Resale & Rental

The inter-ministerial Board of Approval (BoA) on SEZs, headed by Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar, will also consider framing a policy for setting up units for recycling of plastics in SEZs, an official said.

As of now, there is no specific provision in the SEZ Act for such units.

The new SEZ proposals include Infosys Technologies IT SEZ in Bangalore, Lepakshi Knowledge Hub's proposed aerospace SEZ in Andhra Pradesh and the Gopalan E-Park IT SEZ at Mysore, Karnataka.

The board will also take up the requests of 24 developers, including Wipro, Mahindra and Mahindra, Ansal SEZ Projects and Wockhardt Infrastructure Development, who have asked for more time to execute their projects.

The BoA will also take up the request of real estate major Raheja Universal for de-notification of its IT SEZ in Maharashtra. Base Realty has also asked for permission to surrender its IT/ITeS SEZ in Maharashtra.

Source: Realty Plus Govt to take up 8 new SEZ proposals on Sept 16

While stating this here today, the Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Home, Mr.Krishan Mohan said that the corporation was also planning to construct traffic police station at Chandimandir, police station Baldev Nagar at Ambala and city police station at Rohtak, state vigilance office building at Gurgaon, teaching block at Newal, women hostel at Madhuban and barracks at Bhondsi, besides carrying out special repair of jails at a cost of Rs.five crore.

Giving details of the on-going projects of the corporation, he said that the Sunaria police training centre is being constructed at an approximate cost of Rs.100 crore, which will have 724 houses, administrative block, 16 barracks, multipurpose hall, gazette officer mess and armory. Multi storeyed houses in NCR i.e. Gurgaon, Faridabad and Sonipat were also being constructed at a cost of Rs.75 crore.

As many as 1840 houses including eight storyed houses in NCR ad 18 police stations, school buildings at Panipat, Bhondsi and Rewari, multipurpose hall, NGOs hostel, FSL block and women barracks at Madhuban complex, officers mess and administrative cum training block at Bhondsi and new police lines at Kaithal were also in progress, he added.

Unfolding the achievements made by the corporation during the last five years, Mr.Krishan Mohan said that approximately 3217 houses for police personnel, 40 police stations and 9 police posts, jail complexes at Yamunanagar and Ballabgarh, telecommunication training centre in police line Panchkula, auditorium, women hostel, museum, training block, open air gallery, conference hall, multimedia laboratory at Madhuban complex, extension of DAV School, Ambala, primary health centre at Bhondsi, administrative block, barracks, armory and MT garage in police line, Rewari and Excise and Taxation head office building, Khadi Board and Pet Hospital building at Panchkula had already been completed by the corporation during the last five years.

Addressing a gathering got up to announce the award of 7-Star rating to Abode Valley and 6-Star rating to Central Park -- couple of projects promoted by Lancor Holdings -- Lodd Rajendra, head of business development, Crisil Ratings, said Crisil was now working on two more mandates from the realty sector. He said Crisil had thus far rated 21 real estate projects.

Detailing the salient features of the two Crisil rated projects, Mallika Ravi, CEO, Lancor Holdings, said that Lancor was "committed to quality and transparency in our dealings with our stake holdings." Of the six Crisil-rated real estate projects in Chennai, two are promoted by Lancor. The remaining are by Akshaya Group.

According to Rajendra, the rating will address two critical needs in the realty sector -- improved transparency and objective bench-marking of projects.

Crisil Real Estate Star Rating (CREST), a product launched early this month, is intended to help flat buyers benchmark and identify quality projects within a city. Such ratings, it is claimed, will provide a comprehensive evaluation of all project-specific risks, which could impact the quality of the project.

Bank loans for second homes can now be a maximum of 70 per cent of the value of the property, down from 80 per cent previously, the national development ministry said. The government will also impose a tax on houses sold within three years of purchase, up from one year.

"The property market is currently very buoyant," the ministry said in a statement. "The government has decided to introduce additional measures now to temper sentiments and encourage greater financial prudence among property purchasers."

Prices of private residential housing rose to a record high in the second quarter, fueled by a surging economy that expanded 18 per cent in the first half as manufacturing rebounded from last year's global recession.

JP Infrastructure (JPIL), popularly known as ISCON group, was among the first firms to come up with a five-storied corporate house on a 700 sq yard plot along CG Road about four years ago. Ever since, eight others have joined the club.

