The Haryana Police Housing Corporation is envisaging to construct police line at Manesar, Palwal, Mewat and Sunaria at a cost of Rs.300 crore.
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.
While recognising the contribution made by the senior citizen in the development of the State, the Haryana Housing Board has provided two per cent reservation in the allotment of houses for those senior citizens who have attained the age of 60 years.
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.
The original concept of a 25,000-acre set of two Special Economic Zones (SEZ) proposed by Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) in Haryana four years ago has been amended, with watered-down features. Reliance's request for a change in the concept of the project following its failure to aggregate sufficient land in Gurgaon and Jhajjar, and due to the economic slowdown, has been approved by the Haryana Investment Promotion Board.
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.
In less than a month of throwing open its first luxury hotel property in India, in Kolkata, with the Ambuja Realty Group, Swissotel Hotels & Resorts, the Zurich-based hospitality company, has now firmed up two other properties ¬one in Gurgaon and the other in Bangalore.
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.
In a belated decision, the Haryana Government has given relief to cooperative group housing societies regarding payment of stamp duty on execution of the conveyance deed. Now, society members will have to pay stamp duty on the allotment price of land as against the earlier provision of stamp duty on the cost of land and construction of dwelling unit. The relief will benefit lakhs of flat owners in the state. It has come about following an amendment in the Apartment Ownership Act,1983.
" It is clarified that when a flat is transferred to a member of the group housing society, the member has to pay stamp duty on the execution of conveyance deed on the allotment price of land with respect to his share only.This does not include the cost of construction", a government notification states.
Hailing the decision, president of the Haryana Group Housing Federation BK Sanghi is hopeful that this will lessen the burden of heavy stamp duty on the allottees and go a long way in promoting the cooperative housing movement.
Go-Ahead to allotment of plots to 19 units in HSIIDC estates
A high-level plot allotment committee has cleared the allotment of industrial plots to 19 units in various industrial estates developed by the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC).
The total investment involved in setting up these projects will be around Rs 1,100 crore. These projects will provide direct employment to more than 6,000 persons on implementation. The committee has been constituted by the state government to consider projects involving capital investment of Rs 30 crore and those with FDI component.
Managing director of HSIIDC Rajeev Arora said allotments have been made for projects in diverse fields of brake parts(back plate & anti-noise shims), tooth brushes, stainless steel products, machine and machine parts including machine assembling, overhauling, moulds and tools, extruder food products and dehydration of vegetables, fruit, retort food, jams and ketchup, cold-rolled stainless steel coils, CNG dispensers and compressors, seed processing plant cum storage facility, footwear, food processing units etc.
Around 49.16 acre has been allotted for industrial plots in estates at Kundli, Rai, Growth Centre Bawal, Bahadurgarh, Karnal, IMT Manesar and Gurgaon for these projects, he added.
A number of companies have been allotted industrial plots for food processing units in different industrial estates developed by the Corporation.
People can now expect more small-sized apart- ments in Gurgaon as the Haryana government is con- templating easing construction norms and increasing popula- tion density from the existing 250 persons per acre to 400 for developers of hi-rise resi- dential buildings.
This will enable developers to construct 80 apartments on a piece of land measuring 4840 sq yards, as against the pre- vailing norms of 50 apartments on a plot of that size.
The size of such apartments would also get smaller and will reduce the unit price.
If the Haryana government gets its way, the apartments would come within the pur- chasing capacity of the middle class.
According to sources in the Haryana government, it was going to ease construction norms on the fervent request of developers, who were find- ing it tough to sell large apart- ments measuring 1700-2200 sq feet, that cost between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 1 crore.
With an investment of Rs 2,000 crore, Haryana will see some state level institutes, a central university in Mahendra Garh, an IIM in Rohtak, an AIIMS in Jhajjar and a defence university in Gurgaon. A 2,500-acre Rajiv Gandhi Education City in Sonepat is also on the anvil.
The Centre had announced that the state will be given financial assistance to open degree colleges and polytechnics in those seven districts where the gross enrolment ratio is below the national average. Moreover, Rohtak's Pandit B D Sharma Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences has been made a university of health sciences, and the Bhagat Phool Singh Women's University has been set up at Khanpur Kalan where a medical college is also being established.
This transformation, according to the Haryana government, is a part of its effort to shift a large proportion if its labour force into secondary and tertiary sectors. "We are not only investing in education, but also in infrastructure and industry so as to improve employability. As of now, around 60 per cent of the labour force accounts for just 15 per cent of the gross domestic product," Deepender Hooda, Member of Parliament from Rohtak and the son of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, told Business Standard.
Rohtak, especially, is poised to become an education hub with three government institutions under construction with a cost of Rs 60 crore, besides six private ones and an integrated campus comprising institutes of fashion technology, film and TV, the fine arts and professional studies. The integrated campus will come up at an estimated cost of Rs 122 crore. The city will also see some Industrial Training Institutes soon.
