Ambuja Realty to invest Rs 1,000 cr this fiscal

Kolkata-based Ambuja Realty today said it plans to invest around Rs 1,000 crore in the current fiscal for developing malls, residential townships and IT parks in Kolkata.

“Our capex for this fiscal is around Rs 1,000 crore, which will be spent in developing malls and IT parks in Kolkata. The funding is from the group’s internal accruals. We have also raised some debt,” Ambuja Realty Development Chairman Harshavardhan Neotia told reporters here.

He said the group’s turnover for last fiscal was around Rs 250 crore.

The real estate company, at present, is developing four malls in Siliguri, Haldia and Raipur apart from an IT Park in Kolkata spread over 1 million sq ft, Neotia said.

“About one-third of the IT Park is ready. We are also developing a 150 room five-star hotel in Kolkata near the airport,” Neotia said.

The company is in talks with some international hotel chains and hopes to finalise a deal by July, he added.

“We plan to open the hotel in the January-March quarter next year,” he said.

Although rents and lease rates have shrunk by 10-15 per cent in Kolkata, there is not much reduction in the cost of raw materials, he said.

Source : http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/ambuja-realty-to-invest-rs-1000-cr-this-fiscal/63237/on

Home, car loans to get cheaper by 0.5%

By Abhishek Anand & Sarbajeet K Sen Interest rates are in for another cut. At least three public sector lenders—Bank of Baroda, Corporation Bank and Bank of Maharashtra— said they would reduce their lending rate for the best clients. The reductions are expected to be around 50 basis points, or half a per cent.

The cuts are being implemented in the run up to the proposed meeting of chiefs of public sector banks with the Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee on June 12. Mukherjee had said on Wednesday that he would talk to the banks to reduce interest rates.

This might be an indicator to a broad-based industry-wide reduction of prime lending rate (PLR) by other government-owned banks.
“Our asset-liability committee would be meeting on Saturday. The reduction could be in the region of 50 basis point,” J M Garg, chairman and managing director of Corporation Bank told the Financial Chronicle. At least two other bank chiefs said that their committees would be meeting shortly. The committee at each bank is the authorised body to take a final call on interest rates.

Garg said that his bank had already brought down its rate sharply. “We have reduced our PLR from 14 per cent to 12 per cent in the last couple of months. Nearly 75 per cent of our corporate lending in any case takes place below PLR. The proposed rate reduction would provide mean lower interest rates on retail lending as well and would benefit retail customers,” Garg said.

Reduction in the PLR has an immediate softening impact on all loan rates, including corporate loans, home loans, car loans and education loans as all of them are linked to the benchmark rate.
A senior banker from a New-Delhi based public sector bank agreed with Garg and said that the prevalent view in the industry is for a 50 basis points cut and not a deeper one. “The sense that I am getting after talking to most banks is that everyone is gearing towards a 50 basis points reduction in lending rates. The reduction would take place within a fortnight,” the banker said on the condition of anonymity.

At present, the PLR of most public sector banks stand at around 12 per cent, while Punjab National Bank has the lowest rate of 11 per cent. PNB has, however, already indicated that it might not want to go in for an immediate cut.

MD Mallya, chairman and managing director of Bank of Baroda, said that his bank is likely to take a call on lending rate reduction in about 10 days. However, he did not indicate the extent to which the rate may fall. “The liquidity situation is comfortable and inflation is down. Hence, there may be some headroom to lower interest rates and our committee will meet in another 10 days time to take a call. In any case, we have reduced rates significantly during the last couple of months.”

A senior official of Central Bank of India agreed with Mallya’s view. “The liquidity in the banking system is comfortable and inflation is low. The only problem that remains is bond yields, which are still very high,” said the official, who did not wish to be named.

Chairman and managing director of Bank of Maharashtra said: “Our net interest margin has fallen a bit during last quarter and hence, our focus is to the retain NIM at the current level. By the end of first week of June, we will have a fair idea of our cost of funds and based upon it asset liability committee would decide the future course of action,” he said.

Source : http://www.mydigitalfc.com/personal-finance/home-car-loans-get-cheaper-05-352

Jaiprakash sees affordable housing drive realty growth

MUMBAI: The real estate arm of Indian construction and engineering firm Jaiprakash Associates, expects its recent move to affordable housing to  drive volumes and help sustain high growth this fiscal.

Jaypee Greens expects to grow revenue more than 50 percent in 2009/10, helped by a spate of residential projects offering apartments around 3 million rupees, a senior official said.

It recently saw strong response to its first offering in this segment, selling nearly 2700 apartments at Noida near New Delhi.

“We have seen the opportunity. We will come out with more such products as they appeal to more people,” Rita Dixit, director at the group’s realty business told reporters.

Jaypee joins a slew of Indian developers building lower sized, cheaper-priced apartments in a bid to revive demand amidst a market downturn that has sharply hit their cashflow.

Others jumping into this segment of the market include DLF, Unitech and Parsvnath.

The real estate division contributes only about 7 per cent to Jaiprakash’s revenue, but grew 66 per cent in 2008/09.

“We hope to do more volumes this year, mainly in this segment. Higher volumes will also take care of margins,” Dixit said, adding margins were a little less than 30 per cent in the affordable housing segment.

It also plans to come up with several commercial, retail and hotel projects along its expressway projects in northern India.

Last year, Jaiprakash won rights to build two large expressways originating from Noida — the 1,047 kms long Ganga Expressway to eastern Uttar Pradesh, and the 165 kms Yamuna Expressway across western UP.

“Our business model is dependent on the expansion along the expressway. So, we are concentrating only in north India at the moment,” Dixit said.

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Markets/Real-Estate/Jaiprakash-sees-affordable-housing-drive-realty-growth/articleshow/4590008.cms

Investors warm up to realty, once again

MUMBAI: After a near 16-month hiatus, strategic investors are once again warming up to the real estate sector. A few foreign funds and local asset  management companies have hit the road for raising money to be invested in real estate companies. Interestingly, even high net worth investors are flocking to these funds, say industry watchers.

Mutual funds raising funds towards realty investments include ASK Investment Holdings, Milestone Capital Advisors, Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company and the Singapore-based Morgan Stanley Investments. While ASK Investment Holdings has launched a Rs 500-crore PMS fund (that will invest into live realty projects through an investment vehicle), Milestone Capital and Birla Sunlife AMC are planning to raise Rs 600 crore and Rs 2,500 crore, respectively, for focused real estate investments. Almost all these funds are promising annualised returns in the range of 20-25%.

Both Morgan Stanley and Birla Sunlife are floating offshore real estate funds. According to market sources, Birla Sunlife will raise the money from West Asian and Latin American investors. Officials at Birla Sunlife refused to comment on the development.

“Affluent investors who could not make much of the recent equity market rally are now trying to invest in real estate instruments. Even big-ticket funds are now raising money from investors. An HNI portfolio now will typically have 5% investments in real estate funds; overall real estate exposure would be in the range of 15-20%,” said Right Horizons Wealth Management CEO Anil Rego.

ASK Investment Holdings has launched a realty-focused portfolio management scheme, with a minimum investment pegged at Rs 25 lakh. The fund will make equity investments into live city-centric residential projects in seven cities. “The fund (with a five-year gestation period) has already received commitment for Rs 100 crore. We’re looking to invest the pool in cash-strapped projects; being an equity investment, we’ll have 26-49% equity participation in the invested projects,” said ASK Investment Holdings executive director Sunil Rohokale.

“We’ll invest only into properties which are completed and rented out, therefore eliminating development risk. The idea is to generate 20% annualised return over a period of four years,” said Milestone Capital CIO Ashish Joshi.

According to Mr Rego, real estate sector will remain relatively sluggish for the next two years. “Over-supply of premises is one reason for growth slackness. But there is no harm in having some exposure to real estate,” Mr Rego added.

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Market-News/Investors-warm-up-to-realty-once-again/articleshow/4591345.cms

Realtors plan lock-in clauses to weed out speculators

Stung by recent experiences, many real estate companies such as Tata Housing, Omaxe, DLF and others are planning to impose lock-in periods of up to one year for their mass housing projects.
 
A lock-in clause means buyers cannot sell their properties within a certain period after booking the property or have to pay a penalty if they do so.

Realtors are doing these because investors or speculators often leveraged volume discounts on property purchases to re-sell them at prices lower than those available to individual buyers. This created problems for realtors when demand slowed, since it put pressure on them to take a hit on margins and lower prices still further.

In the boom years of 2006 and 2007, 30 to 50 per cent of such projects were sold on bulk discounts, especially in the national capital region.

Now, companies such as Tata Housing will not issue no-objection certificates to property buyers for the first six months after allotment and DLF, India’s largest listed realtor, said it would not transfer the title of the property in the name of the buyer for a year after a property is booked.

Several other companies have imposed a steep transfer charge — Rs 100 to Rs 1,000 a square foot — if the first-time buyer sells the property within a specified period.

The lock-ins are expected to be introduced mostly for mid-income projects, that offer prices 20 to 30 per cent below the market and, therefore, attract more undercutting from bulk discount buyers.

”We are going to introduce such clauses in all our future affordable housing projects. We do not want short-term investors to compete with us later in the market, as the margins in affordable housing are very low,” confirmed Rohtas Goel, chairman and managing director of Delhi-based developer Omaxe, which is launching 10 mid-income projects this year.

Margins on such housing projects are typically 20 to 25 per cent compared with 50 to 70 per cent for premium housing.

DLF Ltd, the country’s largest developer, claims it is the first developer to introduce the clause for both premium and mid-income projects.

“Earlier, the same buyer used to buy five to six flats in our projects and sell it within a month in the market. We, as the largest developer, decided to discourage such speculation”, said Rajeev Talwar, executive director, DLF.

The clause, however, has attracted criticism from analysts. “Developers want the best of both worlds. They want to delay registration and charge a transfer fee because once a property is registered it is binding on both developers and buyers,” said Pranay Vakil, chairman, Knight Frank India, an international property consultant.

The legal fraternity is, however, divided on whether the move was legally tenable.

“It is a contractual obligation and not a statutory one. The statute does not say that a property cannot be sold in a certain period of time. Developers are merely putting pressure on buyers,” said Vinod Sampat, a Mumbai-based advocate.

He added some Mumbai developers even charged Rs 1,000 a square foot as transfer charges though the state housing department has said the developer cannot charge a single paisa as transfer charges.

PH Parekh, a senior Supreme Court lawyer, said, however, that all legal documents signed by a person were binding, unless he decided to challenge it in court. “If a buyer decides to challenge the lock-in period, the decision of the court can go either way,” Parekh said.

Source : http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/realtors-plan-lock-in-clauses-to-weed-out-speculators/359498/

Times Property expo from May 30

PUNE: The Times Property Showcase, a prestigious property exhibition organised by The Times of India, will be held on May 30 and 31 at Le Meridien.  

With over 50 top builders showcasing around 300 projects, it is set to be the season’s biggest property expo.

The event is aimed at offering a wide range of properties across Pune under one roof. With lowered property prices and home loan interest rates, this is the perfect opportunity for buyers to zero in on their dream home. The exhibition will remain open between 10.30 am and 7.30 pm on both days.

Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Times-Property-expo-from-May-30/articleshow/4590855.cms

Real estate sector may recover in next 3 months: Assocham

The developers are hoping for some policy actions in the upcoming budget to revive the sector, which they feel would be key for the speedy recovery

New Delhi: The real estate sector, which is reeling under the global economic slowdown, could recover in the next three months as demand for housing has improved due to price correction, industry body Assocham said in a survey.
The developers are hoping for some policy actions in the upcoming budget to revive the sector, which they feel would be key for the speedy recovery.

“Majority of the 25 real estate firms surveyed are sensing a quick revival in the sectoral activity within the next three months as developer’s strategic shift towards affordable housing and a significant price correction in the housing projects has pepped up the sale of residential property,” it said.

About 92% of the developers considered affordable housing as the most dominating segment to shore up the demand in real estate sector.
“The policy actions supplementing the robust demand in the housing sector is likely to hold the key for a speedy recovery phase in the sector,” it said.
At a time when luxury housing, SEZ, retail and commercial space were witnessing steep contraction in demand, affordable housing was the single most resilient segment, it added.
On the policy front, respondents sought single window clearance for all schemes under affordable housing in the line of SEZs to enable fast development of units and achieve the shortfall of about 26 million houses at the earliest.

About 76% of the developers stated that the stimuli given to the sector through fiscal and monetary measures were inadequate to help boost the demand-supply scenario.
“In the present market scenario, 60% perceived resurgent stock market as the most prominent source of finance to fund the sector’s cash requirement, followed by 28% viewing bank credit as the best viable option,” it said.

Source : http://www.livemint.com/2009/05/28190152/Real-estate-sector-may-recover.html?h=B

DHFL to enable affordable housing in India

NEW DELHI: DHFL Property Services Ltd, a 100% subsidiary of housing finance company Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Ltd (DHFL), is paving the way  for urbanization of rural India in association with regional builders and developers.