"Making the brand visible was the main idea. The 14,000 sq ft ISCON house was too big at that time, but later on the company grew and now we use all the floors," says Jatin Gupta, managing director, JPIL.

B-Safal group's house being developed on 1,250 sq yd land near Rajpath club is on the verge of completion. "We have created 22,000 sq ft space, keeping in mind the needs of a real estate company," says Rajesh Brahmbhatt, managing director of B-Safal.

Source: Realty Plus Ahmedabad realtors go for corporate houses

Speaking to Business Standard, C P Singh, chairman, TNEB said TNEB and MSMC floated a company called Mahatamil Collieries Ltd (MCL), with a shareholding ratio of 74:26 of TNEB and MSMC.

The JV company was formed for exploring, developing, mining and supplying coal from the Gare Pelma II coal block in Mand Raigarh district, Chhattisgarh. The area is around 24.95 sq km and it is in triangular in shape, the maximum length and width of the sector are 21.75 km and 3.75 km respectively.

Apart from developing a coal mine, the company will also set up a power plant with a capacity of 2,000 Mw in Chhattisgarh.

"It is better to use the local coal for producing power."

Source: Business-standard Chhattisgarh to see big ticket investments

The commission said that the buyer is also entitled to refund of entire money with reasonable interest and any deduction on the said amount is unjustified.

"The petitioner was fully justified in opting out of the (hire-purchase) scheme and demanding refund of the money that she had paid along with interest," it said.

The commission passed the order on a petition of Agra resident Indira Gupta seeking quashing of Uttar Pradesh state commission direction to deduct 20% from the amount to be refunded to the complainant by the Agra Development Authority.

"We direct that Rs66,000 along with 15% interest be paid to Gupta by the authority, as ordered by the District Forum, within six weeks along with Rs2,000 as cost of litigation," the commission bench headed by president justice Ashok Bhan said.

"The fact that the authority had erred in not giving the possession of the house to Gupta as envisaged under the scheme and in the absence of any rules and regulations by which 20% could be deducted from the refunded amount, we are unable to uphold the order of the state commission and therefore set it aside," the commission said.

Source: www.dnaindia.com Buyer Can Opt Out Of Housing Project If Possession Is Delayed

`Vertical' growth
The city, once known for its unique houses with `Mangalore Tile' roofs, is now experiencing rapid vertical growth with many new high-rise projects by the local developers and a few from outside. The residential space development is taking place both in the city and in suburban areas.

Mr K. Narasimha Prabhu, former President of Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told Business Line that the real-estate sector appears to be booming in Mangalore, as many projects have been launched in the recent months.

Mr Prabhu, who is also the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Manipal-Ace Event Management Company, said that the realty expo organised by his company attracted about 15 developers and equal number of banks and other housing finance companies. If the residential space development plans of these developers are taken into consideration, the number will cross 1,000 apartments with more than one million sq.ft of built-up area.

Bangalore-based Bearys Group, which entered the Mangalore market in the 1990s with its `His Grace' apartment project, is now setting up two more projects in Mangalore. Work on `Bearys Valencia' -- a 36-unit luxury apartment project -- began in early 2009. While launching this project, Mr Syed Mohammed Beary, Chairman and Managing Director of the group, had said that Bearys Valencia is the first green building project of Mangalore.

Source: www.thehindubusinessline.co Mangalore realty looking up

According to a report by Jones Lang LaSalle India (JLL), a real estate consulting firm, the western central micro market has the highest capital values in realty deals in Ahmedabad, as against western, northern and eastern suburbs. "Capital values in Western Central are the highest among all the city's micro-markets. Western Central, which encompasses the CBD and the new commercial development along S.G.Highway, is a major attraction for the city's more affluent property buyers," the report states.

Construction activity, as per JLL, is evident largely in residential projects, since this is currently the primary growth sector on the Ahmedabad property front. "Ahmedabad property rates for new schemes at various locations have shot up by as much as 20-30 per cent over the last six months. Residential projects are coming up fairly rapidly on the Western and Northern side of the city, with a fair amount of residential construction on the Eastern side, as well," said Kripal Singh, manager - strategic consulting, JLL India.

