Saturday, October 31, 2015

Mumbai builders can now check their proposals online

Mumbai

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has told builders to scrutinize building proposal files with the help of approved software before submitting them, as it will minimise developer-official interaction and will control corruption.

Civic officials, who hope to grant building permission within two months, want to eliminate the role of middlemen like architects, who deal with them on behalf of builders to get permission.

The BMC has been using the Auto-DCR software for the last few months to scrutinize proposal files submitted by builders. It examines the height, width, length of flats, stairs, lobby, refugee area, open area along with other details and indicates deficiencies.

The BMC has told builders to purchase the software and check their proposals.

The building proposals (BP) department, which grant construction permission, is considered one of the most corrupt departments in the BMC. Municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta, who has been attempting to put a system in place to minimize corruption, discussed the issue with builders and BP officials and concluded that they have to first remove middlemen.

The builders and BP officials had several meetings, from which the middlemen were kept away. He chaired around a dozen of the meetings before reaching a consensus on reducing the NOCs from 150 to 70. Civic officials will make the process online and keep builders updated about the status of files. An official said builders need not approach civic officials, which will reduce corruption.

The civic authorities have approached chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray to inaugurate the new proposal booklet, which has norms on the reduced permissions.

An official stated that once builders submit proposals, they scrutinize them through the software, which take a few minutes. Earlier they would scrutinize them manually, which would take a month. After scrutiny, the file goes to the storm water drain, sewage, tariff, road, fire and garden departments for NOCs. Sometimes, a sub-engineer from the BP department visits the site and submits a report to the assistant engineer. The file then goes to the deputy chief engineer and then the chief engineer (BP).

The entire process takes around a year-and-a-half. Builders often appoint an architect to coordinate with civic officials to get permission. Builders will now have to submit files online, a copy of which will go to departments concerned, and they have to issue NOCs within seven days. Builders will be intimated about it through an SMS or email.
Source - TOI

Rupee recovers 4 paise to end at 65.27 per US dollar

MUMBAI: After a brief pause, the rupee bounced back by four paise to close at 65.27 per dollar on fresh selling of the American currency by banks and exporters on the back of lower greenback overseas. 

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The rupee resumed higher at 65.26 per dollar as against the last closing level of 65.31 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange Market and firmed up further to 65.11 on selling of the US currency by banks before concluding at 65.27 per dollar, showing a gain of four paise or 0.06 per cent. 

The domestic currency hovered in a range of 65.11 and 65.38 per dollar during the day. The rupee had touched a low of 65.38 during the intra-day trade on month-end dollar demand from importers, mainly oil refiners. The rupee had dropped by 38 paise or 0.59 per cent yesterday. 

The dollar index was traded lower by 0.30 per cent against a basket of six currencies in the late afternoon trade. 

In the overseas market, the dollar was trading lower against the yen today, weighed down by the Bank of Japan's decision to stand pat on its monetary stimulus. 

The Bank of Japan made no changes to its stimulus programme at a meeting on Friday, saying it will maintain its current pace of asset purchases. 

Pramit Brahmbhatt, Veracity Group CEO, said, "The rupee traded range bound as investors preferred to be cautious in the uncertain market but managed to close on a positive note as Dollar index is trading weak against other major currencies which helped Rupee to trade firm." 

Today local equities closed on a weak note which dented the rupee movement and forced it to close at 65.27 for the day near yesterday's close. The trading range for the Spot USD/INR pair is expected to be within 64.80 to 65.80. 

Meanwhile, the Indian benchmark sensex ended lower by 181.31 points or 0.68 per cent today.

Source - TOI

Sensex closes provisionally 181 points down

MUMBAI: A benchmark index of the Indian equities markets, the 30-scrip BSE Sensitive Index (Sensex), provisionally closed Friday's trade 181.31 points or 0.68 per cent down. 

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The wider 50-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) also provisionally closed 45.65 points or 0.57 per cent in the red at 8,065.80 points. 