The company has tied up with various builders across rural and semi-urban India to market affordable projects under its low-cost housing schemes for low-wage earners. The company will initially market schemes in the suburban areas of Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad, the company said.

DHFL Property Services will market 2,400 houses in Vatsalya Developers ‘Dream City’ project in Boisar. The flat size would range between 380 sq ft and 500 sq ft and are priced at Rs 1,300 per sq ft.

Located at approximately 90 kms from Mumbai and at 1 km distance from the Boisar railway station, the ‘Dream City’ project will offer its residents an array of facilities like recreational facilities, beautifully landscaped gardens with a play area for children, schools, a club house, ample parking space, a theatre, a community hall and shopline buildings. The project is expected to be completed by March 2010.

B K Madhur, CEO, DHFL Property Services Ltd, said, “We have always focused on enabling access to home ownership for the lower and middle income (LMI) groups across India through our mortgage finance company DHFL for 25 years. Our association with Vatsalya Developers for their Dream City project will address the need of proper housing along with other facilities to the LMI segment.”

DHFL Property Services plans to launch similar projects in Virar, Karjat and Badlapur, distant suburbs of Mumbai. It will also launch similar projects in Ahmedabad, Chennai and Hyderabad in the coming few months.

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News-By-Industry/DHFL-to-enable-affordable-housing-in-India/articleshow/4584266.cms

Sobha Developers enters into pact for Rs 225 cr projects

Mumbai, May 26, 2009 (Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX) –Construction firm Sobha Developers Ltd today said it will join hands with Bangalore-based Purna Partners for projects entailing an investment of Rs 225 crore.
The real estate company has already received a sum of Rs 25 crore in this regard, Sobha Developers said in a filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The company entered into a term sheet with Purna Partners for development of its projects in Bangalore and other cities, it said.

A term sheet is a document outlining the material terms and conditions of a business agreement. The term sheet guides preparation of the final agreement.

Sobha Developers has identified certain land parcels in Bangalore and other cities for residential, commercial and mixed development projects via a special purpose vehicle (SPV), it added.

Each of the specific projects would be valued separately, in which Sobha Developers would also be a shareholder along with Purna Partners in the SPV, the statement said.

Sobha Developers would also be executing these projects as the principal contractor, it stated.

Shares of the company closed at Rs 180.75, down 6.57 per cent from the previous close on the BSE.

Source : http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2345620/

Ista and Ananda join hands with Panorama Hospitality

Morgan Stanley’s Panorama Hospitality has added Delhi-based IHHR Hospitality’s Ananda destination spas brand and Ista hotel chain to its Panorama Hospitality Partner Hotels & Residences portfolio. Panorama will now be available in an advisory capacity for the properties located in India and Mauritius.

According to Asiatraveltips.com, properties like the five-star Ista Hyderabad, Ista Bengaluru, Ista Amritsar, Ananda in the Himalayas and Ananda Maurice (Mauritius) are now included under Panorama’s purview. Panorama Hospitality is a hotel asset management and operating company that serves the Europe and Asia pacific regions.

Source : http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://www.hospitalitybizindia.com/detailNews.aspx%3Faid%3D4920%26sid%3D1&ct=ga&cd=Zptl0Dl4GT8&usg=AFQjCNGeedk_IFa6HC6ibyXFc5iF6XxMYw

Luxury housing – down but not out

Flip through the pages of any newspaper today and there will be umpteen advertisements of low-cost housing projects vying for your attention. What is more, there are even reports of some realty majors tweaking their high-end projects into townships or ‘budget’ homes. It goes without saying that faced with liquidity crunch, affordable housing is currently in for realty majors. But does that imply that luxury housing, which once fuelled the realty boom in this part of the world, is out — once and for all?

While this may seem to be the case at a superficial glance, industry observers think otherwise. “The days of luxury housing projects aren’t over. Both these segments of the market, in fact, have their own demand and what varies across the segments is the quantum of demand. These two categories cater to different income segments and customer profiles, and hence, are not a substitute for each other,” says Mona Chhabra, associate director, real estate practice, Ernst & Young.

Neeraj Bansal, associate director of KPMG, explains, “The luxury segment was primarily targeted for the elite, the corporate honcho, high net worth individuals (HNWIs) and non-resident Indians (NRIs). The fact is HNWIs and NRIs are still being pushed and lured with fancy freebies. Exotic location along with the minimalist and international look still continue to attract interest.”
It is only that luxury housing — for obvious reasons — is currently not as much in demand as it was earlier. No wonder, with this segment not picking up much in the past few months, developers have shifted the spotlight to ‘affordable housing’ — to push up volumes, more than anything. With the target audience being the enduser and not investors and the price bracket reducing by as much as 20-30%, ‘affordable housing’ is fast gaining acceptance amongst the large and medium-sized developers.

Bansal says, “With the changing business climate, the once ‘in-demand’ luxury apartments — centrally air conditioned, equipped with splash pools, terrace gardens, Jacuzzis, and state-ofthe-art building automation systems — are failing to attract as many buyers as they did 18 months ago.” Developers are, therefore, finding it difficult to push the highend apartments, villas and stand-alone bungalows, with enquiries dropping by over 40-50%. The past few months have, thus, seen a paradigm shift in the customers’ attitude, who now prefer the ‘basic’ rather than the ‘luxury’.

What is more, while the demand from domestic buyers has dried up, even non-resident Indians (NRIs), who constituted a significant market for luxury real estate developers, are now rethinking and re-evaluating their plans. With the US real estate market gone through a correction, NRIs expect it to be reflected in Indian real estate market as well and hence are deferring/delaying buying decisions. The sentiment has been further dented with poor investment climate, low liquidity/salability concerns, expectation of fall in property prices, liquidity crunch of developers causing delays in project delivery, uncertainty in timing and rate of return on investment, fuelling a crisis of confidence and consequently low deal flow.

The drubbing in the luxury-housing segment is also being attributed to excess supply and speculative demand. “Initially, there was pent-up demand for this segment. However, as prices began rising rapidly, speculative demand built up. This led to an increasing number of me-too products being launched. Hence, it has been in a way a classical case of super-normal profits leading to more players entering the segment leading to excess supply to be followed by a consolidation phase,” says Chhabra.
The good news, however, is that luxury and super luxury housing segments have already started showing signs of revival in some parts of the world. For instance, agency reports suggest luxury real estate sales continue to remain exceptionally strong in Punta del Este, the renowned South American getaway, despite global crisis. Similarly, Hong Kong too has witnessed a 2.1% increase in the luxury housing prices in the first quarter of 2009 as compared with that of 2008, rising from HK$8,773 per sq ft earlier to HK$8,958 per sq ft at present.
In India, too, lots of luxury projects are still on or are being planned. For example, Gurgaon-based MVL Ltd plans to develop MVL Golf Links, a luxury home-cum-spa and golf resort of international standards, which will be launched in two phases. Similarly, the Supertech group is developing ‘34 Pavilion’, comprising 3 & 4 bedroom luxury condominiums, in Noida, priced at Rs 1.15 crore onwards. Besides, Lodha Luxuria and Casa Essenza by the Lodha group are also among the various luxury projects slated to come up in the near future.
It would, thus, be wrong to say that the future of luxury housing in India looks bleak. According to the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India, the premium residential segment would pick up once customer confidence returns and that could happen in the next six months. Some property experts are also of the view that most of the luxury home buyers are currently sitting on the fence, in the hope of getting the ‘best bargain’ deal, and once they are able to get that, no one can stop them from lapping up the luxury projects again!

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Markets/Real-Estate/Realty-Trends/Luxury-housing—down-but-not-out/articleshow/4584373.cms

McDonald’s India to launch 170 outlets by 2014

McDonald’s India is in the process of analysing its growth strategy in India in terms of new outlets in the market. As part of its expansion plans, the company aims to expand through multiple outlets at locations it is already present in. The company will introduce 170 new outlets across the country in the next five years, with 40 new restaurants opening in 2009 alone. It has earmarked about Rs 5-6 billion to fund the expansion process; it has already invested about Rs 1 billion. While the company is presently not considering any private equity partnerships for the same, it will fund the development process through debt and equity funding along with internal accruals.

The company operates about 160 restaurants in India. All McDonald’s outlets are owned by its two joint venture companies in India (Hardcastle Restaurants and Connaught Plaza Restaurants), with 85 per cent of the outlets owned on a long-term lease basis. The company also invests in outlets on a revenue sharing model of five to six per cent. There are plans to foray into the new cities by 2010. It will review its strategic growth plan in the next three months, which will include identifying new locations for growth.

As part of its strategic plan’s revision, the company will also review its innovation pipeline in terms of product portfolio. McDonald’s India recently introduced the breakfast menu on a trial basis at select outlets in Mumbai and Delhi. The breakfast menu contributes to about 20 per cent of McDonald’s revenues, globally. However, how does the company plan to introduce this meal segment in the Indian market? Amit Jatia, MD, Hardcastle Restaurants, also a JV partner and MD of McDonald’s India (West and South India), states, “The company will invest in marketing and promotional strategies to introduce the product and develop the market for breakfast menus. It aims to launch the product across India in the next four to five months. It has also launched Chicken McNuggets, a product from its global portfolio, in the Indian market. McDonald’s India’s average annual investment on marketing and promotional activities ranges up to Rs 30-35 crore per year and the company has increased its annual budget by 70 per cent (from 2008 to 2009).

While, most F&B brands have seen a significant drop in average ticket size (ATS), Jatia informs that the company has seen a growth in the ATS by four to five per cent in the past. “Although, there is no change in the end product, cost cutting measures have been taken to streamline the production line on a rational and economic level,” he adds.

Source: Hospitality Biz India

On the anvil, biggest parking project in city

Mumbai Closed down mills, iconic spaces in a city that was a once a textile hub, will now be used to offer a key public amenity, parking spaces. If all goes well, Mumbai’s biggest public parking project will come up on a mill land in Central Mumbai, with nine floors of reserved parking, plus a fast food joint, waiting area and valet service thrown in.
The parking problem in Central Mumbai could be solved if permission is granted for the proposed public parking project by India Bulls at Jupiter mill at Lower Parel. In turn, the developer stands to benefit from additional FSI granted for such projects.

A committee headed by joint commissioner of traffic police, municipal commissioner, MMRDA commissioner, chief engineer, roads and director of town planning met on Tuesday to discuss the proposal.

The traffic police have already given the nod.

Officials seemed wary of divulging details. “We discussed two proposals. They are yet to receive formal approval, following which, it will be forwarded to the state Urban Development Department for the final nod,” said a senior official.

To be set up on a total built-up area of 1,56,345 sq-metre, the commercial complex will reserve an area of 1,08,396 sq-metre for parking 2,370 cars.

According to conditions set by the traffic police department, the developer cannot restrict parking on adjoining roads or lure commuters to park in this lot. An exclusive entry point at the Senapati Bapat road and exit at Fitwala road with a total of 11 gates including three emergency gates will be provided for commuters.

There will also be a holding area of 120 metre at SB road and 80 metre at Fitwala road to avoid congestion.

A waiting area for 150 persons along with a 15 X20 sq-foot food joint, carwash facility and workshop will form the other features. Five parking spots would be reserved for physically challenged.There would be some space for buses and trucks too.

There will be 10 points where people can alight from taxis. India Bulls will also have a private car parking for its use and for commercial spaces in its property spread at 39086.43 sq metres, where 1,814 cars can be accommodated. The public parking space will not be allowed for commercial purposes nor can it be leased.

The civic administration had so far received 59 proposals for the ‘public-parking lot initiative’ under which developers have to hand over the land and get the benefit of additional FSI.

At least six proposals for creating parking spaces were from big developers and land owners of Kohinoor mill, Mumbai mill, Jupitor mill and Elphinstone mill located in Central Mumbai.

As per the proposal, the land should be at least 700 sq-metre and allow space for minimum of 50 cars, a senior official from the road department said. The additional FSI will be 50% of the public parking lot if the location is within 500 metre of a railway station, a proposed Metro station or government offices. The FSI will be 40 per cent is it is beyond 500 metre.

The attractions
* Public parking for 2,370 cars
* Two basement levels, ground floor, nine floors
* Area: 1,08,396.93 sq-metre
* Valet parking with pick up and drop facility
* Food Joint
* Carwashing bay and workshop
* Waiting area for 150 persons
* CCTV surveillance
* Trained traffic wardens with walkie-talkies
* LED with parking status boards

Source : http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/on-the-anvil-biggest-parking-project-in-city/466476/

Housing projects are back with a vengeance

DLF, Unitech, HDIL & Puravankara line up 60 million square feet of new launches.
 
Top real estate developers are trying their best to make up for lost time. Buoyed by encouraging response from home-buyers for their marked-down properties, companies such as DLF, Unitech, HDIL and others have lined up housing projects of over 60 million square feet — all in the current financial year.

This is more than double the sales bookings in the past financial year.

Presentations by these companies to analysts show that Unitech is leading with 27 million square feet of new launches. DLF’s tally is 15 million square feet, roughly the same as last year’s. Puravankara and HDIL follow with 6 to 9 million and 8 million square feet respectively.

