Realty investment has grown up in Uttar Pradesh, states Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). Real estate sector in the state has seen remarkable progress during the period from 2008-09 till 2012-13.

As per the study report of ASSOCHAM, UP witnessed a growth by 106 percent. Meanwhile, the realty investment grew in India by just 25 percent, the report adds.

Realty investment in Uttar Pradesh rose in 2013.

Receiving Rs.14000 Cr, UP stands at the sixth position on the list headed by Gujarat. The state has bagged nearly 10 percent of total investments in real estate.

Last year, India as a whole received Rs.42000 Cr in the form of investments from both domestic and foreign investors. However over 40 percent of realty investments were done in Gujarat which topped the list with Rs.17000 Cr.

Uttar Pradesh received Rs.8200 Cr in the fiscal year 2011-12. The growth of Noida and other nearby locations contributes a major share to the total investments done in the state.

Realty investment in UP rises in the last fiscal.

Though India receives investments in various other sectors, realty investments remain always a key-investment. Though the other sectors are contributing a lot to the total investments, in comparison to the contribution of realty sector, they remain minimal.

As per the report of ASSOCHAM, India as a whole witnessed a deep fall in the terms of realty investments. As against the Rs.96000 Cr of 2011, this year only Rs.42000 was invested in realty.

While most of the states performed badly, a few states like Gujarat, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, etc. alone performed well. These states received higher investments in the last fiscal.

Though realty investments in India as a whole declined, the experts say that this year would be a better year for the realty sector.

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Surabhi Chemicals has acquired some residential plot in Nagpur, where they will develop either a residential or commercial project. This will mark their entry into the real estate sector. The textile chemicals firm also has plans to expand their realty business to other cities like Surat and Vadodara.

Surabhi Chemicals mulls over entering real estate business.

Recently Mahadhan Vincom has bought Surabhi Chemicals from Gala Sarees Group that earlier owned the firm. Under the new owner the firm has decided to expand itself into real estate business as well.

Speaking to the media persons, Surabhi Chemicals & Investments Ltd.’s managing director Manish Patni said that the group, along with the change in the management, plans to focus on real estate.

Surabhi Chemicals to step into realty sector.

Mr. Patni informed that the new promoters have decided to make the company one of the best developers in the western India. He added that the main focus of the firm will be western states like Maharashtra and Gujarat.

The group plans to invest around Rs.30 Cr in the real estate markets of Surat and Vadodara, other than Nagpur. It expects to raise Rs.20 Cr from the firm’s internal accruals and the rest from investors.

The firm has not said anything about their plans as how to raise the fund for the project. In the financial year 2012-13, the company is reported to have made a turnover of Rs.10 Cr.

Though the group has not yet decided what sort of project they have to develop in the land acquired in Nagpur. Meanwhile the decision is pending; Surabhi Chemicals & Investments Ltd is engaged in buying out various land parcels in Surat and Vadodara.

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It seems that Bollywood industry is applying new methods for the promotion. The decision of Arjun Kapoor to stay in Gurgaon for a week as part of its promotion, throws glimpses of light to this kind of new promotional methods.

Bollywood movie Aurangzeb tells the story of Gurgaon, especially the real estate business in the city. This film is reported to be the first one to be set in the Millennium city of India.

Arjun Kapoor will stay in Gurgaon as part of Aurangzeb’s promotion.

Emphasizing and underlying the significance of Gurgaon real estate market, the makers of the film have determined to stay here for a week. They will shift their whole base from Mumbai to Gurgaon.

While staying in Gurgaon, Arjun Kapoor will follow the lifestyle of the people here. He also plans to interact with the people, talking to them and going to the clubs and other centers of interactions.

Commenting on the stay of Arjun Kapoor in Gurgaon, the producers of the film said that it is a unique way to promote Aurangzeb, the film which narrates the entire story of real estate market in Gurgaon.

Arjun Kapoor with Parineeti, during a promotional event.

As against the normal tendency of making films in metros, the producers for the first time have set a Bollywood movie in a suburban city. This shows how Gurgaon has grown as one of the top cities in India. Aurangzeb narrates the ways how power and crime functions in an emerging city.

This is, however, not the first time that the hero lives in the city for promotional purposes. Earlier, to promote his movie Delhi Belly, Imran Khan had stayed in Delhi, in a rented apartment.

Sonam Kapoor also had stayed in Delhi for four months. This was not for any promotional purpose. She shifted to Delhi because her films were shot in Delhi. She lived along with her aunt’s apartment.

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The air cooling manufactures improve their sales along with increase in office space demand. Reports show that the air-cooling manufactures like Blue Star India and others are affected by the weak office space demand.

The top A/C manufactures are getting contract for centralized cooling system mainly from the commercial projects. Thus a slowdown in the commercial sector affects these firms.

Major share of A/C firms are from centralized shopping malls, that holds lion share of office space demand.

