Renting a house in Bangalore is as easy as never before. Thanks to notable increase in the rate of urbanization in this part of the country. Often Bangalore is termed as the IT capital of India. Many IT professionals come to Bangalore for various training activities as many IT majors have their head quarters located in this city. Also Bangalore is ideal place for education since many educational institutes are located in and around the city. Many students from other states like Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh come here for education purpose. All these people are taken good care as many house rent options are there in the offering for them. Another reason for growth of the rental market could be that many working professionals come over on some official and stay for a short period of year. For such people renting a house would be ideal instead of purchasing a house.

Many real estate consultants and brokers provide valuable information regarding the availability of rental based houses in every particular corner of the city. People from outstation are consulting these firms for seek of rental houses. Generally, settlers from rural areas and students pursuing various educational courses prefer flats or apartments. But people who belong to corporate sectors would rather opt for luxurious villas and lavishly furnished flats as they can afford it and other reason which is normally asked for is the distance from the work place.

Many banks are coming forward to give home loans but the number of people who are in search for rental house are increasing every year. This encourages the rental market which is already thriving. India is presently the new hot spot for IT sector activities which happen to be taking place in the city of Bangalore predominantly. As a result the real estate firms have hiked the prices of properties which would make the option of renting a house look better as it is very cheap compared to real estate properties. The same phenomenon is now being implemented in other IT industry dominant cities.

As new government policies drive progress towards addressing climate change and other key environmental issues, the real estate markets around Asia and the world will change its look quickly and adopt green building concept, both in developing new buildings and improving existing ones, .

This transformation will be driven by various combinations of regulation, government incentives and changing market dynamics.

House Renter will also help drive the Green Real Estate growth through their corporate social responsibility programmes, desire to attract and retain quality employees and aspiration to improve. India currently has about twenty-six built green buildings covering close to eleven million square feet. Presently, more than two hundred buildings have registered themselves to obtain a green certificate. Mumbai is leading with fifty-one buildings, followed by Chennai at thirty-five. Bangalore has close to twelve buildings registered for certification. The green market in India started with the developed world and now it is shifting to India. The growth in green buildings is largely driven by occupiers.

Green buildings may have an initial cost of its construction as compared to conventional buildings, but in the long run these buildings could save up to 40-80% of energy cost. The energy requirements of some well designed green buildings around the world was as low as 15% than that of a conventional building.

Construction of the world’s tallest building, the Burj Dubai, has been delayed and will be completed only in September next year, the developer was quoted on Tuesday.

The tower, which is expected to reach a final height of 900 meters (2,953 feet), was due for completion in the bustling city state at the end of 2008.

Developer Emaar said, “The luxury finishes that were decided on in 2004, when the tower was initially conceptualized, are now being replaced by upgraded finishes” .

The Burj Dubai had already become the tallest man-made structure on the planet, when Emaar announced in April that it has surpassed the 629 meter (2,063-foot) KVLY-TV mast in the United States.

Many building projects in Dubai, which are going through construction frenzy, have been facing delays caused by shortage of building materials and skilled labour.

City-based Sahil Group is all set to strengthen its base in construction and hospitality business and has moved a step ahead in both the segments.
It recently unveiled its premium housing project ‘Sahil Sarvadaa’ at Kondhwa.
Based on the concept of stress free homes, the project has been equipped with all the amenities that can contribute towards making your life stress free. Its rejuvenation centre has swimming pool, yoga and meditation room, steam room and an open garden. The possession ceremony of the same was held recently.
Currently Sahil Group has undertaken construction of over 5 lakh square feet mainly comprising residential projects in the city These are 4 premium residential projects in Pune in the areas like Baner, Erandwane, Bavdhan and Kondhwa.
In the current financial year the Group would be undertaking construction of another 15 lakh square feet, which will comprise residential, hospitality and retail spaces. These new projects will come up in Pune and Kandivali, Mumbai. The estimated project cost of the real estate projects being set up by Sahil Group is around Rs.600 crore. In the hospitality business Sahil Group has so far invested Rs.200 crores in setting up two properties at Lonavala and Alibaug. It recently unveiled its five star category Resort and Spa in Alibaug. Radisson Resort and Spa at Alibaug has two strategic operators, it is being managed by Carlson Hotels Worldwide. The Spa here is being managed by Mandara Spa from the MSpa International Thailand. This spa holds the distinction of being the largest spa property in the country having 16 private spa pavilions surrounded by beautifully landscaped gardens and clear blue waters.
Under the expansion plan of hospitality business Sahil Group is planning to set up a 250 rooms five start business hotel at Balewadi with an investment of Rs.250 crore.