"A Footwear Design & Development Institute is being built by the commerce ministry on 17 acres of land, whose session will commence from May. Its construction cost is around Rs 100 crore," said an official from the Haryana State Industrial & Infrastructure Development Corporation. The institute will take around 120 students in its first year.
In India, developers live in a world all of their own where sales indicators and market pattern often defy conventional wisdom, even in a sluggish market. While the astonishing sales graphs of some of the recent launches indicate a miracle recovery in the realty sector, a closer inspection reveals that there is more than what meets the eye.
Consider this: Last week the country's leading developer, DLF, claimed to have sold more than 80 per cent of the upscale flats at its central Delhi project Capital Green Each at Rs 4 crore per apartment within two days of its launch. Last year, when the developer had launched the first and second phases of the project, it claimed to have completely sold off both blocks, with 1,350 and 1,250 apartments respectively, within a day of its launch.
This has become a trend among developers who have started claiming that their projects are completely sold out within a few days, if not hours, of their launch. For a sector that only a few months ago struggled to make any sales, such assertions are difficult to swallow. The question is: How genuine are these claims?
THE UNDERWRITING NEXUS
An investigation by The Indian Express has found that the reason behind the success of some projects is that developers use the services of brokers who underwrite these projects. Developers give a freehand to a few brokers who underwrite these flats with the intention of offloading them at a premium later. With the help of this nexus, developers start making claims that their projects are sold out.
A prominent underwriter, on whom two of the country's top developers rely on, told The Indian Express that there is a return of positive sentiment in the sector. "Buyers are coming back in the market. We are sure of selling the properties that we have underwritten," he says. He adds that with interest among home buyers growing, prices were sure to begin rising once again, spelling profits for underwriters.
By inflating their sales figures with these underwriters, builders are intentionally sending false signals about the actual situation. "By this simulation, the developer is able to tap into the herd mentality of buyers and snare many of them including people who would not have bought if they had known that the real sales numbers of the project were much lower," says Sanjay Sharma, managing director of Qubrex, a real-estate brokerage company.
All those who purchased apartments, plots or built-up houses in Gurgaon and other Haryana towns in 2006 and later, may get some refunds from their respective develop- ers as the Haryana government might reduce the rate of exter- nal development charges (EDC) it charged from developers dur- ing this time.
The decision could also ben- efit potential property buyers who could witness lighter price tags on property options.
The EDC is charged from developers by the Town and Country Planning Department and given to the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) for providing master civic infrastructure such as roads, sewerage and storm water drainage lines and oth- ers amenities in the city.
The developers, in turn, charge the same EDC from property buyers and include it in the price of the property.
T.C. Gupta, director, Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department told HT that a committee of developers, including DLF, Unitech, Ansal API, Raheja and others had been formed under the direc- tions of Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to work out the EDC.
Rajiv Singh, vice-chairman, DLF Group has been made the head of the committees.
"The committee was formed after major developers approached CM Hooda, complaining that the EDC was exor- bitantly high since 2006 and it was reflecting on the cost of properties they were offering in the market. They had contended that it was ultimately the end users who were paying the inflated property rates through their noses," Gupta said during a meet called by the Gurgaon Chamber of Commerce and Industries (GCCI).
Gurgaon, which has come a long way from being a sleepy town in the backwaters of south Haryana to one of the most hip 'n' happening cities of the country, is in an expansion-cum-extension mode yet again.
Christened as the "millennium city", "cyber city" and so on, this cosmopolitan urban settlement located in the vicinity of the national capital has 57 residential, industrial and institutional sectors so far.
However, these sectors have started proving insufficient for the increasing population of Gurgaon. In view of this, the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) and the state department of Town and Country Planning are now in the process of acquiring land for developing as many as 58 new sectors in the city.
This is being done in accordance with the Gurgaon-Manesar Masterplan-2021, which has a provision for the development of as many as 115 sectors in the city. The plan also envisages a multi-utility corridor and a commercial belt to be developed in the upcoming sectors.
In the first phase, the development of Sectors 58 to 67 is under way. Land has already been acquired for master roads and other essential services in these sectors and construction of roads is in full swing.
Several months after it got land on the cheap, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) may be striking it rich by selling off a portion of that property to American realtor Hines.
Reliance is supposed to develop a multi services Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Gurgaon on the land.
RIL, which had put its plans to set up SEZs worth billions of dollars, is now scouting for a strategic partner in its multi services SEZ project in Gurgaon.
According to sources, the company has already initiated talks with the American realty firm Hines.
While the modalities of this deal are still being worked out, RIL has an option to sell 15 per cent in the SEZ to Hines and also give rights to develop up to 200 acres of the zone, valuing the project at about $4 billion.
Reliance, however, has denied the report.
Experts say that the entry of a seasoned player like Hines in the SEZ sector could help restore the once attractive project's lost glory.
Rumneek Bawa, MD of Topworth Infra, said, "For reviving SEZs, we need companies with investment potential and proven expertise."