Mid-income housing is the flavour of the year and accounts for around 90 per cent of the projects. After a prolonged lull in the property market in 2008, which saw sales declining 70 per cent from their peak, the big developers moved into the mid-income segment and cut prices 20 to 30 per cent to generate liquidity.

With their apartments selling quicker than expected, liquidity constraints easing with debt roll-overs, the stock market rally and improved bank credit, realtors are now planning more such launches.

“We have sold 2,500 units in three to four projects in the last one-and-a-half months. The company has decided to go aggressive with new launches because we are quite confident of selling quickly,” said a spokesperson of Unitech, the country’s second largest developer.

DLF will launch 8 to 9 million sq ft of city-centre projects in Chennai, Kochi, Delhi and Gurgaon and around 5 to 8 million sq ft of mid-income housing projects in the National Capital Region (Delhi’s suburbs) and southern cities, DLF Vice-Chairman Rajiv Singh told analysts recently.

“We have met with good response for our projects wherever we have launched. If the product is good and price is right, it will sell irrespective of market conditions,” said Rajeev Talwar, group executive director , DLF.

The company sold 1,356 apartments at its Shivaji Marg (better known as Najafgarh Road) project within a day in early April as the price was nearly 25 per cent lower than the existing market price.

Aditi Vijayakar, executive director-residential, Cushman & Wakefield, said most developers were making good sales as they have cut prices. “The new projects are certainly attractive for home buyers,” he said.

Unitech added the cut in prices was inevitable since it’s clearly a buyers’ market. So a lot of marketing and sales efforts went into selling space. The efforts, he said, were worth its because the company was selling more flats now that what it sold even during the peak of 2007.

Unitech has cut its home prices by roughly 25 per cent and reduced ticket sizes. Currently, the average size of apartment is 700 to 800 sq ft against 1,500 sq ft a couple of years ago.

Analysts, however, said developers had taken huge hits on their margins. Mid-income apartments have a margin of 25 to 30 per cent versus 50 to 70 per cent in premium housing. For instance, DLF’s EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) margins have been falling continuously.

“The days of 70 per cent margins are over. They have to be happy with 20 to 25 per cent margins now since liquidity is the bigger issue than profits today,” said an analyst from a Mumbai-based brokerage.

Apart from sales in the mid-income housing category, several other factors have also given developers confidence to move ahead, the primary being relief from immediate debt payments.

All the top developers have rolled over their short term liabilities by 12 to 18 months after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed commercial banks to restructure their debt.

Unitech has cut debt by Rs 2,000 crore and DLF, the country’s biggest developer, has repaid Rs 1,700 crore of loans in the past year. Between them the top three realtors — DLF, Unitech and HDIL — have restructured as much as Rs 4,100 crore worth of loans with commercial banks and mutual funds.

Developers have also benefited from the recent surge in the stock market, which has given many of them the opportunity to tap institutional investors to reduce debt and investing in new projects. After Unitech raised Rs 1,625 crore from a qualified institutional placement (QIP) in April, DLF’s promoters sold 9.9 per cent in the company for Rs 3,860 crore and Indiabulls Real Estate raised Rs 2,656 crore through a QIP. Now, smaller realtors such as Sobha, Puravankara and Parsvnath have lined up QIPs to raise money.

Source : http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/housing-projectsbacka-vengeance/359299/

PEs homing in on affordable buys

NEW DELHI: The new wave of launches in the affordable housing segment is attracting the attention of private equity (PE) players, which had for  more than a year shunned the real estate sector struggling with diminishing sales, tight credit and clouded economic forecasts.

Although PE firms are yet to strike any fresh deal in the realty space, which hit a downturn last year, funds such as Red Fort Capital Advisors and Kotak Realty Fund are scouting for opportunities in low-cost and mid-income housing projects.

“The top-end category in the real estate space is saturated. Several firms are coming up with affordable housing projects ranging from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 10 lakh across India and we are keen to invest in them,” said Red Fort Capital Advisors director GB Singh.

The firm plans to invest 75% of its Rs 400-crore corpus in affordable housing over the next two years and is close to clinching two deals in the NCR region.

Red Fort Capital’s current portfolio includes investments in Prestige Group (Bangalore ), Godrej Properties (Kolkata) and Indu Group (Hyderabad). Kotak Realty Fund CEO S Srinivasan is looking to close some deals in low-cost and mid-income housing projects over the next few quarters.

Mr Srinivasan, who manages $800 million in asset, struck his last transaction 16 months ago. “Now the valuations have come down and the gap between developers’ and our expectations has narrowed,” he said.

The four-year realty boom ending in 2007 saw demand for houses, offices and mall spaces surge as companies expanded and consumers, encouraged by rising incomes and easier access to credit, bought homes. A strong demand also saw home prices going up almost three times and developers shifting focus to high-end homes lured by higher margin.

But a downturn, caused by poor investor sentiment, sky-high property prices and high interest rates, has forced developers to focus on low-priced homes.

“Private equity players are interested only in affordable housing these days. No one wants to invest in high-end housing projects or commercial projects these days,” says Unitech MD Sanjay Chandra, who has been negotiating with a couple of PE funds for middle-income housing projects.

Recently, Tata Housing’s launch of low-cost residential project near Mumbai received tremendous response. Many other players, including Raheja Developers, Unitech, Omaxe, Gaursons and BPTP have either launched low-cost housing projects or are in the process of launching them.

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Real-Estate/PEs-homing-in-on-affordable-buys/articleshow/4578227.cms

Chandigarh to provide houses for urban poor in Sector-63

Chandigarh: Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) will play the role of facilitator for effective implementation of the Government of India, Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation formulated scheme “Interest Subsidy Scheme for Housing the Urban Poor (ISHUP)”. The Scheme aims to provide cheap home loan with Central Govt. Subsidy to Economically Weaker Sections (EWS)/ Low Income Group (LIG) for acquisition or construction of house to such beneficiaries who do not own a house in his/her name or in the name of his/her spouse or any dependent children. With the assistance of NHB and HUDCO, CHB will pass out the benefits envisaged to the EWS/LIG beneficiaries in forthcoming housing plan under the said scheme in Sector-63, Maloya and Dhanas. The economic parameters for eligible EWS beneficiaries as per the scheme are households having an average monthly income up to Rs. 3300/- and that for LIG beneficiaries are households having an average monthly income between Rs. 3301-7300/-. The subsidy will be 5% p.a. on interest charged on the admissible loan amount for EWS and LIG, over the full period of the loan for construction or for acquisition of a new house. A high level meeting to sensitize all States/ UTs about the various aspects of the scheme and to ensure smooth passage of benefits under the scheme was conducted by Government of India. The meeting was attended by UT Finance-cum- Engineering Secretary, Mr. Sanjay Kumar along with officers of CHB. He said that the GoI Scheme is an effort to create an enabling & supportive environment for expanding credit flow to the Housing Sector and for increasing Home Ownership in the Country under its important policy agenda for providing ‘Affordable Housing for All’. Mr. Kumar apprised that the scheme will provide a housing loan, with subsidized interest, for a period of 15-20 years with a maximum limit of Rs. 1.00 lac to an EWS individual for a house of at least 25 Sq. Mtrs. Additional loan, if needed will be at unsubsidized rate of interest. Furthermore the scheme lays down that for a LIG individual the maximum loan amount admissible will be Rs. 1.60 lac for a house of at least 40 Sq. Mtrs. However, subsidy in rate of interest will be permissible only up to loan amount of Rs. 1.00 lac only. The additional loan will be at unsubsidized rate of interest. Under the scheme, the borrowers may choose fixed or floating rates of interest. In case the borrower chooses a fixed rate loan than Banks/HFCs will be permitted to charge an additional 1% p.a. rate of interest which will be subject to reset after a minimum period of 5 years. The Government has appointed National Housing Bank (NHB) and Housing and Urban Development Corporation Ltd. (HUDCO) as Nodal Agencies for implementation of the scheme. The Subsidy will be released by the Government to Nodal agencies who in turn will pass on the same to the Banks and Housing Finance Companies for disbursement of the housing loan. The scheme further envisages that primary security for the housing loan will be mortgage of the dwelling unit and there will not be any other collateral security/third party guarantee for loans up to and inclusive of Rs. 1.00 lac and no prepayment charges would be levied by the Banks/HFCs under the scheme. Source : http://nvonews.com/2009/05/25/chandigarh-provide-houses-urban-poor-sector-63/

20K apply for 800 affordable flats

The possibility of an affordable home not only eludes the vast middle class in the private sector, but also the Central public sector employees across the country, reflecting the gross shortage of houses.

Huge deficit between demand and supply, especially in metro cities, has forced the Central government real estate firm National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) to revise its estimates for creation of housing units meant for government employees. For a scheme launched by NBCC for 800 ‘affordable’ flats in Delhi NCR, it received around 20,000 applications — 25 times the number of flats up for sale — NBCC CMD Arup Roy Chowdhury told The Indian Express. NBCC had targeted its housing scheme at the beneficiaries of the pay commission award, which raises the salaries of Central public sector employees by around 30 per cent.

These 800 flats, priced at Rs 1,978 per sq ft in Gurgaon, cost around Rs 30 lakh each. “Apart from 800 flats, we are now looking at acquiring land in Delhi NCR for meeting additional housing requirement for government employees. Keeping our sale prices low does not only give us the advantage of economies of scale but is also leading to price correction in the market forcing private players to follow suit,” he said. Six months ago, similar projects in the area by leading developers were being launched for around Rs 2,500-3000 per sq ft, a real-estate consultant said.

Source : http://www.indianexpress.com/news/20K-apply-for-800-affordable-flats/465948

Government nod for TDR expected shortly, premium FSI could take longer

CHENNAI: The long wait for the government stamp of approval for transferable development rights (TDR) – announced by the Chennai Metropolitan 
Development Authority (CMDA) in the second master plan will come to an end soon. Highly placed sources said a government order could be issued in a few days. Transferrable development rights was announced with the primary objective of making land acquisition for road expansion work in the Chennai metropolitan area (CMA) a hassle-free exercise.

Despite the release of the second master plan in early September 2008, TDR has not yet been put to use in Chennai owing to the delay in issuing the requisite GO. Once the order is issued and implemented, people who give land for road expansion and other infrastructure projects will be allowed to shift the development rights of that land to any other property within CMA limits. TDR will be calculated based on the guideline values of the two properties. For example, if the owner loses 500 sq ft of land (that has a guideline value of Rs 20 lakh) for road expansion inside the city and chooses to shift the TDR to a suburban property whose guideline value is just half of the city property, he can avail the rights on a 1,000 sq ft area. Also, instead of the regular 1.5 floor space index (FSI is the ratio of development rights of a property to the land area), the owner will be given an FSI of 2.25 for the 1000 sq ft suburban property.

Implementation of TDR is essential for putting projects such as the metro rail on the fast track. People who are likely to lose vast stretches of land for the metro rail project are eagerly waiting for implementation of TDR. However, introduction of premium FSI, another major announcement in the second master plan, could take much longer than expected to get the government’s nod.

CMDA has had several deliberations with the government regarding implementation of premium FSI. While CMDA was initially keen on restricting the applicability of premium FSI to certain pockets of CMA, the government felt it should be introduced all over the CMA limits. Finally, CMDA’s supreme body chaired by urban development minister at its meeting three months ago chose to go by the government’s suggestion. But the government seems to be keen on further modifications in premium FSI.

Minister for urban development Parithi Ellamvazhuthi said, “We have convened a meeting of the authority (CMDA) on May 25. We hope to finalise the fees for the premium FSI then.”

Even while raising several other development-related issues, the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (CREDAI) has been maintaining that it is not keen on premium FSI. CREDAI Tamil Nadu secretary T Chitty Babu said: “We are of the opinion that premium FSI will help only those who have violated development control rules in the past. Once premium FSI is introduced, most of the violations in the commercial hub of the city would get condoned and regularised.”

Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Chennai/Government-nod-for-TDR-expected-shortly-premium-FSI-could-take-longer/articleshow/4572983.cms

Poor absorption of IT space in Chennai

Chennai: Oversupply and poor absorption of commercial space, particularly IT office space, continues in Chennai.

The first quarter report for 2009 released by the Real Estate Intelligence Service (REIS) of the Jones Lang Lasalle Meghraj (JLLM), real estate consultant, states that the stock of commercial space, including IT space in Chennai, is about 30 million square feet and the vacancy rate is between 15 to 20 per cent.

The stock of the commercial space is expected to increase and get close to 40 million square feet by the end of 2009. Simultaneously, the vacancy rate is expected to rise to 20 to 25 per cent.

According to the JLLM study, commercial rents in Chennai were down by 10 to 15 per cent since the last quarter of 2008. Weakening IT demand and disproportionate supply has created this oversupply situation.

The JLLM explained that the Chennai saw a supply of 8.16 million square feet of commercial space, including 7.91 million square feet of IT space, in 2008. The absorption of commercial space was at 5.86 million square feet leaving about 2.30 million square feet vacant.

Drop in rentals

The drop in rentals was observed to be more prevalent along Old Mahabalipuram Road than along Grand Southern Trunk (GST) Road.