The Sensex of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 26,878.48 points, provisionally closed at 26,656.83 points (at 3.54 p.m.) down 181.31 points or 0.68 percent from the previous day's close at 26,838.14 points. The Sensex touched a high of 26,942.29 points and a low of 26,585.20 points in the intra-day trade.


Source - TOI

CCI Rejects Charges Against Jaypee Group; 2 Members Dissent

New Delhi: By a majority order, the Competition Commission of India has dismissed charges of dominant market position abuse against Jaiprakash Associates in the real estate sector.

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Dissenting with the majority decision, two members of the fair trade regulator said a penalty of Rs 666 crore should be imposed as the company was in violation of competition norms. However, this was overruled by the CCI Chairman and two other members who said the JP group was not a dominant player in the relevant market - that is development and sale of residential units in their 'integrated townships' in Noida and Greater Noida.

The competition watchdog also asked the company and other players in the realty sector to take appropriate voluntary measures to address the concerns of the flat buyers.

CCI Chairman Ashok Chawla and two members - Sudhir Mital and U C Nahta - said that JP Associates and Jaypee Infratech Ltd did not "enjoy a position of dominance in the market for provision of services for the development and sale of residential apartments in Noida and Greater Noida".

Dissenting with the majority order, two CCI members - S L Bunker and Augustine Peter - ruled that JP Group enjoyed dominant position in this case and directed it to "cease and desist" from indulging in anti-competitive practices.

The 137-page order came after CCI's probe into the alleged abuse of dominant position with regard to development and sale of residential units in JP Group's integrated townships in Noida and Greater Noida.

According to the majority order, the investigation by CCI's Director General found that the market share of Jaypee Group was much less than the rival competitor and it did not have any commercial advantage over its competitors due to its economic strength or due to its size or resources.

Quoting the DG's investigation, this order said Jaypee Group was behind Amrapali, its next rival competitor, and "this clearly demonstrates that it (Jaypee) does not have the biggest market shares in the relevant market".

The minority order, however, said that DG found various conditions imposed on buyers, including for delay in possession and in the undertaking given with application, were one sided and "can be considered unfair".

According to the minority order, the imposition of unfair and discriminatory condition by a dominant player has serious adverse effects on the market and on consumers.

Jaypee collected several thousands of crores of rupees from the consumers on the pretext of offering residential units in 'integrated townships' and "cannot now be allowed to turn around and say that it is a 'marketing gimmick' when it is subjected to the scrutiny of this Commission", the two dissenting members said in their order.

The proposed penalty of Rs 665.94 crore translates into 5 per cent of the company's average three-year annual turnover.

There was no immediate comment from the company.

The penalty amount, if it had not been overruled, would have been the biggest imposed by fair trade regulator CCI on a real estate player.

The regulator had slapped a fine of Rs 630 crore on DLF in November 2012 and the ruling was first challenged in Compat and is now before the Supreme Court.

Source - NDTV 

Government set to ease housing approvals


NEW DELHI: Government departments involved in granting approvals for construction projects in cities and towns will now come out with necessary notifications by November-end for streamlining approvals for time-bound and hassle-free clearances. This will mean applicants don't have to bring their cases to Delhi for different clearances.

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Moreover, government will also empower the land owners and their architects to make self declarations that their plans comply with norms to get quicker approvals. But if their declarations are found wrong, government agencies will demolish the construction without even giving notice. "We are going to have such stringent provisions for the violators. Even the architect or consultant who has certified wrong information will lose his licence forever," urban development minister M Venkaiah Naidu said.

Sources said that a series of decisions to simplify the procedures by delegating more powers to urban local bodies and using technology to ensure time-bound decision on projects were taken at a meeting on Wednesday. It was attended by three Cabinet ministers and over half-a-dozen secretaries, including cabinet secretary P K Sinha. Besides Naidu, defence minister Manohar Parikkar and culture minister Mahesh Sharma were also present.

A ministry spokesperson said the ministers and cabinet secretary reviewed the progress made by respective ministries to enhance 'ease of doing business' in urban areas. "The cabinet secretary said streamlining of approvals need to be taken seriously to avoid cost and time overruns and harassment of project developers," the official added.

