East Pune follows West Pune’s growth path

 

punAlmost a decade back, IT firms in India and abroad started to look beyond Bangalore and southern cities for setting up their institutions. It was then Pune the city of Peshwas made most of the windfall and jumped on to the IT/ITes bandwagon. After that the city has never looked back and has embraced the new avenues. Though the IT sector is growing at a rapid pace, the presence of automobile giants such as Tatas and General Motors is adding to the momentum in the city.

The growth corridors are mainly edged on the eastern and western side of the city. With the foundation for the IT zone in 1998, Hinjewadi on the western corridor became the first site in the city. Thus, IT Parks of Hinjewadi, Baner and Aundh along with the industrial hubs of Talegaon, Chakan, and Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) became the major growth factor on the western side.

The back of this, the West Pune observed a healthy housing demand from the IT professionals and the industrial workers. Today, the capital values in areas such as Aundh, Baner and Hinjewadi have reached as high as Rs 6,500-9,590 per sq ft.

After tasting success on the western corridor, the realty focus has now shifted towards the eastern parts of the city. According to a survey, localities in the east witnessed 69 per cent capital hike in the last one year. The expansion of IT firms towards the east has generated an increase in the housing demand.

Once fondly known for its vegetable market, Hadapsar is another area that has mushrooming up into a vibrant real estate destination in the city. A 400-acre Magarpatta City, a revolutionary walk-to-work concept just adds another feather to East Pune’s cap.

From an investment perspective, due to proximity to the airport and railway station, eastern localities again evolves as a potential option. A standard 1000-sq-ft apartment in localities such as Kharadi, Viman Nagar, Kalyani Nagar is available between Rs 65-95 lakh.

Buoyed by these factors, eastern corridor has also grabbed the eyeballs of many renowned developers. These include Kolte Patil, Marvel Realtors, Rohan Builders, Karia Developers, to name a few.

Information panel wants NRIs owning industrial plots named

 

harThe Haryana state information commission has directed industry regulatory body the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) to make public its list of plot-owners in Gurgaon registered as NRIs.

A notice signed by the chief information commissioner of Haryana, Naresh Gulati, asked the HSIIDC to upload its details of all allotments made under the NRI quota on its official portal and submit a compliance report to the Chandigarh headquarters of the commission.

 The order comes in the wake of a number of RTI applications filed by a Gurgaon-based activist seeking information on allocation of plots under the NRI category.

The responses filed by the information official appointed by HSIIDC were unsatisfactory first by the applicant and later by the information commission itself. The commission has considered the matter carefully and the case file has also been scrutinized. The information sought by the appellant is required to be uploaded on the portal of the public authority to facilitate the information seeker and citizens which is mandatory.

The first RTI application in this case was filed by an industrialist, in March. The govt officials responded saying they don’t have the data ready. Then the applicant filed four different RTI applications, and couldn’t get HSIIDC to respond appropriately. Later, he appealed to the state information commission for the data.

In its 2011 estate management policy – still a subject of widespread criticism – HSIIDC reserved 12 pc of industrial plots under its NRI quota. An NRI plot allotment panel was created as was a foreign investment and NRI cell for prospective applicants. But there was no clarity on what the policy points for selecting NRI candidates for the allotments.

Bangalore’s real estate tops PE investments

 

peAccording to a survey, country’s emerging real estate market Bangalore, received the maximum private equity (PE) investment of nearly Rs 2,000 crore during the first half with better demand for leased office assets from investors.

The PE investment in Bangalore rose by 80 pc to Rs 1,990 cr during the first three quarters of 2013 as compared to Rs 1,106 cr last year. This only due to a promise by a free fund into platform focused on leased office assets.

Bangalore is an IT hub and capital for southern India and the profile of the developers are very good in the city, are the main reasons behind Bangalore emerging on top in PE infusion.

The higher PE infusion in Bangalore also added advantage of availability of properties across all the segments at reasonable valuations.