Last year was a year of sluggishness for both commercial real estate as well as the A/C manufacturing firms.

The current year, on the other end, has shown some signs of improvement in the office space demand, which will in turn boost the commercial sector. This has provided some hopes to the A/C manufacturing firms too.

Blue Star India alone has lost Rs.104 Cr in the last year due to the sluggish commercial realty. This year the firm expects better turnover as the sector has showed some signs of improvement.

If the report of Cushman & Wakefield is to be believed, the demand for commercial space in India is expected to reach over 160 million square feet by the year 2014. According to the report, major cities like Bangalore, Delhi-NCR and Mumbai will bag major share of commercial space.

Housing sector demands A/Cs. Sales of air conditioner improves well with the rise of office space demand.

Last year the office space demand fell mainly due to the weak demand of IT and ITeS sectors. DTZ India and Cushman & Wakefield report that the demand has fallen in India by 23 percent.

RICS India Commercial Property survey stated that the demand was stable in the third quarter of last year. It also reported that India reached the ninth spot in the fourth quarter from the nineteenth of the third quarter.

It means that the demand for office space is increasing in India, giving better hopes to A/C firms and various other industries dependent on commercial sector.

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Residential market in India is one of the most charming residential markets in the world. It has been attracting investors from across the globe. Private equity investments in the Indian residential market are fine examples. Adding to it is the plan of Hines Realty to enter India.

Unlike the PE Firms, the American developer looks forward not to investing in India but to developing a residential project, joining hands with an Indian partner.

US based Hines to target Indian residential market.

Hines Realty plans to develop a residential project in India. However, the firm will be able to do so only if they gain an Indian partner.

Earlier Hines realty has developed two commercial projects in India. The first one was developed in collaboration with DLF. This commercial project is in Gurgaon. Shyam Telecom collaborated with them for developing their second commercial project.

These projects were done through its Indian arm Hines India Real Estate Pvt Ltd. It is almost five years after these developments. Now the American developer is planning set its foot in the residential market.

Hines plans to step into Indian residential realty.

The firm also is reported to have plans to develop some hotel projects. The group aims to develop a 4-Star hotel in SkyView Corporate Park, a mixed use project jointly developed with Shyam Telecom.

We plan to rope in one of the international hotel brands for developing a 4-star hotel project in Gurgaon, Hines India MD and Country Chief Yash Gupta told some media-persons.

The hotel will have nearly 300 rooms and it mainly aim at those who work inside the complex.

Mr. Gupta said that the firm’s main focus will be Delhi-NCR and Mumbai. The group aims to develop one or two residential projects within a year. The projects will be targeting mid-segment housing and upper mid-segment housing.

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With the foreign direct investment policy of the central government, the realty developers were expecting foreign retailers to set up their outlets and stores in India. Developers thought they could find some takers for their vacant spaces in their shopping mall projects.

Shopping Mall projects will be boosted with the entry of foreign retailers.

The developers may have to put this expectation on hold for one or two years more, reports Jones Lang LaSalle India. According to JLL India’s quarterly report Asia Pacific Property Digest, the foreign retailers are likely to postpone their plans to enter India for one or two years.

The real estate consultants say that this is due to the higher realty cost and the upcoming union elections in India.

The rentals in India are higher. They account for 9 to 15 percent of the retailers’ total revenue, while global average of rentals is only 4 to 10 percent. It means that the rentals are higher in India.

Global retailers are cost sensitive and so they remain reluctant to enter India.

If foreign retailers postpone their Indian entry, the retail space will remain vacant.

The report adds that the presence of foreign retailers will cut down the dominance of city centers. This is good, said JLL India’s Research and Real Estate Intelligence Service head Ashutosh Limaye.

The developers should offer the domestic retailers retail space at lower rents in locations away from the city centers, Limaye added. It is, however, possible only if the land costs in these locations are lowered. Only then the developers will be able to provide retail spaces at lower costs.

Another hurdle which the foreign retailers face is that the veto power of the states on FDI policy. The central government has approved 51 percent of FDI.

However the union government has said that the states are absolutely free to decide on their own FDI policies. It means that the state governments are free to make separate policies.

Slightly contrasting to this report, CBRE reported that the foreign retailers are focusing New Delhi and Mumbai. The report added that the foreign retailers are to set up stores despite the economic slowdown.

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BANGALORE: High rise apartments had become a necessity in Mumbai and other top cities where there is no sufficient space for development. Till recently, there weren’t many high rise apartments in Bangalore mainly because there was sufficient land for developing projects.

Now the situation has undergone vast changes and now the city also sees builders developing more number of high rise apartments.

High rise apartments set to become the new trend in Bangalore.

If earlier, the projects were developed up to 15 stories, now the number of stories has reached 40. It is still far lower to Mumbai where 60 storied residential projects are not rare. In Mumbai there are over 35 projects with 40 stories or more.