The REIS thinks this is because “GST Road consists of only IT SEZ space unlike OMR, which has a huge supply of IT buildings in the pipeline.”

This has also led to an increase in rent-free periods in IT buildings in Chennai.

However, neither the low absorption nor the falling rentals has dampened the supply of IT space in Chennai.

The RIES estimates that about 92 per cent of the commercial space supply coming in the next three years in Chennai is for IT occupiers. The JLLM study acknowledges that government efforts to revive the property market across India through fiscal measures have been positive, but the real impact is yet to be felt.

National trend

Chennai, the JLLM feels, reflects the national trend.

The vacancy for commercial space in India rose from 9.1 per cent to 12.5 per cent in the first three months of 2009 and in all the cities the vacancy rose to double digits.

Another report by the JLLM on the rental dynamics states that the downturn phase in the office sector is expected to last another two to two and half years.

Source : http://www.hindu.com/2009/05/23/stories/2009052361601200.htm

Affordable Housing- The New real Estate Mantra

Hit hard by the slowdown, real estate players are now going innovative and trying to partner with the government to beat the low demand. Real estate players are looking to tap the 4.33 lakh people, who were not allotted houses in the MHADA scheme and have approached the government with a proposal where they can cater to these potential buyers. The Builders’ Association of India (BAI), which includes 10,000 real estate players throughout India, has written to the chief minister of Maharashtra requesting him to appoint MHADA and CIDCO as the nodal agencies for carrying out projects under the controversial Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) scheme. Only 3,683 of the 4.33 lakh applicants were allotted houses in the random selection on Tuesday.

In a letter, a copy of which is with ET, BAI asked for MHADA and CIDCO to be appointed as the “official agency for development” for executing SRA projects. “These agencies could offer free rehabilitation component houses to slum dwellers by constructing multi-storied building as already provided in the SRA,” the letter added. “While, on one hand, there is a low demand due to the slowdown, there are over four lakh buyers, who are willing to shell money to buy houses,” said Anand J Gupta, general secretary, BAI. Under the BAI proposal, the government and the real estate players can come together and form a JV and accommodate these potential buyers. If the proposal is accepted, it is believed that the real estate players, who are going through quite a rough patch for a while now, would tend to benefit.

The agencies can outsource the construction work to the real estate developers and also stand to get a ready market for the houses from those who had applied under the MHADA scheme, the BAI says. “It is a win-win situation. We get business because we will be constructing the buildings, while the MHADA is able to satisfy the growing number of people interested in affordable homes,” says a builder.”

Source : http://www.indianrealtynews.com/real-estate-india/affordable-housing-the-new-real-estate-mantra.html

UPA’s Second Round Can Benefit Realtors

Formation of a stable government at the centre is good news for economy, and for real estate sector as well. On top of that, the mandate for continuation of the Manmohan Singh government without too many constraints, this time round, as opposed to the last term when it was hemmed in by the powerful Left allies, will provide further fillip to growth, say consultants, developers and economists. The relative freedom of the government to manoeuvre this time, visa-vis its small allies, will enable it to take pro-market measures, which it could not earlier because of the opposition from its Left allies and other parties on whose support it was dependent for its survival. But with a clear mandate now, CMD of Parsvnath Group Pradip Jain says the country will come out stronger from the present economic crisis. His hopes emanate from the expectation that the government will introduce favourable policies for all the industries and sectors , which would help the country forge ahead. He says a stable government will inspire positive sentiments among the masses, which in turn would help in the overall growth.

Anshuman Magazine, CMD of CB Richard Ellis South Asia Pvt Ltd, says the outcome of the elections means continuity, stability, and hopefully the government would take faster and more aggressive decisions to stimulate the economy for a higher growth. This obviously will have a direct impact on the real estate sector. “We have already seen some movement in the realty market since last month and with these election results the sentiment will improve significantly, giving confidence to corporates/industry, investors, occupiers and the public at large,” he says. Industry feels that the new government will take special measures to bring down the interest rates further to enable the common man to buy houses. Reduction in the interest rates by two percentage points now will bring down the EMI on a similar earlier loan for 20 years by 13%.

In a report , IDFC said that with a strong and stable government at the centre, the probability of recovery in the economy in the second half of 2009-10 has increased. With banks getting back to the aggressive lending and improved sentiment, pick up in the real estate should also pick up. Additionally, it further said, with developers focusing on affordable housing, demand momentum in the real estate sector would resume as growth in the economy returns. “In the initial phase though, we expect volumes to gather momentum primarily due to: 1) Reduction of prices by developers across properties to fit customers wallets, and 2) Restructuring of debt leading to a better capital structure.

However, to bring back the high growth in the sector, Rohtas Goel president of Naredco, who is also CMD of realty major Omaxe Ltd, said the government must accord infrastructure status to the residential units having an area of 900 sq ft or less. To get benefit on such units, the minimum number of units should be 100. At the same time, he said the government should reintroduce the concession under section 80IB(10) to promote affordable housing. Under this act, profit earned in a project to build small apartments is not taxed. The provision was withdrawn in 2007. To make the scheme a success, Goel also suggested that government should relax norms on the permissible area, which can be constructed on a given piece of land. It should also increase the number of flats that can be constructed on a given area.

Goel also demanded that tax deduction against the interest payment on home loan under Section 24 should be increased, from the current Rs 1.50 lakh to Rs 3 lakh, for a self-occupied house. He also suggested that tax benefit should be given from the year the loan is taken from banks rather than after taking the possession of the house. Calling for liberalization of the foreign direct investment norms in the real estate sector, he pointed out this would increase the supply side and help in bringing down prices for the benefit of endusers. Vijay Jindal, CMD of SVP, also welcomed the new government saying that a stable government was good news for the sector. The sector, he averred, needs a clear-cut policy and an industry status like other related sectors, like cement and steel. Luckily, as Jindal points out, the policy thrust of Manmohan Singh government is on infrastructure development as a tool to reverse the slowdown in the economy. This augurs well for the real estate sector as well. Added thrust to the development of infrastructure like roads, electricity, sewage disposal and water supply in the country would make more and more land available for housing development.

The main challenge today lies in providing housing solutions for all segments. To make this happen, he says, the government should move out of city centers and develop infrastructure in the countryside and Tier II & III cities. At present, because of lack of infrastructure, real estate projects can be developed only in existing townships, and these are already overcrowded. The emphasis should be on creation of new areas with infrastructure and civic amenities, rather than lumping all further development in existing urban centres. To expedite the activities in the infrastructure sector , the government should introduce single-window clearance facility and make every thing online so that processing becomes much easier. Jindal says this will also reduce the cost of development, which would ultimately benefit customers. Another important issue is the rationalization of stamp duty across all Indian states. S K Sayal, director & CEO of Alpha G: Corp Development Private Limited, hopes the new government will bring in clarity to the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy in retail sector. The real estate industry requires liberalization in the retail sector for the much needed fillip, especially now when the sector is reeling due to an unprecedented slump.

Source : http://www.indianrealtynews.com/real-estate-india/upa%e2%80%99s-second-round-can-benefit-realtors.html

Tata Housing, MHFC tie up to offer home finance

Home buyers from low-income group to benefit from deal.
 
Tata Housing Development Company has partnered with Micro Housing Finance Corporation (MHFC) to provide easy housing finance to the lower income group for its housing initiative – Shubh Griha.

The company has also extended the deadline for the submission of the application forms to May 28 for the 1,000 unit-integrated township, a press release issued here today stated. MHFC has set up a stall at the Boisar site in Thane district in order to assist consumers in the procedure. The MHFC loans will be long-term micro mortgages for need-based housing, the release said, adding that MHFC would be flexible in its documentation requirements and will make its interest rates affordable.

Bookings will be accepted till May 28 along with the initial booking amount of Rs 10,000 through a bank pay-order at the Tata Housing office at Fort in south Mumbai and the site office at Boisar.

Tata Housing’s Managing Director and CEO, Brotin Banerjee, said that “With Shubh Griha, the consumer at the bottom of the pyramid has an opportunity to fulfil his dream of owning a house in a city like Mumbai. We are delighted to partner with MHFC and provide an opportunity to all those who aspire for a home to realise their dreams.”

“We have also extended the date of submission of the forms in order to give the applicants a chance to arrange for finance through MHFC,” he added.

The first Shubh Griha property will be launched in Boisar in the city and will be priced between Rs 3.9-lakh to Rs 6.7-lakh, the release said.

“We believe we share common values with Tata Housing in creating a long-term solution for quality, affordable housing in urban India, particularly to lower income groups,” MHFC’s Director Madhusudhan Menon said. “We believe that the Tata housing project at Boisar will be very attractive to this target audience and hence, we look forward to providing assistance to its potential buyers,” he added.

Source : http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=358983

Le Meridien plans to open 5 hotels in India

The French hospitality major, Le Meridien, plans to open five hotels in India in the next three to five years, a top company official said in Mumbai yesterday.
 
 ”We are looking at setting up five new properties of hotels and resorts in India adding around 1,000 rooms capacity over the next three to five years,” Starwood Asia Pacific Hotels regional vice president, Don Elliot, told reporters.

However, he has not revealed the names of the cities in which the company is interested in setting up its properties.
 
”We are negotiating with our partners and these properties will be set up in Tier I and Tier II cities,” Elliot said.
 
Le Meridien currently has eight hotels in India in Ahmedabad, Kochi, Jaipur, New Delhi, Pune, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai.
 
With close to 80 of its properties located in Europe, Africa, the Middle-East and the Asia-Pacific region, Le Meridien provides a strong international complement to Starwood’s primarily North American holdings.
 
Le Meridien recently opened new hotels in Bangkok, Chian Mai, Chiang Rai and Shimei Bay in China, and will open in Dallas and Philadelphia in the coming months.
 
It has also signed new hotel deals in Taipei, Xiamen, Chongqing Nan’an and Qingdao in China.
 
Le Meridien was started as an accommodation option for Air France customers to be used when they travelled to destinations across the world. The first Le Meridien property was setup in Paris in Etoile with 1,000 rooms.

In November 2005, the company, was acquired by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc, one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with more than 940 properties in approximately 97 countries and 145,000 employees.

Starwood ’s internationally renowned brands include St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, Westin, Le Méridien, Sheraton, Four Points by Sheraton, and the recently launched Aloft, and Element. Starwood Hotels also owns Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., one of the premier developers and operators of high quality vacation interval ownership resorts.

 
Source : http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://www.domain-b.com/industry/Hotels/20090523_hotels.html&ct=ga&cd=oHwoFOHo08Q&usg=AFQjCNHsb8y9_H9ryXaPz_alVqBeKu3WGQ

ABIL to pump in Rs 600 cr to set up 3 five-star hotels

The Avinash Bhosale Group (ABIL) is planning to invest Rs 600 crore for setting up three five-star hotels in Pune, Nagpur and Mumbai over the next three years.
 
The 280-room hotel in Pune will be launched by October, while the other two hotels will come up by 2011. ABIL Chief Executive Officer Sudhanshu Purohit said, “We have a strong presence in real estate and infrastructure sectors. Now, we are focusing on the hospitality segment. We already run Sun-n-Sand hotels in Pune and Goa through a joint venture company named CCPIL. Now, we are planning for three more hotels in Pune, Nagpur and Mumbai.”

While the Pune property would be operated by Westin Hotels, the hotel coming up in Parel-Mumbai would be run by the Shangrila Group. The property in Nagpur would be operated by CCPIL under the brand name ‘Sun-n-Sand’.

However, the group has delayed its ambitious five-star hotel project near Palm Beach in Navi Mumbai called Metropolice in the wake of the delayed international airport project there. The company has acquired 10 acres there for the project.

“We have slightly delayed the Navi Mumbai project because it is meant to address the requirements of the officials involved in the development of the upcoming international airport there. Once the actual work begins at the site, we will start the construction of our hotel,” Purohit said.

The company is also developing a super luxurious cold-shell residential project called God’s Blessings in Pune, where every apartment has an area of more than 5,000 square foot. “The project is nearing completion. The flats will be sold in a cold-shell manner to buyers. Later, according to the buyers’ requirements, we will complete the interiors,” Purohit said, without disclosing the project cost.

Source : http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/abil-to-pump-in-rs-600-cr-to-set3-five-star-hotels/359012/

Soon, a 30-storeyed building on Karve Rd

PUNE: City-based construction house, Kumar Builders announced the launch of the first tallest building of Pune ‘45 Nirvana Hills,’ a 30-storeyed residential complex at the main Karve Road.

Announcing the development here on Thursday, Kumar Builders CMD Lalit Kumar Jain said, “45 Nirvana Hills is a 100-metre residential complex that will offer exclusive first-of-its-kind features to home buyers. Besides, the four towers of 30-storeyed will offer home buyers the option of choosing between 2, 2.5, 3 and 4 BHK apartments.”

He said that each of the structures would have six floors of parking, two floors of amenities while the remaining 24 floors would have 422 flats altogether.

In addition, the structures will have sky lounges, one acre of sky garden coupled with world-class security systems, he added.

