Old Bangalore airport stays, rules High Court

Bye Bye Devanhalli. The speculators are screwed.

CHANGE IN FLIGHT PLAN: Karnataka High Court says old Bangalore airport must be retained.

Bangalore: The old Bangalore airport must be retained and the business agreement according to which had to be shut down must be renegotiated, the Karnataka High Court ruled on Wednesday.

The court asked the state and Central governments, the Airports Authority of India to renegotiate the deal with the Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL).

The governments had signed a deal with BIAL that the existing HAL airport in the city would be shut once the new private airport becomes operational. The new airport, which is 40 km away from the city, is scheduled to become operational on May 11.

City civic groups have said roads to the new airport have not been built and the government should retain the HAL terminal. At least four public interest petitions were filed in the High Court against the closing the HAL airport.

The new airport is supposed to handle 10.1 million users by 2010. but HAL airport is already handling 10.5 million passengers.

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Investing near ‘Dryanahalli’?

No Roads and now no water and no commercial approvals. Maybe electricity for 4 hours a day. Investors in Devenahalli are screwed.

BANGALORE: Sheer lack of groundwater is set to dampen investors’ spirits in reaping benefits by investing in property in the proximity of Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) in Devanahalli.

No approvals have been granted for any commercial establishment in the vicinity of the new airport for the last five months. This is a clear indication of the poor planning ahead of commencing the mega project.

Authorities knew since 1969 that Devanahalli was shaky on the water front, but still allowed the airport project. According to the Dynamic Ground Water Resource Study in March 2004, groundwater in the area has been over-exploited, said Deputy Director, Department of Mines and Geology, Srikantha Murthy.

"Groundwater is not a dependable source in the area and so we don’t advise usage of borewells, especially for huge commercial establishments," he said.

"Devanahalli was declared a ‘dark area’ in terms of water availability way back in 1969. KSPCB will not approve any projects until the developers indicate sustainable source of water in their plans," H C Sharatchandra, Chairman, Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) said.

In keeping with that, no commercial establishment in BIA’s vicinity has been approved in five months. Moreover, any residential project of more than ground+1 floors has not been sanctioned recently. Many applications for residential and commercial projects are lying with different authorities.

"In the last 18 months, not more than three residential projects have got approvals," Sharatchandra told this website's News Paper.

BWSSB has already clarified it would not supply water to the area surrounding the airport. Rainwater harvesting, recycling and reuse of water cannot fulfil the water demands for huge establishments, confirmed KSPCB environmental officer C D Kumar.

"It depends on the local bodies to decide whether the area is really capable of development in a big way. Bangalore International Airport Area Planning Authority (BIAAPA), being the local body for the area, is duty-bound to ensure the availability of water before approving developmental projects," said Kumar.

However, officials of Banagalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA) attribute less commercial development in the area to less commercial land use.

"Out of around 792 sq km area under the jurisdiction of BIAAPA, very little is marked for commercial development. I think all the land marked under this is already allotted. Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) has acquired some land that they might give for commercial development," said an official.

"Many developers and hotels have acquired agricultural land; we will not approve of that. They can put their boards on the property but cannot use it for commercial development."

Despite this fragile situation, an BMRDA official actively involved in projects near the Airport, said there was no restriction on usage of borewells in the area. Interestingly, one of the bye-laws of BIAAPA clearly states: "Only in exceptional cases can borewell be provided in shopping complexes and residential apartments, subject to approval."

Meanwhile residential developers continue advertising for ‘BIAAPA approved residential sites for sale,’ claiming that houses will have 24 hour groundwater supply. BWSSB will start supplying water to these areas in a year’s time, they claim. And the hotel industry still remains hopeful of big opportunities in the area.

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Mumbai has lowest FSI, says developer

The builder cartel has held prices to astronomical levels. The primary reason that the Mumbai lost its prime position of being a hi-tech city. 15 years go, SEEPZ used to be the center of all software exports. Thanks to the high land prices, everyone has moved to the south with some in Pune. Mumbai has lost its sheen for high value work. It is a city where the middle class has been priced out to distant suburbs once inhabited by the lower middle class. The lower middle class have become poor. Sad state to say the least.

MUMBAI: Mumbai has the lowest Floor Space Index (FSI) of 1.33 against an all-India average of 2.5 to 3. The city needs an FSI of at least five to ease the shortage of housing, a leading developer said on Friday.

FSI denotes the amount of construction that can be done on a given piece of land.

In Bangalore the FSI is 3.25, in Gurgaon near Delhi, the FSI is between 2.5 and 4, Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry Vice-President Sunil Mantri told reporters

Interestingly, in Hyderabad or the entire state of Andhra Pradesh there is nothing like FSI and one is free to construct whatever one wants.