CBRE South Asia’s deputy MD (South India) Ram Chandnani says that the high rise culture is new in Bangalore. The developers in the city are positively looking at this new trend, he added.

Sobha Indraprastha, Equinox Water’s Edge, Mantri DSK Pinnacle, etc. are some of the upcoming projects which offer high rise apartments. There are 46 floors in Mantri DSK Pinnacle.

Bangalore developers to cash in from the demand for high rise apartments.

Equinox Water’s Edge has five blocks each of which has 40 floors. Placed beside the Nagavara Lake in Hebbal, the project offers a beautiful scenic view to the residents.

Sobha Indraprastha is a 37-storied residential cum commercial project. The top two floors are dedicated for club house.

If the buyers think that they can own these high rises at lower rates, they are quite wrong as these high rises are never offered at lower prices. On the other end, they are offered at higher prices according to the number of facilities and amenities the project has. In most of the cases the starting price us Rs.2 Cr.

High rises offer a better lifestyle as it is characterized with less noise, less pollution, etc. Additionally these high rise apartments offer a sky view of the Nature that is really marvelous.

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A farmhouse with all luxury amenities and facilities are being developed in Kanthitar. What makes this farmhouse more special is that this farmhouse belongs to M S Dhoni, the captain of Indian Cricket Team.

Ranchi, the capital city of Jharkhand is more famous for her brave son M S Dhoni. The people here really admire him and for them he is a real hero.

Dhoni is constructing a new farmhouse.

A Ranchi-resident named Lal Gopal Sharan Nath Shahdeo owned a plot of one acre adjacent to the under construction farmhouse of Dhoni. Out of his ardent admiration he decided to gift the plot to the Indian Captain.

Shahdeo is a family friend of Dhoni and so he could not refuse the proposal, said a close associate of the Captain Cool. Shahdeo is the heir of Ratu Maharaj.

Though the land was gifted to him, in the registry deed it, the land transfer, is mentioned as sale.

MS Dhoni is gifted one acre adjacent to his new farmhouse.

The plot which lies one kilometer away from NH 75 is not a costly plot and the land transfer is registered as a sale, said the Ranchi district sub registrar Shahdeo Mehra.

In the registrar’s office three plots were registered in the name of Dhoni, and his parents- Pan Singh and Devki Devi.

The farmhouse of Dhoni will have various game pools and a swimming pool. Besides these, the farmhouse also will have a full-fledged gymnasium and photo gallery of every sport.

The farmhouse is being built with various amenities and facilities and we hope to complete it soon, said one of the close associates of Dhoni. He is entrusted to look after the work in the absence of Dhoni. Now the project stands only at  halfway.

Currently the Indian Captain stays in Harmu Housing Colony where he owns a home. A plot in this posh housing colony was gifted to him by the government.

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Gurgaon was once considered as one of the most suitable locations in the NCR to live on. Now the recent reports show that the city is affected by various issues like power shortage, water scarcity and other sanitation troubles.

Power shortage leads Gurgaon to troubles.

With the presence of many MNCs in the area, people from across the country were flocking to Gurgaon. The housing demand had gone far up. Now the residents in the city say that they are not getting sufficient water or power. The civic body is also alleged of not implementing sufficient measures to offload the waste in the city.

According to the HT-C fore survey nearly half of the city-residents are unhappy with the city’s civic standards.

There is a mismatch between the demand and supply of water. In hot summers many of the locations in the city face acute water shortage. Adding to all these is the garbage that is dumped in the outskirts of the city makes it really a gigantic slum.

Power shortage and water scarcity predicted to be severe in Gurgaon by 2021.

In most of the areas, the power shortage is met with generators. The residents complain that the civic body has failed to meet many of the parameters that assure good living standards.

One of the main failures is related to solid waste management. Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) reports that the Millennium city will drown in its own solid waste by the year 2021.

The city is reported to produce 450 metric tons of solid waste every day. However the residents of the city say that the report of MCG is fake and not right.

Power shortage is another serious problem. When the daily demand is 1500MW, the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitaran Nigam (DHBVN) supplies hardly 900-1100MW. In the coming years, the power shortage is reported to be more acute in the city.

While the city demands 110MGD water, the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) is able to provide only a half of it. How this situation can be solved when the number of residents in the city is increasing day after day? The authority has no answer.

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Mumbai, the city which remained the top home destination in India, has always enjoyed higher property rates. According to some recent reports, over the last four years, the property rates in the city have gone up by 66 percent.

Property Rates in Mumbai still see new heights.

Going against the expectations of the industry experts, the prices in the city have still gone up. In fact it seems contradictory to the opinions of the experts who said that there will be a price correction in the city soon.

Contradictory to the revealing of the experts, the property rates shot up by 66 percent in Mumbai, reports global real estate consultant firm Jones Lang LaSalle India.

