agents and tell them your asking price and by when you would like to sell. If a project is not sold out, you can also approach the developer's office.
Insertions in newspaper property classifieds also help and can cost up to Rs 1,500. "If it's a ready project where people are living, promote the property within the building complex," says Dutt. There would be people who could pass the word to other interested parties. The same holds true for friends and relatives.
The six-fold path
Evaluate the property sale decision against goals. Factor in loss of tax breaks claimed on mortgage repayments if you sell within five years of buying.
Spread the word. Use both conventional as well as online channels to inform as many prospective buyers as possible.
Get a fix on asking price by benchmarking against the latest sale prices of similar property in the project or the area.
Time your sale. Avoid lean periods and low-interest seasons such as summer or the monsoons.
Be clear about payment terms. Fuzziness here could hit the buyer's plans and jeopardise the sale.
Sign an agreement for sale if you do not have the funds to pay off your loan. Help the buyer with the necessary paperwork.
Most property portals such as 99acres.com, indiaproperties.com and maakan.com allow a basic free listing. For example, Makaan.com allows 50 basic listings free, beyond which you will have to pay Rs 200 per listing. If you opt for the fast response listing then you will have to pay Rs 900 per listing.
If you contact a buyer directly, you can save on agent commission, which is usually about 1 per cent of the sale price.
The price. Be realistic and quote a fair price, or actual buyers might pass you over. "Fair value of the property would be the last sale done by the developer in that particular building complex," says Dutt. On that benchmark, put a discount (if rates have softened in the area) or premium (if rates have risen). If there has been no sale in the project in six months, identify projects within 5 km of yours and take the last sale price there as a benchmark.
The timing. Don't sell during lean times. There is no point trying to sell during vacations or during the monsoons, when sales are traditionally low.
The payment. Try and keep the payment norms clear and be upfront about it. This will give the buyer the much-needed confidence in dealing with you.
The mortgage. If you are trying to sell a house that still has an outstanding loan, a fair bit of paperwork will be necessary. The simplest way is to pay off the loan and then sell the house. But that may not be possible always. In that case, you have to sign an agreement for sale with the buyer laying out the payment terms. This document will be registered and stamp duty paid.
Next, you have to get an NOC from the society/builder (in case of an unregistered society). If the buyer wants to take a mortgage for the house, he has to submit fresh documents to the lender. Once that loan is approved, your outstanding, along with prepayment penalty if any, is set off and you are paid the rest. The property papers, if the new buyer has taken a loan, will have to be given to his lender.
The profits
If you make a capital gain on the sale (a tax consultant can tell you how to calculate that), you are liable to pay tax on it unless you deploy it in specific ways. If you use the money to 'construct' a house within three years from the date of sale, the tax is waived.
You also get a break if you use the money to pay for a ready house bought within a year before the sale or two years after. You can also avoid capital gains tax if you invest the gains in specified bonds under Section 54 EC which typically pay 5.5 per cent per annum and have a lock-in of three years.
If you want to invest in other asset classes, such as equities, mutual funds, gold or debt paper, then you will have to first pay 20 per cent tax on the capital gains (after indexation).
And, finally, keep tax implications in mind. If the holding period of a mortgaged property is less than five years, you may lose all the tax benefits you have claimed on loan repayments.
Despite these deterrents, if you are still getting a good deal, sell. But keep in mind all the variables before you sign on the dotted line.
Builders turn politicians
Posted on 07:54 by Unknown
In the past politicians used to become builders like Bhujbal, Manohar Joshi and Uddav thackery in Mumbai. Now its the reverse. It goes to confirm the fact that the construction industry and the political industry are hand in glove and feeding off each other. Either way the common man is at wits end in the struggle to make ends meet in an era of high inflation.
R ealtors in Karnataka are diversifying into politics with political parties increasingly looking for candidates who have the resources to fund their own campaigns—and thanks to real estate prices that have tripled in some parts of the state, money is one thing people in this business have enough of.
The hope that money power will attract enough votes in the elections is strongest in Bangalore, where at least 12 candidates across the city’s 28 constituencies are real estate developers. The trend cuts across party lines and for several developers, this is their first brush with politics.
“The disturbing factor is the role of money (in elections),” said Samuel Paul, a former director of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, who now heads the Bangalore-based non-governmental organization (NGO), Public Affairs Committee. “Its not just real estate, but mining too.” Businessmen could have a much greater self-interest and they could shift policies to suit them, Paul added.
Mine owners from Bellary, the iron ore-rich district of Karnataka, are a powerful lob by with their influence extending across party lines. Three mine owners were elected to the state assembly in 2004, including Anil Lad of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who is now contesting from Bellary City constituency on a Congress ticket; Santosh Lad of the Janata Dal (Secular), or JD(S); and H.R. Gaviappa, an independent in 2004 who is now the Congress’ nominee from Vijayanagar.
One of the candidates dismissed Paul’s claim and said it wasn’t money that mattered, but love. “Money alone won’t win elections,” said Kupendra Reddy, the owner of Primal Projects Pvt. Ltd and Congress candidate from Bommanahalli constituency. Reddy is among the wealthiest candidates with declared assets of around Rs180 crore.
“Only if you have earned the love of people and have the backing of a party can you succeed,” he added.
“It (the trend of realtors turning to politics) is quite similar to what’s happening elsewhere in the country. Unlike in the past, however, when they funded parties, they want to get into (positions of) power themselves,” said S. Trilochan Sastry, a faculty member at IIM, Bangalore, who heads an NGO, Association for Democratic Reforms.
Meanwhile, the realtors have learnt to speak like politicians.
“My vision is clear. I am for development and I do not want to be known as just another politician,” said N.S. Nandish Reddy, a 37-year-old builder who is the BJP candidate in the K.R. Pura constituency.