Sources said Reliance plans to seek Haryana state government's approval, as its industrial corporation is a 10 per cent partner in the SEZ. It is also in talks with IL&FS for another minority stake in the project.
It's all about land. The Gurgaon multi services SEZ is spread over 1500 acres of land, which the company had procured a couple of years ago for less than Rs 400 crore.
In all, the company has acquired more than 10,000 acres in the region and sources say that going forward, more strategic partners could be brought on board in a phased manner.
THE recently announced residential scheme for the allotment of freehold plots in 16 cities by the Haryana Urban Development Authority ( HUDA) is drawing huge attention in the final week of submission of application forms, said market sources.
HUDA announced the scheme on November 6. The last date for submission of application forms is January 5.
On offer are around 4,000 plots of various sizes. It is expected that the authority would announce the results of draw within six months from the date of closing of acceptance of application forms.
According to sources, till date more than five lakh forms have been sold out. What is attracting buyers from even nearby states of Uttar Pradesh and New Delhi is the fact that some of the cities are well connected to other parts of the national capital region ( NCR). For instance, cities like Sonipat, Faridabad and Palwal are in close proximity to New Delhi.
Moreover, the price points fixed by the state are also reasonable. Pankaj Dogra of Ujjala Associates said, " Individuals have bought application forms in large numbers as one can fill up to 10 forms for each of these cities separately. The rates put by the authority are also lower than those in upmarket Delhi." Interestingly, this time banks were not so prompt to offer loans in the initial weeks of the announcement. Lending institutions realised it late and have offered the earnest money now.
Buyers demand refund as the realtor’s project in south Delhi gets delayed, firm fails to get required approvals
India’s largest realtor, DLF Ltd, is again in the cross hairs of its customers. Buyers who had invested in the company’s commercial office project in south Delhi are demanding a refund from the developer, alleging that the project is delayed and the company has not obtained approval for the project.
The project, DLF Towers in Okhla, south Delhi, was launched in March 2008, when real estate prices were at a high and before the global slowdown hit the Indian real estate sector.
In the last one year, however, commercial rental values have fallen by around 15-30%, according to real estate consultant CB Richard Ellis.
Spread over 5 acres, the project will have three towers. Around 300 buyers had booked space in DLF Towers, which is expected to be completed by March 2011.
Early this year, a group of 80 buyers formed DLF Towers Okhla Allottees Association to demand a refund on the grounds that the project is running behind schedule and on DLF’s own assurance that it will give a refund if the project does not get the required approvals within a year of booking. The association now has 232 members.
Buyers also want a reduction in price in tune with the correction in commercial realty prices. According to the association, its members have been allotted space at the project at Rs5,000-18,000 per sq. ft. The members claim that since there has been a 40-50% decline in commercial property values, DLF should give them a discount.
The firm, however, has not yet announced an exit policy for buyers of its Okhla project.
This is not the first time that DLF has been in trouble with buyers who wanted a refund on the basis that the project is delayed. Earlier, this year DLF was forced to refund money to some buyers of its Garden City project in Chennai, even after it slashed apartment prices there.
More recently, since November, DLF has been refunding money to some buyers of its New Town Heights project in Gurgaon, who had asked for a refund even though the company reduced prices by 20%.
Two months ago, DLF, the country's largest real-estate company, launched a project company, launched a project in Delhi named Capital Greens. The developer claimed to have sold off the entire block of 1,250 apartments within two hours of the project's launch. Company officials gave credit to their network of 400 brokers for this success. Earlier in April, the company had claimed to have sold 1,350 apartments in the first phase of Capital Greens within a day.
In the same way, around the same time, Jaiprakash Associates, an infrastructure giant, claimed it had sold over 3,300 apartments in its Noida-based project Aman in just a day. In March 2009, Mumbai-based Lodha Developers claimed to have done a record 400 bookings in just two days in their Casa Bella project in Mumbai. Faridabadbased player BPTP has claimed to have sold nearly 7,000 units worth Rs 1,600 crore in the first half of the current fiscal in three housing projects in its 1,900-acre integrated township BPTP Parklands. Unitech has launched about 17 million square feet of properties across the country and claims to have sold over 60 per cent of it.
In the last few months, several developers have claimed to have completely sold out their projects, and that too within a few days, if not hours, of launch. For a sector where only a few months ago sales had declined to a trickle, such tall claims are hard to stomach. How genuine are they?
THE NEXUS
The developers' modus operandi is as follows. Instead of selling to end-users, most of the flats in these newly-launched projects are booked by brokers, with the intention of offloading them at a premium later.
This allows developers to claim that their newly-launched projects have got fully booked.
Often developers only launch their project after brokers have assured them that they have arranged enough buyers or agreed to book the projects themselves. With such a strategy, success is almost guaranteed. Indeed, DLF managing director TC Goyal attributed the success of their recent project launch to brokers. "We would not have seen the kind of success we got in Capital Greens projects but for these brokers who worked for almost one-and-a-half-months on behalf of DLF to convince home buyers and investors to put their money in the project," he said.
