Registering a property could soon be painless affair with the government planning to replace the century-old Indian Stamp Act, 1899 with a simpler law that will do away with a large number of antiquated provisions and fees.

The finance ministry has already kicked off a preliminary exercise for drafting the new law and is hopeful of finalising it by the end of the year. The draft will also be discussed with state governments to elicit their views before a final decision is taken, government officials familiar with the development said.

"The current law was written more than 100 years ago. Since then the form of business and transactions have completely changed and we feel that there is a need to replace the Act," said a senior government official.

Stamp duty is levied on a number of financial and legal transactions. At present, the documents are physically verified by different departments, making the process of registration a time-consuming activity. The new legislation is expected to address some of these issues.

 Source: Economic Times By Surabhi Key to Change: E-Delivery , 100 Years On, Govt Reworks Property Registration Rules

The developer, once heavily relying on luxury projects in the National Capital Region, has shifted focus on developing Mumbai's slum rehabilitation projects to push up its operating margins, according to a report published in DNA.

The company is expecting about 20-25 per cent of its total sales to come from Mumbai by the fiscal 2012.

The New Delhi-based developer has already invested Rs 850 crore in two joint ventures, Shivalik Ventures and Unitech-Omkar, and would further invest Rs 150-200 crore as the development progresses. Going forward, the JVs are expected to be self funded.

Unitech has obtained Letters of Intent (LoI) for 8 million sq ft in Mumbai, up from the last year's 5 million sq ft.

Source: Realty Plus Now, Unitech eyes slum rehabilitation project in Mumbai

Considered the last fund-raising avenue, real estate developers are still opting for the share pledging route, clearly demonstrating the difficulty of raising money being faced by the sector. With banks exercising caution in lending, and developers finding other fund-raising avenues tough, pledging of shares has become the preferred option for developers to help raise funds to complete ongoing projects, besides starting new ones. Market experts say raising funds is tough in the challenging conditions prevailing in today's market. Developers, they say, need to keep in mind that the primary intention should be to complete projects in order to maintain a healthy movement of capital.

Says Shobhit Agarwal, joint managing director (capital markets), Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, "Developers are raising funds in their ongoing projects through pledging shares and through some other modes. Now, whether they will be able to balance it with the capital flow and not divert funds somewhere else is matter of great concern."

LOANS AGAINST SHARES

Under promoter funding facility, promoters of listed-companies can pledge their shares to get loans and meet their fund requirements. A promoter loan against shares is an instant line of credit and interest is charged only on the amount utilised. An added benefit of loans against shares is that owners do not have to liquidate their holdings to meet short-term cash requirements. Experts say that this method is used by promoters for various other reasons, including hiking their stake via the creeping acquisition route, buying out other investors/ private equity funds, converting outstanding warrants into equity shares and meeting the company's short term borrowing requirements.

Banks, on the other hand, usually keep at least thrice the amount lent as security. And given the change in corporate lending terms from April with interest rates on loans linked to the base rate they are going to implement tough norms on lending to real estate firms whose promoters have pledged shares.

praveen.singh @expressindia.com

• THE SELF-INTEREST CONUNDRUM
  
• COMPLETING PROJECTS, REPAYING LOANS
  
• PROTECTING THE MINORITY SHAREHOLDER
  
• OTHER FUND RAISING ROUTES

This is because the expected base rate of around 8.5 to 9.5 per cent could lead to home loans being offered at 10 per cent or more. At present, home loans are available at 8.5 per cent for start-up customers at "teaser" rates offered by some banks.

Bankers say home loan rates must be kept at affordable levels for consumers.

"Though most concerns over the implementation of the new system have been addressed by the Reserve Bank of India, certain more clarifications are awaited," according to the chairman of a public sector bank.

Bankers say "teaser" rates to lure customers should be discontinued, but add that lending rates cannot be unreasonable either.

Source: Realty Plus Banks seek clarification on new interest rates

According to Boston Analytics research firm, the country's real estate sector has seen increased supply and pace of construction activity which caused improvement in pessimism related to real estate price. Low rates of interest on home loans driven by Government's stimulus packages have also encouraged the Indian consumers to buy homes.

Shirin Bagga, Economist, Boston Analytics, said: "Increased supply, improvement in pessimism related to real estate prices, and low rates of interest on home loans seems to be encouraging Indian consumers to firm up their home purchase decisions".