Online approvals can be obtained using the 'app' developed by ISRO in the case of buildings close to the protected monuments. "The app has been enhanced to a margin of error of only 1-2 metres," said another official.

Source - ET

Oberoi Realty Launches 25 Acre Mumbai Residential Project

Oberoi Realty has launched a 25-acre residential project in Mumbai's Borivali called 'Sky City'.

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"Sky City will consist of multiple towers of up to 60 storeys each. The company plans to launch the first phase of this development consisting of three towers," Oberoi Realty said.

The apartments at Sky City will comprise predominantly of expansive three bedrooms in various configurations, with carpet areas starting from 1029 sq. ft. onwards, Oberoi Realty added.

"The project is strategically located off the Western Express Highway offering excellent connectivity to business districts and leisure options like malls, hotels, theatres and parks.

"Based on the design concept of multi- terraced gardens, the development will boast of wide - open recreational areas and lush green landscapes," Oberoi Realty said.

The amenities at 'Sky City' will include multiple swimming pools, an aqua gym, tennis court, badminton court, squash court, rock climbing, landscaped gardens, gymnasium, jogging track, children's play area, skating rink, Oberoi Realty said.

At 12:37 pm, the Oberoi Realty stock was trading 2.57 per cent higher at Rs 275.20, outperforming the broader indices.

Source - NDTV Profit

Maharashtra to use no development defence zones for affordable housing in Mumbai

MUMBAI: The government of Maharashtra is considering opening up land parcels under the no-development zones as well as plots belonging to Indian defence personnel in an effort to build affordable houses in Mumbai, said Prakash Mehta, minister of housing, labour & mines. 

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"The blueprint for affordable housing in Mumbai will be ready soon, and if needed, we will even look at the salt pan land, defence land, airports authority and BPT (Bombay Port Trust) for these projects," the minister said, while stressing on the need for affordable housing in the country's commercial capital. 

A land spread of over around 350 acres, mainly on the eastern coast, under Bombay Port Trust's control, can also be used for mass housing projects, he explained. According to Mehta, Maharashtra government has entered into an agreement with the Ministry of Defence that will allow land under its control in Mumbai to be used for mass housing. 

"For this purpose, we will be using the defense land that has been encroached upon by slum dwellers. In exchange of this, we will allot them land in other parts of Maharashtra," he said after inaugurating MCHI's property exhibition in Mumbai. He nudged realty developers, who drew his attention to high taxes and development levies, to develop more affordable housing projects in the city. 

"We need 11 lakh affordable houses in Mumbai, and we would like to get your (builders') support on this. We need these houses within Mumbai and not in Mumbai Metropolitan Region. We will take care of MMR (for affordable housing), you focus on Mumbai," Mehta said. He was referring to developers' suggestion that they will be able to build affordable houses in Mumbai Metropolitan Region that includes areas such as extended suburbs of Vasai, Virar, Badlapur, Ambarnath. Mehta said he hoped to get a commitment within a month from developers to build affordable houses in Mumbai.
 The minister, along with a core team of MCHI, will be meeting Union Minister Prakash Javdekar within a month regarding delays in environmental clearances for real estate projects

Source - ET

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Rupee weakens by 27 paise on strong dollar demand

MUMBAI: The rupee depreciated by 27 paise to 65.20 against the dollar in early trade on Thursday on strong month-end demand for the US currency from importers. 

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Forex dealers said dollar strengthening against other currencies overseas after the US Federal Reserve signalled it may raise interest rates in December weighed on rupee sentiment. Stock markets opening with losses too put pressure on the domestic unit. 

The rupee had recovered by 4 paise to close at 64.93 per dollar on Wednesday at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market.Meanwhile, the benchmark Sensex fell 93.42 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 26,946.34 in early trade.

Source - TOI

Sensex sheds 93 points on derivatives expiry, weak Asian cues

MUMBAI: The benchmark BSE Sensex fell over 93 points to slip below the 27,000-mark in early trade on Thursday as participants cut down bets in view of the October series expiry in the derivatives segment amid weak Asian cues. 