Sobha Developers, Puravankara Projects, Prestige Estates and Brigade group are the major developers operating in the IT city. According to a report, PE investment in Pune jumped more than three-fold to Rs 800 crore during January-September period against Rs 256 crore in the same period last year.

National Capital Region’s property market got Rs 650 crore as PE investment, up 22 per cent from Rs 550 crore during the period under review. In NCR, all the investments were made in the residential asset.

Mumbai, which traditionally attracted the maximum investments, has witness a dip of 45 per cent in PE investments this year. The financial capital received Rs 730 crore during the first three quarters of 2013 compared with Rs 1,269 crore in the year ago period.

Overall, PE investment in the real estate sector grew by 27 per cent to Rs 4,779 crore in the first nine months of this year despite the slowdown witnessed in the realty market.

Polls outcome floats wave of positivity in real estate

 

noiThe four state polls results have floated a new wave of expectation in the UP’s real estate sector in recent times, according to the experts. The experts believe that the clear mandate will lead to economic growth in the country. The market sentiments will also respond very soon to breach all time high soon.

However, these elections verdict are alarming signal for those parties, who so far believe that money, muscle, actor and caste factors are the wining formulas of elections. The historic debut of AAP party has strengthened the power of Aam Aadmi in the NCR region.

The realty sector is hoping that this will mark a positive impact on the market, which was reeling under slump from last few months. Suddenly, the market saw rise of 330 points in the BSE after a strong performance of the BJP in the recently concluded Assembly polls in four states.

From last few months the realty market was witnessing major downfall. Even the exit polls of assembly results left positive impact on the Indian market. The sector is hoping that real estate market, which provides which provides bread and butter to crores of people of this country would be revived soon.

The poll verdict will help in generating positive sentiments in the market. The positive sentiment was missing from the market, which is why some sectors were down grading. With the functioning of the new governments, the market will witness more growth and strength.

Politicians are engaged in divide and rule policy but this is an alarming signal for all politicians and political parties, who believe that muscle, money, caste and actor factors are winning formula in the elections.  The residents are fed-up of all these things in the country. Delhi election is model for the entire nation and the people of this country must learn something with Delhi election historical result.

Online real estate biz at 4 pc growing over 100 pc annually

 

erAccording to a survey, the on-line real estate portals have able to gather around four per cent of the total industry transactions and eastern region was fast catching the trend in recent past.

The market share for web portal real estate market was 0.6 per cent 2-3 years back and now it has grown to 4 per cent which is a delightful thing for the web portals operating in the realty market.

The eastern India share on the on-line medium for property dealings are very low compared to west, north and south. The dealings are low but the pace is growing well to catch up with other regions.

The sector was under stress such events bringing both buyers and developers helped in decision making by potential buyers.

The share of on-line in the total real-estate market was small, but the market is hopeful that it will grow sharply with the awareness.

Godrej Prop buys back Red Fort’s 49 pc stakes in Kolkata project

 

godAccording to sources Realty firm Godrej Properties has bought back Private Equity(PE) firm Red Fort Capital’s 49 per cent stake that is developing an IT Park in Kolkata, for an undisclosed amount. In 2008, Red Fort had picked up 49 per cent stake in the IT Park project Godrej Genesis from the firm.

In terms of the deed with Red Fort India Real Estate Babur (Red Fort) for Project Godrej, the realty major has given exit to Red Fort by acquiring its 49 per cent stake in the equity share capital of its subsidiary Godrej Developers Pvt Ltd (GDPL).

After the deed the realty giant has become wholly-owned subsidiary of the firm with effect from December, but never discloses the amount it paid to Red Fort for acquiring back its stake.

Earlier this year in July, the Godrej had bought HDFC Asset Management Company Ltd’s nearly 50 per cent stake each in the realty firm’s two projects at Chandigarh and Chennai.

HDFC PMS a Portfolio Management Services had infused about Rs 150 crore to pick up stakes in Godrej Properties’ two subsidiaries, which are developing residential projects in Chennai and Chandigarh.