An investigation by The Indian Express found that besides relying on brokers, developers also use the services of underwriters. A prominent underwriter on whom two of the country's top real-estate developers rely spoke to The Indian Express and emphasised the return of positive sentiment to the sector. "Buyers are back in the market. We are sure of selling the properties that we have underwritten," he said. He further added that with interest among home buyers growing, prices were sure to begin rising once again, spelling profits for underwriters.
Industry veterans such as P S N Rao, founder chairman of National Associations of Realtors (NAR- India), explain that the phenomenon of underwriting has been in existence for a long time. "The advantage to the developer is that his products get sold quickly while the broker earns not just a commission but enjoys the benefit of any price appreciation that may occur while he holds the property," he says.
Some experts believe that developers' financial situation has not improved so much that they can hold a project for long. "They need the cash flow to service debt, which they took to buy land.
Funds from other sources such as dilution of equity are still not openly accessible. This has forced developers to depend on sales proceeds to service debt," says Sharma of Qubrex.
With A Strengthening Market, Investors are Returning To The Housing Sector. This Has Led To Developers Announcing A Slew Of Housing Projects Since Last Month
"The changed government policy towards affordable housing and the builders' marketing strategies are paying dividends," said Sanjay Sharma managing director of QuBREX, a Gurgaon-based property consultancy and brokerage firm.
"Of the new projects floated in the past few months, barring Ireo City in the premium segment, most others are in the affordable housing segment with a cost of Rs 25 to Rs 50 lakh coming up in areas under new master plan/' said Sharma.
After a year-long lean patch, the housing sector is shining again Floated in the past six months, the new housing projects promise to add at least 10,000 affordable housing units in Millennium City by another three years.
This projected average is similar to projects floated two/three years ago which would add 10,000 to 15,000 houses in various segments this year and next year. "After a downturn, it's time to rejoice for real estate developers/'said Punit Beriwala, MD, Vipül Ltd.
Market is getting stronger and investors are coming back to the market A slew of projects have
already been announced since last month, he said
Property developers are trying to make the best of the festive season by launch-ng new projects and marketing the ongoing projects aggressively.
With the onset of Navratra, while the firms have gone on an advertisement blitzkrieg to sell their projects, the banks are attracting buyers by lowering interest rates and exempting the processing fee for a limited period.
State Bank of India, Deutshe Postbank, ING Vysya Bank and Punjab and Sind Bank are trying to light up the festive season by lending more for housing than they used to until a few months ago.
The new projects coming up in Gurgaon include SAS Arcadia in Sector 83 and Raheja's Shilas.
Traditionally the period of festivities from Navratra to Christmas (September-December)sees higher sale of property in India. Besides locáis trying to seal property deals duíing the
auspicious days, the NRIs also visit India during this time and invest. This has been the overall trend in the past few years.
Last year was an exception. The colossal collapse of Lehman Brothers pushed the global economy in a crisis and the realty sector was one of the worst hit. The prospectivé buyers were reluctant to invest fearing job loss.
But with an upward trend in the market,things are looking up again. Punit Beriwala,MD, Vipul Ltd, says after a downturn, its time for the real estáte developers to rejoice. Market is getting
stronger and investors are coming back. A slew of projects have already been announced since last month. "The forthcoming festive season is auspicious for developers as it is this time
of the year that-counts for nearly 30 per cent of the total number of houses booked round the year' says Beriwala.
Some are cautiously optimistic though.The market may be active compared to the last year. "But the situation is nowhere near what it was three years ago/' says Sanjay Sharma, managing director of QuBREX, a Gurgaon-based property consultancy and brokerage firm.
There are other deviations from the traditional way the real estate firms used to function. There are no more freebies or heavy discounts being offered anymore, says Sharma.
"The rates at which the houses are currently selling are very competitive. There has been a correction in the prices and the rates have been softened. We believe this itself is a high selling
point. Freebies are a short-term pheomenon. Hence, it would not sustain the level of sales for a long time. The nature of today's market demands quality and delivery, "says Vipul MD Beriwala.
But the buoyant market may not mean any price-rise because the buyers have become very price-sensitive.
"The market has seen a correction of prices in the last six months. There also has been a consolidation in the sector. The prices will sustain its current level for the next couple of months/'
prediets Beriwala, adding that with the strengthening of the market, there is a possibility of price-rise.
With uncertainty over whether the pending residential projects will be completed, people are paying extra money to buy ready-to-move-in flats, while the former are still awaiting buyers. After all, who wants to take a risk?
In Gurgaon, houses and hot cakes have a similarity: What's ready, sells immediately. And what's not ready has no takers.
With pending residential projects nowhere near completion, buyers are opt-for ready-to-move-in houses over the newly floated projects.