Reddy said he won’t be a corrupt politician, because his “family has been fortunate enough to be well-provided for”. One of Reddy’s rivals’ L.
Muniswamy of JD(S), is also a land developer. “I’ve been staying in this constituency all my life and I have been doing social work,” said Muniswamy, 65, who quit the Congress recently because he claimed the party had neglected him.
Other developers in the fray include BJP candidates D.U.
Mallikarjuna from Shantinagar, G. Prasad Reddy from BTM Layout and Satish Reddy from Bommanahalli.
M. Krishnappa of the Congress is running from Vijayanagar while C. Manjunath and M.V. Prasad Babu of JD(S) are contesting from Bangalore South and Padmanabhanagar, respectively.
Bangalore will go to the polls on the first day of the threephase elections on 10 May. The other two phases of voting are on 16 and 22 May.
Some of the poll promises by the political parties may benefit real estate developers. In its election manifesto, the BJP has promised to do away with restrictions on conversion of agricultural land for commercial purposes if it is voted to power, saying the restrictions have led to corruption and caused hardship to the farmers.
“I agree that some of them (candidates) have interests in real estate, but that has no bearing on the reforms we are proposing,” said V.S. Acharya, chairman of BJP’s election manifesto committee.
The party’s reasoning is that while a landowner will not sell land that is yielding a good crop, he should also not be prevented from using a portion of it for non-agricultural activity, which will generate revenue and employment, especially in rural areas. ‘The owner is the best judge,” Acharya said.
This will lead to chaos, says R.S. Desphande, head of the Agricultural Development and Rural Transformation Centre at the Bangalore-based Institute of Social and Economic Change. “In any kind of trade, the trader has a higher information base than the farmer who will lose out,” he added.
R ealtors in Karnataka are diversifying into politics with political parties increasingly looking for candidates who have the resources to fund their own campaigns—and thanks to real estate prices that have tripled in some parts of the state, money is one thing people in this business have enough of.
The hope that money power will attract enough votes in the elections is strongest in Bangalore, where at least 12 candidates across the city’s 28 constituencies are real estate developers. The trend cuts across party lines and for several developers, this is their first brush with politics.
“The disturbing factor is the role of money (in elections),” said Samuel Paul, a former director of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, who now heads the Bangalore-based non-governmental organization (NGO), Public Affairs Committee. “Its not just real estate, but mining too.” Businessmen could have a much greater self-interest and they could shift policies to suit them, Paul added.
Mine owners from Bellary, the iron ore-rich district of Karnataka, are a powerful lob by with their influence extending across party lines. Three mine owners were elected to the state assembly in 2004, including Anil Lad of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who is now contesting from Bellary City constituency on a Congress ticket; Santosh Lad of the Janata Dal (Secular), or JD(S); and H.R. Gaviappa, an independent in 2004 who is now the Congress’ nominee from Vijayanagar.
One of the candidates dismissed Paul’s claim and said it wasn’t money that mattered, but love. “Money alone won’t win elections,” said Kupendra Reddy, the owner of Primal Projects Pvt. Ltd and Congress candidate from Bommanahalli constituency. Reddy is among the wealthiest candidates with declared assets of around Rs180 crore.
“Only if you have earned the love of people and have the backing of a party can you succeed,” he added.
“It (the trend of realtors turning to politics) is quite similar to what’s happening elsewhere in the country. Unlike in the past, however, when they funded parties, they want to get into (positions of) power themselves,” said S. Trilochan Sastry, a faculty member at IIM, Bangalore, who heads an NGO, Association for Democratic Reforms.
Meanwhile, the realtors have learnt to speak like politicians.
“My vision is clear. I am for development and I do not want to be known as just another politician,” said N.S. Nandish Reddy, a 37-year-old builder who is the BJP candidate in the K.R. Pura constituency.
Reddy said he won’t be a corrupt politician, because his “family has been fortunate enough to be well-provided for”. One of Reddy’s rivals’ L.
Muniswamy of JD(S), is also a land developer. “I’ve been staying in this constituency all my life and I have been doing social work,” said Muniswamy, 65, who quit the Congress recently because he claimed the party had neglected him.
Other developers in the fray include BJP candidates D.U.
Mallikarjuna from Shantinagar, G. Prasad Reddy from BTM Layout and Satish Reddy from Bommanahalli.
M. Krishnappa of the Congress is running from Vijayanagar while C. Manjunath and M.V. Prasad Babu of JD(S) are contesting from Bangalore South and Padmanabhanagar, respectively.
Bangalore will go to the polls on the first day of the threephase elections on 10 May. The other two phases of voting are on 16 and 22 May.
Some of the poll promises by the political parties may benefit real estate developers. In its election manifesto, the BJP has promised to do away with restrictions on conversion of agricultural land for commercial purposes if it is voted to power, saying the restrictions have led to corruption and caused hardship to the farmers.
“I agree that some of them (candidates) have interests in real estate, but that has no bearing on the reforms we are proposing,” said V.S. Acharya, chairman of BJP’s election manifesto committee.
The party’s reasoning is that while a landowner will not sell land that is yielding a good crop, he should also not be prevented from using a portion of it for non-agricultural activity, which will generate revenue and employment, especially in rural areas. ‘The owner is the best judge,” Acharya said.
This will lead to chaos, says R.S. Desphande, head of the Agricultural Development and Rural Transformation Centre at the Bangalore-based Institute of Social and Economic Change. “In any kind of trade, the trader has a higher information base than the farmer who will lose out,” he added.
Saturday, 10 May 2008
Pune growing on all sides
Posted on 15:08 by Unknown
As per Times of India, all periphery areas are growing by leaps and bounds. The builder lobby is heavily advertising their wares in their weekend supplement. Hiring fesh graduates to cook up fancy stories is a good way to monetize their paper while charging exhorbiant rates.