Mantri recalled that even in Mumbai, till the mid 1970s the FSI used to be 4. Nariman Point was given an FSI of 4. However, the state government started reducing the FSI gradually from the mid-1970s coinciding with the introduction of Urban Land Ceiling Act.

Mantri said Mumbai needs an FSI of 5 to ease the housing shortage. The argument that the city does not have infrastructure to meet the needs of the higher FSI is not valid, he added.

Infrastructure can be created by imposing charges for new development. The reason the FSI is not being increased is due to lack of political will, he said.

According to Mantri, higher FSI is an accepted norm globally. In Dubai, he said the FSI given works out to between 8 and 34, in Hong Kong, it is between 8 and 20. In Manhattan; New York, it is 30.

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TDR rates fall, will flat prices follow suit?

As one as see the bubble was due to FSI policy as well as FSI hoarding, both artificial factors If a builder like Oberoi is saying prices will fall, I think they will starting this week. A lot of buyers who have bought in the recent past will see themselves upside down. IS this a sub-prime crisis where their loans are worth then their properties. A bear market has just begun in Mumbai housing

Mumbai: Rates for transfer of development rights (TDR) have crashed in Mumbai. TDR certificates, which were being sold at an average of Rs 4,500 per sq ft until recently, have plummeted to Rs 1,500 per sq ft. This follows the Vilasrao Deshmukh government’s decision to raise floor space index (FSI) from 1 to 1.33 in the suburbs (first reported by TOI) and keep the premium for the same less than the ready reckoner rates.
The million-dollar question now is whether or not builders will pass on the benefit of the drop in TDR rates to buyers, who are finding flats even in the distant suburbs of Mulund and Dahisar way beyond their budgets. Their problems were compounded when housing finance companies suddenly become tight-fisted following the credit squeeze.
Said Vikas Oberoi, a builder, “There is absolutely no doubt that builders will carry out a correction in tune with the fall in TDR prices. The government’s aim of making flats more affordable will be achieved.’’
Another developer, Sandeep Runwal, said, “The high price of TDR was actually hurting the construction industry as we builders had no choice but to mark up prices. This, understandably, was met with consumer resistance. Now, a more realistic picture will prevail in the property market.’’
It is also being asked whether Vilasrao Deshmukh, who belongs to the Congress, was actuated only by his desire to bring down flat prices when he decided to increase FSI to 1.33 or was there a bigger gameplan.
Sources in the real estate industry said lakhs of sq ft of TDR were cornered by three big builders close to an NCP leader. This left the bulk of builders at the mercy of this group of builders, who jacked up prices to Rs 4,500 sq ft.
If this situation was allowed to continue, then the NCP’s war chest would have overflowed with cash before the general elections next year. “Given the political implications of this, the central leadership of the Congress decided to move in and asked Deshmukh, who holds the urban development portfolio, to raise the FSI and trigger a bear run in the market,’’ a senior bureaucrat told TOI on Friday. A spin-off benefit will be cheaper flats, which will assuage the feelings of the middle-class.
TDR Transfer of development rights: Generally, when a plot owner surrenders his/her property reserved for playground or other purposes, then he/she is compensated with a TDR certificate specifying the FSI. The certificate can be traded in the market. Similarly, when a builder constructs pucca houses for project-affected persons, he is incentivised by granting TDR certificates. The FSI, however, can be utilised only to the north of the property where it was generated. FSI Floor space index: It lays down the buildable area of a plot. If a plot area is 1,000 sq ft and the FSI is 1, then the buildable area will be 1,000 sq ft.

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Residental property prices to go up in Pune

Pune-based real estate developers have decided to increase the per-square-foot charge for residential construction between Rs 50 and Rs 400 from April 20 due to the increasing cost of construction and heavy taxation by Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). This was announced today by Lalitkumar Jain, president, Promoters and Builders Association of Pune (PBAP).

Pune, over the last two years, has experienced a boom in the real estate industry. However, availability of land has remained a problem as the new Development Plan (DP) for Pune has not been sanctioned and executed for quite some time.

The city saw construction of 60 lakh sq.ft commercial space for the information technology (IT) industry last year, which has generated employment for more than 60,000 people. There has also been extensive recruitment in industrial areas like Ranjangaon, Pirangut, Chakan and Talegaon - an addition of close to 25,000 new jobs. The services and retail sector has recruited more than 25,000 new employees last year.

While more than one lakh new jobs were added in the city, the builders have developed only 35,000 new flats in and around Pune. "There is a huge demand-supply gap, which has led to the sudden price rise over the last two years. In addition, steel prices have gone up from Rs 32,000 per tonne to Rs 52,000 per tonne while the cement prices have been increasing consistently. PMC, too, has increased the development and premium charges for residential projects from 200% to 400%. All this has led to heavy cost escalation for Pune-based builders," Jain added.

PBAP, which represents more than 80% of Pune's real estate developers, has prepared a report that explains the possible ways to tackle the price hike. The report has requested the central government to take cost cutting measures for cement and steel prices.