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The 30-share barometer fell 93.42 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 26,946.34 after opening in positive zone. The gauge had lost 431.03 points in the previous three sessions. 

Losses in FMCG, banking, power, PSU, IT, capital goods and oil&gas stocks dragged the Sensex down. Also, the NSE Nifty declined 23.65 points, or 0.28 per cent, to 8,147.55. 

Brokers said squaring-up of positions by participants with today being the last trading session of the October derivatives expiry dampened sentiment. 

A weak trend at other Asian bourses after the Federal Reserve hinted at a possible US interest rate hike in December also hit sentiment. 

Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 0.39 per cent, Japan's Nikkei fell 0.14 per cent, while Shanghai Composite shed 0.09 per cent in early trade on Thursday. 

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1.13 per cent higher in Wednesday's trade.

Source - TOI

Real estate bill, decoded

Mumbai - The amendment of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2013, to include real estate agents and registrations of realty projects in the Central Advisory Council, is likely to introduce transparency and accountability in the real estate sector.

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The amendment of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2013 to include real estate agents and registrations of realty projects in Central Advisory Council is likely to bring in transparency and accountability in the real estate sector. This move is now expected to assist the government in understanding the issues better that prevail in the real estate industry. The same bill also lays down the proposal for the formation of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority, which will act as a body to defend the interests of real estate agents, promoters as well as the allotters. Shammi Sethi, director, Rare Earth Strategic Real Estate Consultant, says, "Making real estate agents a part of the Central Advisory Council is great news as the government recognises brokers as key stakeholders of the industry, but there should be a bigger plan and the idea should recognise real estate agents as true professionals."
Brotin Banerjee, MD and CEO, Tata Housing Development Company, adds, "Since real estate agents deal closely with the homebuyers, they are privy to the customer expectations regarding the real estate transactions. By including them in the council, the government will be in a better position to discern the consumer sentiment regarding the real estate market." Experts from the industry are of the view that in principal, this is a fantastic step being taken by the government, as the first step in solving any issue is recognition. According to Jay Patel, CEO, IndiaMLS, "Until recently, the voice of the real estate brokers and agents had never been considered in matters relating to the real estate industry. For an industry that accounts for almost 10 percent of the nation's GDP, recognising one of the most important players in the sector was long overdue. An important follow-up action in recognising the real estate brokers as professionals is enacting some form of licensing, regulation, or qualifications necessary to become a real estate professional." The genuine real estate agents in India want and deserve this recognition.Without it, anyone can claim to be a broker, as it is the case today. Numerous countries such as Philippines require brokers to be licensed, and other countries such as Uganda are planning to put in place regulation in the near future.
Ram Raheja, director of S. Raheja Realty, says, "Now, the industry would get insight into the ground level realities, which these agents experience from dealing with developers and consumers on a dayto-day basis. Now, there would be an assurance of transparency in the purchasing process, which will benefit both, the real estate companies and consumers." Sanjay Dutt, managing director, Cushman and Wakefield (India), informs, "Now, this body would be responsible for advising the central government on issues related to the real estate industry such as policy recommendations, protection of consumer interests, grievances, redressal and the overall development of the real estate industry." Further, the Real Estate Bill seeks to establish the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) at the state level for the regulation and development of the real estate sector, as well as to defend the interests of the consumer, real estate agents and promoters.This move would assist the government to better understand the issues prevailing in the real estate industry as the amendment would place property brokers as 'stakeholders' in the highly fragmented real estate sector. Rohit Poddar, managing director, Poddar Developers, says, "Real estate agents are important stakeholders in the real estate space. If one professes to be inclusive of all stakeholders, it is high time that they also have a seat at the table."
By including the real estate agents, the government seeks to gain a better comprehension concerning issues that real estate buyers face when it comes to real estate transactions, and to the real estate business as a whole. Ramesh Nair, COO-business and international director, JLL India adds, "Brokers are better placed to understand such issues, as they have direct dealings with end users of real estate. It is clear that the government depends of receiving relevant information from the most informed sources, in order to formulate its policies."
Chandrabhan Vishwakarma, director, Maharashtra Property and Interior says, "It is a very good move. Now onwards, we can highlight the key issues on which the government can work. However, we have been suggesting to set up the registration format and minimum criteria for property brokers where they need to have minimum educational qualification, if they want to raise their voice and concern for the real estate sector."