Godrej Properties has presence in 12 cities with about 90 million sq ft of potential developable area across the country.

The realty giant reported 49 per cent surge in net during first half of this fiscal at Rs 75.7 crore, while total income grew by 22 per cent to Rs 570.6 crore during the period.

Slowdown worries Pune developers

 

puneThe Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (Credai) of Maharashtra expressed concerns over the plunging sales in the realty sector due to market recession. The property sector has faced over 22 pc dip in sales due to slow down. The problems like inflation demand supply gap, higher interest rates and liquidity have badly affected the sector.

The realty sector is contributing 6.5 pc to national GDP. Most of the realtors’ time wasted to get regulatory approvals. Due to the recent scams in the sector, the government is very cautious and hence it has resulted into delaying the projects. The sector needs more transparency. Over 40 pc amount spend on approvals, 37 pc on taxes and rest on development cost.

In India, projects will also delay due to policy paralysis. The risk level in the sector has enlarged.  But there is no policy for the high-rise structures. The development cost has also gone up by 22 pc.

In Pune, new budget-to-mid income housing projects are coming up in many places like Dhanori, Nighdi, Kondhwa Khurd, Dighi, Manjri, Mundhwa, Undri, Warje, Ambegaon and parts of Hadapsar. Many of these locations have premium and semi-premium options, which are largely defined by larger floor spaces and better amenities.

The main destinations are no longer affordable from a mid-income buyer’s perspective as prices have being surging drastically with the lowering in supply.

However developers have refused to cut prices. The input prices have been going upwards. The demand is adversely impacted by the slowdown.

However, the Pune real estate has performed better than most of the other metros, with supply overhang in the city being among the lowest among the seven major cities

Reforms in realty sector to boost FDI, says Credai

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The confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (Credai) said the reforms in the property industry is bringing in more transparency and setting up a govt body would boost FDI by at least 22 times in this sector.

The new laws shown in the upcoming Bill would be acceptable to all the global investors. The inflow of funds which is more than $230 million every year can surge to 20-25 times every year.

The infusion is mainly from the US, Europe and Gulf countries for setting up of large residential complexes across India.

The forum is conducting a Conclave to sort out various issues and problems in the realty sector. The policy makers and firms from this sector have been invited to the meeting, where new norms will be framed to overcome the problems.

The Real Estate Bill, 2013, seeks to set up a governing body to protect the buyers and promote the sector. The Bill was tabled in the Monsoon Session of the Lower House and has been sent to a standing panel for further proposals.

The formation of a governing body will address the disputes and renovate the image of the sector, which has taken a blow in the past few years amid reports of counterfeit and delays in property transfer by the builders.

About $45 billion infusion is required for the realty sector. The support from the govt is not sufficient; India needs huge foreign investment for better growth.

LIC Housing Finance takes over Orbit Corp’s Mumbai property

 

orbitThe public Housing Finance firm has taken action against two developers one from Mumbai known as Orbit Corporation and the other one is Unitech a Delhi-based developer for defaulting on loans.

The public sector firm has taken control of a Mumbai property of Orbit Corporation for not repaying and issued notices to Unitech for breaking its deed.

The Mumbai-based developer has an outstanding of Rs 96 cr including interest, expenses and other charges. The public firm has taken possession of its Residency Park project in Andheri, excluding the 155 apartments in the residential complex.

Orbit is trying to negotiating and understandings to repay the loans. They are taking all the measures to safeguard the interest of the company.

Earlier this year, Orbit had defaulted on interest and principal dues of Rs 96.50crore to it and declared the account as non-performing assets.

The Unitech has taken a loan of Rs 300 cr in 2007. The realty firm has repaid Rs 100 cr so far. The payment for this year was delayed but the firm has reached a deed with the LIC for repayment, accodig to sources.

Unitech had received a notice for default in payment in November. The firm is gearing to repay all its loans in the current quarter. This year, a number of Mumbai developers defaulted on loans as they struggled to repay loans in the backdrop of falling sales.