People out to buy a home for them-selves in the Millennium City are bypassing the under-construction projects—the fates of which remain uncertain—even if it means shelling out a few more lakhs for the same property.
Brokers say that two-bedroom houses are the highest in demand. But there's none available.
The prices of three and Four bed room flats in DLFs Wellington, Çarlton and Princeton towers,Vipul Belmonte on the Golf Course Road, Orchid Petal, Vatika City and JMD Gardens oh Sohna Road, Wembley Estate Apartments in Rosewood City have gone up in the past few months due to the changed economic situation.
Sanjay Sharma, managing director ofQuBREX, a Gurgaon-based property consultancy and brokerage firm, says, "Two kinds of buyers are active thèse days. The first ones are those with budgets as low as Rs 15-20 lakh (who couldn't think of investing in a residential property) are now coming forward and investing.
They are investing in the affordable housing projects." The other category is those with
deep pockets but who are not ready to take a risk by going in for under-construction projects. "They are ready to shell out Rs 10-15 lakh more for a ready-to-possess house rather than
waiting a year for an incomplete one,"he says.
Since mid-2008, several high-end projeets such DLF's Belaire (was supposed to be ready by August) and Park Place (was supposed to be ready by October), Ansals Ghata Plots (Sushant Lok 4), Vatika Plots near Haldiram, Unitech Uniworld Resorts, Besteche Parkview Spa, Vipul Tatvam Villas, Central Park 2, Ansals' Palam Vihar Apartments and Ramprastha Plots have been delayed by over one to two years.
Experts say, ready-to-move in properties have always been in demand with buyers as thèse reduce the time lag of possession, decrease the interest cost and lowers the component of their salaries going towards housing need (a person would no more pay a rent and an EMI for two different properties simultaneously) and mitigates their concerns of timely possession.
The Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) has framed a policy for low cost and affordable housing projects with an objective to provide affordable dwelling units to people belonging to lower and middle-income category.
While stating this here recently, a spokesperson for the authority said the other aim of framing this policy was to mitigate the shortage of dwelling units and to help every family to own a house or a flat in the state.
He said the scheme would be allowed only in the residential zone. The minimum area requirement would be 10 acres in the hyper or high potential zone and 5 acres in the medium or low potential zone. The said housing would be allowed in 10 per cent area in each sector over and above 20 per cent sector area earmarked for group housing colony.
Elaborating about the basic parameters of the policy, he said minimum size of Economically Weaker Section (EWS) flat would not be less than 25 sq mts (carpet area) and for affordable unit, it would not be less than 48 sq mts (carpet area).
He said the selling price of the flat would not exceed Rs 4 lakh per dwelling unit for low-cost housing project and for dwelling units constructed under affordable housing category, the cost would not exceed Rs 16 lakh for Gurgaon-Manesar Urban Complex, Rs 14 lakh in the Periphery Controlled Area Panchkula Faridabad-Ballabgarh Complex Development Plan and Rs 12.50 lakh for the rest of the towns of the state.
Here is a great opportunity for those who could not afford their dream house in Gurgaon because of the sky-high prices being offered by private developers.
Under its new `Low-Cost and Affordable Housing policy', the Haryana government has not only allowed private developers to construct a greater number of apartments per acre of land, but also has fixed a price cap of Rs four lakh and Rs 16 lakh for the 25 sq m (270 sq ft) and 48 sq metre (516 sq ft) flats.
The area refers to carpet area.
The market price for a 25 sq metre apartment in Gurgaon should be around Rs 10-12 lakh and Rs 18-22 lakh for 48 sq m flat.
Developers would be allowed to charge not more than Rs 14 lakh in cities such as Panchkula, Faridabad and Ballabgarh and Rs 12.5 lakh for the rest of the towns of the state for each 48 sq metre flat.
According to officials of town & country planning department, thedeveloperswouldberequired to construct 48 sq metre flats on 85 per cent of the plot of the land and low-cost 25 sq metre apartments would be constructed at the balance 15 per cent land.
The developer would now be able to construct 128 apartments as against the earlier norm of 50 apartments maximum.
"The low-cost apartment would be for the people falling in the below poverty line (BPL) bracket while preference would be given to the Haryana domicilesandClassIIIandIVemployees for the affordable units of 48 sq metres," said a government official who did not want to be identified as he is not authorised to speak with media.
"The general public could also apply for these apartments and allotment would be carried out through draw of lots."
Navin Raheja, chief managing director, Raheja Group said his company would be constructing 6500 apartments on a plot on Sohna road and would sell 48 sq meter apartments for Rs 14 Lakh--Rs 2 lakh less than the ceiling price.
Officials said flats allotted under this scheme would be prohibitedfortransferorfurthersale up to five years after getting the possession of the flat.
Breach of this would attract, penalty equivalent to 100percent of the selling price of the flat.
In a move to bring relief to property buyers and make transactions hassle-free, Haryana government has introduced a people-friendly scheme for depositing stamp duty at State Bank of India counters by substituting stamp papers.