Ruchi Realty Holdings Pvt Ltd, a business enterprise of the city-based Ruchi group of industries, has embarked on a four hundred fifty crore rupees real estate project for construction of seven hundred ninety six luxury apartments in Kolkata.

Ruchi Realty Vice-President S. Asthana said no 10th june that the project would have the first Sports-based residential condominium here and other exclusive facilities in six towers on seventeen acre on the E M Bypass.
The project’s initial work had started and was projected to be finished by December, 2010.
The highest price of an apartment has been priced at rupees one crore, he said.
Asthana told that other real estate projects undertaken by the company were integrated townships in Bhopal and Indore, in addition residential apartments in Mumbai and business hotels in Bhubaneswar, Jamshedpur and Indore.

Indiabulls Power Services (IPSL), a subsidiary of Indiabulls Real Estate, has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Jharkhand government for setting up of 1,320 mega watt (MW) power project, a statement sent to the Bombay Stock Exchange said.

In terms of the MoU, government of Jharkhand shall facilitate and extend all assistance to IPSL with regards to allotment of captive coal block, acquiring land and allotting water for the project, the statement further read.

The state government shall purchase upto 25 % of power delivered from the proposed project under the Power Purchase Agreement at a tariff to be determined by appropriate regulatory commission while IPSL will have the right to sell the balance power outside the state or to bulk consumer within the state.

At the time to filing this report, the stock of Indiabulls Real Estate was trading 4.87 % down at Rs 379 per share as against its 9th june closer of Rs 398.40 per share.

Magarpatta’s Nanded City Pune closes it’s offer of phase 1 with a promise to open 2nd phase in December 2008

On the foundation of frustration about Pune real estate market and desperation about housing, ‘Nanded City Pune’ developed huge hope in the minds of the property buyers.

All inclusive model of Magarpatta City will also include the middle class was the hope of the majority. Thousands of 1 bhk flats was the main attraction.

Taking advantage of this Mr. Satish Magar, Chairman and Managing Director of Magarpatta Township Development and Construction Company Limited, said “Consider ‘Nanded City Pune’ as any other real estate development project in Pune. Book your 1 bhk, 2 bhk, 3bhk flat for the quality of the construction and infrastructure support we offer”.

For those who felt owning a house in Delhi was a distant dream, there is now a glimmer of hope. After a gap of nearly two years, Delhi Development Authority is set to offer 6,000 flats for middle and low-income groups in areas like Dwarka, Vasant Kunj, Rohini, Narela and Shalimar Bagh.

The DDA offer, set to come up in the next two months, is certainly not enough to satisfy the huge demand for a flat in Delhi. Still, for 6,000 lucky ones it will be the big opportunity of not having to shift out to the suburbs.

Although these flats will cost more than in the past, the rates will be much less than those charged by private builders. As such, there are bound to be many more applications than 6,000, and the eventual allottees would be selected, as always, through lottery.

More than 2 lakh people applied for 3,000 flats when DDA last offered a new scheme in 2006. Clearly, this time too, supply will far outstrip demand.

The scheme aims to allot two- and one-bedroom apartments. ‘‘DDA is finalizing modalities for the new scheme. The agency is likely to invite applications within two months,” said a senior DDA official.

The fresh infusion, officials feel, will bring about a modicum of stability in localities where housing prices have rocketed of late. DDA flats in localities like Vasant Kunj command prices close to Rs 1 crore with their interiors completely redesigned by owners.

Bangalore: Bangalore-based In4velocity Systems, India’s foremost real estate and property development software firm, pronounced that Mumbai-based Kanakia Spaces, a well-known name in the real estate industry, has successfully implemented its market leading ERMS application, In4Suite, across its different construction projects over the period of six months. The overall deal value is expected to be above one lakh dollar.

In4velocity’s unique Enterprise Resource Management System (ERMS) application, In4Suite, is India’s biggest selling and the only integrated end-to-end solution for real estate and property development firms. One can computerize the business processes right from land acquirement to engineering, from purchase to sales and from rental to property management.

Real estate developer BPTP Group has paid Rs 1000 crore to the Noida authorities as the first instalment for its ambitious 95-acre project.