The coming of the Information Technology culture has been high-octane fuel to the speed of property development in Pune. More and more land was required to accommodate the various national and international IT companies that finally led to the formation of such landmarks as the Hinjewadi IT and Software Park. Once this process was begun, there was no stopping it. Tempted by the sudden prosperity and opening up of the job market, job seekers from other cities made Pune their final destination of ambition's pilgrimage - the new Entrepreneurial Promised Land. The development is spreading to many different areas in Pune, giving rise to potential real estate hotspots.
Since the demand for commercial and residential space was growing hand in hand, many outlying villages along the major expressways and highways were officially added to Pune's geographical territory. Areas like Baner, Pimple Saudagar, Wakad, Kharadi, Warje and others emerged as undisguised gold mines on the realty scene. The above-mentioned areas, along with more centralised locations such as Solapur-Nagar Road Bypass, have witnessed an upsurge in property development.
Mohammed Aslam from Jones Lang Lasalle Meghraj says, "On the property market, the phenomenon of expansion and development is known to be a self-perpetuating one - prosperity is never confined to a single locality. It positively affects its immediate surroundings. A special case in point would be Koregaon Park. Th e presence of the Osho Commune has given rise to a level of exclusivity that is still hard to match in the rest of the city. The number of Category A residential developments is now spilling over into its surrounding areas, as well. This has been eminently true in Pune's overall property boom, as well. Using the central part of residential and commercial Pune as a reference point, development is distinctly visible on all four sides of the compass."
He adds, "Beginning at Aundh, we have the more suburban areas of Baner, Thergaon, Pimple Nilakh/Pimple Saudagar, Wakad and Aundh displaying accelerated rates of development to one side. From the perspective of Kalyani Nagar and Koregaon Park, the areas of Vadgaon Sheri, Mundhwa and Kharadi are receiving increasing favor from property buyers. Laterally, Wanowrie and Kondhwa have spawned minor property booms at Hadapsar and Undri. Diametrically opposite, the development of Bibwewadi and Dhankawadi has led to greater attention being focused on Katraj and properties along Lullanagar Road and Kondhwa-Katraj Road."
Yogendra Chordiya of Prithvi Estates, a local property dealer says, "Areas like Kondhwa, Pashan, Hadapsar, Talegaon, Chakan Mundhwa, Wagholi have developed a lot. Talegaon is good for second homes or weekend homes. But other areas have been for permanent buyers. Malls have come up in Kondhwa. The residential rates have increased from 2000 to 4500 sqft in Kondhwa. Pashan is developing, as it is close to Hinjewadi IT Park. In Hadapsar, Amanora Township is coming. Chakan is also getting revamped due to the upcoming airport. Areas like Mundhwa, which is near Koregaon IT Park has also developed."
Milind Sant, an estate agent from Pune says, "Pashan is a good area, which is near Hinjewadi IT park. Talegaon is viewed as a second home or weekend home destination. But I think in the next five years, it can be a hot destination for permanent buyers, as the industry is developing there. As for Chakan, it is a potential option for investing, as the new airport is coming in Chakan.
“I think the Pune market is now stable, but it will increase further. So investing in Pune today will give good returns in the years to come," he adds.
The coming of the Information Technology culture has been high-octane fuel to the speed of property development in Pune. More and more land was required to accommodate the various national and international IT companies that finally led to the formation of such landmarks as the Hinjewadi IT and Software Park. Once this process was begun, there was no stopping it. Tempted by the sudden prosperity and opening up of the job market, job seekers from other cities made Pune their final destination of ambition's pilgrimage - the new Entrepreneurial Promised Land. The development is spreading to many different areas in Pune, giving rise to potential real estate hotspots.
Since the demand for commercial and residential space was growing hand in hand, many outlying villages along the major expressways and highways were officially added to Pune's geographical territory. Areas like Baner, Pimple Saudagar, Wakad, Kharadi, Warje and others emerged as undisguised gold mines on the realty scene. The above-mentioned areas, along with more centralised locations such as Solapur-Nagar Road Bypass, have witnessed an upsurge in property development.
Mohammed Aslam from Jones Lang Lasalle Meghraj says, "On the property market, the phenomenon of expansion and development is known to be a self-perpetuating one - prosperity is never confined to a single locality. It positively affects its immediate surroundings. A special case in point would be Koregaon Park. Th e presence of the Osho Commune has given rise to a level of exclusivity that is still hard to match in the rest of the city. The number of Category A residential developments is now spilling over into its surrounding areas, as well. This has been eminently true in Pune's overall property boom, as well. Using the central part of residential and commercial Pune as a reference point, development is distinctly visible on all four sides of the compass."
He adds, "Beginning at Aundh, we have the more suburban areas of Baner, Thergaon, Pimple Nilakh/Pimple Saudagar, Wakad and Aundh displaying accelerated rates of development to one side. From the perspective of Kalyani Nagar and Koregaon Park, the areas of Vadgaon Sheri, Mundhwa and Kharadi are receiving increasing favor from property buyers. Laterally, Wanowrie and Kondhwa have spawned minor property booms at Hadapsar and Undri. Diametrically opposite, the development of Bibwewadi and Dhankawadi has led to greater attention being focused on Katraj and properties along Lullanagar Road and Kondhwa-Katraj Road."
Yogendra Chordiya of Prithvi Estates, a local property dealer says, "Areas like Kondhwa, Pashan, Hadapsar, Talegaon, Chakan Mundhwa, Wagholi have developed a lot. Talegaon is good for second homes or weekend homes. But other areas have been for permanent buyers. Malls have come up in Kondhwa. The residential rates have increased from 2000 to 4500 sqft in Kondhwa. Pashan is developing, as it is close to Hinjewadi IT Park. In Hadapsar, Amanora Township is coming. Chakan is also getting revamped due to the upcoming airport. Areas like Mundhwa, which is near Koregaon IT Park has also developed."