Jain said the booking would officially begin from Friday for flats within 70 metres of height, as permission for the remaining height was under process.

He added, “Some customers prefer to use their own fixtures and finishes, hence, 45 Nirvana will offer bare homes, for example walls with no finish, no tiles, no sanitary fittings.”

Jain added, “Customers can choose material of their own choice, should they need, we can do this for them at a cost or they can take the flat completely bare.”

When quizzed about expectations from the new government, he said, “We are upbeat about the new United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government and look forward to policies, which favour development.”

Jain said that in the coming 45 days, the construction industry would witness a boom in Tier I and II cities. Defending his prediction, Jain said, “In Mumbai, we sold around 100 flats in the reasonable segment only through word of mouth, which indicates that things are changing for good.”

The month of March was one of the best times for the real estate sector in Pune as compared to the last nine months when sales almost touched nearly zero, added Jain.

Source : http://www.sakaaltimes.com/2009/05/22112015/Soon-a-30storeyed-building-o.html

Real estate market could recover by Diwali

After a long time we are witnessing real estate developers taking pride in reducing or slashing rates in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai to encash on  the existing demand in the real estate market.

The good deals may be offered for a few weeks or for the first ten properties or for a killer deal for a time-bound two days or similar schemes but yes, the writing is clear on the wall that the willingness to connect with the “real” pricing has dawned on the developers to sell at reduced prices to encourage more and more sales.

With the new UPA government there are a lot of hopes and it will be interesting to see how the next few months unfold for the property market. We still need a great deal of transparency to be infused in the way we deal in the property market.

The sales teams in the builder/ developer offices are at their all-time creative best with sales tactics. This is also a good sign and a dawning that if the wheel stops there will be a crisis of sorts of the kind witnessed earlier this year, when sales plummeted big time.

They now understand clearly that with buyers unwilling to relent on unrealistic pricing, there is an even greater need to price competitively, maybe with a lower profit margin, than holding on to the price and project as the interest meter runs. The mantra for developers in the present times, I guess, is to be aware of the markets (realistic demand and supply) and the competition, which the buyers know today.

For a buyer to understand the market more clearly before making a decision, he/she must understand at which juncture the market is hovering; also, with fresh developments in the political arena, what the impact will be in coming months. An important point to note would be that, yes, there has been a correction up to 15 to 30% already in the market post December 2008 and prices have come to September 2008 levels, which were already high in any case and up on account of the festival demand which happens nearly post monsoons by default.

After a correction, slowdown, or a 30% reduction, one should not expect the markets to gallop again, but the next couple of years at least will be stable, as after a correction you cannot go up again quickly. With a stable government we can expect more rational policies but a stock market kind of jerk in prices will be unrealistic in the property prices and may be termed speculative. Let us be sensible for once; just when things have just started moving a little, let us not think of killing the golden hen and taking out all eggs at one time.

A good 2BHK in the suburbs is not less than Rs 6 to 8 million, which is not cheap by any standards. Our city still does not have the appropriate  infrastructure to support high pricing in the suburbs, especially with connectivity issues , and with a lot of developers under a liquidity crunch it is essential to send out the right signals. The buyer today is under tremendous pressure even when it comes to documentation and with many banks tightening the belts on approvals , it is essential to invest in a project which offers 100% complete paperwork.

All of us know that with the archaic legal systems we live in, there are always loose ends somewhere and this is one area all developers should focus on. Nearly 78% of buyers in today’s market would opt for a loan to procure the new property and most would prefer a loanto-value ratio (LTV) of around 80-85%, which typically means that if the title is not clear and transparency of the paperwork is missing, the deal will not happen.

The uncertainty and fear factor still weighing heavily on a buyer’s mind gets manifested in the fact that 59% of respondents on a survey would like to buy only a ready possession property or a property nearing completion as past trends have shown delays in construction.

With the current economic slowdown, they are more concerned today about possession timelines. Only about 20% home buyers are keen to invest in properties at their launch stage at attractive prices, and even that, only of selective developers who have a track record. This is as per a survey that a leading bank conducted after the recent Thane exhibition. The developers need to work very hard to win this confidence.

In order to capture the client who is looking to buy a home in today’s market conditions, one should look at microanalysis on both demand and supply first. The maximum demand is in the price range of Rs 40 lakh, going up to the Rs 1 crore bracket, and that too, for ready-to-move into homes.

Looking at the buyer’s mind, if he is looking at Malad, he wants to try to find a house in Andheri, or similarly, if he is looking at Navi Mumbai, he wants to experience Chembur or Ghatkopar or any other location where he can compromise and get it within a particular price range.

Of course, when he is out on the field he wants to know if rates have bottomed out in the location, project or surrounding location. This typically means a delayed decision of the informed buyer; from the time he puts together his first potential shortlist, it can easily be a period of a month or two. If builders start telling them they will increase prices, they will go to the nearest competitor. In a buyer’s market, they know they can pit one against the other.

The coming weeks will be interesting, with stock markets climbing, recession clouds disappearing and the hopes that the new UPA government will bring in fresh policies for the housing industry. With all this, there is a strong chance that there may be a great deal of movement during the Diwali period.

The cycle had slowed down in Diwali 2008 and can come back with a bang September 2009 onwards, but this depends on prices being stable. It may be an opportune moment through the end of the year to sell as much and increase liquidity and focus on new projects. So, let us hope with this competition, the buyer encashes.
(Sandeep Sadh is CEO, Mumbai Property Exchange. The views expressed are personal.)

Source  : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Markets/Real-Estate/Realty-Trends/Real-estate-market-could-recover-by-Diwali/articleshow/4568405.cms?curpg=2

Realtors eye state’s affordable housing plans

MUMBAI: Hit hard by the slowdown, real estate players are now going innovative and trying to partner with the government to beat the low demand. Markets cheer election results
 
Real estate players are looking to tap the 4.33 lakh people, who were not allotted houses in the MHADA scheme and have approached the government with a proposal where they can cater to these potential buyers.

The Builders’ Association of India (BAI), which includes 10,000 real estate players throughout India, has written to the chief minister of Maharashtra requesting him to appoint MHADA and CIDCO as the nodal agencies for carrying out projects under the controversial Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) scheme. Only 3,683 of the 4.33 lakh applicants were allotted houses in the random selection on Tuesday.

In a letter, a copy of which is with ET, BAI asked for MHADA and CIDCO to be appointed as the “official agency for development” for executing SRA projects. “These agencies could offer free rehabilitation component houses to slum dwellers by constructing multi-storied building as already provided in the SRA,” the letter added.

“While, on one hand, there is a low demand due to the slowdown, there are over four lakh buyers, who are willing to shell money to buy houses,” said Anand J Gupta, general secretary, BAI.

Under the BAI proposal, the government and the real estate players can come together and form a JV and accommodate these potential buyers. If the proposal is accepted, it is believed that the real estate players, who are going through quite a rough patch for a while now, would tend to benefit.

The agencies can outsource the construction work to the real estate developers and also stand to get a ready market for the houses from those who had applied under the MHADA scheme, the BAI says.

“It is a win-win situation. We get business because we will be constructing the buildings, while the MHADA is able to satisfy the growing number of people interested in affordable homes,” says a builder.”

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News-/Realtors-eye-states-affordable-housing-plans/articleshow/4567553.cms

Kerala group to invest Rs.7.5 bn in new hotel ventures

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kochi-based Muthoot Pappachan group, that has interests in financial services, hospitality, infrastructure and wind power,  is investing Rs.750 crore (Rs.7.5 billion/$159 million) in seven hotel properties in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, as well as more than 100 service apartments here.

“In Kerala, we will undertake four premium hotel projects near Kovalam, Alapuzha, Bekal in Kasargode district and Kochi,” Group managing director John Muthoot said.

“The Kochi property, a five-star business hotel, will be ready in the next few months. An agreement has been signed with the Taj group for managing this property,” Muthoot said.

The new projects also include 122 service apartments near the international airport here – the state’s first-ever such property – which will be ready by 2011, he said.

Another three properties will come up in Tamil Nadu – near Chittar dam bordering Kerala, at Sriperumbudur near Chennai, and on Old Mahabalipuram Road, the state’s IT corridor.

“All three projects will be ready latest by 2011,” Muthoot said, adding that discussions were in “advance stages with international hospitality brands” for managing the properties.

The group owns The Muthoot Plaza, a premium five-star business hotel in this Kerala capital, apart from running an in-flight catering service, The Muthoot Skychef. It also owns a property that is operated by the Taj group as the Taj Green Cove Resort at Kovalam.

These properties too are being expanded: 60 rooms will be added to the Taj Green Cove Resort, and 57 new rooms to The Muthoot Plaza. The in-flight service will also begin operations at other airports in south India.

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News-By-Industry/Services/Hotels–Restaurants/Kerala-group-to-invest-Rs75-bn-in-new-hotel-ventures/articleshow/4564450.cms

Emaar MGF launches its first hotel in Jaipur

NEW DELHI: Real estate major Emaar MGF Thursday unveiled its first hotel project in India, Fortune Select Metropolitan, to be managed by an ITC  subsidiary.

Located in the heart of Jaipur, Fortune Select has 90 rooms that include six suites. The property also has a sun deck, rooftop swimming pool, spa and health club.

“Jaipur offers tremendous potential to the business and tourism industry and the opening of the Fortune Select Metropolitan is a key strategic move in expanding our presence here,said Emaar MGF chief executive Sanjiv Rai.

Added Pawan Verma, senior executive vice-president of ITC’s hotels division: “It is our 28th hotel and the second in Jaipur.”

The new property will be managed by ITC subsidiary Fortune Park Hotels.

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News-By-Industry/Services/Hotels–Restaurants/Emaar-MGF-launches-its-first-hotel-in-Jaipur–/articleshow/4561203.cms

Parsvnath says to invest 1.35 bln in IT park

NEW DELHI, May 21 (Reuters) – Parsvnath Developers Ltd (PARV.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) on Thursday said it would invest 1.35 billion rupees in building an information technology park, which is expected to be operational in three years’ time.

The IT park in Gurgaon, will have a floor space of 75,000 square feet and Parsvnath expects realisations of 3.5-3.7 billion rupees from it, the real estate developer said in a statement. (Reporting by C.J. Kuncheria; Editing by Prem Udayabhanu)

Source : http://in.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idINBMB00531620090521

Unitech sells office complex for Rs 500 cr

New Delhi: In a boost to the company’s plans to lower debt obligation, real estate firm Unitech Ltd has sold an office complex in Saket, New Delhi, to an high networth individual (HNI) for about Rs 500 crore. The company is hoping that the latest transaction, along with the recent sale of the Marriott Courtyard, and other assets currently on the block, would enable it to raise Rs 1,000 crore by the end of the quarter.

Sources close to the development said that the office complex – which was initially intended for Unitech’s use till a cash-crunch prompted it to put-up the property in the market – has 2.10 lakh sq ft of space.

The source refused to divulge the identity of the new owner, but said that the money from the current transaction would come by June-end.

This is the second asset sale by Unitech.

Earlier this year, the realtor sold-off its hotel project in Gurgaon for Rs 235 crore to Roop Madan, Managing Director of the Delhi-based Sanya Motors.

Of the total proceeds from that sale, Unitech has already received 45 per cent of the payment, while balance 55 per cent is expected to flow in this month, sources claimed.

The company is also scouting for a buyer for its serviced apartment project – Marriott Executive Apartments; and has also put on the block yet another hotel property in Gurgaon.

Serviced apartment project

The serviced apartments project is located in Gurgaon near the Unitech Cyber Park and the Unitech Greenwood City on 3.39-acre of land; the serviced apartments along with an office block has been designed by the Seattle-based Callison Inc and will be operated by Marriott as Marriott Executive Apartments.

Unitech’s current debt is pegged at Rs 7,800 crore and it has stated its intention to reduce the debt position to Rs 6,000 crore-6,500 crore by the end of the current financial year.

As part of the asset sale strategy, the company is also looking to sell plots (hospitals and schools) in its townships.

Source : http://sify.com/finance/equity/fullstory.php?a=jfvjGsecejb&title=Unitech_sells_office_complex_for_Rs_500_cr

Upmarket Bangalore areas are still pricey

Residential colonies in Bangalore’s upmarket areas still command a premium in terms of rentals and market value. Areas in Bangalore’s Richmond Town and Lavelle Road command capital values in the range of Rs 14,000 to Rs 18,000 per sq ft, while rentals in these areas vary from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 4 lakh, depending on the size of the units.
The capital value in the residential segment on MG Road ranges between Rs 18,000 and Rs 22,000 per sq ft, according to property consultants Jones Land LaSalle Meghraj (JLLM).
Though these areas command high valuations, brokers say that there is a problem with supply as these areas are saturated.
“Lavelle Road, Richmond Road and MG Road are part of old Bangalore. Most residential units here are old bungalows. Newer units have been constructed and command comparative premium rates,” says Javed Shariff, managing director of Bangalore-based brokerage company, Terra Firma.