The privately held developer said that the rest of the payment, of Rs 250 crore, would be made very soon.

DNA Money had last week reported about BPTP making the payment early this week.

Asked for the funding details, Mr. Sudhanshu Tripathi, director, BPTP told DNA Money, “We have not hived off any stake in the Noida project as of now.”

According to him, BPTP has used its internal accruals and the investments received from private equity investors in the past for other projects to make the payment.

In April, Citi Property Investors had invested about $160 million (Rs 640 crore), in the group for a 40% stake in the latter’s special economic zone projects.

BPTP had outbid realty majors DLF and Omaxe to bag the Noida project in March, involving a total land acquisition cost of around Rs 5000 crore.

BPTP was dangerously close to the extended deadline of June 13 for the first instalment.

Failure to honour the deadline could have led to the deal being cancelled, officials in the Noida authority said.

BPTP sought an extension to pay the first installment after the foreign banks from which it had arranged loans didn’t honour their commitment, Credit Suisse analyst Anand Agarwal wrote in a note.

Many realtors are facing the challenge of raising funds for their projects, given the current downward spiral in the real estate market and the negative sentiment thereon.

Suman Memami, research analyst at Religare Securities, added that liquidity crunch is causing builders to postpone new launches and also private equity players are in a “wait & watch mode.”

The construction cost of the financial city planned will be around Rs 3,000 crore and the total cost of the project is expected to be around Rs 9,000 crore.

BPTP expects office rentals in Noida to be more than its rival city Gurgaon upon completion.

If you thought that only the real estate values are witnessing a dip, think twice. Even the advertising industry is also feeling the realty heat.

According to industry sources, it is estimated that all major developers such as DLF, Omaxe, Ansals and Parsvnath have decided to cut down on their advertising budgets by around 5 percent. The advertising industry in India is estimated at Rs 10,000 crore.

While analysts attribute this trend to dampening spirits of potential buyers, real estate companies prefer to call this a reality check on their advertising budgets. A report from Adex India, a division of TAM Media Research, shows that the share of real estate advertisements in print media saw a drop of 2 percent during 2007 compared to 2006. According to Adex, the share of real estate advertisement in overall print and TV advertising last year was 4 percent and 1 percent, respectively.

According to S K Sayal CEO, Alpha G Corp: “Infrastructure and real estate companies have primarily been responsible for the advertising industry sustaining its double-digit growth rate. However, in general, companies and brands have been increasing their expenditure on advertising. But a recent dip in the realty sector has made things worse for the advertising industry. Many real estate companies, this fiscal, have cut down on their advertising budgets.”

The Adex report indicates that the top 10 advertisers shared an aggregate of 16 percent of overall ad volumes of real estate advertising in print during 2007. The list include names such as DLF Group, Parsvnath, Sahara, HDIL and Omaxe group. However, the real estate had maximum share in South India publications followed by North and West publications with 32% and 26% share, respectively, during 2007.

“This is because all real estate companies want a national footprint. Also, these companies are now turning professional. They’re setting standards when it comes to managing their A2S (advertising to sales) ratio,” says Jagdeep Kapur, CMD, Samsika Marketing Consultants.

Despite of doubt over the fortune of the township project at Dankuni, real estate major DLF, in charge of executing the project, is hopeful of going ahead with it. According to DLF officials responsible for the Dankuni project, “The company remains committed to the project. The government has not briefed DLF about any of its strategy about the township, after the minister’s comment.”

However, any decision to hang up the project would not only be a huge loss to DLF, but to West Bengal as well, because the project was assigned to the company through a global tender, after assessing its commercial viability, said the official.

The process of land purchase at Dankuni had been postponed for now as the elected representatives on the land procurement committee, after the panchayat elections, were all members of the opposition Trinamul Congress and opposed to the project.

Besides, they were yet to assume their office, according to sources at the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA).

KMDA sources claimed it had also not received any intimation from the state urban development department in this matter, though it was under the departmental minister A. Bhattacharya who announced the cancellation of the land purchase proposal for the project.

In this situation, DLF did not expect to begin work at the proposed township, which is now running 6 months behind schedule, within 2008, confirmed company officials.

While nervousness has been simmering at the location of township for quite some time, the controversy surfaced recently, when the state urban development minister A. Bhattacharya said the government would not do any purchase of land, thereby stalling project in Dankuni.
He said land purchase was against the will of the opposition parties and landowners in the area.