Due to the weak home sales, the market was expected to undergo a price correction. Developers too felt that the situation could be bettered only if they correct the prices.

Property rates still rise in Mumbai.

However as against their expectations, the prices for residential properties have gone up in Mumbai, mainly due to the lack of supply and scarcity of land.

Always the unsold properties in any market are considered as a precursor of price correction, explains JLL West India’s MD Ramesh Nair. He adds that if this is true related to the residential market of Mumbai, the correction should have taken place at least three years ago.

Mumbai witnessed a correction for the last time in 2008. Since then the prices are on the rise. Compared to the property rates in the second quarter of 2009 and the second quarter of the current year, the prices have gone up by 66 percent.

Meanwhile property rates in Thane rose by 70 percent and in Navi Mumbai it went still higher, by 74 percent. The report adds that the demand for investment in residential sector remained stable over the years.

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Though the real estate has been booming in the country for a long while, it was not seen in any of the Northeast States like Assam. Now, the situation is changing. Many of the Northeast cities like Guwahati have become hot spot for realty.

According to the experts, Assam has become one of the top investment destinations in the country. This is mainly due to the growth of Guwahati, one of the top cities. Earlier it was the capital of Assam.

Guwahati is slowly emerging as one hot investment destinations.

Guwahati remains the hub of commerce and trade in the Northeast. This in turn opened up new gates for the real estate developers who now develop various shopping malls and other commercial projects.

Along with the development of commercial projects, the developers also develop superior class residential projects as well. The city now has various star-rated hotels. This also boosted real estate in the city.

A developer of the city said that the demand for residential and commercial properties is rising in the city. The crowd came for the three day property show approves this.

Commercial centers in Guwahati tell you how the city is suitable for investment.

Recently a three day show was held at Maniram Dewan Trade Centre. The property show, organized by AREIDA, is reported to be a huge success as it received good response from the buyers and investors.

Some top MNCs also participated in the show which displayed various projects by the developers in the city.

Now, Northeast as a whole is witnessing an economic revival. This boosts the sentiments of investors. More investors are approaching the city and look at Guwahati as one of the best locations for investment. The prices have also started soaring slowly.

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Foreign retailers across the globe are flowing to India now. The rising population in India in fact prompts them to set up stores in the Subcontinent. The rising income level is another factor which prompts them to set up more stores here.

Last year, in Delhi alone 13 stores were set by the foreign retailers. Though this is not so a big number compared to 51 stores in Hong Kong or Singapore’s 27 stores, this is big enough.

Foreign retailers are reported to raise higher demand for retail space.

Across the Asia-Pacific Region the global retailers have set up nearly 70 stores, states the ‘Retail Hotspots in Asia Pacific,’ a report by CBRE.

Global retailers are looking at India as a mature market, said Anshuman Magazine, CBRE South Asia Pvt. Ltd.’s CMD.

India is slowly becoming a hot spot for the retailers. Additionally their sentiments are still boosted by the new FDI policy of the government under which the foreign retailers are permitted to directly invest in India.

The government has permitted more FDI in multi-brand products as well. However the final decision is left with the state governments. It means that they can either prevent the foreigners from entering their state or they can welcome them to their states.

Foreign retailers to demand more retail space this year.

While majority of the states have welcomed the global retailers, some of the states have not shown a green signal to them. New Delhi is on the top among those states which have allowed foreign retailers.

Luxury and business retailers opened most number of new stores in the Asia-Pacific Region. More than one fourth (26%) of the stores are set up by this class.

Mid-range fashion and specialist clothing stood second and third positions with new store opening percentages 18 and 13 percent respectively. Coffee and restaurant chains hold 13 percent of new stores while value and denim stores hold 11 percent of new stores.

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Katrina Kaif owned an old apartment which according to her was not as comfortable as it should be. Further it had various other problems like leakage and so on. Thus she has been on a house-hunt for a while.

Everyone expected her to buy out a new luxury home. But this expectation soon was proved wrong as she finally left her house-hunt. The Bollywood Actress decided to renovate her home and make it in the way she wanted.

Katrina Kaif has decided to renovate her home.

Her apartment is located at Guldev Sagar on Waterfield Road in Bandra. Many of the Bollywood actors and actresses are residing in this location. Here she owns a 3 BHK apartment.

Confirming the news, Katrina Kaif said that she is entirely renovating her home. The renovation includes its interiors as well as floors. Upholstery and paint, etc. also will be changed as part of renovation.

The interiors will be designed by interior designer Soni Tanna, a family friend of Katrina Kaif.

Katrina Kaif has left her home-hunt.

Earlier she had expressed her desire to have a sea-facing home. She has been searching for such a home and has seen more than a dozen of sea-facing homes.

She was also reported to show interest in building a bungalow in the Juhu Scheme project. She dropped her plan to build a bungalow in Juhu as its neighborhood areas are afflicted with water problems.