Early this year, rating agencies demoted Mumbai-based Hubtown for defaulting on repayment of interest and principal on Rs 100 crore of non-convertible debentures.

PE investment in realty up 27 pc during Jan-Sept

 

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The rise is PE investments have increased the institutional investors towards leasing activity increasing income from office buildings.

Rise in PE infusion was observed despite slow pace in the realty market with net absorption is offices dipped by 16 pc.

There are various factors affecting the growth in the property market such as slower GDP growth, inflationary pressure, upcoming polls, volatility in forex and stock markets, and regulatory impact.

Apart from the offshore funds, domestic capital allocated for income producing office properties also raised and deployed.

About 68% of the overall PE investment this year was seen in 3rd quarter at Rs 4,058 crore.

However, the PE infusion in office sectors saw more than double jump at Rs 3,476 crore ($397 million) in first three quarters of 2013 against year-ago period, the housing segment faced plummet of 12% at Rs 2,340 crore ($359 million).

Investors are more interested in the leased office buildings which have been increased over the past few years with sector adding 55 pc of the overall investments in 2013 compared to 37 pc and 31 pc in 2012 and 2011, respectively.

The total numbers of deals in the first three quarters of 2013 dropped to 22 down from 28 compared to the same period in 2012 showing a surge in average deal size by nearly 63 pc to Rs 227 crore.

Bangalore observed the largest PE infusion at Rs 1,979 crore, an up gradation of 80pc compared with the same period last year.

Apart from housing and office segments, the other asset classes such as retail and hospitality are witnessing weak investor interests as both are currently overwhelmed by high inventories and sluggish demand.

Xander eyes huge investment in Nitesh Estates’ project

 

A global investment firm, Xander Groupxan focused is gearing up to invest Rs 300 crore into a project being developed by Bangalore-based publicly held realtor Nitesh Estates. The group focused on infrastructure, hospitality, retail and real estate markets sectors.

As part of its development plans in the commercial property space, Nitesh Estates is constructing a project focused on the retail segment across a prime 8-acre land in Koramangala, a retail and commercial hub in Bangalore.

The land for the project was acquired for close to Rs 380 crore.

Xander’s move to hike its exposure to the real estate market in Bangalore comes at a time when it has already invested over $2 billion in the Indian market.

The global firm announced an investment in Bangalore-based realtor Century Real Estate as well as an promise to invest upto $120 million in Mantri Real Estaterecently.

It is understood that Xander is in the final stages of finalising the $115 million investment in Shriram Projects’ SEZ project in Chennai.

Nitesh Estates has so far developed 22 million square feet of space over the last nine years.

It has a pipeline of about 14 projects with 10.90 million square feet of area under development with an addition 9.12 million square feet of area planned for future development.

The realtor which derives as much as 90 per cent of its revenues from the residential segment is aggressively pushing up its presence in the commercial segment and had recently launched India’s first Ritz-Carlton in Bangalore.

L&T Construction bags Rs 1,485-crore orders

 

Larsen and Toubro (L&T), one of the major firm in the Indian industry, a $15-ltbillion technology, engineering, construction, manufacturing and financial services conglomerate, said that its construction division has won new orders worth Rs 1,485 crore across various business segments in December 2013.

In the power transmission and distribution business, orders valued at Rs 670 crore have been received in both domestic and international markets. These include an order bagged by L&T Saudi Arabia LLC, its full-owned subsidiary, for construction of a 132-kV transmission line and connection of Al-Dawadmi sub-station to the 132-kV Riyadh network.

According to industry sources, a turnkey order was bagged from the Transmission Corporation of Andhra Pradesh Limited for setting up a 450 kV double-circuit transmission line from Veltoor to Yemmiganoor.

L&T Construction also held an order from Tamil Nadu Transmission Corporation Limited for establishing a 230/110/33kV GIS sub-station in Chennai on a total turnkey basis that is meant for transmitting power to the prestigious Chennai Metro Rail Project.