Source: Business-standard Central area of west A'bad sees highest realty capital values

The SEZ developers say the tax regime approved by the Cabinet on Thursday does not reduce the uncertainty, which will make it difficult for them to attract units.

"We have clients who have developed SEZs and got into serious talks with interested investors, only to have them back out when the first draft of the DTC was circulated," says Hitender Mehta, partner, Vaish Associates Advocates, a Gurgaon-based consultancy firm.

Developers are not sure whether investments that they have already made in zones under construction will attract units though the direct taxes bill approved by the Cabinet retains the tax exemptions available to them under the SEZ Act.

Developers and the units located in the SEZs are particularly opposed to the provision in the code that links tax exemptions to investments made rather than profits earned.

Source: Economic Times By AMITI SEN New DTC: SEZ sops may continue till 2014

Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore are seen leading the recovery in Asia, with rental increases of between 10 to 20 per cent in 2010, while growth momentum will likely pick up in Tokyo and some Indian cities starting in 2011, it said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Rents are nearing or past the trough in most regional markets with residual declines in a few centres," Jane Murray, Jones Lang LaSalle's head of Asia Pacific research, said.

"With hiring activity now resuming in many markets, expansion demand is expected to strengthen as occupiers' position for future growth," Murray said.

In the second quarter, net absorption of quality office space rose by 13 per cent from the previous three months, with rental values rising as much as 8.3 per cent quarterly in Hong Kong.

However, direct commercial property transaction volumes in Asia Pacific fell 32 per cent in the second quarter from the previous quarter to $16 billion partly due to concerns over tightening measures in China, it said.

Your's Truly Sanjay, Editor of this website, will be on Zee Business' News program MoneyGuru @ 7:30PM to 8:00PM August 26, 2010 to discuss property and real estate.

Realty firms are returning to small cities to develop the land parcels they had bought during the property boom of 2005-07, when many aspired to grow into pan-India players.

Those ambitions are back. Realty firms are again developing and buying land in small cities or towns and entering new markets, after having spent most of the downturn trying to keep a grip on their big city projects.

The country's second largest developer by market value, Unitech Ltd, for instance, is considering launching projects--mainly in affordable housing--in cities such as Hyderabad where it already owns land, a company spokesman said in an email.

More than 40% of Unitech's projects are in the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR), though it is also present in Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Mumbai.

Credit Suisse Group AG says in a 5 July report the Indian property market will likely be driven by volumes and not prices, and a developer who can churn land faster by selling at affordable prices will be able to generate better returns.

Source: Live Mint By Madhurima Nandy & Devesh Chandra Srivastava Builders Selectively Return To Launch Projects, Buy Land In Small Cities

They were widely expected to fall in the wake of the ending of the homebuyer tax credit on April 30 which is widely regarded as having boosted sales, but few expected such a dramatic fall.

The news will increase fears that the US is heading for a double dip in its real estate market and the fact that sales decreased in each region of the country during the month will add to this.

The latest report from the NAR also shows that sales of distressed properties now account for about a third of all sales, some 32 per cent. Single family home sales, which account for the majority of sales, fell 27.1 per cent to 3.37 million, the lowest rate since 1985.

Lawrence Yun, chief economist at NAR, expects the trend to continue for some time. "Buyers rationally jumped into the market before the deadline for the home buyer tax credit expired. Since May, after the deadline, contract signings have been notably lower and a pause period for home sales is likely to last through September," said Yun.

Source: Realty Plus US property sales drop spreading concern that economic recovery is slowing

But transactions are expected to fall back again this month as the market enters a slower period although overall 2010 is already being described as a good year for real estate.

In the first seven months of this year, developers have sold 9,957 private homes, excluding executive condos, following on last year's strong sales of 14,688 units.

Global real estate consultants CB Richard Ellis expects the full year figure to be about 14,000 units, Jones Lang LaSalle's estimates sales of 13,000 to 14,000 units while DTZ's SE Asia research head Chua Chor Hoon puts the number at 13,000 to 15,000 units.

"The outlook still remains positive against the backdrop of Singapore's economic growth and the low interest rate environment but buyers will be more selective given that so many Government Land Sale sites are being sold. This will translate to greater choice of new projects," said Hoon.