The research firm collected data from a monthly survey targeting 10,000 respondents cross 15 Indian cities--Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Nagpur, Kochi, Jaipur, Lucknow, Bhubaneswar, Patna, and Vishakhapatnam

The report said the sentiment related to pace of construction activity conveys more optimism with regards to observed change in construction activity in Tier II and Tier III cities relative to Tier I cities. "Additionally, the real estate projects which are in various stages of completion in Tier I, Tier II and Tier III cities and towns appear to be infusing optimism about the expected change in construction activity among respondents across Tiers," the report added.

As pointed out by the Economic Survey of 2009-10, the importance of the construction and real estate sector in creation of both physical and financial assets has been growing over the years. The construction sector now accounts for 8% of GDP at constant prices, up from 7.7% in 2004-05. Similarly, the share of real estate ownership of dwelling and business services in overall GDP as increased to 9.2% in 2008-09 from 8.9% in 2004-05.

Those who are waiting to own a house are suddenly spoilt for choice. The residential real estate market is witnessing a spate of new launches across the country. The offerings range from premium housing to affordable ones and are getting a good response from buyers.

Good opportunity Several developers have launched new residential projects, including affordable and premium housing, across the country.

Abhishek Kiran Gupta, head (research), Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, international property consultants, says: "After July 2009 till festivities, the projects were clearly categorized into two segments: affordable category and mid-end to high-end housing. After witnessing huge sales in the affordable category, developers increased the prices at the end of previous year by 15% in some parts."

In the affordable category, the rates are up by 5-10% since July and that in the mid- to high-end segment by 20%.

Samantak Das, national head (research), Knight Frank India, a consultancy firm, says, "In the coming months, there will be some hike in rates. In the mid-level housing segment, developers will have profit of 20-25%, but price hike may lead to a dip in sales."

Mumbai has witnessed new launches from Indiabulls Real Estate Ltd and DB Realty Ltd. Indiabulls' projects offer premium housing in the range of Rs27,000-30,000 per sq. ft in Lower Parel area. DB Realty's project is selling at Rs27,500 per sq. ft in Prabhadevi. Some new projects are also coming up in Kandivali from Hiranandani Developers Ltd and Ekta World, in the lower range.

Delhi-NCR has a mix of project offerings. Most of the recent launches are in the peripheral areas of Gurgaon and Noida. Supertech Ltd, Amrapali Ltd and Prateek Buildtech India Pvt. Ltd have launched their township projects in Noida.

The rates are in the range of Rs1,800-2,500 per sq. ft. Gurgaon is still leaning towards the premium side. Emmar MGF Ltd's project at the National Highway 8 offers a rate of Rs3,499 per sq. ft, while another premium project from Pioneer Urban Land and Infrastructure Ltd is offering a rate of Rs5,000 per sq. ft.

Other metros, such as Bangalore and Hyderabad, have also witnessed new launches.

devesh@livemint.com

The realty firm wants to di- vide its 42 acres on Old Ma- habalipuram Road off Chennai into four or five portions, each of which will be handed over to local developers for building residential apartments.

"We don't know much about the Chennai market and think it's a good idea to bring in people who have the know- ledge," said Anand Reddy, di- rector of PBEL Property, which has a project pipeline mostly in southern India. "Of course, we will keep a portion of the land which we'll develop our- selves."

A number of large develop- ers are similarly forming joint ventures (JVs) or special pur- pose vehicles with smaller, lo- cal developers for specific pro- jects on a revenue-sharing model.

"We will see more develop- ers getting into such JVs depending on what the local partner brings to the table," said a senior research analyst at First Global Securities Ltd, who didn't want to be named."It could be land, local domain knowledge or even good build- ing capacity."

madhurima.n@livemint.com

Source: Live Mint By MADHURIMA NANDY Rapid Expansion : Big Developers Scout For Local Partners To Grow

The State Environment Appraisal Committee (SEAC) forwarded the DDA's proposal to a higher body in a recent meeting of the State Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SLEIAA) for its final approval.

To come up on the east side of Sector D, Pocket-6 in Vasant Kunj, the DDA initially planned for constructing 860 flats, however due to land scarcity, it slashed the number to 805 with the building height 15.50 mt and proposed built up area around 39,041.6 sq. meters.

It would be constructed with an estimate cost of Rs 34.12 crores with parking facilities for 546 cars.

While recommending the project to state EIAA, the SEAC has asked the DDA to seek DJB's permission for withdrawing groundwater and planting trees inside the premises of the MCD School adjoining to the site.

Upmarket housing in Gurgaon  costing above Rs 75 lakh a unit is the only exception, having risen by around 20 per cent since September.