Residential rentals on MG Road range between Rs 4 lakh and Rs 6 lakh. Areas such as Sarjapur Road, Whitefield and HSR Layout that shot to prominence during the IT boom also continue to command high rates in terms of capital values. “Sarjapur, and Whitefield were the first IT residential hubs in the city. Whitefield also had the advantage of being close to the old Bangalore airport,” explains Mitali Shairi, an executive with Bangalore-based property consultants HJ Realtors.

While properties on Sarjapur Road command capital values between Rs 2,500 per sq ft, and Rs 4,000 per sq ft, villas in Whitefield command prices between Rs 2,880 per sq ft and Rs 3,500 per sq ft and in HSR Layout area, they vary between Rs 3,000 per sq ft, and Rs 4,500 per sq ft.

Residential rentals in Sarjapur range between Rs 25,000 to Rs 40,000 per month, while in Whitefield rentals range between Rs 20,000 and Rs 50,000, and between Rs 15,000 and Rs 25,000 in HSR layout.

Upcoming areas around Kanakpura Road, Tumkur Road and Bannerghatta Road are also not far behind. In terms of capital value, Kanakpura Road commands Rs 2,200-Rs 2,700 per sq ft. The rates are between Rs 2,500 per sq ft and Rs 3,000 per sq ft on Tumkur Road and between Rs 2,500 per sq ft and Rs 4000 per sq ft on Bannerghatta Road. Rental values range from Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000 on Kanakpura Road and Tumkur Road and from Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000 on Bannerghatta Road. Most developers have set up projects in Bannerghatta Road and Kanakpura Road.
Tumkur Road, which was earlier known as an industrial hub, witnessed a lot of infrastructure developments in the past five years, including multi-laning of roads.
Subsequently, many real estate projects have come up in this area.
“The peripheral areas of the city have expanded drastically in the last decade, so even the term peripheral business area can connote one thing today and another tomorrow — that’s Bangalore for you,” says a Bangalore-based real estate consultant Anjum Khoya.

Source : http://www.mydigitalfc.com/real-estate/upmarket-bangalore-areas-are-still-pricey-599

India Inc clocks PE deals worth $ 494 m in April

The month of April saw private equity deals worth $ 493.94 million being announced taking the total number of such deal value during the first four months of this year to $ 1.31 billion. The total number of private equity deals announced during the month of April 2009 stood at USD 493.94 million through 15 deals, global consultancy firm Grant Thornton said adding that the total number of PE deals during the first four months of this year stood at 56 deals with an announced value of USD 1.31 billion. “On the private equity front, we are finally seeing some increase in the deal values compared to the first three months of the year, where deal values are close to half a billion dollars,” Grant Thornton Partner, transaction support services C G Srividya said. However, the PE deal value so far this year represents a significant decline of over 72 per cent from its year ago period. In the first four months of 2008, India Inc had announced private equity deals worth USD 4.68 billion through 149 deals. The total number of private equity deals announced during the calendar year 2008 stood at 312 with a total announced value of $10.59 billion.
Source : http://www.mydigitalfc.com/equity/india-inc-clocks-pe-deals-worth-494-m-617

Bharti Walmart to open Store Next week

After years of controversy and opposition from local retailers and politicians, the Bharti Wal-Mart Pvt Ltd, the joint venture between Bharti Enterprises and the US-based Wal-Mart will open its first cash-and-carry store in Amritsar next week, to be inaugurated by the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr. Parkash Singh Badal, according to sources. 
 
The joint venture was signed in 2007. The company had earlier announced plans to open 10-15 cash-n-carry stores in the country by 2015. It also announced that these stores would be opened under the brand name of ‘Best Price Modern Wholesale’ with each store  having a size of 50,000-100,000 square feet. The Amritsar store will be named Best Price Modern Wholesale.

The plan is to open 10 more such outlets in India over the next two years. However, Indian consumers won’t be able to benefit directly from Wal-Mart’s everyday low prices as it will be a ‘wholesale-only’ operation that will sell mainly to vegetable vendors, hospitals, hotels and restaurants.

Wal-Mart’s Indian venture has been delayed because of fierce opposition from small traders and the Left parties. In the elections this year the results of which were declared only last week, the Congress and its allies won, while the Left suffered major losses, effectively blocking any power to influence the decision making of the new government being formed. The industry is optimistic about the opening up of multi-brand retail to foreign direct investment with the major hurdle being out of the way.

Foreign multi-brand retailers such as Metro Cash and Carry, Tesco and Marks & Spencer are currently limited to wholesale and license and franchise operations in India. These stores are eventually expected to benefit the wine sales in India. For instance the Metro store in Bangalore carries a large portfolio of wines which can be made available indirectly to the consumers. As the laws for distribution become more liberal, especially after the stable government being sworn in, this policy action is expected to be stepped up.

Meanwhile, opening India’s retail sector to giant European corporations would threaten the livelihoods of 40 million Indians, says an article in Realestators.com. Reporting on an article ‘EU and India prepare for post-election free-trade talks’ (11 May, EuropeanVoice.com), it says that it appears to favour the opening up of sensitive sectors, including retail, to foreign direct investment.

This bias even led to predicting the election results well before the last vote had been cast and announcing the pro-liberalisation agenda of the next government. India is a land of retail democracy. Its streets are markets – lively, vibrant, safe and the source of livelihood for millions. In a country with a large number of people and high levels of poverty, the existing model of retail democracy is the most appropriate in terms of economic viability and ecological sustainability, says the news item.

Opening India’s retail sector to giant European corporations such as Tesco and Carrefour would be a direct threat to 40 million people whose livelihood depends on the retail trade. The majority of India’s population – including shopkeepers, vendors, farmers, manufacturers, workers and consumers – would be losers if the retail sector were opened up to foreign direct investment.

In Europe, these corporations have become agents of destruction – of employment, of communities and of the environment says the report
 
Source : http://www.indianwineacademy.com/item_4_303.aspx

Signs of Revival for Real Estate India

When Mumbai-based developer Nahar Group of Companies opened booking for two new buildings at its Nahar Amrit Shakti project in Powai, a central suburb in Mumbai, it was surprised by the demand it received from buyers. Nahar says it managed to sell 150 of the 320 flats it had on offer on the second day of booking itself. “We have now sold close to 300 flats,” says Manju Yagnik, Nahar’s vice-chairperson. “We never expected so much demand.”

What worked in Nahar’s favour was what the developer calls “compact” houses of 925-975 sq. ft and payment terms that allowed buyers to pay one-fifth the cost of the flats on booking and 80% on possession. The houses were priced competitively at Rs52-58 lakh in an area where the average price hovers between Rs5,500 and Rs7,500 per sq. ft. Developers, who had frozen the launch of new projects till end-2008, have in the last few months launched several projects that suit mid-income budgets—clubbing them under an all-inclusive “affordable” housing segment. Realty firms say such projects are seeing good demand. The experience of top developers such as DLF Ltd, Unitech Ltd and Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd, with have offered flats at prices lower than prevailing market rates in the past three months, suggests that demand is spreading to new projects.

DLF launched Capital Greens in west Delhi at an inaugural price of Rs4,500-5,500 per sq. ft and the project, consisting of 1,356 flats, has been sold out, it says. Similarly, Unitech launched Uniworld Garden II in Gurgaon, south-east of New Delhi, at prices between Rs28 lakh and Rs40 lakh a flat. The project of 750 was sold out in 45 days, the company says. Encouraged by the response, Unitech has launched another project, The Residences, also in Gurgaon, with prices at Rs35-45 lakh. It has so far sold 180 of 200 flats in that project. Parsvnath Developers Ltd launched a 510-flat project in Lucknow in March, pricing each flat between Rs12.5 lakh and Rs24 lakh; around 480 has been sold out, the firm says. A price cut of up to 30% by developers, launch of projects at key locations and a reduction in home loan rate seems to be attracting buyers for some projects.

R. Karthick, vice-president, marketing, of Lodha Group, a Mumbai developer, claims that his company has sold nearly 2,500 flats in five months. Lodha has launched five projects in suburban Mumbai, under the mid-segment brand Casa, priced at Rs30-35 lakh. Lodha, which is typically known for its luxury projects in Mumbai, launched this brand after seeing slow demand in the last few months of 2008. Puravankara Projects Ltd has said it has 600 flats in its maiden budget housing venture, Provident Cosmo City in Chennai, since its launch in March. Three-bedroom flats there are priced at between Rs16.9 lakh and Rs18.9 lakh. “The sales in the Provident project were so good that we are planning to launch 4,200 flats in the same category in north Bangalore now and expand further,” says Ravi Ramu, director, finance, at the Bangalore-based firm.

Some experts say though demand is slow to return to the market, it is likely to be more sustained this time because demand for housing is from buyers who intend to live in the flats rather than those buying them as investments. “The good news is that it is mostly end users who are buying,” says Shruti Gupta, head of real estate consultancy Hamptons International’s India unit. Lodha said it sold 600 units in 10 days in one of the projects, Casa Bella, in March in Mumbai’s Dombivali area. “There may be some investors, but 63% of the buyers are mid-management professionals and 7% are self-employed,” says Karthick. Anshuman Magazine, managing director of realty consultant CB Richard Ellis, says: “I will not say that sales are picking up, but the thaw has started to happen. A developer who has a project at a lower rate has been able to get buyers.” The first quarter of the calendar year has brought some relief for developers, who are finally seeing some demand compared with last year, when buyers had virtually disappeared.

Mumbai-based Akruti City Ltd told Reuters on 15 May that it has seen sales going up by 30% in the first quarter of the current fiscal after a near 80% fall in the last two quarters of the year to 31 March. Magazine agrees that it is the pricing and the location that are bringing back buyers into the market. “Developers have repositioned their projects,” says Magazine. “They are launching projects at good locations to halfway good locations.” Firms such as DLF, India’s largest realty company by market value, now plans to focus on city-centric and mid-income residential projects, and plans to launch 17-18 million sq. ft of residential projects in fiscal 2010. Earlier, most developers focused on developing luxury homes in far-off locations. Lower interest rates for housing finance—down from 12% in fiscal 2008 to 8% in recent months—have helped.

The fact that developers are offering construction-linked payment plans is a huge incentive for buyers, says Sanjay Sharma, managing director of Gurgaonscoop.com, a real estate brokerage. “Buyers now feel assured that they would not need to make payment if the construction is stalled,” says Sharma. A spokesman for mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corp. Ltd said enquiries and applications for home loans have been increasing every month. In the fourth quarter of last fiscal year, “loan approvals have gone up by 21% and loan sanctions have increased by 16%” from the year-ago quarter, the spokesman said. “There is sporadic demand for projects though it is far from a revival.” HSBC Holdings Plc.’s India operations does not see a significant uptake in the home loans sanctioned in the last few months, according to Ravi Subramanian, head, retail assets and cards, at the lender.

Source : http://www.indianrealtynews.com/real-estate-india/mumbai/signs-of-revival-for-real-estate-india.html

REITs may Lead to Overall Recovery of Real Estate Sector

The marked improvement in the performance, in recent months, of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), including those set up by Indian developers, is being seen as a pointer to an imminent revival in the property market. Indian property developers’ overseas-listed REITs such as Ascendas, Hirco, Unitech Corporate Park and Ishaan have nearly doubled in value from a year ago, even as the FTSE Global Real Estate Indices for Asia, Europe and the US have appreciated by 50% since March 2009.

The improved market conditions could also pave the way for the REIT listings of DLF and Unitech, which have been put on hold. REITs are entities that own and manage a portfolio of real estate properties. Anyone can invest in a publicly-traded REIT, which is seen providing the advantages of liquidity and diversity because it invests in a portfolio of properties. REITs are currently not allowed in India, but the Securities and Exchange Board of India has rules for its implementation.

Source : http://www.indianrealtynews.com/real-estate-developers/reits-may-lead-to-overall-recovery-of-real-estate-sector.html

Parekh Group forays into hospitality sector

Mumbai-based Parekh Group, dealer in shipping and logistic services, has forayed into the hospitality industry by forming Seabird Resorts Pvt Ltd under its hospitality division. Parekh Group has also signed management contract with Alila Hotels & Resorts for its first property ‘Alila Diwa Goa’, which will be operational by September 2009. As mentioned by Hospitality Biz earlier, the upcoming project will be the first Alila Hotels & Resorts property in India. Parekh Group also has plans to develop properties in tier II cities in the western region.

Speaking about its new venture, Nirav Parekh, Director, Seabird Resorts Pvt Ltd, says, “Although, our core business is shipping and logistics, we have also dealt with infrastructure projects earlier. Hospitality is about infrastructure and services. We wanted to enter a business, which is not completely related to what we are pursuing currently. We have entered the market in the downturn period, but such a situation happens to every industry and is part and parcel of the business.”

Source : http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://www.hospitalitybizindia.com/detailNews.aspx%3Faid%3D4815%26sid%3D1&ct=ga&cd=IfeZ2hfnVB8&usg=AFQjCNF8EYST9yUGOHQtoSrbWj7srMmu8g

VCs are cautious, but keen on investments

Bangalore: Several Indian startup companies are feeling the heat of global slowdown as venture capitalists (VCs) have tightened their procedures to fund in the current conditions. Now, venture capitalists want innovative projects, a higher stake in the company, early profitable returns and non-linear scalability in the business models.