She also had to skip her plans to buy another apartment as she liked none of them. These flats did not meet the expectations of Katrina.

Refuting these views Katrina Kaif said that she had no time to spend for seeing homes any more. Currently she is busy doing her forthcoming projects.

It means, for the time-being, Katrina has decided to renovate her water-leaking apartment and not to seek any new home. One thing is sure that the renovated home is nothing less than a new home as the renovation will be done entirely.

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MUMBAI: The real estate wing of Godrej Group, Godrej Properties, has announced its plan to raise a fund worth Rs.700 Cr. The fund will be fully utilized for developing its new projects. Godrej Properties plans to raise the fund through rights issue.

Aiming growth and for developing more number of realty projects, Godrej Properties plans to raise Rs.700 Cr through rights issue.

Godrej Properties Ltd to raise Rs.700 Cr.

The plan was announced by Pirojsha Godrej, the MD and CEO of Godrej Properties Ltd. While declaring the fourth quarter numbers of the firm, he announced the plan to raise the fund.

The rights issue is expected to be launched soon. Most probably it would be launched in the second quarter of the current financial year, Mr. Godrej informed.

Though the market was sluggish throughout the country, we could achieve greater heights during last year. For the Godrej Properties, financial year 2012-13 was a good one. We want to continue this, Mr.Godrej added.

Now the firm plans to launch around 15 projects in various cities of India. The group will first develop projects in Bangalore, Delhi-NCR and Mumbai. Later the group also has plans to develop projects in Chennai and Pune as well.

Godrej Properties aims further growth, plans to raise Rs.700 Cr.

The group plans to invest the entire amount for developing these new projects. However a good share of the fund will be used for completing the ongoing projects as well.

When asked about the sluggish momentum which real estate market faces now, he said that the current year is more hopeful. He admitted that the last year was not a good one for the developers. He expects that this year will be a good one for the developers.

The interest rate cuts and other reforms will boost the sector, he added. Home sales are expected to be on the rise. Thus it is the right time to raise fund for developing projects, he concluded.

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MUMBAI: The Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry (MCHI) has requested Prithviraj Chavan, the State CM, to appoint two expert panels for clearing the real estate projects.

MCHI asked for two panels which will be formed of five experts and structural engineers. MCHI has also asked the state CM to disperse the high-rise committee.

MCHI demands for expert panel.

Besides MCHI, some CREDAI- affiliated builders also met the CM. The Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India informed Prithviraj Chavan that the current clearance system is really burdensome to the builders.

The apex body of the builders argued that the equipment with the fire department is insufficient to reach skyscrapers with over 70 m height.

The builders argued that the committee is overloaded with the number of projects awaiting their approval. Thus the clearance becomes a lengthy process.

MCHI and CREDAI members meet Chavan.

Under the current process, the panel clears the project after checking the quality of the soil where the project is to be built. The committee also considers the fire-safety norms and stability of the structure. Only after analyzing all these facts, the civic body finally nods for the project.

Chavan assured the developers that he would discuss the issue with environment ministry as well as forest ministry. The CM said that he will ask these ministries to find solutions to the problems faced by the builders while developing high-rise projects.

Our concern is to develop projects with all safety measures, said a senior civic body official. He asks who will be responsible for the building collapse. He was pointing to the Thane Building collapse which took away many lives.

Many officials were alleged of clearing the Thane project without conducting proper study and against the law. If the expert panels are made then they will be held responsible for any building collapse. Meanwhile BMC officials said that they are working out a plan to grant the approval within two months’ time.

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DELHI: In 2012, private equity firms invested Rs.700 Cr in the Delhi-NCR. Overall, India received Rs.19,000 Cr in 2012. PE firms contributed one third of the total investments. The remaining investments were received through institutional sales.

Cushman & Wakefield reported that PE investments in India rose by seven percent in the year 2012-13. Over Rs.6200 Cr was invested in India by the PE firms.

NCR realty received Rs.700 Cr from PE Firms.

The property consultants report that the Indian realty market is one of the top real estate investment markets in the world. It was ranked 20^th.

Though the PE investments rose in the last year, the number of deals was less. The number of deals has gone down. However it has not affected the investment levels because Indian market received some bigger deals.

Fire Capital aka First Indian Real Estate’s Om Chaudhary said that the PE investors are cautious of investing in the realty market. Fire Capital aka First Indian Real Estate is a Gurgaon based PE firm whose main focus is real estate.

PE firms invested Rs.700 Cr in NCR.

The returns are minimal as against the higher expectations. The margins are shrinking, adds Mr. Chaudhary. His firm has invested in many projects -including residential, mixed use and integrated satellite urban villages.

Though Delhi-NCR as a whole witnessed a growth in PE investments, Gurgaon witnessed a steady fall.

Ramprastha Group CEO Nikhil Jain too admits that the market in Gurgaon is not as attractive as it used to be. He said that the market is highly sluggish.