Affordable homes in the NCR -- those priced between Rs 5 to Rs 35 lakh -- have seen sin- gle digit growth in price, while the cost of similar homes in Mumbai have gone up by a whopping 32 per cent.

PropEquity conducted a 13- city survey that included the five key real estate markets in the NCR: Gurgaon, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Noida and Greater Noida. In Noida, it found prices of the Rs 5-35 lakh homes had gone up only two per cent, while in Gurgaon it was nine per cent.

"The low end market in the NCR region failed to pick up due to excess supply and lack of investor interest," said Samir Jasuja, managing director & CEO, PropEquity.

The price rise in all segments has been the highest in Mumbai and its surroundings.

Delhi was not considered because there is very little con- struction within the city limits

lalatendu.mishra@hindustantimes.com

Despite being hit hard by the recent turmoil, the residential sector of the crisis-torn Indian real estate industry has emerged as the sole bright spot for individual investors, the digest ranked Noida, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata behind Gurgaon and Mumbai. The six cities, which are witnessing an influx of IT/ ITeS employees, also provide residential units at affordable prices. However, infrastructure continues to remain a concern across most of these cities as it is unable to keep pace with the growth in population. With the exception of Bangalore, oversupply will be a concern in the short term due to large number of projects launched over the past 3-4 quarters.

Analysing the contours of the top destinations, the digest said the downturn has led to new opportunities at affordable prices in Gurgaon. The presence of Tier-I developers and quality development, together with the Metro, is expected to improve connectivity.

The commercial city of Mumbai has witnessed high income demographies and high investment acitivity levels across various price bands. The relative affordability in suburban markets like the eastern suburbs, Thane and Navi Mumbai, has been attracting investors in a big way.

In Noida, the reasonable price range has led to an increased absorption momentum. The excellent connectivity through the existing road infrastructure and the Metro has triggered investors' attention.

Before the rules were amended in 2006, residential, commercial and industrial plots were disposed of on a leasehold basis. After the amendments, the plots were disposed on a freehold basis.

In the case of those who had bought the plots before 2006, the authority insisted on certain stipulations such as minimum construction.

It has now decided that "a proposal may be sent to the Ministry of Urban development to amend the freehold policy by allowing conversion of leasehold plots into freehold plots without insisting on any minimum construction on the said plots subject to a payment of composition fee till the date of receipt of application for conversion".

The income ceilings of EWS and LIG are presently defined at Rs 3,300 per month per household and Rs 3,301-7,300 per month per household had been fixed on 2006 prices. These have now been revised to Rs 5,000 per month for EWS and Rs 5,001 to Rs 10,000 per month for LIG based on 2006 prices, the ministry of housing and poverty alleviation said today.

The move had been reported by The Indian Express three weeks ago. In order to account for the rise in per capita income, inflation and construction costs, the proposal to revise the income ceiling has been under consideration of this ministry.

"The revised income ceilings shall be applicable for definition of beneficiaries under government schemes for housing, including Interest Subsidy for Housing the Urban Poor Scheme (ISHUP), Basic Services for Urban Poor (BSUP)/ Integrated Housing & Slum Development Programme (IHSDP)," the housing ministry said.

The existing upper ceiling of Rs 3,300 per month for EWS and Rs 7,300 per month for LIG will continue to form the basis for calculation of affordability and subsidy.

Though pledging of shares is considered the last fund-raising avenue, several developers are taking the route, indicating their difficulty in raising finances, according to a report published in DNA.

Ravi Kiran Aggarwal and Pujit Aggarwal, promoters of Mumbai-based niche realtor Orbit Corp, have pledged 96.43 per cent and 35.26 per cent of their shares, respectively, as collateral to raise debt of Rs 100 crore. The value of the collateral works out to Rs 327 crore, thrice the amount raised as debt. The collateral (of 1.16 crore shares) has been pledged in three tranches, the report added.

Rama Shriya Yadav, chief financial officer, Orbit Corp, said, "We have raised some debt as we are actively looking for project acquisition in south Mumbai."

Pradeep Jain and family, the promoters of New Delhi-based Parsvnath Developers, have also pledged 84.88 per cent of their holdings, it said.

The company had failed to raise money through its qualified institutional placement (QIP) last year. It is looking at raising Rs 242 crore by the end of this month through private equity.

But pledging more shares makes availing funds from banks more difficult.

Source: Realty Plus Realtors back to share-pledging to raise funds

Said Rajeev Talwar, executive director, DLF: "The equation which was there previously of acquiring more land banks have changed and all developers today are more focused on delivering projects."

Reality analysts also believe most of the top developers learnt their lesson that delivery is the most important aspect and the projects left incomplete during the slowdown need to be completed first.