Source: Realty Plus Private property sales by developers in Singapore surge 82%

"The first phase of the mega project will cater to hi-tech engineering and service industry, targeting development of 5 million sq ft area, while the second phase will witness residential, commercial and recreational development," told Dahiya.

Vigneswara plans to raise funds through private equity and debt. "We propose to raise Rs 200 crore from private equity and another Rs 750 crore as debt. We are looking at debt-equity ratio of 2:1, with Rs 150 crore as our equity through land. The first phase of the project will cost around Rs 1,100 crore," informed Dahiya.

The proposed township will come up in Goa bordering Karnataka. "Being in close proximity to the upcoming largest naval base of Karwar and with Konkan Railway passing through the area, we enjoy a great locational advantage. Moreover, Goa is being developed as big shipbuilding hub that offers good opportunity for the service industry. Some manufacturing companies from Russia and Israel have already shown their interest" told Dhaiya.

According to Dahiya, Vigneswara has already acquired land for the project and signed an MoU with GSIDC. And with all the permissions in place, the project is set for launch by in the middle of next year.

"108 acres of surplus land is identified for disposal at an estimated value of Rs 3,990 cr," Minister of State for Textiles Ms Panabaaka Lakshmi said in the Rajya Sabha.

Recently, real estate major Indiabulls Intrastate bagged NTC's 8.3 acres of the defunct Bharat Textile Mills, in the posh Worli area of Mumbai, for a whopping Rs 1,505 cr. The company also bought NTC's 2.3-acre Poddar Mill land for Rs 474 cr, paying almo st double the reserve price of Rs 250 cr.

NTC's 77 unviable mills have been closed under the Industrial Disputes Act and 18 viable mills, which have been modernised, are generating cash profits. The company has surplus land across the country, including Mumbai, Bangalore, Indore, Karnataka and Coimbatore.

The SEZ act was to be discussed in the recently concluded monsoon session, but was kept on hold as the government anticipated protest within the ruling combine. In principle, the Congress-NCP is not against SEZ.

But a few elected members are apprehensive about certain clauses recommended in the act. They fear that once passed, SEZs will run like a parallel administration not accountable to the government.

According to BJP (MLA) Devendra Fadanavis, "The biggest concern is land acquisition. The SEZ is perceived as a land grabbing exercise. The act has to strengthen the mechanism to assure there would be no forcible land acquisition and those parting with their lands will be given adequate compensation."

Source: Realty Plus Maharashtra govt puts SEZ act on the back burner

While stating this here Sunday, a spokesman of the Board said that for the first time, 1.5 per cent reservation has also been provided to the accredited correspondents. Housing Board, Haryana was the first Housing Board in the country to provide 33 per cent reservation of the total houses and flats constructed by it for women applicants to improve their socio-economic  status, he added.

The State Government has framed a policy to transfer 50 per cent plots for economically weaker sections of the society carved out by colonizers in the plotted colonies for which licenses have been issued by Department of Town and Country Planning, Haryana for BPL category. He said that sofar the Board had taken over the possession of 453 plots at Ratia, District Fatehabad, Faridabad, Gurgaon and Dharuhera. The process to take possession of over about 1000 developed plots at Gurgaon, Sonepat, Panipat, Karnal and Faridabad was in progress, out of 3400 plots offered so far in various districts.He said that the Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda has already announced several incentives for the weaker sections of the society.

He said that about 43 acres of land under various Municipal Committees of Rohtak, Ambala, Cheeka, Karnal and Pehowa had been identified where about 3500 houses of different categories, mainly for lower strata of the society would be planned. The Board had already purchased 18.75 acres of land at Sector-5, Hansi and six acres of land at Sector-1, Narnaul from HUDA, where about 1222 houses of different categories would be constructed.

The spokesman said that during this year, Housing Board, Haryana had launched housing schemes comprising 2932 houses at Industrial Estates, Bawal and  Barhi, Sector-4, Hisar; Sector-9, Bahadurgarh; Sector-19, Sirsa; Sector-4&5, Karnal and Sector-8, Jind. Construction work of 802 houses at Hisar, Karnal, Bawal and Barhi was in progress and construction of balance 2130 houses would be started shortly as tenders for these works were under process. The construction of 3085 houses valuing Rs. 186.50 crore was in progress at Panchkula, Kurukshetra, Karnal, Hisar, Bhiwani, Sonipat, Gurgaon, Bawal, Barhi and Faridabad, he added.