As per the early stage entrepreneurs, the venture capitalists have increased the percentage of stakes in the company by nearly 10 percent. Earlier, they used to take around twenty percent which is now hiked up to thirty percent.

Even, the rapid potential growth of the company has become a criterion for VCs to invest in a startup organization. Sanjay Swamy, CEO of mChek, which got funded by Draper Fisher Jurvetson, a top tier venture capital firm explains, “VCs want to invest in companies with an increase in developments from all spheres.”

From a VC’s standpoint, Atul Khekade, the Chairman of Netz Capital said that in India especially, it is very difficult to raise start up venture capital. “With recession, an additional criteria of being able to turn profitable early has become a crucial factor,” explains Khekade. The VCs have shortened the time frame for their return of investments (ROI), which was around four to six years earlier. This is also because of the fact that the venture capitalists believe that startup companies often get engrossed in technology and miss the real marketing plan.

But, many startup entrepreneurs are of a view that venture capitalists should understand the ‘bad times’ of the economy. Addressing this concern of the early stage entrepreneurs, the venture capitalists are also mentoring the startup enterprises in coming up with a stronger business model and skillful management ideas to ride out the current global slowdown.

Sudarshan H.S., CEO of Onze Technologies, said, “VCs have always helped me by advising on the management procedures and also on the financial matters.”

Though the startup companies say that they face difficulties in funding, the figures state otherwise. U.S. venture capitalists have invested $101 million signing 13 deals in India in the first quarter of the year; reflecting a positive scenario, to step ahead in the venture capital investment.

Keeping in view their investment options, almost 45 venture capitalists firm are looking to come together at the Siliconindia Startup City on June 6, 2009 at Bangalore. With over 75 hot startup companies, the VCs are sure to have field day. Click here to know more about Startup City : http://www.siliconindia.com/startupcity_09/index.php

Source : http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/VCs_are_cautious_but_keen_on_investments-nid-56965.html

Private equity firms warm up

Mumbai, May 17: Private equity deals are likely to pick up with the return of the UPA.

Deal-makers and investment bankers are confident that with the Left out of the picture and a majority government free to push reforms faster, more foreign money in the form of private equity (PE) is likely to flow into the country.

“So far, big private equity firms in India were selling the consumption story to their head offices in the United States. Now, they’re going to talk about reforms — regulatory and governance-oriented,” said a banker working with a global firm in India.

“Whether it is privatisation or more public-private-partnership projects, this government is expected to push proposals. That is attractive to foreigners waiting for an opportunity in this market,” said Ernst & Young’s transaction advisory director Jayesh Desai.

Coincidentally, the April numbers for PE investments have picked up. Merger and acquisition activity has also increased marginally.

C. G. Srividya, Grant Thornton partner (transaction support services), said, “On the private equity front, we are seeing some increase in the deal values in April compared with the first three months of the year. There has also been a marginal increase in pure play M&A activities (excluding restructuring) in April compared with March this year”.

According to Grant Thornton, several group restructuring activities were carried out in April but these deals and their values have not been announced yet and factored into the data collated by the firm.

Fifteen private equity deals were announced in April 2009 with an announced value of $493.94 million, according to Grant Thornton.

The number of PE deals in the first four months of 2009 stood at 56 with an announced value of $1.31 billion.

However, the numbers are not impressive compared to last year.

In the first four months of 2008, 149 PE deals worth $4.68 billion were struck.

Mergers and acquisitions have been much slower this year against 2008. However, that is expected to change.

Grant Thornton data show 20 M&A transactions (excluding group restructuring deals) worth $427.55 million were announced in April this year.

There were 13 domestic deals (both acquirer and target being Indian) with an announced value of $351.33 million and seven cross-border deals worth $76.22 million.

Four of the cross-border deals were outbound, that is Indian companies acquiring entities outside the country. These were valued at $31.78 million.

Three were inbound deals — international companies or their subsidiaries acquiring Indian business — with an announced value of $44.44 million.

The total number of M&A deals (excluding group mergers and restructuring deals) during the first four months of 2009 were 74 with an announced value of $2.03 billion compared with 174 deals worth $9.43 billion in the corresponding period in 2008.

Source : http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090518/jsp/business/story_10983619.jsp

Parsvnath to build township project at Panipat

NEW DELHI: Realty firm Parsvnath Developers Ltd on Monday said it will build a township project in Haryana with an investment of Rs 212 crore. 

“The company has received environmental clearance from the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority, Haryana, for the construction of a proposed township project at Panipat in Haryana,” Parsvnath said in a statement.

After getting the environmental clearance, Parsvnath would now be in a position to start construction at the site soon, it added.

According to the plan, the company would develop a 162-acre township project in phases. The project would be developed on 6.57 lakh square metre and the total built-up area would be 2.16 lakh sq mt.

The township would have 927 residential plots, group housing and a shopping mall with multiplex. The development of the project is expected to be complete in two years from the start of construction work.

Parsvnath has a total land bank of 209 million sq ft and is present in all the verticals of real estate. The company currently has 81 million sq ft of area under construction, of which 43.62 million sq ft is already sold.

The company has presence across 50 cities in 17 states.

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News-By-Industry/Services/Property–Cstruction/Parsvnath-to-build-township-project-at-Panipat/articleshow/4546221.cms

NRI Services India – Investment and Real Estate Services

Investments & Finance
If you would like to make some investments in India, please let us know, we will give you proper and up-to-date advice and help you make these investments successfully, We have got highly experienced professionals working with us in all the different areas, i.e., Real-Estate, Stock Market, etc, and would be pleased to offer their advice on any area in which you are interested.

We can also assist you to get finance for any kind of needs like Project Finance, Personal Finance, Real-Estate, Apartments or Villas etc. Please send us email with your requirements, we will respond swiftly.

We have a lot of experience in development of new real-estate projects. If you would like to buy a new property in India, we can help you find the proper house, apartment or even plots for investments.

We have arranged to act as agents of selling newly built apartments or villas of all the reputed builders, i.e., Unitech DLF etc, and will carry out all the necessary formalities before you finally decide to buy the property

If you would like to sell the property in India, we can help you find the proper customer for you.

We can also provide all the necessary services for buying or selling commercial properties and carry out due diligence for buying existing business.

Please send us email with your requirements, we will respond swiftly.
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The real-estate services are now available for DELHI & NCR. If you want this service in other states, please send us your request. We will do our best to serve you.

Special Services
If you have any issue that we do not categorize here, you can send us a description of the issue. We will let you know, immediately, if we can solve that issue for you, we will do our best to accommodate your needs.

The special request services are now available for DELHI & NCR, HARYANA and PUNJAB states. If you want these services in other states, please send us your request. We will do our best to serve you.

To find out about the fees to this service and all other services we offer, please go to the fees page http://nriservicesindia.net/index.php?pg=11.

Source : http://www.newdesignworld.com/press/story/14298

Jones Lang sees commercial rentals correcting further – report

MUMBAI, May 15 (Reuters) – Commercial rentals will fall faster in the second quarter of 2009 than the first, and some recovery should be seen by the end-2010, Jones Lang Lasalle Meghraj said in a report.

Oversupply across commercial space in cities are expected to increase in 2009 and vacancies are seen rising over 20 percent, in the year, the real estate consultant said in its May report.

The report covered Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad and Kolkata, taking into account the first-quarter results of 2009.

Around 70 percent of India’s commercial projects announced in these cities for completion during the year are expected to be operational, it said.

“The rest will be delayed…We’ve only seen some isolated cases being shelved or converted. But it’s just a very small number and not in the major cities,” said Abhishek Kiran Gupta, Head-Research of Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj.

About 146.6 million sq. ft. of space will come up in the next 11 quarters, according to the company’s estimates, as opposed to the total 172.9 million sq. ft. of commercial space announced for completion in the next 3-4 years.

The largest decline in commercial rents have been in Mumbai and Delhi, down 24 percent from the last quarter, followed by Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune, which were down 10-15 percent from the last quarter.

RETAIL

Total retail stock across the cities at the end of the quarter to March stood at 34.8 million sq ft while another 62.6 million sq ft of mall space is either proposed or under various stages of construction in the next 2-3 years.

Currently, Mumbai and Delhi account for about 72 percent of the retail space, but this is seen dropping to just under half the stock by the end of 2011.

Vacancies of retail space have increased to 14.5 percent as more malls in Delhi became operational.

Retailers are renegotiating on their rentals, looking for zero rental schemes, minimum guarantee and revenue sharing models, it said. (Reporting by Jasudha Kirpalani; Editing by Sunil Nair)

Source : http://in.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idINBOM46805420090515?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0

Pay later, it’s okay, say developers

Cash-starved real estate developers are leaving no stone unturned to improve cash flow. For example, Unitech, Omaxe and Raheja Developers are waiving penalty on late payments so that customers do not quit.

“These are tough times for customers as well as developers in terms of cash generation. We are focusing on increasing cash flow from all directions and are making sure that no customer defaults or feels disheartened on not being able to pay his instalment due to unavoidable problems,” said an official from Unitech.

Most developers charge 18 per cent annual penalty from defaulting customers.

A recent report by IDFC said Unitech had seen delayed payments by customers for already booked properties. The receivables of the company increased to Rs 1,000 crore in fiscal year 2009, compared with Rs 750 crore in FY08.

Over the past year, a lot of people have lost jobs and taken salary cuts. Many of them had booked their first homes on instalments. The past six to nine months have seen a number of them defaulting on payments.

“The move to waive penalty on late payment is a smart move. This will provide customers the much-needed cushion at a time when a lot of them may want to back out due to their financial condition,” said a Mumbai-based real estate consultant.

Omaxe Ltd, which charged 18 per cent penalty for the first two months of default and 24 per cent after that, is offering a waiver to customers with a good record. “We are not offering the scheme to all our customers and are giving the waiver to only those who have made all their payments before their first default,” said an Omaxe spokesperson.

The debt of all real estate firms has risen over the past year and they do not want to lose an opportunity to gain cash from potential customers by insisting on penalty.

“We keep in mind the financial position of our customer. If someone has lost his job or faced some other financial problem, we allow him/her to start paying his EMI without caring about the penalty,” said Naveen Raheja, managing director, Raheja Developers.

Source : http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/pay-later-it/s-okay-say-developers/358033/

Indiabulls Plans Eight Residential Projects

Property developer Indiabulls Real Estate (IBREL) plans to build residential projects over 9.8 million square feet in the current fiscal year to generate cash flows. The Mumbai-based developer planned to launch eight projects in six cities as part of the development plan, the company told analysts and investors as part of its preparation for the proposed qualified institutional placement (QIP) issue, through which it aims to raise as much as $600 million (Rs 3,000 crore). The company is already talking to investors to raise at least $150 million (Rs 750 crore) from sale of shares to select investors as part of the plan.

All the projects, mostly in the affordable housing category, to be launched this year are expected to be completed by December 2013, according to a presentation prepared by the company. he proposed residential launches include, Riverside in Ahmedabad, Indiabulls Greens, Navi Mumbai, Lakeview Park, Chennai, Indiabulls Paramount, Indiabulls Metropolitan and Indiabulls Orion, Gurgaon, Indiabulls City, Sonepat (NCR) and Hillside View, Vishakhapatnam.

Indiabulls’ commercial leasable area in Mumbai is expected to go up to 5 million square feet from 3.4 million square feet after the Maharashtra in November 2008 raised the maximum developable area to 4 from 2.66. The company said it also has agreed to sell a part of its One Indiabulls Centre, located at Lower Parel, to a foreign government body for an implied rate of Rs 18,818 square feet. It didn’t name the foreign government body though industry sources said the property was sold to the British Council (BCI) for Rs 30 crore. Indiabulls Retail owns a 45 per cent stake in Indiabulls Property Investment Trust (IPIT), the Singapore-listed entity. IPIT owns two properties at Lower Parel — Indiabulls Centre and Elphistone Mills.

Source : http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Indian-Realty-News/~3/VOtlRbHWpC4/indiabulls-plans-eight-residential-projects.html

Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi-NCR see decline in rentals

Bangalore, May 12: Barring selective markets, most cities saw a fall in rentals in January-March 2009 as compared to October-December 2008, according to property report.

Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai saw a decline in rentals while Hyderabad saw a rise in rentals in January-March 2009 as compared to October-December 2008, the quarterly report on property prices trends, released by ‘99 acres Insite’, property portal, said here today.

Rentals were up in Bangalore in January-March 2009 across most localities compared to the previous quarter.

According to the report, Bangalore real estate saw a correction in property prices early last year continuing into the year. Some localities are now seeing revival in property prices. Hebbal, Sarjapur Road, Maleshpalaya, Kaggadasapura saw an increase in property prices by three percent.

“The trend in Janauary March 2009 is on expected lines. In majority of localities in Bangalore, prices seem to be averaging out at the current levels, making the market attractive o the price front. Lack of transactions in the market is just a reflection of the prevailing sentiment,” said Vineet Singh, Business Head, 99acres. com.