Source - ET

What future holds for Andhra's new capital Amravati

Amaravati will connect all the strengths of Andhra Pradesh, and is part of the larger development plan of AP.
Here in Andhra, we are lucky in two ways. We have an opportunity to build a new city from scratch. It's difficult to make any existing city a green city or a smart city. We would have to dig up an entire city to get just the underground cables right. So being able to start with clean flat land and build the city from scratch is in itself a blessing. Then, the CM's credibility has brought Singapore on board which has given us a master plan, free of cost, done in a professional way, and delivered on the dot. The Centre for Livable Cities, which has expertise in designing cities across the world, worked with the AP CRDA officials and we have this very well thought out plan now.
After due deliberations with hundreds of experts, what we now have is master plan for the seed (core) capital, the capital area and capital region. The master plan gives you an idea of the zones, where the education, government offices are situated. The CM has the concept of building cities within the main capital, such as a justice city, health city, port city and so on.
The individual design of the buildings will have to be worked out by the builders and developers.
In the core area, the government buildings will be built by the state government with the assistance of the union government that is as per the state bifurcation rules. So the high court, assembly, secretariat, and so on will be built in the core area. Infrastructure, roads, bridges, hospitals and schools will be built in the PPP mode.
Initially, a few thousand acres will be the area where the entire effort is going to be concentrated, and then it will grow organically from there. We want this city to be one that attracts talent from not only different parts of the country, but different parts of the globe. It's a part of the larger game plan we have for the state.
If you look at the geography we have, we have the second largest coastline. Unlike the other coasts, we have a deep draft, between 18 and 24 metres, and that too without the problem of siltation. We are very close to Southeast Asia, and we could easily be the gateway to India. We have many small and medium sized ports, such as Gangavaram, Machilipatnam and so on.

All these small and bigger ports are to be revived. Again, these will be in the PPP mode. Along the coast we have the Visakhapatnam, Visakhapatnam-Chennai industrial corridor, which is in a very advanced stage of development. Then, we have the petroleum corridor, the PCPIR. We have part of the golden quadrilateral running through the state. From Kakinada to Pondicherry we have the Buckingham canal, which is the internal waterway created by the British. As per km waterways cost 25 paise, vis-a-vis train at 1.25 paise, and roadways at 1.60 paise; we will use waterways for goods transport.

Source - ET

Understanding the pent-up demand in Pune market

Pune developers are more organised and professional in understanding the pent-up demand in the market before launching a new project.
When the organised real estate was in its infancy, developers from across the country were flocking to research agencies and independent property consultants for market feasibility study before launching a new project. The market boom, however, changed the demand and supply dynamics and the developer's gut feeling overtook all rational cost and benefit analyses.

Such high was the demand and absorption then that there was practically no need to define the demand in any of the eight top cities of India. However, the market slowdown taught everyone a lesson that it takes a lot to get a housing project absorbed than just the catchment area having economic activity.
What, then, makes Pune a market that has been witness to one of the best absorption rates in the country even today? Has it defined the demand in a scientific manner? Are Pune developers still going for market feasibility study to understand their core market?

A closer look at the Pune property market indicates the developers are more organised and professional in understanding the Pent-Up Demand in the market before launching a new project. Hence, the supply has never been ahead of or late than the demand. As a matter of fact, they are even open to change the plans if the study of the market suggests so.
In March this year, one of the developers in the city scrapped his project to come out with a new plan and layout. It made many of the critics reach the conclusion that the developer had been confused with his initial project. However, the developer's action was based on the recommendation of a research agency that did on-ground feasibility study in the wake of slowdown. He was hence backed with a research that indicated the slowdown has led to change in the consumption pattern of the given market. The developer then decided to restructure his project so that it could be absorbed in the market, instead of adding up to the inventory.