Order was received for construction of a cement plant in Chittapur in Karnataka. The scope includes plant’s structural fabrication and erection works along with its associated activities.

Not many infra projects getting off ground a concern: Munjal

 

munIn an event, the Hero MotoCorp Joint MD Sunil Munjal said the country’s economy will surge over 6 pc in current fiscal though not many infra projects getting off the ground which still remained a major concern.

The Country’s economic growth in second quarter marginally grew by 5 per cent in the current fiscal. Which indicates a major concern for the country.

The Government has taken several steps to contain CAD and the government will manage that number. But the major concern remains lack of getting a large number of infrastructure projects off the ground.

Though the Central Government had given green signal to several large infrastructure projects yet there were still such projects where other clearances were required from state governments for implementation.

The govt needs to create a framework to get decision implemented at faster pace and its implementation for wooing foreign investments.

Uncertainty make people nervous and they hold back their investments…the govt need to create certainty of policy framework and ability for us not to take only decision but get it those implemented.

The worst has gone behind but the level of confidence is still low.

High cost of lending was also turning out to be a hesitant block in attracting investment, he said.

Land ownership, environment are credible and important issues.The way the govt have handled them they have ended up delaying projects. Higher cost of land, will mean higher cost of products and services and for those where land cost is major portion than it will b a major issue for them.

Global brands entering the uber-luxury homes in NCR

 

gurIn recent past, the National Capital Region (NCR) has seen a swing of luxury apartment launches in the region. A number of such high-end projects with world-class specifications were launched in the last one-year; these come with the promise of high-quality after-sale services and, in some cases, with an assured provision of 5-star living experience.

Developers are binding up with 5-star hotels and renowned brands, which are laced with luxury in the world, to provide 5-star room services to their customers after the delivery of the apartments.

The major players who have already launched such projects are Supertech, Ireo, and 3C with Four Seasons. In all these projects, room services will be provided by the hotel group in the tie-up to the occupants of the apartments.

Supertech has also launched super high-end projects with global luxury brands like Armani, Swarovski, and Disney.

The super-premium apartments in the NCR come with a price tag that is upwards of Rs 17,000 per sq ft.

Most of these super-luxury condominiums like Aralias and Magnolia, which are currently quoting at Rs 22,000 per sq ft to Rs 31,000 per sq ft, are by DLF. But the company, which is the largest real estate firm in the country, is not following the latest trend of launching superluxury projects in collaboration with global luxury brands.

Some of the developers have indicated that the price of their projects will be upwards of Rs 26,000 per sq ft. At the same time, as the size of luxury apartments varies between 5,000 sq ft and 9,000 sq ft, their net cost, too, varies in the range of Rs 7 crore to Rs 22 crore.

Godrej Properties net debt falls by 24pc

 

Godrej Properties’-Mumbaigod based realty firm net debt has dipped by 24 pc to Rs 1,470 crore during the second quarter of this current fiscal, mainly with the help of funds raised through rights issue.

Net debt of Godrej Properties, the realty arm of Godrej Group, stood at Rs 1,650 crore at the end of the first quarter.

The net debt of Rs 1,260 crore stands at the lowest level it has been in the past 2 years and the borrowing cost has dropped both year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter to approximately 11.8pc.

The company’s debt-to-equity ratio that stood at 2:1 at the end of 2011 calendar year and was 1.1:1 at the end of the first quarter of this financial year has come down to a little over 0.5:1, according to transcript of Godrej’s conference call with analysts.

In the rights issue, which was oversubscribed, the firm raised Rs 720 crore which made it India’s largest rights issue in the first half of the current financial year. This capital has strengthened the balance sheet and has increased the ability to continue to add value accretive new projects in key markets.

According to sources, the part of funds raised would also be utilised to add new projects.

Stating that 75 pc of the rights issue capital came from the promoters, Godrej termed it as a strong signal of their confidence in Godrej Properties growth prospects.

Godrej Properties has presence in 12 cities across India with about 90 million sq ft of potential developable area.