During Jan-March 2009, markets like Bangalore which had already seen a bottom, saw a comparative steadiness in prices in some of the localities, while markets like Delhi-NCR stabilised. Chennai and Hyderabad continued to see fall in property prices, however, not as sharp as the previous quarter.

Source : http://www.zeenews.com/news531219.html

Ginger Hotels plans 11 properties

Ginger Hotels, a budget hotel chain from Roots Corporation Ltd, a subsidiary of Indian Hotels Company belonging to the Tata Group, is planning to invest around Rs 100 crore for setting up 11 budget hotels across the country. The hotel chain is planning to add 1,100 rooms by December 2010.

Prabhat Pani, CEO and director, Roots Corporation Ltd, said Ginger Hotel operated 19 hotels across the country with an inventory of 1,800 rooms.

A 100-room Ginger Hotel required an investment between Rs 10 crore and Rs 15 crore in each property, depending upon the model used in the location. The company was planning to set up these hotels through ownership, lease, public private partnership and management contracts, he said.

Some of the hotels under construction include Surat, Indore, Chennai, Tirupur, Jamshedpur and a second hotel in Pune.

In the south, Ginger Hotels’ properties are operational in Bangalore, Mangalore, Mysore, Puducherry and Thiruvananthapuram with nearly 480 rooms. The company will widen its network in south India with the launch of Ginger in Chennai and Tirupur. It is also evaluating options in Hyderabad and putting up a second hotel in Bangalore.

Ginger Hotel in Chennai, which is currently at an advanced stage of construction, is coming up next to the IIT campus in Guindy. The hotel would have 86 rooms and the proposed investment is around Rs 12 crore, he said.

Pani added the growth in the branded budget hotel segment was a reflection of the changing Indian consumer and his lifestyle.

Though there are no formal estimates, this sector is expected to be one of the fastest growing segments in the Indian hospitality industry. The main growth drivers are the economy’s and the customer’s inclination to shift from the unbranded to branded segment.

Source : http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/ginger-hotels-plans-11-properties/357738/

Real Estate Sees Slow Recovery, Prices Pick Up

With sales gradually picking up in the real estate sector, developers are swiftly increasing prices. Tata Housing has emerged as the lead developer to have hiked property prices in the recent days. The company has increased prices of residential units at Eden Court, its first housing project in West Bengal, for the second time in the last one week, to Rs 2,900per square feet from the staring price of Rs 2,750 per square feet. “The rise in prices is in tandem with the demand, as almost 70 per cent of the residential units in the project have been sold out,” said sources at the authorised marketing agents for Tata Housing.

Tata Housing’s first real estate project in the state is not a low-cost housing project, like the one it recently launched in Mumbai. Widely applauded as a “Nano” in the housing sector,a 283 square feet flat in “Shubh Griha”, the company’s low cost housing projects in Mumbai, comes at about Rs 3.9 lakh. Whereas, at Eden Court, about a 1,000 square feet flat will not come at less than Rs 30 lakh. A spokesperson from Tata Housing, while confirming the price hike, said, “The housing project in West Bengal has been well-received.” When asked whether the company would launch a low-cost housing project in West Bengal, the spokesperson said, “Our managing director has indicated that we will have a pan-India presence. We are also considering Kolkata for the housing project. The project commencement will depend upon the availability of land in the state.”

Spread over 50 acres in Rajarhat, in Action Area II of New Town, the Tata Housing project would be a combination of residential, commercial and retail, and the first phase comprises the residential project. The company bought the land from the West Bengal Infrastructure Development Corporation (Hidco), the nodal agency for allotting land in New Town Rajarhat. The complex would be spread over five acres and would have three towers with two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments. Two of the towers would have G+18 floors. The entire township project is expected to be completed in 2.5 years. However, not just Tata Housing, it appears that the real estate sector was showing signs of recovery.Kolkata-based P S Group, is also developing a housing project at Rajarhat, and selling flats at Rs 1,899 per square feet.

Pradeep Chopra of the P S Group said, his firm had increased prices by Rs 200 per square feet recently. “Even by selling at Rs 1,899 per square feet, our margin is close to Rs 300,” said Chopra. According to experts, the spurt in prices could be in view of the lack of supply, mainly because for more than last six months hardly any new project has been launched by developers in Rajarhat. With few ready-to-occupy flats available in the area, big real estate developers might have been leveraging from the imbalance in supply and demand, apart from the brandname, opined experts.

Source : http://www.indianrealtynews.com/real-estate-india/mumbai/real-estate-sees-slow-recovery-prices-pick-up.html

Peninsula Delays Hotel Project

Peninsula Land Ltd, a unit of the Ashok Piramal group, is deferring its plans to build business hotels by at least six months to preserve cash, a company official has said. In May last year, Peninsula forayed into the hospitality sector with a joint venture with textile maker and real estate developer, Arrow Webtex. The JV planned to build hotels in Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Nasik and Kolhapur in Maharashtra. There were also plans to develop hotels in Ahmedabad, Surat, Jamnagar, Mundra port, Goa and Kerala. “Currently, all outside initiatives are on hold. We do not think it is prudent to diversify rather than executing our current projects. We will look into new projects in the second half of this year when we expect markets to go up. It is more important to preserve cash in the downturn,” said Rajeev Piramal, executive vice-chairman, Peninsula Land.

Real estate developers such as DLF, Parsvnath and Unitech are also going slow on their hotel plans due to tough credit environment and fall in occupancy rates. DLF, the country’s largest property developer, is said to be pushing back its hotel plans by 12-18 months, another Delhi-based realtor Unitech, has sold its Gurgaon hotel to reduce its debt burden. “Land values are not attractive and still there is more scope for correction to launch these projects,” said Piramal. Peninsula and Arrow Webtex were to create a special purpose vehicle (SPV), where they would hold 50 per cent stake each. In the first stage, the JV was to invest Rs 100 crore and build 10 hotels of 100 rooms each, aggregating 1,000 rooms.

Peninsula is also putting its plans to get into new areas such as project management, infrastructure and others on the backburner to save cash even as it is expanding into new cities such as Nasik, Hyderabad and Pune this year, amounting to 8 million square feet. Peninsula is also looking at alternative options such as fund structures wherein capital is pooled in from different parties and invested in real estate projects as it is yet to close its Rs 1,400-crore Paramount offshore fund floated earlier.

The company is expecting nearly Rs 2,000 crore cash flows from its Mumbai projects mainly from the Peninsula Business Park project in Lower Parel area of Central Mumbai and from the Peninsula Technopark project in Kurla, which has been sold to the Essar group wherein it is yet to get full payment due. The company posted 49 per cent increase in its profit after tax to Rs 35.96 crore for the fourth quarter of FY 2009 as compared with Rs 24.06 crore it posted in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year.
Source : http://www.indianrealtynews.com/real-estate-developers/peninsula-delays-hotel-project.html

Disha Direct announces Shiv Sai Paradise, finest homes for citizens of Thane

Disha Direct Marketing Services Pvt. Ltd. takes its innovative legacy a step ahead by adding another project to its lineage of finest properties. During the recently held MCHI Exhibition at Thane from May 1 to May 3, 2009; Disha Direct announced the launch of its first residential project Shiv Sai Paradise in Thane.

Disha Direct Marketing Services Pvt. Ltd. takes its innovative legacy a step ahead by adding another project to its lineage of finest properties. During the recently held MCHI Exhibition at Thane from May 1 to May 3, 2009; Disha Direct announced the launch of its first residential project Shiv Sai Paradise in Thane. Launched at an initial rate of Rs. 3990/- per sq.ft, Shiv Sai Paradise is an ensemble of five multi storied residential towers comprising 2 & 3 BHK luxurious apartments.

The recently launched residential project is thoughtfully planned and imaginatively positioned to meet the following four important parameters: Prime Location, Quality Construction, Early Possession (December 2009) and Value for Money. Shiv Sai Paradise is developed by Bharat Fertiliser and Realty Ind. Ltd, a public limited company listed with Mumbai Stock Exchange.

Located at a stone’s throw from the Kapur Bawdi Junction, Shiv Sai Paradise shares close proximity with prominent malls, reputed retail outlets, well established hospitals, renowned educational institutions and remarkable recreation centres. Just 3.5 kms away from Thane station & well connected by road, Shiv Sai Paradise is an exclusive residential complex with no shops or offices which guarantees peace of mind to its residents. Path breaking from its inception, this project is one-of-its-kind that shall remain free of any concrete clutter in the near future because of no high-rise developments to take place around it. A monorail station has also been proposed at a distance of 0.5 km from the residential project. An auto rickshaw stand and a starting point stop for city bus is just round the corner. Leading banks and petrol pumps are located at a walking distance of 3 to 4 minutes. With all the four concerned and busiest highways leading to Mumbai, Nashik, Pune, Kalyan, Bhiwandi, Borivali and Gujarat at a distance of 2 minutes; Shiv Sai Paradise is the most desired option to begin an elegant lifestyle.

Adhering to finest standards of first quality construction, the complex comprises an eco-friendly and energy conserving infrastructure. An earthquake resistant IS code based RCC design makes the towers stronger. A separate system for water recycling would be set up to provide unhindered water supply to a beautifully laid garden area. Two separate wells with water harvesting system will ensure additional water supply in times of additional requirement. The homes too are well planned with arrangements for 2 and 3 BHK. The areas for 2 BHK apartments range between 1078 and 1096 sq. ft. The areas for 3 BHK apartments range between 1292 and 1318 sq. ft. Luxurious and elegant, every home promises superior living with a considerable price tag. Equipped with premium quality amenities for the interiors and exteriors, Shiv Sai Paradise holds a promise for the future. A club house will also be developed within the complex that would comprise swimming pool, sauna, steam, hi-tech gymnasium, library, indoor & outdoor games, multipurpose hall and an amphitheatre. Beautiful garden with jogging track, planned pathways, sitting zones and children play area will be made available to the residents of the complex. Paved/concrete internal roads with high lit street lights would be an added experience to the people preferring to take a stroll in the evening or night.

Shiv Sai Paradise ensures an early possession by December 2009. With an accelerated pace of development and coordinated work procedure, keys to a finest home will not be a distant dream for home buyers.

Mr. Yogendra Patel, CMD of Bharat Fertilisers said, “At a launch rate of Rs. 3990/- per sq.ft, Shiv Sai Paradise is the most lucrative option; property buyers can opt for. With all the advantages to its credit and first class luxury at its disposal; it is a kind of residential complex that ensures value for every penny spent to move into a new home. The supreme range of amenities and finest quality of work signifies its status of being a product of profitable value.”

Commenting on the launch of Shiv Sai Paradise; Mr. Santosh Naik, MD & CEO of Disha Direct expressed, “Every home at Shiv Sai is special. Not only the amenities but the location and the entire ambience of the project are superior. Secondly the proposed monorail near the project adds a futuristic significance to this project. And Thane being our home town as well as the project’s development site, we will leave no stone unturned to make it a landmark of the future.”

For more details on the project, Disha Direct executive can be contacted on 9987684721 or an email can be sent on: contact ( @ ) dishadirect dot in

About Disha Direct:

Disha Direct is a leading real estate marketing organisation. It offers services across the entire spectrum of real estate – be it residential properties in cities and towns, 2nd homes away from the city, plots of developed land, commercial properties, expansive acres of land or some rare charismatic homes and investment opportunities. Well-equipped with a team of over 180 professionals, 7 brands, 10 offices, International Offices at Dubai & New York, 8 completed projects, 28 ongoing projects and 4000 happy customers; Disha Direct is not just a conglomerate but a philosophy etched in the minds of many. For more details, log on to www.dishadirect.in

Source : http://www.1888pressrelease.com/disha-direct-announces-shiv-sai-paradise-finest-homes-for-c-pr-118166.html

‘Venture capital funding hit by slowdown’

New Delhi, May 12 (IANS) Venture capital (VC) funding has fallen nearly 25 percent in recent months on account of the global slowdown, industry officials said here Tuesday.
“There have been an overall dip of 25 percent in venture capital funding since last year,” Rahul Chandra, director of venture capital firm Helion Advisors, told IANS.

Venture capital firms are private equity capital companies that invest in early-stage, high-potential growth companies. Investments are made in cash in exchange for shares in the invested company.

Earlier, while speaking at a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) seminar on ‘Global Investments in Research and Development’, Chandra said: “Despite a dip in the number of deals we have signed, the quality of deals has improved significantly.”

However, the market sentiment is yet to pick up. “We as venture capitalists have also become cautious, though in our sector, it’s all about risk management,” he said.

“We are also looking for co-investors,” Chandra added.

According to him, the tough time will last another 12 months before the market begins to stabilise.

Saurabh Srivastava, chairman of Indian Venture Capital Association, agreed with Chandra.

“Though investment by venture capitalists have come down to one-third from what it was, still there are signs of recovery and we hope to crack better and more deals,” Srivastava said at the seminar.

 Source : http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/business/venture-capital-funding-hit-by-slowdown_100191563.html