Initially DMRC will develop the 9.25-km long metro corridor in the city, the first project outside the Delhi-NCR region. An agreement to this effect will be signed between DMRC and the Rajasthan Government. As per the agreement, the Delhi Metro will be doing the civil construction, including the track work (Permanent Way), construction of the Metro maintenance Depot and arrangement for traction and power supply. The estimated cost of the project will be `1,250 crore.

Though this is the first project that the DMRC is directly implementing outside Delhi NCR region, the DMRC has already provided consultancy to all other State Governments interested in implementing Metro projects in their cities such as Bengaluru, Kochi, Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune and Ludhiana.

The DMRC will complete the Jaipur Metro project in three years and seven months time after signing the agreement. The DMRC has already set up a project office at Jaipur headed by the Project Director Lalit Meghnani to ensure that the project is implemented at a fast pace.

Source: The Pioneer DMRC inks deal to develop Jaipur Metro

• Good Location

• Good Builder

• Good Specification

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• Means Good Investment For Medium To Long Term.

• Expected Prize : 3000 to 3250 Rs psf.

• Expected Size: (1400,1500,1600,1900,2350,2600 Sqft)

Or E-mail Qubrex@gmail.com or SMS your E-mail addresses .

The firm, which is developing nearly 70% of its projects with the Ajay Piramal group through their joint venture Piramal Sunteck Realty Pvt. Ltd, concluded the transaction recently after a six-month-long negotiation. The deal was struck through Sunteck's subsidiary Skystar Buildcon Pvt. Ltd, said man- aging director Kamal Khetan.

"Sunteck bought the land at a good price because land rates in the area range from Rs35 crore to Rs45 crore an acre," said Akshaya Kumar, chief executive, Parklane Property Advisors. "But the soaring prices are not a good indication because it means that the market is headed towards a correction again," Kumar added.

Land prices in Mumbai are nearing an 18-month high and big-ticket transactions are on a roll, analysts said.

Khetan said Sunteck Realty will continue looking for land acquisitions at reasonable prices.

Source:www.credaincr.org Sunteck Realty buys land in Mumbai suburb for Rs150 cr

"Requests for de-notification by the developers have been approved by the Board of Approval in respect of 18 SEZs...," Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jyotiraditya Scindia informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

Scindia said that global economic slowdown has been cited as the "main reason for the request for de-notification".If a SEZ is de-notified, the developers have to return all the fiscal benefits (if they have availed any) before they could exit their projects.

The Board of Approval (BoA), is an inter-ministerial body headed by Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar.

Replying to another query, Scindia said approval for 349 proposals for IT/ITES/Electronic Hardware related SEZs has been given, of which 221 have been notified.

"A total of 69 (IT) SEZs are already exporting," Scindia said.

A total of 576 tax free zones have been approved by the BoA, of which 114 are operational.

Your's Truly Sanjay, Editor of this website, will be on Zee Business' News program MoneyGuru @ 7:30PM to 8:00PM July 29, 2010 to discuss property and real estate.

The country's largest developer by market value launched the project in 2005. The project was to be finished by 2008; the new deadline is mid-2011.

As with several other ventures during the realty boom, the project was kicked off with an overseas partner, UK-based construction firm Laing O'Rourke (LOR), through a joint venture. But LOR exited its India business last year and DLF is now the sole developer.

"Due to this adjustment, the project got delayed. Construction is on now," said Rajeev Talwar, executive director, DLF.

Project delays continue to dog home buyers even as builders bet big on the residential segment to steer them to recovery after the bust of 2008. Mint research shows at least 25 large residential projects in the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR), Bangalore, Pune and Mumbai are about 18 months behind schedule, keeping buyers waiting while the firms themselves get on with new projects.

"It is doubtful if developers are serious about completing those projects that are lagging behind as priority, because the focus is on raking in money by launching projects at a premature level," said Amit Goenka, national director, capital transactions, Knight Frank India, a property advisory. "Nearly all large projects are 12-18 months behind schedule."

The project delays will only worsen the substantial inventory pile-up, which amounts to about 140 million sq. ft in the residential segment alone in Delhi-NCR, according to data by Mumbai-based Liases Foras, which tracks the realty sector.