The thirty three thousand crore rupees township project, spread over four thousand eight hundred forty acres of land, was one of the biggest public private partnership projects in the country.

Of the total project area, seven hundred seventy one acres had been allotted for industry.

Textile, food processing and engineering industries were to come up the earmarked industrial area.

Around one thousand eight hundred seventy two acres had been reserved for housing projects.

The Eaap Directory 2008 – published by the Estate Agents Association of Pune – was released previous week by Mayor Rajlaxmi Bhosle, Police Commissioner Jayant Umranikar and PBAB president Lalit Kumar Jain at a glittering ceremony held at the Corinthians Club.
Describing the highlight of EAAP Directory 2008, Official, said, “The EAAP Directory 2008 would not only act as ready reckoner for the individuals and organizations related to real estate industry but will also prove to be very useful for buyers and sellers of the property.”
The directory has a database of registration offices in and around Pune, contact details of the all the members of the EAAP, useful tips while buying and selling the property along with some valuable articles contributed by the veterans from the industry.
One of the most important sections of the EAAP Directory 2008 is the legal section, which provides vital information about guidelines about service tax, title verification, capital gain, information about stamp act and technicalities involved in leasing properties and valuation. The directory would be available at all the leading bookstores in the city and the EAAP office.
Speaking on the occasion, Umranikar urged the real estate fraternity to incorporate the elements security in everything that they build. He also made a suggestion to PMC to have security features as a part of D.P.
The mayor appreciated the contribution of the real estate industry in the growth of Pune city and also the contribution of the real estate agents in assisting the property buyers in finding the property of their choice and budget.
Andrew Pinto from EAAP made the welcome remarks and Sameera Singh played the anchor for the evening. Film actress Sonali Kulkarni enthralled the crowd with her dance sequences.
The Estate Agents Association of Pune was formed in 1986. The objective of the EAAP is to promote the ethical business practices in the real estate industry of Pune. Today it has over 200 members again the largest in the country.

aAIM India, a division of the real estate equity investor, aAIM Group, on 6th june announced its first investment comprising a 7 million sq. feet mixed-use development. This is the first Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in an Integrated Township under the Special Township Policy whereby most of the planning decisions are delegated to the development JV.

Located in the city of Nagpur in Central India, the £350mn project comprises 3,000 residences and construction of the first phase is expected to be completed in late 2009. The overall project will span a period of six years. aAIM India is the largest shareholder.

Strong local partners are critical to the success of all real estate development projects in India and aAIM India is delighted to announce that it has entered into a joint venture with Aanya, an entity derived from Soham Real Estate.
Soham has a 25 year track record during which time it has delivered 40 substantial projects including residential townships and commercial premises. Soham has sophisticated systems for delivering projects on time and on budget.
“

This is a landmark day for aAIM India. We are very pleased to be partnering with Soham Developers; their consistent track record of success has been a significant factor in our decision to partner with them,” said Anurag Chaturvedi, CEO of aAIM India.

“This is only the second development of its kind in India approved under a new progressive scheme of the Government. The commercial attractiveness of the proposed development along with the strong execution capabilities of our partner should provide investors with confidence in our ability to source opportunities that will continue to offer high risk-adjusted returns.”

Alok Industries, the Rs 2,200-crore Mumbai-based textile firm, has resumed talks with private equity players to dilute about 20 percent equity it owns in its unlisted unit, Alok Infrastructure. A realty company, Alok Infrastructure has been looking at options to raise around Rs 600 crore for developing its large land bank, said sources.

Alok Industries plans to sell part of its stake in its realty unit to 3-4 private equity firms by August end. The company’s chief financial officer Sunil Khandelwal is currently in the UK for negotiations on this issue.

“We are working out different options and strategies for our realty venture and something will happen before August. I am not in a position to divulge anything more now,” he told ET from London. Ernst & Young is advising Alok Industries on the equity dilution in Alok Infrastructure.

Alok Industries had initiated talks with private equity firms in October last year, but had to discontinue after crashes in the stock markets led to a steep correction in valuations. According to analysts, Alok could be looking at increasing the valuation of the realty company through a private equity deal and subsequently list it.

Alok Infrastructure plans to invest large amounts in real estate development and is also developing over one hundred eighty acres in its textile SEZ in Silvassa. It has already acquired two hundred twenty acres at Silvassa. The company has also acquired one hundred thirty acres at Panvel at the rate of twenty five lakh rupees per acre in a 50-50 joint venture.