The trend has undergone wide changes. Earlier the PE firms used to consider the cost of clearances, approvals and so on. They used to invest in projects even when it was in the planning level.

Now the PE investments are made only when the projects is ready. Further the firms are not ready to consider the cost spent for other things like approvals. However there is no data available to prove how many PE firms have invested in Delhi-NCR.

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KOLKATA: The state government of Bengal has proposed new tax on property transactions. This was presented in the Finance Bill 2013. 

Property transactions in Bengal is expected to be affected by the new property tax policy.

The proposal has been harshly welcomed by the CREDAI Bengal chapter which stated that this bill would hit the property transactions in the state.

The Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India also said that this will not only affect property transactions but also the realty sector as a whole.

The valuation of the properties is not accurate. Further the state authorities have given the valuation which is far higher than the actual market price.

As the valuation is higher than the actual prices, the property owners are to pay higher tax. Moreover they will have to pay additional taxes in case of any property transactions.

New property tax will affect property transactions.

The central government has initiated a new tax on property transactions and purchases. Under this new system too, the tax is levied on the basis of assessed valuation. It is, however, different from the newly proposed tax system in Bengal.

Under the central government’s proposal the tax is fixed on the sale price of the property. The tax is not levied on the property on the basis of sale-price at the time when the project was under-construction.

Harsh Vardhan Patodia, CREDAI Bengal chapter chief, said that the developers in the state are highly affected by this. He added that in most of the cases the valuation is far above the actual prices.

The developers say that this new property tax will affect both buyers as well as developers. The property transactions will fall down, leading the developers into greater doom.

Once the valuation is higher than the actual prices, the buyers will have to pay additional stamp duty. The registration will become costlier. Realty developers fear that there will be no property transactions in the state.

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PATNA: The name of Chris Gayle is absolutely popular among all who love cricket. Doubtlessly, he is one of the most favorite players in the IPL 2013 too. His popularity reached new bounds when he scored a mammoth 175 from just 66 balls.

Chris Gayle is made the brand ambassador of a real estate firm.

He is now more popular than ever. In fact he is loved not only by the fans of Royal Challengers Bangalore but also of all who love cricket and IPL. Chris Gayle plays for the Bangalore based IPL franchisee. Even his opponent team-fans do wish to see him scoring high scores.

Now the IPL fever is seen everywhere and so does the popularity of Chris Gayle. Increasing popularity of this tall cricketer has brought him many endorsement deals.

Now to the latest of endorsement deals, he has signed the deal with a realty firm. Now on he will endorse Patna based Agrani Homes which have made him the brand ambassador.

Chris Gayle to endorse a realty firm.

Besides having projects in Bihar, the realty firm has projects in Jharkhand and NCR.

The endorsement deal with Chris Gayle was announced by Alok Kumar, CMD of Agrani Homes. He announced the decision to make the Jamaican Cricketer his group’s brand ambassador during a special function arranged in a hotel.

Speaking about his deal with the real estate firm, Chris Gayle said that he was happy to associate with the firm. However he refused to speak anything about cricket. He neither spoke about the chances of his team Bangalore Royal Challengers to win IPL 2013.

The venue was absolutely crowded. The huge crowd has been following him from airport to the hotel with the aim to gain a glimpse of their favorite cricketer. The realty firm hopes to convert the popularity of Chris Gayle into sale of their projects.

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The private equity firm Actis is pondering over exiting its private equity in real estate (PERE) fund from India.  The private equity firm had invested $25 million in Bangalore for the development of a residential and retail project.

Actis Private Equity is present in Asia, African and Latin American countries. So far the firm has invested only one fund in the Indian realty market. It invested $25 million in India in the year 2008.

Actis plans to exit its PERE Fund invested in a residential and retail project.

The investment was for developing a residential and retail project in Bangalore. The investment was handled by Vaishnavi Group. According to sources, the private equity firm has asked its Indian partners to sell out its stakes.

After the exit, the firm hopes to focus on other emerging markets. The officials of Actis Group did not wish to comment. Vaishnavi Group officials were not available for any comment.

Though only $25 million is invested in the realty sector, the firm has altogether invested $1 billion in India. Actis has investments in various sectors like automotive, healthcare and infrastructure.

Actis is reported to have asked its partner to sell its stakes.

While $7.5 million from the $25 million investment was used for the residential and retail project, the remaining amount was used by Vaishnavi Group for developing its various projects. The residential cum retail project is developed at Yeshwantpur, one of the fast emerging suburbs in Bangalore.

The 2005-2008 period is considered as the booming period of PERE investments. During this period $12 billion was invested in Indian realty by the global PE firms. Most of these investments are on the verge to exit.

According to Cushman & Wakefield PE investments in India has fallen in the year 2012 by 28 percent, compared to the previous year. The global PE firms now show less interest in Indian realty as some of the investments are stuck with weak property sales.