Mumbai, which has seen the maximum property sales since November, has 80 million sq. ft of space unsold, including property that's ready or under construction.

In the Delhi-NCR region, several new sectors have been opened up for development in Gurgaon under the 2021 masterplan, where property rates are 30-40% lower than those in existing sectors.

"But lack of infrastructure has forced developers to either stop the construction or go slow with the progress," said Sanjay Sharma, consultant and managing director of consultant firm Qubrex.com.

Source: Livemint By B Y D EVESH C HANDRA S RIVASTAVA & M ADHURIMA N ANDY Delays still ail realty sector, 25 projects to miss deadline

devesh@livemint.com

The company has said it was feeling a serious impact of the economic environment while executing the proposed project. "Even though exports were showing recovery, no fresh capacities were being created, as a result of which the SEZ flavour, though attractive, was not sufficient to invite large investments," said a Reliance communiqué.

As per the revised proposal, Reliance Haryana SEZ Ltd (RHSL), a joint venture of RIL and the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation, will now set up a Model Economic Township (MET) at Jhajjar, instead of the earlier planned SEZ of 12,500 acres in the district, according to a report published in Mint.

The MET, which will be broadly on the lines of an industrial model township (IMT), is likely to have Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Service Ltd (IL&FS) as co-developer. It will comprise a logistics hub, a power plant, SEZ, knowledge city, domestic tariff areas (DTA).

In Gurgaon, RHSL now plans to set up a multi-sector specific SEZ on 1,501 acres, in place of the earlier proposed multi-services SEZ on 1,086 acres. Room has also been made to rope in a strategic investor on initial subscription of RHSL equity.

RHSL claims to have invested about Rs 3,000 crore over the past four years in the two 12,500-acre SEZ projects.

Plots in Phase I of the 4,000-acre Ranbir Singh Industrial Model Township (IMT), Rohtak, will be offered by July-end, a senior official of the HSIIDC said on Sunday.

HSIIDC had recently spruced up the Rohtak township. The Rohtak IMT, which is being developed as integrated township in three phases, will have all the trappings of a self-contained and canopy township, offer facilities for industrial, residential, commercial, institutional and transport complexes, he said.

It is located 7 km away from Rohtak city on National Highway No 10 (Delhi-Hisar-Sulemanki Road), 60 km from Delhi and 26 km from the proposed Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Highway.

Source: Financial Express HSIIDC to invite applications for industrial plot allotment in IMT Rohtak

For these new projects, Swissotel will be partnering two different arms of The Xander Group Inc, a leading multinational private equity fund, Financial Express reported.

While Swissotel Gurgaon is being developed by a Xander Group company and Kohli One, a NCR-based developer, Swissotel Whitefield in Bangalore is being put up by Virtuous Retail, also a Xander company, a spokesperson of Swissotel Hotels said. She said that the two properties would be thrown open in 2013.

Meinhard Huck, president, Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts, said, "These two exciting projects will enable us to push ahead with our expansion in the promising and strategic Indian market. We are delighted to have found a professional partner in The Xander Group, which is entrusting us with the management of these two deluxe hotels and value Swiss hospitality and our high quality standards."

Swissôtel Gurgaon, which will be a 30-minute drive from Indira Gandhi International Airport and within close proximity of the highway (NH 8) connecting New Delhi with Jaipur, will offer 240 guest rooms and suites, 25,000 sq ft of conference space and ballrooms, and a 13,000 sq ft Pürovel spa and fitness centre.

Swissôtel Whitefield will be a 30-minute drive from Bengaluru Airport, and offer 151 guest rooms and suites, a rooftop pool and bar, and extensive business meeting space.

The approval was given at the 41st meeting of BoA, which met today under the chairmanship of Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar, amid doubts over continuation of tax incentives for the SEZ units and developers.

Unlike the previous BoA meetings, the government today took up very few proposals of setting up SEZs. Last month, the finance ministry had released a revised draft Direct Taxes Code (DTC) that recommended that income-tax benefits to the SEZs be discontinued.

While Videocon Industries was allowed to set up an SEZ for electronics hardware and software in Navi Mumbai over 100 hectares, Coastal Ferrotech Ltd got the approval for its SEZ in Haldia, West Bengal, and Infoparks in Ernakulam district, Kerala.