According to India Real Estate sector report Global Research, the Indian real estate market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 20 percent, driven by an 18-19 percent growth in residential real estate, 55-60 percent in retail real estate, and 20-22 percent in commercial real estate, over the next five years.

The real estate sector seems to be at the receiving end of the market meltdown, with the DLF scrip ending below its issue price. For the first time after its listing, the stock of India’s largest real estate developer closed below its issue price of Rs 525 at Rs 519.95.

Although it was closing at all-time lows in the past three trading sessions, it had managed to maintain the issue price. But the final blow came on 6th june when it breached the issue price mark. The BSE Realty index was the second-biggest loser closing 1.83% down.

In fact, only a third of all the real estate IPOs are trading in the positive, others are all below their issue price. The only exceptions were luxury apartment developer Orbit Corporation, which gave a whopping 270% returns, and Akruti City giving 50% returns.

Slum rehabilitation expert HDIL which is trading significantly lower from its 52-week high, however, has managed to sustain some of its returns trading at 30% above its issue price. Developers with a diverse product portfolio and strategically located land bank have been able to sustain the market pressure.

With the looming correction in land prices, there has been uncertainty amongst buyers about the future trend in prices. Besides this, the market mayhem has caused a major blow to high valuations that these companies were commanding. Brigade Enterprises, IVR Prime, Puravankara, Kolte Patil, Omaxe are all quoting at an average 75% below their issue price.

“Inflation numbers breaching previous records, high volatility in the equity market have dented investor confidence in the sector. It is still 3-6 months before the real estate sector revives itself,” says Jones Lang Laselle Meghraj V-P (Consulting) Ashutosh Limaye.

“With crude hovering at $130 a barrel and 10-year G-secs trading at 8.24%, interest rates are expected to harden further. This will have a negative bearing on the real estate sector,” says Mirae Assets Senior Fund Manager Gopal Agrawal.

India Equity Partners (IEP), a three hundred million dollar India focused private equity fund, possibly will raise around one billion dollar corpus coming year to invest in India.
“We were going slowly earlier as the equity market was pricey,” said Steven Wisch, the US-based managing partner of IEP. The fund was raised one year and six month ago and so far 40 % has been used in investments in companies like Bharti Infratel, Mannapuram Group of Companies and Hyderabad-based port management company Ocean Sparkle ITD.
“We will raise a significantly higher fund subsequent year,” he said.
India Real Estate Opportunity (IREO) Fund, IEP’s sister concern, invested $1.4 billion out of its $1.6 billion equity in the Indian real estate sector in 2004-2007. IREO was started with a corpus of one hundred fifty million dollar and then moved on to raise $1.1 billion. IEP is planning to raise one billion dollar in the same way.
According to Khanna who is chairman and managing director of the firm”It is an electrifying time for private equity”. “We may finish our existing fund for investment by next year,” he added.
IEP has also brought K K Iyer and Sudarshan Sampathkumar, who were lead partners at Accenture, on board as managing directors.

The West Bengal Green Energy Development Corporation Ltd (WBGEDCL) for the first time has tied-up with the real estate development company Siddha Group for transferring the information about energy saving in its forthcoming studio and serviced apartments project in Rajarhat, called Xanadu.

On 4th June S P Gon Choudhury, managing director of WBGEDCL said that the corporation would charge a insignificant fee for transferring the technology, but in future might was open to pick a equity as low as 2 % in the real estate projects seeking the technology.

S. Jain, joint managing director of the Siddha Group, said out of one hundred twenty apartments in the project, ten or so initially would be equipped with energy saving devices.
In addition to this clean technology, additional feature of this project will be general services like the eating area, club and gym.
Siddha Group would install solar thermal lightning system on a five hundred meter stretch between Xanadu and Siddha Pines, a new residential project by the group in the Rajarhat area.

Other features of the project included use of LED bulbs, solar home lighting system and rain water harvesting.

ABS Hotels India is all set to launch a budget brand ‘Smart Hotels’ with plans to open it in eight cities within the next two years at an investment of Rs 100 crore. Ashok Aneja, the group’s chairman, informed that the group wants to expand in the budget and resort markets.

“Smart Hotels will come up in Goa, Jaipur, Bengaluru, Pune, Gwalior, Bhopal, Lucknow and Delhi. The properties will be owned and managed by us with no external borrowings whatsoever to fund the projects,” Aneja said.