Milind Sant, an estate agent from Pune says, "Pashan is a good area, which is near Hinjewadi IT park. Talegaon is viewed as a second home or weekend home destination. But I think in the next five years, it can be a hot destination for permanent buyers, as the industry is developing there. As for Chakan, it is a potential option for investing, as the new airport is coming in Chakan.
“I think the Pune market is now stable, but it will increase further. So investing in Pune today will give good returns in the years to come," he adds.
BMC plans ot hike property taxes
Posted on 14:48 by Unknown
Finally property dealers are acknowledging that property prices are beyond reach in Mumbai along with the fact that there are too many apartments for sale with no buyers at these prices.
The BMC’s proposal on property tax would be detrimental to the market, says Sandeep Sadh
After the inflation jumping to 7.57%, Mumbai, the financial hub and the dream city for many is in for a rude shock. The BMC plans to get stringent about collecting property tax upto 83.5% on residential properties and 112.5% on commercial properties which, after rebate of 40 to 60%, becomes nearly 30% of your rental income. As per the recent news this is payable every six months by the property owner.
The BMC has taken the twodecade-old formula of accounting for taxation this time around and the simple logic given so far is that they are going by the book, even if the book is 20 years old.
While implementing these policies the BMC must look at the general interest of the public and consult professionals in this regard.
This will add to the burden of higher taxation, inflation, crumbling infrastructure, spiralling property prices and high interest rates. There will be a lesser yield on investment and property transactions done purely from an investment perspective.
Mumbai being the financial capital of India, and the fastest growing city in Asia has an inflow of both local Indians and expatriates who typically come to work in Mumbai for a short span of two to three years.
They are looking for rented accommodation and sign up a leave and license agreement for any period between one to three years generally.
With BMC now planning to impose nearly a three-month rent as tax to the owners per year, the rents will go up by nearly 30%, which is totally absurd.
This is an excerpt of a recent article, which says, "Rentals at many places in the city have gone up by 100% to 200%, and yet we don't get our share of that profit."
Why should the BMC be given a share of profit? Firstly, it is the investors or property owners' hard-earned money and they have the right to make profit and they are paying income tax.
These are policies which are already two decades old and based on the old rent system.
Why cannot an intelligent system be brought in, which should be based on keeping taxes both the licensor and the licensee are already paying?
The BMC policies are already known to be notorious for taxing year on year even if the property is not rented. There is no rationalisation on the taxation.
I was speaking to a Consulate General and they have called off a transaction for a residential property as the owners wanted to place the onus of taxation on the Consulate.
The Consulate General said that this kind of irrational taxation will be bad for Mumbai's reputation as companies who will want to relocate their expatriates will find it difficult to pay such higher taxation.
He added, "Nowhere in the world is taking an apartment on lease such a task and with such higher prices and taxation it is a problem."
They are already thinking of shrinking the size of expatriates.
The city is anyway ill-maintained. With crumbling infrastructure and visionless policies the BMC is placing itself into a one-sided high- handed body to only collect money and have proportionately less accountability and contribution to the city's welfare.
Mumbai is already one of the most expensive cities in the world to live in and to place on record the seventh most filthy city as well, it is thanks to the BMC. How do you expect people to pay such high rentals to survive after taxing them and what do they get in return?
What happens to the tax if lease agreements are terminated mid-term? With higher taxes more and more people will opt out of Mumbai and find out ways and means to circumvent taxes and therefore increase corruption.
The BMC and the government should find out ways and means and take more and more property owners and individuals and companies renting out properties in confidence before announcing such policies.
The BMC is looking for revenue but what it does not realise is that it cannot be done at the cost of individuals who spend their hard-earned money to invest in properties only to lease out for income and they are already paying all sorts of taxes to do so.
The annual return on investment on residential properties has already gone to 4% owning to higher property prices in the city.
Not each location gets a great rental value and with extra tax liability the government is only looking at closing the doors for the investors who are looking to invest in real estate.
If there are no returns in the property market why should investors look at buying it? This will impact the sale of properties and all mutual funds, REITs and other real estate related transactions will also be impacted. This in turn will also impact the property market dramatically.
In the past three years, the rental values in Mumbai have gone drastically higher ranging from 30% to 200%.
Many people started buying their own apartments as the rental values would be nearly 50% of their EMI.
Inventories in Mumbai are already building up, there are more and more apartments vacant and a lot of property owners are willing to give 10% to 25% discount on quoted prices due to a little slow down.
The scare of huge taxation will also impact this further as none of the licensors / licensee will want to be a part of any further hike or taxation.
Earlier, the tussle used to be between the licensor and the licensee to get a deal done; now both will have to unite and find ways to fight out with the BMC.
Highlighted below are the taxes which both the licensor and the licensee pay in any case for renting out properties, besides other expenses like maintaining the properties, painting, polishing, annual maintenance contracts, furnishings, paying VAT etc on all household goods, service taxes on labour and so on.
Fringe Benefit Tax payable by the employee in case of a company lease - 20%
Service Tax - Presently only on commercial property - 12.36%
Property tax on leasing/licensing (more in commercial property)
Stamp Duty and registration fees
Income Tax
Society outgoings/non - occupancy charges paid by the owners
Municipal taxes on property in general.
This typically means, that the BMC wants to penalise the investors who invest in real estate.
The BMC’s proposal on property tax would be detrimental to the market, says Sandeep Sadh
After the inflation jumping to 7.57%, Mumbai, the financial hub and the dream city for many is in for a rude shock. The BMC plans to get stringent about collecting property tax upto 83.5% on residential properties and 112.5% on commercial properties which, after rebate of 40 to 60%, becomes nearly 30% of your rental income. As per the recent news this is payable every six months by the property owner.