State revenue secretary Urvashi Gulati says that under the new scheme, an executant will have to deposit the amount of stamp duty at authorized counters of SBI branches after filling the requisite challan form in triplicate.
The bank will then issue a receipt on specially designed security paper, duly signed by an authorized officer for the amount deposited. The bank would charge nominal service charges ranging between Rs 20 and Rs 1,000 based on the value of stamp duty leviable, she added. Gulati says the depositor has to then paste this receipt on the deed that is to be produced for registration and present the same before a competent authority where the registration officer would accept the document after verifying the deposit of stamp duty from SBI over internet.
Presently, stamp papers worth up to Rs 10,000 can be purchased from stamp vendors. If the stamp papers required are over Rs 10,000, the executants have to purchase the stamp paper from the state treasury. Under the present system, the executant has to shuttle between the treasury, treasury banks and tehsil offices many times while executing a transaction. The instruments cannot be prepared and executed by an executant on a plain paper in the absence of a stamp paper.
The Haryana government would provide land to the Haryana Housing Board for construction of 38,000 houses in the state for people belonging to economically weaker sections of society in both urban and rural areas, reports Financial Express.
The land in urban areas would be provided on collector rates and in rural areas, it would be given on floor rates, the report added.
This decision was taken at a meeting held recently, which was presided over by Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
Hooda directed the board authorities to construct the houses on priority, especially in big cities, to meet the growing demand of low-cost houses.
Hooda said 10 per cent houses would be reserved for civic bodies' employees as land would be provided by municipalities in urban areas.
Hooda also directed the financial commissioner and principal secretary, town and country planning, DS Dhesi to moot a proposal to transfer 50 per cent plots for the poor on the land developed by developers to the housing board.
The chief minister directed Dhesi that the transfer of land at Sonepat, Jind and Hansi to the housing board by Haryana Urban Development Authority be done expeditiously.
Principal secretary, housing, Manik B Sonawane said the board had already finalised an action plan to construct the 38,000 houses, of which 7,000 houses would be done on public-private partnership basis.
Haryana government has initiated the process of acquisition of 679 acres of land in Rewari district on NH8, south of Gurgaon for the next phase of Bawal Industrial Growth Centre (BGC).Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (HSIIDC) has already issued notices under the provisions of Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act to acquire this land.
According to Y S Malik, financial commissioner and principal secretary to Haryana Industries & Commerce Department, the fresh land acquisition is being done for the extension of BGC, to be developed as an integrated complex for industrial recreational and other public utilities.
Set up on an area of 1,200 acres, BGC was earlier allotted 1,000 acres of land for the second phase in late 2007. Evolved as a mega industrial hub, BGC has attracted a large number of prominent Indian and multinational companies including Caparo Maruti, Mitsui Kinzoku, Asahi India Glass, Asian Colour Coated, NGK Spark Plugs, Hollister, Musashi Autos, Los Angeles Candy, YKK, Nerolac, Rico, Bector Dickinson, Sona Koyo, Talbros. Many of the companies that have a base in BGC, involve 100 per cent FDI.
BGC assumes significance as Manesar-Bawal investment region figures among the select seven investment regions and 13 industrial areas planned along Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor.
Sources in Haryana's Industry & Commerce Department told Property Pulse that capital investment in excess of $1.2 billion has already been made for medium and large scale projects of textiles, chemicals, light engineering and electronics industries. HSIIDC is engaged in developing different sectors in BGC for housing, institutional and commercial activities.
Meanwhile HSIIDC has prepared a plan to acquire 1,900 acres of land for Rohtak Industrial Model Township, 600 acres for Barhi Industrial Estate, 305 acres for Manakpur IMT and 234 acres for Karnal Industrial Estate.
Months after Haryana government green flagged the registration of independent floors in plotted colonies in Gurgaon, Faridabad and Panchkula, it notified two more ordinances last week. This is seen as a move that could push property prices in these cities and also make the dream of legally owning a house a reality for thousands of people in plotted colonies.
With these ordinances - The Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas (Amendment) Ordinance 2009 and The Haryana Urban Development Authority (Amendment) Ordinance 2009 - the registration of independent residential floors as dwelling units for the purpose of transfer , sale, gift, exchange or lease would be allowed in areas like DLF, Sushant Lok, South City and HUDA sectors in Gurgaon and Faridabad.
The purchaser desiring registration has to pay a duty as notified by the government from time to time, in addition to the prevailing stamp duty.
Sources said that vertical divisions of plots and increase in floor area ratio (FAR) would not be allowed. In addition to the normal stamp duty, 1% extra stamp duty would have to be paid by the party desirous of registering the floor-wise dwelling units through a separate challan.
This 1% stamp duty will be paid by the treasury to the municipal committee/ HUDA depending on where the property in question is located. While this is going to bring huge relief to house owners, there is also a catch for the state government . It expects to generate approximately Rs 200 crore revenue in the form of collection of stamp duty with this single move.