The company is also planning to grow its resort brand – Roop Hotels & Resorts – with another property lined up at Gir National Park in Gujarat in addition to the existing Roop Resorts in Jim Corbett National Park and Kumaon (Nainital) region. “We expect to tap the resort locations in Uttaranchal, Dehradun and even have Roop Hotels in Bengaluru and Dehradun,” he added.

ABS Hotels India started as a master franchisee of US-based Microtel Inn & Suites for India and has developed three three-star hotels in Bengaluru, Jaipur and Mumbai under the brand. The brand had earlier planned to construct 20 hotels in India but later stalled the plan. ABS Hotels has now grabbed the opportunity to establish its own brand with the same plans that were made with Microtel. “We have the rights on the drawings and plan of the hotels and are taking the project forward,” Aneja stated.

The company owns land banks where it would also be considering developing hotels. It has also ventured into serviced apartments segment with its 42-room Roop Residency coming up in Bengaluru this year with an investment of Rs 20 crore, he summed.

MUMBAI: It’s second-time unlucky for Indian realtors hoping to garner some desperately needed cash by floating their real estate investment trusts in Singapore.

On 5th june, Indiabulls Real Estate said its plans to float a Reit to mop up $286 million is being extended. Analysts said this was due to very poor response from retail investors.

The Reit had opened on 2nd june and was supposed to close on 5th june but now will close on 6th june following a last-ditch attempt to gather investors.
Ajit Mittal, chief executive officer of Indiabulls Properties, however, said the issue has been oversubscribed.

“We are extending it because merchant bankers said many retail investors from Malaysia, Indonesia and nearby countries want to invest”.

Unitech, India’s No. 2 realtor, had earlier pulled its plan to raise $700 million similarly.
Indiabulls couldn’t sell the mandatory minimum 1,000 units — it managed just one-third of it, which is why it had to extend, a source familiar with the situation said. Indiabulls Properties Investment Trust, the entity floating, had offered an attractive yield of 9.8% on the issue.

But the institutional portion of the issue saw good interest, and was oversubscribed by 1.8 times.

David Lum, an analyst at Daiwa Institute of Research Singapore, said the market conditions are pretty delicate and most issuers are pretty cautious.

The ones that were launched late last year haven’t been doing well. The subprime situation has to be over.”

Indiabulls plans to list its Elphinstone and Jupiter Mills properties in Lower Parel with an area of 3.4 million sq ft.

“We remain apprehensive about Indiabulls’ plans to list its Elphinstone and Jupiter properties in Singapore in the current market conditions,” Sandeep Mathew, an analyst at BNP Paribas India Solutions, said in a note to clients on May 23. “A strong balance sheet indicates that the listing is more of an effort to return cash to promoters.”

Lakshmi Niwas Mittal, steel baron and the world’s richest Indian, is the anchor investor in the issue, having bought 91 million shares. Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank AG are the book runners of the issue.

Trashing the age-old belief that a fall in equities would result in flattening real estate prices, high net worth investors (HNI) are pushing wealth advisers for more exposure to realty assets.

According to industry sources, the coming months are expected to witness the launch of real estate portfolio management services (PMS) by wealth managers. Though the product is discreetly marketed as real estate PMS, the fund will invest more like a venture capital fund wherein it will invest in live projects and also gain through rentals and space selling.

SK Wealth Advisors CEO Rajesh Saluja said, "Though we have not finalised the product format, our real estate PMS fund will invest across the real estate spectrum. It will be a discretionary portfolio, consisting of pooled money from investors, choosing live projects of unlisted companies as well".

Such investment funds will have a lock-in period of 5-8 years. The minimum ticket size for investment ranges from Rs 25 lakh to Rs 1 crore. Investors have the option to put money in trenches as per the demands of the fund manager.

Mr Saluja added, "We are starting this as an extension of our real estate investment advisory business. With equities losing sheen, our clients are demanding more exposure to real estate projects".

HDFC Asset Management’s PMS division has a similar fund that invests in securities of asset-level special purpose vehicles, holding structures etc across the real estate sector spectrum. The portfolio seeks to attain returns by investing through structured debt, mezzanine funding and innovative equity-linked products as well. The fund does not invest in live projects, as per the product document.