The BMC has taken the twodecade-old formula of accounting for taxation this time around and the simple logic given so far is that they are going by the book, even if the book is 20 years old.
While implementing these policies the BMC must look at the general interest of the public and consult professionals in this regard.
This will add to the burden of higher taxation, inflation, crumbling infrastructure, spiralling property prices and high interest rates. There will be a lesser yield on investment and property transactions done purely from an investment perspective.
Mumbai being the financial capital of India, and the fastest growing city in Asia has an inflow of both local Indians and expatriates who typically come to work in Mumbai for a short span of two to three years.
They are looking for rented accommodation and sign up a leave and license agreement for any period between one to three years generally.
With BMC now planning to impose nearly a three-month rent as tax to the owners per year, the rents will go up by nearly 30%, which is totally absurd.
This is an excerpt of a recent article, which says, "Rentals at many places in the city have gone up by 100% to 200%, and yet we don't get our share of that profit."
Why should the BMC be given a share of profit? Firstly, it is the investors or property owners' hard-earned money and they have the right to make profit and they are paying income tax.
These are policies which are already two decades old and based on the old rent system.
Why cannot an intelligent system be brought in, which should be based on keeping taxes both the licensor and the licensee are already paying?
The BMC policies are already known to be notorious for taxing year on year even if the property is not rented. There is no rationalisation on the taxation.
I was speaking to a Consulate General and they have called off a transaction for a residential property as the owners wanted to place the onus of taxation on the Consulate.
The Consulate General said that this kind of irrational taxation will be bad for Mumbai's reputation as companies who will want to relocate their expatriates will find it difficult to pay such higher taxation.
He added, "Nowhere in the world is taking an apartment on lease such a task and with such higher prices and taxation it is a problem."
They are already thinking of shrinking the size of expatriates.
The city is anyway ill-maintained. With crumbling infrastructure and visionless policies the BMC is placing itself into a one-sided high- handed body to only collect money and have proportionately less accountability and contribution to the city's welfare.
Mumbai is already one of the most expensive cities in the world to live in and to place on record the seventh most filthy city as well, it is thanks to the BMC. How do you expect people to pay such high rentals to survive after taxing them and what do they get in return?
What happens to the tax if lease agreements are terminated mid-term? With higher taxes more and more people will opt out of Mumbai and find out ways and means to circumvent taxes and therefore increase corruption.
The BMC and the government should find out ways and means and take more and more property owners and individuals and companies renting out properties in confidence before announcing such policies.
The BMC is looking for revenue but what it does not realise is that it cannot be done at the cost of individuals who spend their hard-earned money to invest in properties only to lease out for income and they are already paying all sorts of taxes to do so.
The annual return on investment on residential properties has already gone to 4% owning to higher property prices in the city.
Not each location gets a great rental value and with extra tax liability the government is only looking at closing the doors for the investors who are looking to invest in real estate.
If there are no returns in the property market why should investors look at buying it? This will impact the sale of properties and all mutual funds, REITs and other real estate related transactions will also be impacted. This in turn will also impact the property market dramatically.
In the past three years, the rental values in Mumbai have gone drastically higher ranging from 30% to 200%.
Many people started buying their own apartments as the rental values would be nearly 50% of their EMI.
Inventories in Mumbai are already building up, there are more and more apartments vacant and a lot of property owners are willing to give 10% to 25% discount on quoted prices due to a little slow down.
The scare of huge taxation will also impact this further as none of the licensors / licensee will want to be a part of any further hike or taxation.
Earlier, the tussle used to be between the licensor and the licensee to get a deal done; now both will have to unite and find ways to fight out with the BMC.
Highlighted below are the taxes which both the licensor and the licensee pay in any case for renting out properties, besides other expenses like maintaining the properties, painting, polishing, annual maintenance contracts, furnishings, paying VAT etc on all household goods, service taxes on labour and so on.
Fringe Benefit Tax payable by the employee in case of a company lease - 20%
Service Tax - Presently only on commercial property - 12.36%
Property tax on leasing/licensing (more in commercial property)
Stamp Duty and registration fees
Income Tax
Society outgoings/non - occupancy charges paid by the owners
Municipal taxes on property in general.
This typically means, that the BMC wants to penalise the investors who invest in real estate.
Thursday, 8 May 2008
The richest Karntaka political candidate
Posted on 09:06 by Unknown
Prasad Reddy, BJP, BTM Layout constituency:
Total value: Rs 313 crore
He has cash of Rs 12,38,000 in his name. He has declared Rs 27,52,165 as his bank balance which he jointly holds with his wife. Apart from this he has deposits of Rs 36,21,730 spread over 12 different accounts.
Prasad Reddy also says in his affidavit that he has 14 cars worth Rs 1.03 crore and has jewels estimated at Rs 9 17,250. He has silver articles worth Rs 12,31,000 while his wife owns 3.1 kg of gold jewellery estimated to be worth Rs 37,91,300.
He has non-agriculture land worth Rs 143.62 crore while he has a share in two commercial buildings which are estimated at Rs 142.02 crore. This includes a house which is under construction at a site in Bommanahalli which is spread over 452,094 sq ft. He also owns apartments at Koramangala worth Rs 14.77 crore while his wife has property worth Rs 54.10 crore. He also owns a farm house jointly with his wife which is estimated at Rs 60 lakh.
The candidate says he has loans in his wife's name worth Rs 18 crore in various bank
Total value: Rs 313 crore
He has cash of Rs 12,38,000 in his name. He has declared Rs 27,52,165 as his bank balance which he jointly holds with his wife. Apart from this he has deposits of Rs 36,21,730 spread over 12 different accounts.