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The largest real estate developer DLF will sell around 81 million shares to raise a fund worth Rs.2000 Cr. The shares will be sold under the institutional placement program.

The real estate major will sell out the shares in the next ten days. The face value of each share will be Rs.2. DLF Ltd has already appointed eight banks for selling the shares and raising the fund.

DLF plans to raise Rs.2000 Cr by selling its shares.

81,018,417 equity shares will be issued by the realty firm as per the red herring prospectus (RHP). These shares of Rs.2 as face value will be sold to the qualified institutional buyers.

The realty firm has not decided the timing. The firm has already gained the approval of its shareholders for IPP placement. Now DLF is analyzing the market situation. People with direct knowledge of the development said that the firm will soon announce the time of launching the scheme.

DLF’s IPP scheme is as per the guidelines of the market regulator, the Securities & Exchange Board of India. SEBI had made it mandatory for all private listed firms to have minimum 25 per cent of public shareholding by this June.

Now DLF promoters hold 78 per cent of shares. It is expected to come down to 75 per cent after the IPP scheme. Thus it will meet the guidelines set by SEBI.

Realty major DLF to cut off debt through selling shares.

However to meet the SEBI guidelines is not the prime aim of the realty major. The firm aims to cut down its debt. Approximately their debt amounts to Rs.21, 350 Cr. This is till the last quarter of 2012.

Under the IPP route the firms can sell their shares either at the existing prices in the market or they can sell them with a discount of five per cent.

The eight banks which are entrusted with the sale are Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, CLSA, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, JP Morgan, Kotak, Standard Chartered and UBS. These banks are mandated to handle the sale deals.

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Imran Khan has recently got a new home, actually he renovated his ancestral home. However the Bollywood actor has surprised all who thought that it would be named after him, by naming it after his late grandfather Nasir Hussain. His new house is thus called NH bungalow, a bungalow which is a loving tribute to the late filmmaker.

Imran Khan is the grandson of Nasir Hussain, a well-known film producer. He loved his grandson and so does his grandson. However no one could have expected how deep their relation was. Now they have come to know what his grandfather was for him.

Imran Khan has named his new home NH Bungalow, after his grandfather.

Imran Khan has been searching for an interesting as well as striking name for his new home. Finally he decided to change the name Pali Hill bungalow; well this was the name before it was renovated recently, to NH Bungalow.

Imran Khan said that the name NH bungalow’ is apt as the home originally belonged to his grandfather.

Imran Khan is the nephew of Aamir Khan, one of the most popular actors in Bollywood industry.

The house warming party of Imran Khan was really colorful with the presence of Bollywood divas and actors. His uncle Aamir Khan came along with his wife Kiran Rao.

Kareena-Saif Ali Khan came for the housing warming ceremony of NH Bungalow.

Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan  reached the house warming party in a red car with all styles and glamour. Riteish Deshmukh and Genelia too were present.

The presence of Bollywood divas like Sonam Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Salman Khan’s sister Alvira also made the party a grand one.

Director Vishal Bharadwaj and his wife Rekha, Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhat, Filmmaker Kabir Khan, Comedian and actor Vir Das were some of the other renowned and familiar faces which were present in the house warming ceremony.

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Last year India received total investments worth Rs.122 lakh crore. Realty investment was only Rs.42,000 Cr. This is far below the amount received in the year-before.

In 32012, India received Rs.92,600 Cr in the form of realty investment. However this year, the realty market could not collect even a half of it.

Realty investment has fallen sharply in India.

The available data with Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) have proved that most of these investments are done in Gujarat and Kerala.

Gujarat received Rs.17, 000 Cr of realty investment. Thus the state witnessed a seven hundred percent growth.

On the basis of growth rate, Kerala which saw a growth by 550 per cent, stood second.

Realty investment is considered as the safest form of investments in India. The investors usually remain keen to invest in the realty market. Though the prices have multiplied 10 to 20 times in the last decade, the last two years saw a slowdown of price hike.

India sees fall of realty investment.

Still the prices are beyond the reach of majority of the Indian buyers. This led to weak home sales which in turn hurt the sentiments of the investors as well. Further the sluggish momentum of realty market drove them away.

While releasing the analysis of ASSOCHAM, its national secretary general D.S. Rawat said that realty investment fell in most of the states.

Some states like Gujarat and Kerala remained as exceptions to this. While Gujarat saw a rise of investments by 700 per cent, Kerala saw a rise by 550 per cent.

Uttarakhand and Rajasthan stood third and fourth places with growth rates of 400 and 175 per cents respectively.

India received an overall investment of Rs.122 lakh crore in the last fiscal. However realty investment accounts only a mere 11 per cent of the total investments.

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AHMADABAD: Gujarat is one of the most sought after locations for realty investment. The report of the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India proves this.