Jain said: "There is resentment among middle class households over increasing real estate prices. The industry cannot sustain such a situation where costs are not coming down. If housing becomes more costly, nobody will buy a flat in Pune and the industry may come to a halt in the near future."

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High interest pushes realty to brink

Its high time the bubble pops in Mumbai real estate. The government made few other announcements over the past few days which will impact prices downwards.

1. All flats to be sold on carpet area. The builder can charge for common area but it has to be mentioned in the agreement
2. Increase in FSI for suburbs from 1.0 to 1.3 thats a 30% increase. FSI for SRA TDR's are 2.25 and for Dharavi slum redevelopment it is 4. I think in the city areas it is 2.
3. The premium on the extra FSI has be removed. So the extra .3 which was sold at a premium is now at current rates. This will force TDR's to go below market rates as the premium which existed on the TDR is no valid.

Coupled with the liquidity crisis which the article is taking about, welcome to the bubble pop. You heard it first here :). If you notice carefully the article makes a reference to the word bubble. In the past the writers would always justify the prices repeating cliches like "There is no land in Mumbai", "Prices never fall", "People are migrating to mumbai from all over". All bull crap to justify ad-space spending in their news papers.


MUMBAI: It’s a scary reminder of the exorbitant interest rate of the 1990s’ inter-corporate deposit (ICD) market, where companies borrowed at enormous cost to tide over a cash crunch.

Often, these desperate borrowers ended up losing their businesses to bigger players and loan sharks. In what could be the making of another turmoil, real estate developers, particularly the less creditworthy ones, are today borrowing at as high as 19%-20% from big finance companies to stay afloat.

A week ago, a large property company (which recently withdrew its IPO due to adverse market conditions) was forced to roll over its short-term borrowing from mutual funds, a tell-tale sign of the cash flow strain that some of the realty firms are grappling with.

Since banks have shut their doors, small and medium builders are passing their hat around aggressive non-banking finance companies and MFs who subscribe to the bonds issued by the property firms. The fund houses have quietly rolled over the debt, fearing that the news of default could affect the returns of their schemes and hence, scare away investors.



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Realty firms raise maximum through IPOs in 2007: Assocham

Builders who had managed to raise cheap money in the booming IPO market and those who had old land banks created over a period of time at lower rates are in a better shape. But those who had paid a slice of the cost for expensive plots, hoping to make the balance payment with the IPO or private placement money, are stuck.

Small builders who are turned away by MFs and finance companies are borrowing at even higher rates from diamond traders and HNIs. The cost of such money is at an usurious level of 2% a month. Besides, they are mortgaging their properties at 60%-65% of current valuation to raise the money.

“There are three categories of lenders: private NBFC, financial institutions that qualify as NBFCs and a few subsidiaries of foreign banks and securities houses. As long as prices stay high, the party can go on. But it will be impossible for the bubble to sustain for a long time. While pure FDI is coming in for specific projects, structured deals with leveraged foreign funds have come down after the subprime crisis,” said a real estate fund manager.

But the fear is that many companies have already walked into a debt trap with prices beginning to correct in most big property markets except Mumbai. “If the markets do not witness a substantial rise in demand and price in the next six months, these companies will either go bankrupt or be forced to sell out,” said a banker.

Property players also mop up funds by securitising their receivables. If such financing structures bonds (better known as pass through certificates) are sold on the back of the fund flow, they anticipate from property sale. If deals slow down or property prices drop, servicing these bonds becomes difficult.

“However, property prices have to really crash for this to happen. Securitisations are done with margins to cushion the blow,” said a fund manager.

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CBI registers case against Hiranandani’s for evading EPF tax

Beats me why Hira should evad 168 crores when they can make 1600 crores of their properties. It goes to show greed knows no bounds. After acquiring the powai land for 50 paise per sq/ft, this one puts them at a new low.

Mumbai, April 08: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday registered a case against the promoters of the Hiranandani Group, Niranjan and Surendra, for evading EPF tax to the tune of Rs 168 crores.

The case was registered hours after the premier investigation agency started simultaneous raids across eight different locations of the group spread across the western metropolis.

The raids were carried out as the CBI claimed to have credible information that the Hiranandani’s have evaded tax to the tune of Rs 168 crore by tampering documents pertaining to the Employee Provident Fund.

As per sources in the CBI, the documents have a fallacy as they show that the group has far lesser number of employees in its roll then they actually have.

By doing this fraud the Hiranandani Group was misleading the government and evading tax, the CBI alleged.

To add credence to their claim of a possible collusion between the Hiranandani’s and government officials, the CBI also carried out raids at the residences of four EPF officers.

CBI action against the Hiranandani Group, one of the biggest players in the real estate market, is sure to send shockwaves across the industry already beleaguered by increasing interest rates and slacking demand.

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