Requesting not to be quoted, the developer says, "What is the point of creating an inventory of premium housing when the current market demand in the catchment area is for affordable housing? Yes, the research came as a shock to me since I could not read the pulse of the market. However, I immediately offered my existing buyers to either switch to the new project or get the refund with interest rate applicable. Most of the buyers understood the method in this madness and switched for bigger apartments with the same payment."
This raises a fundamental question as to whether there could ever be a housing bubble in the city property market when the demand and supply cycle is by and large backed by research. After all, it is not the developer,s gut feeling but the ground realities that is defining demand in the city. Will Pune continue to be a leading city in terms of absorption of housing units?

Arvind Jain, managing di rector, Pride Group, maintains that in Pune there is no danger of formation of any bubble that could eventually burst. Sufficient demand for all types of housing drives Pune's real estate market. According to him, cities like Mumbai and Gurgaon are legendary for getting over-heated. Pune, on the other hand, has been experiencing a healthy growth and not speculator driven price inflation. Thanks to better land availability and the fact that the city is still expanding, Pune's property market is kept rational by a constant influx of supply in its new real estate destinations.

"Pune was also one of the first cities to deliver convincingly on the real estate format of the future namely townships. Many of these townships are located close to Pune's thriving Information Technology hubs, which spawn y hubs, which spawn the greatest demand for such offerings. While Pune's first integrated township Magarpatta City cre ated its own ITITeS hub, many others are located close to the Hinjewadi IT Park. In other words, Pune's developers have not only ensured that they do not create an oversupply, but have also concentrated on delivering the right kind of supply," says Jain.
Manju Yagnik, vice chairperson, The Nahar Group, agrees that the Pune real estate market is healthy and growing, attracting people from across the country. With large open spaces, there is huge scope for further development. Owing to the presence of large scale industries from the auto and manufacturing sector, a young talented workforce is in need of housing and therefore there is a huge demand for housing across all segments of property.
Source - TOI

Delhi eyes new realty on 12,000 acres

The Haryana government on October 27 claimed its recently unveiled New Integrated Licencing Policy would help create two lakh dwelling units belonging to the economically weaker section in major urban growth centres such as Gurgaon, Faridabad, Sohna, Sonepat, Panipat and Panchkula in the next five to six years.

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State government officials are also confident of achieving this mammoth target by 2020 once the policy gets takers and people start applying for licences for real estate projects. This is because under this policy, private developers that would get licences to build housing complexes and projects would have to transfer 12 per cent of their land free of cost for building EWS and no-profit-no-loss (NPNL) housing units.

"We are expecting to receive applications for getting licence for about 12,000 acres under this policy. So, going by the formula we will get about 1,200 acres of land for building EWS and NPNL housing units in these cities," said additional chief secretary P Raghavendra Rao, who is in charge of the town and country planning department.

However, the policy specifies that no single pocket proposed to be transferred under this category will be less than 2.5 acres to ensure proper planning and implementation of such complexes. It will be up to the government to utilize the land parcels through any public or private agency, the policy says.

It also specifies that the licences need to hand over another 10 per cent of their project area to the government free of cost to government for community facilities such as schools, dispensaries, community centres, post offices and religious centres.

The policy has also introduced the provision for transfer of development rights (TDR) for the land owners.

"These certificates will contain the entitlement of FAR, which the individual land owner will be able to transfer to a developer/ colonizer subsequently, a policy mentions. The builder will be allowed to utilize the TDR certificates for higher FAR and to build more dwelling units. We expect the farmers or any other land owner will get at least Rs 4 crore per acre, which is much higher than what he would have got by selling the land or under the acquisition policy for laying infrastructure," Rao said.