Prasad Reddy also says in his affidavit that he has 14 cars worth Rs 1.03 crore and has jewels estimated at Rs 9 17,250. He has silver articles worth Rs 12,31,000 while his wife owns 3.1 kg of gold jewellery estimated to be worth Rs 37,91,300.
He has non-agriculture land worth Rs 143.62 crore while he has a share in two commercial buildings which are estimated at Rs 142.02 crore. This includes a house which is under construction at a site in Bommanahalli which is spread over 452,094 sq ft. He also owns apartments at Koramangala worth Rs 14.77 crore while his wife has property worth Rs 54.10 crore. He also owns a farm house jointly with his wife which is estimated at Rs 60 lakh.
The candidate says he has loans in his wife's name worth Rs 18 crore in various bank
Wednesday, 7 May 2008
It's Raining Freebies As Builders Try To Beat Recession
Posted on 16:10 by Unknown
* Buy a premium apartment from Kumar Builders and go on an all paid week-long trip for a family of four to Switzerland .
* Despite the hike announced by the city builders DSK has offered 55 of its apartments in the current schemes at old rates.
* Mont Vert has offer for incentive customers who bring in another buyer.
* Many builders are offering free white goods - air-conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, modular kitchens.
Pune's developers and builders may not be willing to admit that the real estate market is in a slowdown mode. But check out some of their recent initiatives to woo customers and it becomes clear that the city builders are selling at discounted rates. Thus even as there is no dent in the price line which they continue to hold on diligently, potential clients are surely being wooed with a whole lot of freebies that have flooded the market of late.
These can be as extravagant as a trip for four to Switzerland and as unassuming as lining up the housing loans. There is an array of freebies that can be pegged somewhere in between these two instances, ranging from free white goods and stamp duty waiver to even offers to pay the first couple of EMIs on behalf of the buyer.
Naresh Malkani, CEO indiaproperties.com describes the scenario of the last few months as a "no-deals time". Cushman and Wakefield in their latest report on Pune residential scene have also noted that sale transactions are expected to see a further slowdown which "may force certain developers to offer better deals or free amenities to incentivise purchaser and ensure cash flow for their projects." The point seems to have been well taken by the builders.
"We are offering a trip to Switzerland for seven days and six nights for two adults and two children for those buying a flat in our premium projects where the cost is over Rs one crore. In projects that are lesser in price we have the same offer with Malaysia being the destination instead," says Prabha Shankar, vice president, Sales, Kumar Properties.
Click on "Full Story" for more...
Mont Vert Homes that had offered a discount of Rs 50-100 on Gudi Padwa day are now extending this scheme. " Whenever the price is needed to be hiked because of increase in prices of input materials, we offer small incentives so that the customers do not feel disheartened," says Manish Kaneria, director of Mont Vert Homes.
"We also have a scheme called `Mont Vert Customer Appreciation' in which if one of our customers gets along another potential buyer then he is offered incentives," he adds.
DSK has been advertising that it's thrown open 55 of their apartments at rates prevalent before the Promoters and Builders of Pune (PBAP) announced a price hike. Says Sudesh Kosumbkar, manager at DSK, "Rates in our projects are slated to go up significantly after the hike. We decided to keep 55 flats open at old rates for the benefit of customers."
According to S Motwani, a city real estate broker, goodies and early bird discounts are fast becoming the rule rather than the exception: "The objective is to of course pump up sales and motivate the customer to buy."
* Despite the hike announced by the city builders DSK has offered 55 of its apartments in the current schemes at old rates.
* Mont Vert has offer for incentive customers who bring in another buyer.
* Many builders are offering free white goods - air-conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, modular kitchens.
Pune's developers and builders may not be willing to admit that the real estate market is in a slowdown mode. But check out some of their recent initiatives to woo customers and it becomes clear that the city builders are selling at discounted rates. Thus even as there is no dent in the price line which they continue to hold on diligently, potential clients are surely being wooed with a whole lot of freebies that have flooded the market of late.
These can be as extravagant as a trip for four to Switzerland and as unassuming as lining up the housing loans. There is an array of freebies that can be pegged somewhere in between these two instances, ranging from free white goods and stamp duty waiver to even offers to pay the first couple of EMIs on behalf of the buyer.
Naresh Malkani, CEO indiaproperties.com describes the scenario of the last few months as a "no-deals time". Cushman and Wakefield in their latest report on Pune residential scene have also noted that sale transactions are expected to see a further slowdown which "may force certain developers to offer better deals or free amenities to incentivise purchaser and ensure cash flow for their projects." The point seems to have been well taken by the builders.
"We are offering a trip to Switzerland for seven days and six nights for two adults and two children for those buying a flat in our premium projects where the cost is over Rs one crore. In projects that are lesser in price we have the same offer with Malaysia being the destination instead," says Prabha Shankar, vice president, Sales, Kumar Properties.
Click on "Full Story" for more...
Mont Vert Homes that had offered a discount of Rs 50-100 on Gudi Padwa day are now extending this scheme. " Whenever the price is needed to be hiked because of increase in prices of input materials, we offer small incentives so that the customers do not feel disheartened," says Manish Kaneria, director of Mont Vert Homes.
"We also have a scheme called `Mont Vert Customer Appreciation' in which if one of our customers gets along another potential buyer then he is offered incentives," he adds.
DSK has been advertising that it's thrown open 55 of their apartments at rates prevalent before the Promoters and Builders of Pune (PBAP) announced a price hike. Says Sudesh Kosumbkar, manager at DSK, "Rates in our projects are slated to go up significantly after the hike. We decided to keep 55 flats open at old rates for the benefit of customers."