Haryana has already lost huge revenue , close to Rs 250 crore in last fiscal, due to the slowdown in real estate sector. Now, people in the realty sector say it is a timely move when the sector is expecting to make a come back. According to official sources, revenue in the form of stamp duty collected from sale of property in Gurgaon is one of the single most major revenue generators for Haryana government.
Meanwhile, property owners and real estate consultants also claim property prices had peaked in Chandigarh after the government allowed floor-wise registration of houses. Official sources said sections of private developers in Gurgaon in particular had been blocking the sale and registration of independent floors and that that resulted in pushing the sale of flats in multistoreyed buildings and apartments.
FOCAL POINT
The purchaser desiring registration of independent floors has to pay a duty as notified by the government from time to time, in addition to the prevailing stamp duty In addition to the stamp duty, 1% extra stamp duty would have to be paid by the party desirous of registering the floor-wise dwelling units through a separate challan
Mukesh Ambani-promoted Reliance Haryana SEZ has sought a third extension to complete the acquisition of land.
The company has been able to acquire around 10 per cent of the proposed 5,000 hectares for a multi-product enclave.
The 19-member inter-ministerial board of approval (BoA), headed by commerce secretary Rahul Khullar, is likely to consider the proposal on August 11.
Company sources said they were going slow because of recession and resistance from farmers who were demanding a higher compensation.
"The request of Reliance SEZ for an extension will be considered at the BoA meeting," a senior commerce ministry official said.
Proposed SEZs that get an in-principle nod from the government have to complete land acquisition within one year of approval. A formally approved SEZ with land under possession has to begin operations within three years.
The Reliance SEZ was to initially cover 10,000 hectares at an investment of over Rs 25,000 crore. This was scaled down to 5,000 hectares after the government capped the area under SEZs.
So far, Reliance Haryana SEZ Ltd has been able to acquire 486 hectares for the Gurgaon project. The Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation -- which holds a 10 per cent sweat equity in the project -- has transferred 133 hectares. The land available, however, is not contiguous -- a key requirement for the notification of SEZs. Reliance has sought the state government's help.
The Haryana government has issued two ordinances, "The Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas (Amendment) Ordinance, 2009" and "The Haryana Urban Development Authority (Amendment) Ordinance, 2009" to grant permission for the registration of independent residential floors as independent dwelling units.
This will facilitate transfer, sale, gift, exchange or leasing of independent floors as no sub-division of land under the residential dwelling unit shall be permitted and the registration shall be limited to only one dwelling unit on each floor.
The purchaser desiring registration shall be liable to pay duty as notified by the government from time to time, in addition to the stamp duty payable under the Indian Stamp Act, 1899, as applicable in Haryana.
Possession delays irk buyers even as realty firms launch budget housing schemes to ramp up cash flows
Tall claims: The DLF Belaire project in Gurgaon. Only half the work has been completed so far at the site
Home sales in India may be on the rebound, with real estate firms launching new projects to tap a revival in housing demand, but Ajay Jain remains an angry customer of DLF Ltd, the country's largest property developer by sales.
Singapore-based Jain, 49, who signed up in August 2006 for a four-bedroom apartment in DLF's Belaire project in Gurgaon, a satellite town south-east of New Delhi, is upset that he has paid the developer at least 85% of the cost of the flat--Rs2.4 crore--but only half the work has been completed so far at the site.
At the time of booking, Jain said, he was told that the project would be completed in three years--by August 2009. After paying two-three instalments, DLF gave Jain the buyer agreement in February 2007, which said that possession would be given within three years of signing the agreement.
"Though DLF has collected the money for this project, they are not bothered about completing it and instead, they keep investing in other projects," Jain said in a phone interview with Mint. Belaire is likely to be delayed by 15 months, say real estate consultants.
Buyers such as Jain--those who bore the brunt of the downturn along with developers--are in plenty. Since mid-2008, projects of almost every developer across cities have been stuck, delayed or shelved. Average delays have ranged from six months to a year.
But what irks buyers even more now is that while several existing projects are stuck mid-way, developers have started launching new ones. These projects, mostly in the budget range, promise possession to buyers within two years, yet there are few signs that the pace of construction at existing, delayed projects will be accelerated.
DLF declined to comment as it was in the mandatory silent period ahead of its first quarter results, likely to be released later this month.
In November, the company's chairman K.P. Singh had said its assets under construction spread over hotels, residential and commercial projects were delayed because of lower demand and an industrywide liquidity crisis.
DLF's Belaire and Park Place projects in Gurgaon are likely to be delayed by 15-18 months, say consultants. Belaire was to be ready by August and Park Place by October. A visit to the sites showed that both projects are far from completion. At both sites, only the structure of the towers are ready. The DLF website reflects as much: Structural work is in progress both at Park Place and Belaire, it says.
With these projects lagging, DLF launched 2.8 million sq. ft of residential projects in the first quarter of fiscal 2010, compared with 2.1 million sq. ft launched during the first quarter of fiscal 2009, according to a July report by Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, a brokerage firm.