"All the developers in north India acquired a lot of land during the pre-slowdown time and they did it across the country to construct hotels, commercial property, retail complexes and many more. But, as the slowdown came by, lots of the projects never started or were stopped mid way. This sent out a clear signal that there is no point in doing so many things at the same time and now most developers are consolidating on doing their ongoing projects, as they realise delivering them on time is the key," said Santosh Kumar, CEO Operations, Jones Lang LeSalle Meghraj.

The demand for land is now in smaller plots, in places where residential projects are doing well. "Developers are still looking for land in Gurgaon as there is lot of demand for residential projects, but the focus is on only buying land where one witnesses clear demand, rather than just increasing the land banks," added Kumar.

Source: Business-standard By Atanu Kumar DasRealty firms in north focus on clearing backlog

प्रमुख सचिव ने बताया कि 31 मार्च को वित्त वर्ष खत्म होने के बाद जीडीए के पास 703 करोड़ 72 लाख 87 हजार रुपये शेष रह जाएंगे। नए वित्त वर्ष के लिए 1215 करोड़ 54 लाख 50 हजार रुपये की आय का लक्ष्य रखा गया है। नए वित्त वर्ष में जीडीए 1742 करोड़ रुपये खर्च करेगा, उसके बाद भी 176 करोड़ 84 लाख 37 हजार रुपये बैलेंस रह जाएगा।

उन्होंने बताया कि मधुबन आवासीय योजना में ग्रुप हाउसिंग सोसायटियों के लिए एफएआर बढ़ाकर 2.75 कर दिया गया है। अभी तक एफएआर 2 था। ग्रुप हाउसिंग को बढ़ावा देने के लिए बिल्डरों को कुछ छूट दी गई है। आथिर्क मंदी के मद्देनजर छूट को आवश्यक माना गया है। इसके अलावा बैठक में बिल्डरों को कुछ अन्य छूट देने का फैसला किया गया है। अभी तक बिल्डरों को पांच साल में भूमि का पूरा पेमेंट देने के बाद ही कब्जा मिलता था। मगर अब सिर्फ 10 प्रतिशत एडवांस देकर ही बिल्डर कब्जा ले सकते हैं। बाकी रकम वह 6 साल में किस्तों में दे सकते हैं।

प्रमुख सचिव ने बताया कि गाजियाबाद के मास्टर प्लान को चार भागों में करके अलग-अलग जोनल प्लान बनवाया जाएगा। जोनल प्लान से लोगों को यह जानना आसान हो जाएगा कि किस जोन में कौन से विकास के कार्य होने हैं। इंदिरापुरम योजना में महागुन मेन्शन से शिप्रा मॉल तक जाने वाली सड़क का नाम शहीद कैप्टन देवेंद सिंह जस पर करने के फैसले पर बोर्ड ने अपनी मुहर लगा दी। वैशाली आवासीय योजना में अनंत एजुकेशन सोसायटी को और इंदिरापुरम में दशोहा एजूकेश्न सोसायटी को क्रमश: 2400 वर्ग मीटर और 2558 वर्ग मीटर भूमि का आवंटन किया गया है। वैसे स्कूलों के लिए 21 प्लाटों के लिए 70 प्रार्थना पत्र आए थे। बोर्ड बैठक में दो स्कूलों के लिए भूमि आवंटन के मामले ही रखे गए थे।

मधुबन-बापूधाम आवसीय योजना में जिन किसानों की जमीन का अधिग्रहण हुआ है उन्हें दी जाने वाली 6 प्रतिशत भूमि में 2 प्रतिशत कमर्शल भूमि देने और स्कीमों में 17 प्रतिशत का आरक्षण दिए जाने का प्रस्ताव शासन को भेज दिया गया है। एनएच-24 पर प्रकाश व्यवस्था को नगर निगम को ट्रांसफर करने के बाद 15 मीटर हाइट के एलिवेटर प्राधिकरण उपलब्ध कराएगा।

प्रमुख सचिव ने अधिकारियों को आदेश दिया है कि जिन स्कूलों को जीडीए अथवा किसी भी अथॉरिटी ने रियायती दरों पर भूमि का आवंटन किया है उन स्कूलों को अपनी बिल्डिंग के बाहर बोर्ड लगाकर यह दर्शाना होगा कि उनके यहां गरीब छात्रों के लिए क्या-क्या सुविधाएं दी जा रही है। यह आदेश नए और पुराने सभी स्कूलों के आवंटियों पर लागू होगा।