According to S Motwani, a city real estate broker, goodies and early bird discounts are fast becoming the rule rather than the exception: "The objective is to of course pump up sales and motivate the customer to buy."
Pune shining on PBS
Posted on 15:55 by Unknown
When Jason Maloney, freelance producer of news and documentary, started his research on the city that most aptly reflects the changing face of the country for a documentary for US-based Public Broadcast Service (PBS), he zeroed in on Pune. "We were looking for a city that was on the growth highway, but not spurred only by the IT. Also the city needed to be not as well known as Delhi, Mumbai or Bangalore since those have been done too many times for American audiences," said Maloney who arrived in Pune on Sunday night with Kira Kay, his wife and also a freelance producer and Paul Beban, Correspondent HDNet/ World Report.
According to him, Surat was in the running but it had only the diamond trade to speak of while Ahmedabad was interesting but lacked in some vital aspects. Pune, with its rich educational and cultural background and a recent survey that put the city on the 6th position in terms of per capita GDP growth fitted the bill perfectly.
The team of three will be filming Pune in its various new avatars before they fly back to New York on Saturday to put together two 30-minute documentaries on the city. With the focus being mainly on the growth of the middle and the upper class in India, the trio, that did extensive research before they arrived in the city, have already scoured Hinjewadi, traveled to a remote village near Pune tracing the roots of a budding IT professional in the city, met up with a stock broker and chatted up the members of the nascent Professionals Party of India.
On the agenda is also a visit to Magarpatta City, Bharat Forge and meeting up with more of Pune's burgeoning and aspirational middle class. "The attempt is to show a day in the life of Pune. As we talk of the city's growth we want to do it through the stories of the people who are crafting this change and then back it up with statistics and so on," said Kay.
She added that the huge billboards selling apartments that greeted them as they got off the Expressway followed by the sight of the mammoth construction going on in the city further reiterated their opinion that Pune is certainly a new city in the making. "It seems busy and bustling. Back in the US it's comparable to Atlanta both in terms of size and dynamics," added Beban.
Before the Pune visit the team had been to Tamil Nadu where they met up with Gurcharan Das in Coonoor and had a two-hour discussion with him on Indian economy.
"He prepared us on what to expect. Because of that we haven't had too many surprises, certainly no unpleasant ones," added Maloney. Coincidentally, all three of them are receiving the National Headlines award this Saturday in the US for different reports that they covered recently in Philippines and Uganda.
The first documentary is expected to be aired around mid-June on `Now on PBS' while the second one will be broadcast on HDNet World Report in July.
According to him, Surat was in the running but it had only the diamond trade to speak of while Ahmedabad was interesting but lacked in some vital aspects. Pune, with its rich educational and cultural background and a recent survey that put the city on the 6th position in terms of per capita GDP growth fitted the bill perfectly.
The team of three will be filming Pune in its various new avatars before they fly back to New York on Saturday to put together two 30-minute documentaries on the city. With the focus being mainly on the growth of the middle and the upper class in India, the trio, that did extensive research before they arrived in the city, have already scoured Hinjewadi, traveled to a remote village near Pune tracing the roots of a budding IT professional in the city, met up with a stock broker and chatted up the members of the nascent Professionals Party of India.
On the agenda is also a visit to Magarpatta City, Bharat Forge and meeting up with more of Pune's burgeoning and aspirational middle class. "The attempt is to show a day in the life of Pune. As we talk of the city's growth we want to do it through the stories of the people who are crafting this change and then back it up with statistics and so on," said Kay.
She added that the huge billboards selling apartments that greeted them as they got off the Expressway followed by the sight of the mammoth construction going on in the city further reiterated their opinion that Pune is certainly a new city in the making. "It seems busy and bustling. Back in the US it's comparable to Atlanta both in terms of size and dynamics," added Beban.
Before the Pune visit the team had been to Tamil Nadu where they met up with Gurcharan Das in Coonoor and had a two-hour discussion with him on Indian economy.
"He prepared us on what to expect. Because of that we haven't had too many surprises, certainly no unpleasant ones," added Maloney. Coincidentally, all three of them are receiving the National Headlines award this Saturday in the US for different reports that they covered recently in Philippines and Uganda.
The first documentary is expected to be aired around mid-June on `Now on PBS' while the second one will be broadcast on HDNet World Report in July.
Tuesday, 6 May 2008
Mysore losing its serenity to the IT culture
Posted on 15:22 by Unknown
SC stays construction on forest land
Posted on 08:49 by Unknown
New Delhi/Mumbai: Over one lakh flats in Mumbai which were declared illegal by the Bombay high court on the ground that they were on “forest land’’ will not face any coercive action until Augustend, the Maharashtra government promised in the Supreme Court on Monday.
But the good news ends there. Discarding the plea of a number of builders developing plots on such “forest land’’ to continue with ongoing construction activity at their own risk, the SC ordered that not a single brick be added to the unfinished structures.
“There shall not be any more construction at these sites,’’ ordered a bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice M K Sharma. This means that as of Monday, there will be a status quo, and builders will not be allowed to add anything to their underdeveloped real estate projects.
The order will adversely affect ongoing projects on 1,000 acres of land in Kandivli, Borivli, Mulund, Bhandup and Ghatkopar. There are about 150 large projects being constructed by builders, which market sources value at Rs 25,000 crore.