According to the report of ASSOCHAM, Gujarat received the maximum amount of realty investment in the last fiscal year. Nearly 41 per cent of the total realty investment is done in this state.

Gujarat bagged over 40 per cent of the total realty investment in the last fiscal..

In the last fiscal Rs.42, 000 Cr was totally invested in India. Out of this Rs.17, 000 Cr was invested in Gujarat.

However the apex body of industry said that the investment in the last year is far lower. Realty investment fell sharply in the last year. A year before, nearly Rs.92, 600 Cr was invested in realty.

On the other end, Gujarat saw a huge rise in the investment. The state witnessed a growth by 700 per cent; from Rs.2000 Cr to Rs.17, 000 Cr.

When investment in most of the states declined, Gujarat saw a rise in the investments, said ASSOCHAM’s national Secretary-General D.S. Rawat. He stated while he was releasing their study-report.

Kerala too received more investments. The investments in the state rose by 550 per cent. While it stood second, with 400 per cent growth rate, Uttarakhand stood third. The list was followed by Rajasthan which saw a rise by 175 per cent.

Gujarat saw a huge increase in the realty investment.

Most of the other states, saw declining investments. Some of them saw decline by over 50 per cent.

Realty investment forms over 11 per cent of the total investments in India, says Rawat. In the last fiscal the total investments including all the sectors were Rs.122,00,000 crore. This is inclusive of investments in the public and private sectors.

Realty investment fell mainly because of the lower home sales and sluggish market. High interest rates, rising cost of construction, etc. are other reasons which destroyed or hurt the investors’ sentiments.

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For attaining loans from banks and other lenders, Kingfisher Airlines Ltd has submitted its realty assets as collateral. State Bank of India is the largest lender to the airlines.

Stating this, the lenders have already sent a legal notice to Kingfisher Airlines. The notice say clearly that the lenders will snatch the realty assets of Kingfisher Airlines in case if the company fails to repay the amounts taken.

Kingfisher Airlines may lose its realty assets as lenders plan to seize them.

We, the lenders, have served a legal notice to Kingfisher Airlines, said a senior bank executive.

The lenders also have plans to take over other properties given as collateral. These will include the properties of other Kingfisher Group companies and some personal properties of Vijay Mallya, the chairman of Kingfisher Group.

Deputy MD at SBI, Shyamal Acharya confirmed that the lenders have plans to move against the other subsidiary companies of Kingfisher Group.

Vijay Mallya, the Chairman of Kingfisher Airlines, talks to the media.

The realty assets of Kingfisher Airlines include its Mumbai office and a posh villa in Goa. The villa is owned by UB Group, its parent company. Earlier the banks sold the UB shares, with the permission of HC. However, no UB Group spokesperson was available for comment.

Kingfisher Airlines Ltd started operations in 2005. The group could never make any profit since its inception and was finally stopped service on October first last year.

Now the carrier owes over $2.5 billion. The debt-driven carrier now has to pay huge amounts to its lenders, other than its employees and the Indian government.

As the carrier defaulted payments, the banks refused to offer them more. This led the Indian Government to cancel their license in last year.

While the creditors of Kingfisher Airlines plan to divest these realty assets to clear off the debts, Royce & Partners Finance Ltd and BNP Paribas have filed petitions against the group in Karnataka HC which will hear the petitions today.

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With assets worth $210 billion, Blackstone is the largest private equity firm. The group has various investments in India.  While most of their PERE investments are in the residential sector, now they are planning to invest some money in the commercial segment.

Blackstone is reported to have an eye on Express Towers.

Earlier they were reported to be in talks with Mantri realtors, for the purchase of Mantri Mall in Bangalore. The new reports say that Blackstone has put the Mantri Mall-deal on pause.

So far, the group has invested over $1 billion in the Indian realty. Now the group is mulling over for more investments.

The Indian head office of Blackstone is on the fifth floor of the Express Towers in Mumbai. The estimated worth of the project comes over Rs.850 Cr. Around 4 lakh sq. ft. of area is totally built up in 25 stories.

The project is co-owned by Indian Express Group and ICICI Ventures. While these two hold the lion’s share, some small-scale investors also holds shares, but very minimal. The project was built nearly four decades ago.

Blackstone Group plans to have investments in Mumbai.

Blackstone officials have submitted a brochure of the project to the Embassy group. The Bangalore based realty group officials will have a walk-through in the project. Blackstone has joint-investments with Embassy Group.

Sources, with direct knowledge with Blackstone’s deals, reveal that the group is planning to buy out this tower. The tower provides a very good view of the Arabian Sea and so the prices may reach around Rs.850 Cr, the sources added.

While officials of both Blackstone and Mantri Group declined to comment, Vishakha Mulye MD and CEO of ICICI Ventures could not be contacted for comments.

According to sources, ICICI Ventures has entrusted Jones Lang LaSalle India to find buyers. The real estate consultant too did not comment on the issue.

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