This is true of other developers, too, who have launched new projects--mostly in the budget or affordable housing category--to generate cash flows even as their existing projects await completion.
According to Motilal Oswal, real estate developers, including DLF, Unitech Ltd, Indiabulls Real Estate Ltd, Puravankara Projects Ltd and Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd, have launched 36 million sq. ft of residential space in the quarter gone by, compared with 2.6 million sq. ft in the year-ago quarter, across cities such as Mumbai, New Delhi, and its suburbs, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad. Of this, developers have already sold 44%, or 16 million sq. ft, of homes.
Widespread delays Unitech's Fresco, Escape and Harmony projects, all within a 300-acre township, Nirvana Country in Gurgaon, look delayed as well.
In a move expected to give a big push to the housing sector in Gurgaon and Faridabad, the Haryana Housing Board is in the process of inviting expressions of interest for building 8,000 flats in these cities and some other places in the national capital region areas, reports Economic Times.
According to the report, this is in addition to the 38,000 housing units, majority of them in NCR, planned in the next two years. Under the latest project, the state will enter into an agreement with real estate developers to provide affordable housing to middle and lower middle class under the public private partnership mode, the report added.
"Since we do not have land in Faridabad and Gurgaon, we will be joining hands with private colonizers whose projects have been stuck due to the (economic) slowdown. We'll prefer those who have the licence, and then those who have enough land," quoted S P Gupta, chief administrator of the housing board in the report.
The announcement follows chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda's assurance to developers that steps will be taken to counter the slump in the real estate market. It will also fulfil his commitment of providing cheap housing to locals, especially those in NCR cities of Gurgaon and Faridabad. Among the other areas selected for the project are Bawal (in Rewari district close to Gurgaon), Badhi (Sonepat) and Karnal.
Officials claim that around 828 units would come up at Badhi, a township to the north of Delhi. While the board is still working on the number of flats to be offered in Gurgaon and Faridabad, it plans to build 400 units for the lower middle class in Bawal. The housing board will share 50 per cent cost of the project and forego profits. "We'll also have some guidelines as far as profits of joint venture groups are concerned," Gupta added.
Earlier, the state had announced that as many as 38,000 houses would be built for all sections of society by 2011. Though the exact number of houses to be constructed close to Delhi hasn't been worked out, it's believed that most of these units will be in NCR where the demand is the highest.
Fortis Healthcare, promoted by former Ranbaxy owners Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh, plans to start the first phase of its medicity coming up in Gurgaon by October-November of 2010.
Half of the construction work has been completed and 250 to 400 beds will come up in the first phase, in an area of 1.5 million sq ft, Managing Director Shivinder Mohan Singh said in Navi Mumbai today.
He said the first phase would concentrate only on three specialties -- cancer, trauma and child care. "Such specialty centres are very less in India and that is why we decided to start with (these three) in the medicity," he said.
Within the next four to five years, other multi-specialty departments will take off, with a total of 1,000 beds.
Medanta, a medicity with a 1,250-bedded super specialty tertiary care hospital promoted by the noted cardiac surgeon, Naresh Trehan, is also coming up in Gurgaon. This project is expected to commence operations from October 1. Financial closure for that project was announced last week.
The Fortis International Institute of Medical Sciences' medicity is envisaged as the flagship project of Fortis Healthcare.
Fortis, which runs 28 hospitals with a capacity of close to 3,200 beds, is planning to increase its capacity to 6,000 beds in about 40 hospitals by 2012, with an investment plan of over Rs 2,500 crore.
Ascendas, a Singapore-based foremost business space provider of Asia, is preparing to launch an integrated IT SEZ in Gurgaon later this year.
The Rs 1,200-crore project, named Ascendas One Hub Gurgaon, will come up over 54 acres of land on the foothills of Aravalis on Gurgaon-Sohna road. A joint venture between Ascendas and promoters of Dabur Group and Dr Fresh Inc, the eco-friendly hub with a green building certification, will have 3.2 million sq ft of IT SEZ (IT Processing Zone) and 2.6 million sq ft of commercial, retail and residential space.
Rajeev Chadha, vice president, Ascendas India, told Property Pulse that the first phase of Ascendas One Hub Gurgaon would be launched in December and completed by 2011. "The phase one will have five lakh sq ft of IT space in the form of multi-tenanted building. The total project cost of the first phase will be Rs 156.29 crores," Chadha informed, adding "we will have large flexible floor plan for this green development with spacious landscaping."
A high-level plot allotment committee has cleared the allotment of industrial plots to 19 units in various industrial estates developed by the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC).
HUDA announced the scheme on November 6. The last date for submission of application forms is January 5.
Buyers such as Jain--those who bore the brunt of the downturn along with developers--are in plenty. Since mid-2008, projects of almost every developer across cities have been stuck, delayed or shelved. Average delays have ranged from six months to a year.