The affected developers include Godrej and Boyce Manufacturing Company Ltd, Nanabhai Jeejeebhoy Private Ltd, Atithi Builders, Nirmal Lifestyle Ltd, Nirmal Developers, Nirmal Holdings Ltd, Runwal Constructions, Bitcon India Infrastructure, Hill Residents Welfare Association and Scrader Duncan Ltd. STATE’S BAILOUT PLAN
As per existing norms, if there is a violation of the Indian Forest Act, the violator has to pay a huge sum—comprising the net present value, the cost of land and the cost of compensatory afforestation—which works out to between Rs 15 lakh and Rs 20 lakh per hectare. In a move to protect the interests of innocent flat buyers, the state forest department has proposed a new scheme whereby a flat owner on private forest land will have to pay a nominal price of 70 paise per sq ft. “We will submit our scheme to the apex court and it is up to the court to take a decision,’’ a forest official said on Monday. Cannot condone illegality on time grounds, says SC New Delhi/Mumbai: The history of the forest land case dates back to 1957, when the state forest department notified about 300 plots of land as forest land. The state government enacted the Maharashtra Private Forest (Acquisition) Act which came into force from August 30, 1975. Under this law, the state was to acquire all private forest land.
More than 25 years later, an NGO, the Bombay Environment Action Group, moved the HC accusing the state of sitting on the law and taking no action to acquire the 305 plots that the state forest department had notified.
In 2006, the BMC had issued a stop-work notice to the projects on these plots but the developers had gone ahead with the construction.
The builders contended in the SC that there were errors in the HC order. They said while the forest department had declared certain lands as private forest land, no notices were served on them before issuing the notification. Secondly, they said, permissions for non-forest activities and construction of residential buildings were granted decades ago when the lands were cleared for residential use as per the development plan approved in 1967 and 1981. They said at no point did the lands under dispute enjoy the character of forest land, therefore, it was never private forest land as was claimed by the forest department.
Senior advocate Fali S Nariman argued that the state government had done nothing for 33 years after the law was passed and suddenly, it now seemed that the owners of the land would lose everything. He said the plots were allowed to be developed under town planning laws.
Solicitor general G E Vahanvati, appearing for the state, said the Maharashtra government would not take any coercive measures until August-end and said the matter required adjudication before the Forest Bench of the apex court.
Senior advocates K K Venugopal and A M Singhvi argued that the builders who had invested hundreds of crores of rupees in these projects be allowed to carry on with the construction activity at their own risk.
The bench remained firm and said, “We will allow the status quo. We will not allow any further construction to go on. Going by the definition, it’s a case pertaining to classification of forest land. If an illegality had been done 30 years ago by diverting the forest land, the court cannot condone it because of the passage of time.’’
The court, while issuing notice to the Maharashtra government, fixed the matter for further hearing on August 22.
But the good news ends there. Discarding the plea of a number of builders developing plots on such “forest land’’ to continue with ongoing construction activity at their own risk, the SC ordered that not a single brick be added to the unfinished structures.
“There shall not be any more construction at these sites,’’ ordered a bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice M K Sharma. This means that as of Monday, there will be a status quo, and builders will not be allowed to add anything to their underdeveloped real estate projects.
The order will adversely affect ongoing projects on 1,000 acres of land in Kandivli, Borivli, Mulund, Bhandup and Ghatkopar. There are about 150 large projects being constructed by builders, which market sources value at Rs 25,000 crore.
The affected developers include Godrej and Boyce Manufacturing Company Ltd, Nanabhai Jeejeebhoy Private Ltd, Atithi Builders, Nirmal Lifestyle Ltd, Nirmal Developers, Nirmal Holdings Ltd, Runwal Constructions, Bitcon India Infrastructure, Hill Residents Welfare Association and Scrader Duncan Ltd. STATE’S BAILOUT PLAN
As per existing norms, if there is a violation of the Indian Forest Act, the violator has to pay a huge sum—comprising the net present value, the cost of land and the cost of compensatory afforestation—which works out to between Rs 15 lakh and Rs 20 lakh per hectare. In a move to protect the interests of innocent flat buyers, the state forest department has proposed a new scheme whereby a flat owner on private forest land will have to pay a nominal price of 70 paise per sq ft. “We will submit our scheme to the apex court and it is up to the court to take a decision,’’ a forest official said on Monday. Cannot condone illegality on time grounds, says SC New Delhi/Mumbai: The history of the forest land case dates back to 1957, when the state forest department notified about 300 plots of land as forest land. The state government enacted the Maharashtra Private Forest (Acquisition) Act which came into force from August 30, 1975. Under this law, the state was to acquire all private forest land.
More than 25 years later, an NGO, the Bombay Environment Action Group, moved the HC accusing the state of sitting on the law and taking no action to acquire the 305 plots that the state forest department had notified.
In 2006, the BMC had issued a stop-work notice to the projects on these plots but the developers had gone ahead with the construction.
The builders contended in the SC that there were errors in the HC order. They said while the forest department had declared certain lands as private forest land, no notices were served on them before issuing the notification. Secondly, they said, permissions for non-forest activities and construction of residential buildings were granted decades ago when the lands were cleared for residential use as per the development plan approved in 1967 and 1981. They said at no point did the lands under dispute enjoy the character of forest land, therefore, it was never private forest land as was claimed by the forest department.
Senior advocate Fali S Nariman argued that the state government had done nothing for 33 years after the law was passed and suddenly, it now seemed that the owners of the land would lose everything. He said the plots were allowed to be developed under town planning laws.
Solicitor general G E Vahanvati, appearing for the state, said the Maharashtra government would not take any coercive measures until August-end and said the matter required adjudication before the Forest Bench of the apex court.
Senior advocates K K Venugopal and A M Singhvi argued that the builders who had invested hundreds of crores of rupees in these projects be allowed to carry on with the construction activity at their own risk.
The bench remained firm and said, “We will allow the status quo. We will not allow any further construction to go on. Going by the definition, it’s a case pertaining to classification of forest land. If an illegality had been done 30 years ago by diverting the forest land, the court cannot condone it because of the passage of time.’’
The court, while issuing notice to the Maharashtra government, fixed the matter for further hearing on August 22.
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