With the manufacturing sector contributing as much as 12 per cent in Delhi's Gross State Domestic Product, the government is looking at extensive organised development. The strategy is keeping in sync with the Masterplan, which calls for regularising all residential areas with over 70 per cent industrial activity into industrial areas, officials said.

"The proposal is still at a preliminary stage," Commissioner (Industries) Dharmendra said, "and we haven't worked out the module yet. But we will definitely introduce a PPP model for industries. The problem right now is that the industrial areas are very badly managed and maintained."

One of the biggest problems, he said, is an overlap of authorities managing industrial estates in the city -- while some are managed by MCD, several are under the DDA, and the state government's Industries department takes care of the rest. "This system will be replaced and only one agency will be made responsible for all industrial estates; uniform standards will be set for all industrial areas.

1.29 lakh
* firms in Delhi industrial estates in 2000-01, most in unorganised sector (up from 17,000 in 1961

25,000-30,000
* plots/industrial units in planned industrial areas

Rs 2524 crore
* estimated investment in these units (up from Rs 60 cr in'61)

14.40 lakh
* employed in these industries in 2001 (up from 1.87 lakh in'61)

The monitoring committee appointed by the Supreme Court to look into the issue of illegal commercialisation in residential areas - has challenged the MCD's decision to allow commercial activities along these roads.

If the Supreme Court agrees with the monitoring committee, shops in major markets like Lajpat Nagar, South Extension, Greater Kailash and Kamala Market will face sealing action.

The MCD, which carried out two surveys of these 2,183 roads, had argued that these stretches should be categorised as either commercial or of mixed land use because of heavy commercialisation. "As per our parameters, any stretch carrying out any type of non-residential activity be it banks, clinics, or other professions are to be treated as non-residential in nature," the MCD said. That and retail shops make the necessary 70 per cent commercialization for the area to be called mixed land, which in turn will qualify for sealing exemption.

But the monitoring committee says only retail shops are to be treated as non-residential in nature. "If we follow the monitoring committee's guidelines, status of thousands of roads will get changed," said a senior MCD official. Both the MCD and monitoring panel will file their affidavits in the Supreme Court in two days. The case will come up before the court on July 7.

An adjudicator for the Guinness Book of World Records was in attendance at the bhoomi pujan (ground-breaking) ceremony in Mahapura village, about 16km from the Rajasthan capital. The ceremony took place when India's real estate market was starting to cool after a red-hot streak. "The whole idea was to attract attention and create hype around the project," says Vinay Shenoy, head of marketing at Bangalore-based real estate marketing firm Asipac Group, which conceptualized the event.

The gimmick helped, and the project made up 63% of total residential sales last year in a softening Jaipur real estate market, according to Shenoy. It is an example of how developers are moving away from traditional marketing techniques and adopting novel strategies to attract reluctant homebuyers.

Rising home loan rates and surging inflation have forced both speculators and genuine homebuyers to put purchases on hold, driving developers to think out of the box to drum up consumer interest. Sales in the Delhi suburbs of Gurgaon and Noida have declined by 20-25%, according to estimates by real estate brokers.

Recently, the Slum and JJ department of the MCD had carried out an inspection wherein it was found that there are several religious institutions in the Capital carrying out commercial and residential activities in the temple premises which is a violation of the terms and conditions of the allotment.

It was found during inspection that the landowner of plot num- ber A-481 and A-482, who were al- lotted land by the civic body for religious purpose only in Madipur area, have been misusing the ground floor by constructing four shops, a godown and one residential unit which is a violation.

"Mayor Arti Mehra has asked us to carry out the survey from Monday onwards, so that action can be initiated on the violators," said a senior MCD official.

The civic body had gone to Madipur area on June 9. Howev- er, owing to local resistance, they were unable to carry out the drive. The civic body had also written a letter to the Delhi Po- lice seeking protection and addi- tional force. "The civic body wanted to seal the commercial units that had come up on land given by the Slum department of the MCD solely for religious purpose. Though the temple would not have been affected by the drive but the local public could become re sentful. So, we decided to postpone the drive," said a senior police officer.

In its letter, the civic body has written that two plots in Madipur were allotted for the purpose of a temple on an area of 125 square yards. However, during inspection it was found that an area of more than 125 square yards has been covered by constructing a building consisting of shops/godowns and offices on the ground floor without having any temple.

Builders, who have made huge profits in the last five years, have been able to hold on to the price, even in the face of falling demand.

In the face of opposition from its own technical committee, the Delhi Development Authority has carried out a controversial change of land use on a Chanakyapuri plot.

What appears a regular change in land use is actually in the words of the DDA technical committee a gross violation to the spirit of the Masterplan 2021.

In a meeting on June 18, the DDA approved the change of land use of a plot of 0.9666 hectares from Foreign Mission (Residential) to “public and semi-public”.

The plot had been allotted by the Land and Development Office (L&DO) of the Ministry of Urban Development to the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA) for the construction of a Pravasi Bhartiya Kendra.

During allotment, the land use was “Foreign Mission” (Residential). A cultural and information centre in such a zone is permissible according to the Masterplan 2021.

But the National Buildings Construction Corporation Ltd (NBCC) requested the L&DO for a Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of 120, which is only permissible when the land-use is “public and semi-public”.

The L&DO forwarded a “request” to the DDA to carry out the proposed change.

A recent Indian Economic Times report blamed the problem on the global liquidity crunch exacerbated by a slowdown in demand, rising input costs and high interest rates.

It said with bank lending rates rising between 18 and 20 per cent, the ability by developers to source cheaper funds via the stock market or issuing debt instruments has been curtailed by unfavourable market conditions.

As a result, many have started going slow on their projects while others have stopped work altogether to conserve cash.

With no short-term solution in sight, industry experts note the only avenue for raising capital is through private equity which can be expensive for the companies, the report said.

Further, investments volume in the two neighbouring nations is projected to go up in the next few years. According to a report prepared by the research group of Germany's Deutsche Bank, the long-term growth prospects for both countries "remain very good."

"All commercial real estate segments continue to boom Tier-II cities will gain particularly... Investment volumes are still very low. This will change rapidly in the next few years," the report titled 'Real Estate Investments in China and India: Big returns in big countries?' said.

Although, strong residential demand growth is expected, the bank noted that "dangerous exaggerations can occur." An important growth driver for the real estate market would be the increasing urban population in both countries.

Developers, already facing a demand slowdown, have refused to lower the priceline as they seek to make up profits despite high land costs and curbs on funding. However, higher interest rates in the economy could push them to choose survival over pride.