Real estate PMSs differ from private equity funds in their investment style. While private equity funds invest in the whole company, portfolio real estate investments only invest in large projects of a company. Unlike private equity funds, real estate PMSs only has the mandate to invest in real estate projects. They do not invest in sectors outside the real estate domain.

Emkay Shares & Stock Brokers business head Akhilesh Singh said, "The sluggishness in equities market is one reason why such funds are in vogue. If the funds are on the lines of a PMS, it will not be able to invest in live projects because of Sebi restrictions. Though these are marketed as PMS funds, they will be on the lines of venture capital funds”.

To help citizens in filing their property tax returns on time to avail themselves of the offered rebates, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi will open 800 additional collection windows across the city.
MCD Standing Committee Chairman Mr. Vijender Gupta said, “A private company is being engaged and will offer tax- payers the option of making payment online at these newly opened windows by using ‘Itz Cards’. The tax-payer can then collect the receipt of the amount paid on the spot after paying ‘convenience charges’ at 2.4%.”
Mr. Gupta said even if taxpayer did not want to pay through “Itz Cash Card”, there was a provision for calculation of property tax and issuance of a receipt for a payment of ten rupees. The tax-payer could take this receipt to the nearest prescribed bank or MCD office and make the payment there.
Further he said, “The Company will be providing us bank guarantee and security deposit against the tax amount collected to safeguard the civic body’s revenue. They will be allowed to collect tax up to the limit of the security deposit”.

Leading home loan lender ICICI Bank said that growth in the real estate sector has been impacted due to high interest rates and prices but maintained that there was no asset bubble in the sector.

ICICI Bank Joint Managing Director Chanda Kochhar said, "Clearly there is a slowdown in the number of deals …interest rates have gone up from 8% in the past to now 12% and prices too have gone up but an asset bubble is not there". She further said that a correction was expected as the present slowdown was in number of deals and not so much in prices.
She added, "Since it is genuine demand in general and the salary levels are increasing, both customers and builders are playing a wait and watch game".

Kochhar said that builders were able to hold prices as they were sitting on equity capital and not debt, which had to be paid off.

She added "Now they can afford to sit with the capital and that is the reason why prices have not corrected…the question is who will blink first".

She said that in India the speculative part in real estate had always been small and growth was largely driven by actual demand and affordability of people.

Sobha Developers, a Bangalore-based realty major focussed on residential space, is looking at diversifying its portfolio through slum redevelopment schemes and special economic zones (SEZs), retail and commercial projects.

Mr. Raghav Menon, Executive director, said that the company would build an SEZ in either Tamil Nadu or Kerala. He said, “We haven’t decided on the place yet. We will also enter retail and commercial project development”.

Mr. Menon said, Sobha is planning projects in Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune, Mysore, Kerala and Orissa. The Mysore project will kick off next month with an investment of hundred crore rupees.

In the next three years, the company has to pay Rs 660-crore loans taken for land acquisition. The developer has a land bank of 4,024 acre, most of which is in Bangalore.

Mr. Menon, however, denied that the company was facing liquidity crunch and said it was self-sufficient. He said, “We are not looking at private equity investment as of now. But we are looking for good projects for joint venture development”.

The executive director added that in the coming months, Sobha had planned investments of nearly Rs 200 crore into the projects.

About 33% of Sobha’s revenues come from its contractual business, under which it is developing 8.32 million square feet including IT parks commissioned by Bangalore-based software giant Infosys.

Amanora Park Town, the first township which got the sanction from the State Government, is all set to have another first in the field of ‘Environment Conservation’.
The township’s ‘Temple of Environment’ is in the final stages of completion, said Mr Aniruddha Deshpande, Managing Director, City Corporation Ltd.
The temple would be unveiled on the Environment Day (June 5). It is an 18 feet tall Prism made from granite and glass.
The prism is mounted in a specially created water-body.
A Golden Tree weighing 50 kg and 4.5 feet high, symbolizing the environment would be installed at the Top End of the Prism, which is made of glass.
It is an open air temple and is situated in the twenty six acre Central Green Garden in the township.
The Central Green is one of the largest private gardens in Maharashtra and the Golden Tree has been crafted by PNG, a well-known city jewellery house.
The management of the Amanora Park Town has already initiated a process of registering this unique project with UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme).
Being Developed by City Corporation Ltd, Amanora Park Town is first complete township project in Maharashtra, under the Government of Maharashtra’s special Township Policy.