The government also gave extensions to 24 developers, which included GMR Hyderabad International Airport Ltd, Unitech Kochi SEZ Ltd and K Raheja Corporation.

The decision on a proposal to tighten environment norms for plastic units in SEZs was also deferred.

BoA, which is a 19-member inter-ministerial board, was also supposed to take a call on the guidelines on establishing contiguity in the SEZs. The Department of Revenue has yet to decide on the proposals made in the draft policy prepared by the Department of Commerce.

In a bid to give the project a much-needed push, MMRDA has now decided to commence work on five new sites where as many as 9,000 tenements will be constructed.

One of the sites is at Chitalsar and Naupada at Thane, which will be developed by Ascent, Cheda & Cheda and Friends Development Corporation will have 3,815 units. The other sites, which will have 4,660 units, are at Ulhasnagar, Ranjanoli at Bhiwandi. They will be developed by Century Rayon and Eco Homes.

Twenty nine sites are approved for the rental housing scheme which comprises 2.17 lakh units. Also, MMRDA has already started work on 5,000 units at its Thane and Mira-Bhayander sites.

Under the rental housing scheme, MMRDA plans to construct five lakh homes to be given on a measly rent, ranging between Rs800 and Rs1,500. Any individual, who has been a resident of Maharashtra for the past 15 years, working in MMR and has a minimum monthly income of Rs5,000, could avail of a home under this scheme.

Minister of State for Housing Sachin Ahir said the government could be forced to introduce a legislation for construction of affordable houses if private builders don't start constructing affordable houses.

"We have asked builders to create affordable houses. Failure to do so could force us to bring in a legislation and control property rates," Ahir said. The state's housing policy of 2007 had made a reservation of 20 per cent for affordable housing in all projects mandatory.

Affordable housing has so far been optional for builders. The state government provides affordable houses through agencies such as the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority and City and Industrial Development Corporation. It has been offering incentives to builders for building affordable houses but it is getting response only in areas out of Mumbai city.

Source: Realty Plus Maharashtra mulls law to ensure affordable housing

(FSI is the ratio of the total floor area of building to the size of the land, or the limit imposed on such a ratio).

Speaking on the sidelines of a CII real estate conclave, the Maharashtra Minister of State for Housing, Sachin Ahir, said that in any case two FSI was inbuilt in the system - 0.33 from the State and the rest by purchase of transfer of development rights (TDR).

TDR allows owners of property that are zoned for low-density development or conservation use to sell development rights to other property owners or use it themselves.

The permissible FSI in suburbs is two, of which one is permitted by the Act and balance is by way of loading.

Source: Realty Plus Maharashtra may raise FSI in Mumbai suburbs

The township would come up over an area of 2,700 acres, the land acquisition of which would be facilitated by the authority. In fact, the LDA would be helping the builder in acquiring 25 per cent of the total land required for the project.

LDA vice-chairman, Mrityunjay Kumar Narain said that a formal approval has been given to the conceptual DPR. This, he said, would be subject to a detailed outlay plan to be put forth by the builder. It is only after the plan is cleared that the project would be given a go ahead. The builder would be required to allocate 25 per cent of its overall housing units for the economically weaker section (EWS).

But while the authority sets out to promote the hi-tech policy of the state government, it may not have any control over the prices of housing units which the builder would be recovering.

Source: Realty Plus Omaxe arm to develop second hi-tech township in Lucknow

Two years later, Modi's investment has appreciated to close to $20 million, say property dealers.

Modi isn't alone to have hit the jackpot. In the last two years, several Indian companies have ventured into Singapore by acquiring small and medium companies at low prices. Moreover, last year, the fears of a debt crisis in Dubai further accentuated Indian interests in the rest of the Asian markets, as they have been traditionally major property buyers in the UAE.
In the last one year, many small Indian firms, like iron ore exporters, trading and shipping companies have opened offices in Singapore and bought property.

"Indians have been steadily investing in the residential market in Singapore, a major factor being increasing concentration of the Indian business community. The interest rates have also been low, at 2-2.50 per cent, which has led to rising investments," said Sandeep Choudhary, head of an investment advisory firm dealing in Singapore's property market.

Source: Business-standard By Namrata Acharya India Inc hits the jackpot in realty investments abroad