Source - TOI

Naidu promises fast track approvals for real estate projects

M Venkaiah Naidu, the Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Urban Infrastructure, on the launch of Magicbricks Now, the 24-hour property channel by the Times News Network, said that 28 states have partnered with the Union government to make ‘Affordable Housing’ possible in India.
Naidu discussed in length with Housing secretaries; the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Associations (CREDAI) and National Real Estate Development Council (NARDECO) on streamlining the approval process that has been the primary cause of delays in housing projects.
Ministers of Finance, Defence, Culture, Civial Aviation, Environment and Forests & Climate Change have been roped to draft guidelines on environment, civil aviation, water and sanitation and urban development, so that the approvals process can be completed within two months. If not, the development can start with a deemed approvals status. Stringent enforcement; penalising violators and demolishing defaulting structures are some steps that will be undertaken if a building is constructed without an approval.
This spells a new era in the Indian housing sector where for the first time the Centre and States are working jointly towards finding solutions to vexing problems. The good news is that states have promised to support the initiative.
Another major cause for cheer is the fact that 54 scheduled commercial banks, 63 housing finance corporations, 16 Regional Rural Banks and 7 Cooperative Banks have agreed to financially support affordable housing projects under Credit Linked Subsidy component of the urban housing mission.
He also spelt out his vision of creating slum-free cities by using incentives of extra Floor Area Ratio (FAR) and Floor Space Index (FSI) to get the private sector to replicate the success of slum redevelopment in Mumbai into other cities as well. 

Source - IP News 

CCI Rejects Charges Against Jaypee Group; 2 Members Dissent



New Delhi: By a majority order, the Competition Commission of India has dismissed charges of dominant market position abuse against Jaiprakash Associates in the real estate sector.

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Dissenting with the majority decision, two members of the fair trade regulator said a penalty of Rs 666 crore should be imposed as the company was in violation of competition norms. However, this was overruled by the CCI Chairman and two other members who said the JP group was not a dominant player in the relevant market - that is development and sale of residential units in their 'integrated townships' in Noida and Greater Noida.

The competition watchdog also asked the company and other players in the realty sector to take appropriate voluntary measures to address the concerns of the flat buyers.

CCI Chairman Ashok Chawla and two members - Sudhir Mital and U C Nahta - said that JP Associates and Jaypee Infratech Ltd did not "enjoy a position of dominance in the market for provision of services for the development and sale of residential apartments in Noida and Greater Noida".

Dissenting with the majority order, two CCI members - S L Bunker and Augustine Peter - ruled that JP Group enjoyed dominant position in this case and directed it to "cease and desist" from indulging in anti-competitive practices.

The 137-page order came after CCI's probe into the alleged abuse of dominant position with regard to development and sale of residential units in JP Group's integrated townships in Noida and Greater Noida.

According to the majority order, the investigation by CCI's Director General found that the market share of Jaypee Group was much less than the rival competitor and it did not have any commercial advantage over its competitors due to its economic strength or due to its size or resources.

Quoting the DG's investigation, this order said Jaypee Group was behind Amrapali, its next rival competitor, and "this clearly demonstrates that it (Jaypee) does not have the biggest market shares in the relevant market".

The minority order, however, said that DG found various conditions imposed on buyers, including for delay in possession and in the undertaking given with application, were one sided and "can be considered unfair".

According to the minority order, the imposition of unfair and discriminatory condition by a dominant player has serious adverse effects on the market and on consumers.

Jaypee collected several thousands of crores of rupees from the consumers on the pretext of offering residential units in 'integrated townships' and "cannot now be allowed to turn around and say that it is a 'marketing gimmick' when it is subjected to the scrutiny of this Commission", the two dissenting members said in their order.

The proposed penalty of Rs 665.94 crore translates into 5 per cent of the company's average three-year annual turnover.

There was no immediate comment from the company.

The penalty amount, if it had not been overruled, would have been the biggest imposed by fair trade regulator CCI on a real estate player.

The regulator had slapped a fine of Rs 630 crore on DLF in November 2012 and the ruling was first challenged in Compat and is now before the Supreme Court.

Source - NDTV 

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Rupee down 12 paise against dollar in early trade

MUMBAI: The rupee weakened by 12 paise to 65.09 against the dollar in early trade on Wednesday due to month-end demand for the US currency from importers. 

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Besides, the dollar's gain against other currencies overseas and a lower opening in the domestic equity market put pressure on the rupee, forex dealers said. 

On Tuesday, the rupee ended barely steady at 64.97 per dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market. Meanwhile, the benchmark BSE Sensex dropped by 156.11 points, or 0.57 per cent, to 27,097.33 in early trade.

Source - TOI

Sensex down 156 points; Nifty below 8,200

MUMBAI: The benchmark BSE Sensex tanked over 156 points and the NSE Nifty dipped below the 8,200-level in early trade on Wednesday due to sustained selling by participants amid mixed Asian cues.

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Caution ahead of expiry of October month contracts in the derivatives segment tomorrow also influenced sentiments.

The 30-share barometer was down by 156.11 points or 0.57 per cent to 27,097.33 in early trade.The index had lost 217.37 points in the previous two straight sessions.

All the sectoral indices led by banking, realty and capital goods were trading in the negative zone, falling up to 0.94 per cent.

The NSE Nifty slipped below the 8,200-mark by losing 51.90 points or 0.63 per cent to 8,181.00 in early trade.

Brokers said continued selling by investors, taking cues from weak Asian markets following overnight losses at the US markets ahead of a policy statement from the Federal Reserve dampened sentiments here.

Investors are awaiting the US Federal Reserve's policy statement which could provide clues about the timing of an interest rate hike.

Among Asian markets, Shanghai composite was quoting 0.91 per cent lower, Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.72 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei up by 0.60 per cent in early trade on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.24 per cent lower in Tuesday's trade.

Source - TOI

Office space deals down 30 per cent in Kolkata: Research



KOLKATA: Office space transactions in Kolkata fell by 30% from the last quarter. According to the Research and Forecast Report by Colliers International, the recorded office space transaction volume stood at 0.2 million sq ft in the third quarter of 2015. 


"We have not seen any major office developments being completed barring a mixed use project at Acropolis Mall, which has an office component of about 0.35 million sq ft," said Surabhi Arora, associate director, research, Colliers India. "Low demand kept the developers cautious in starting new projects, thus no new commercial, Grade A project / parts of the project was launched during the quarter," she added. 

Less congestion and availability of Grade A space in Salt lake sector V and New Town were the first choice for occupiers that included corporates from the pharma, IT/ITeS and BFSI sector. 

Notable deals signed during this time included leasing of about 70,000 sq ft office space in Martin BurnBSE 5.00 % Business Park by Cerner Corporation, followed Capgemini leasing out 30,000 sq ft office in Infospace and Serco Global leasing another 20,000 sq ft in Godrej Water Side. Leasing apart, Veheretech IT Solution bought 10,000 sq ft in PS Srijan Corporate Park. 

Rentals saw 4% quarter on quarter increase in Sector V, Salt Lake and New Town only. There is no expected change in the rental market too as MNCs and major IT/ITeS firms continue to keep a distance from the Kolkata market. 

Also, according to experts the volume of new office development will remain low in the coming quarters, as builders are focusing to complete their small scale projects under construction. 
 
Source - ET

HDIL to launch 'Planet HDIL' affordable housing project



Mumbai: Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL), a leading Mumbai-based real estate developer  is all set to launch two mega projects in Virar (East) and Ghatkopar (East). The company will launch the first phase of its affordable housing project 'Planet HDIL' – mega smart city in Virar (East), this Diwali and another two luxurious projects in Ghatkopar (East), by end of 2015.


“We are glad to announce our ambitious housing project, Planet HDIL, spread over 550 acre of area. We are proud that HDIL is embarking upon one of the largest affordable housing projects in the country,” Sarang Wadhawan, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, HDIL said at a press meet.

Aimed at providing the luxurious experience with an uncompromised leisure, the Ghatkopar project offers spacious apartments fitted with world-class amenities and comfort to our buyers”, added Wadhawan.

Source - NDTV