The proposed project of modernizing Delhi's airport By Delhi International Airport Private Limited (DIAL) is attracting large interests from leading players in Indian and international real estate and hospitality industry to develop 45 acres of commercial land near the international terminal. The company has so far considered 15 applications, of which, 9 have been short listed and four will participate in a competitive bidding process.

The list of short-listed list includes the prominent hotel chains such as Delhi-based Claridges, European hotel chain Accor and US-based Starwood (which owns the Le Meridien and Sheraton brands). As far as short-listed real estate firms are concerned, they are Emaar MGF, Parsvnath, Omaxe, Vipul, DB Realty, Pacifica and Marathon.

Applications under consideration are from top hotel chains ITC, Indian Hotels and Lemon Tree and engineering and construction giant Larsen & Toubro.

DIAL had invited 45 applications to develop hotel under different categories of the ‘hospitality district' to come up near the international terminal. The district will feature premium, budget, business, upscale, and convention hotels to cater requirements of all visitors.

Courtesy: Indianrealtynews

Here's something about Mumbai properties which is truly surprising.

Many millionaires pay a few thousand rupees annually as lease rent for some of the most expensive Mumbai's properties they hold. The leases for such properties have been expired long ago but the state government was in no mood to take any initiative to renew.

Indeed, the bungalow of the famous actor Shah Rukh Khan is leased out to him at mere Rs 2325 per year. The property is located in one of the costliest areas of Mumbai. Incidentally, he bought the property on an expired lease.

The issue is not just restricted to residential property. Many business houses and hotels in areas such as Mahalaxmi, Juhu, Bandra, and Dadar are rented out by the government on 3 to 99 year leases.There are 53 such expired leases in Mumbai that accrue only Rs 7 crore to the state government.

The government is planning to release a new policy to calculate the rental value. The leasers started seeking legal assistance when the official asked them to renew the market value. The consultants hired by the government will recalculate the amount, by the end of December, says Rajendra Shingane, MoS, Revenue Department, Maharashtra Government.

Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, Montreal, is planning to make its first real estate investments in India, said Amelie Plante, senior adviser for communications and public affairs.

Although no specific investments are on the table, she said the fund, which has C$237.3 billion (US$243.9 billion) in assets under management, is "really working hard" on India now and might eventually look at other emerging markets.

The India investment would be made under the fund's SITQ unit, which specializes in the investment and management of office buildings and had C$10.6 billion in assets as of Dec. 31.

 Ms. Plante would not say how much the fund plans to invest in India. "It's really hard to give a hard number on," she said, adding that it would depend on opportunities.

The city of Pune has certainly covered a long journey from being known as pensioners' paradise to the Tech city. These days, investors and builders seem to be making large money from Pune real estate market. This has given a strong push to wealth and development in the city.

The activities have indeed put Pune on global business map in a dramatic way. It offers a plethora of opportunities in the field of retail, IT industry, BPO industry, and the hotel industry.

Everyone belonging to Pune property market is cashing in on the prospects that the city of gold offers. High and retail market space is the most preferred sector in the market. Pune education sector is also making rapid strides and has witnessed a huge influx of students coming in all across the world. This is contributing to the success of Pune and assisting it to come up as a global education destination.

The IT sector in Pune is encouraging the young generation to come forward and contribute to the economy's progress. The city shares a big chunk of the $350 billion Indian retail market which is likely to grow at a rate of 13% per annum.

Pune Economy

Pune corporate sector is also taking full advantage of the city's retail boom and making hay while the sun shines. Ongoing activities in Pune real estate clearly underline great improvements in the infrastructure, economy, and policies of Pune.

Pune properties are marking the growth along with prospects, excellent connectivity and educational facilities. Whether talk of industries or education sector, both are nurturing and shaping up in a decent manner.

Optimum Growth Expected

Pune is expected to see a sharp appreciation of around 500% in the service and industrial sectors. The actual potential lies in Pune residential property, shopping malls, education, and the hotel industry. These segments are undoubtedly fast flourishing. As a centre of education, Pune produces around 1,50,000 graduates each year, thereby adding to the manpower and fuelling the mentioned growth rate.

Pune has become a cosmopolitan city that is largely attracting the likes of all. The city's infrastructure is developing at a surprising rate and constructive changes have taken place in the last 5 years.

The city has exclusive real estate projects in its pipeline. There is a project ‘Business Bay' which will be an exclusive residential-cum-commercial project. It will accommodate high end retail outlets, corporate offices, and the residential units.

The construction work of the International Convention Centre (ICC) is on peak. Its third phase is also going to be over. Then, there is a real estate project by Kolte Patil Developers Limited, a prominent name in the commercial and residential development. The company is planning to take Pune residential segment on high by developing properties such as integrated townships, service apartments, and high end residential projects.

Courtesy: Indianrealtynews.com

Real estate major DLF is all set to extend its retail footprint to tier-II and tier-III cities. And for this the company is planning to invest around Rs 2,500 crore in setting up destination malls and shopping centres in these cities.

A whopping 30 million sq ft of retail space is what DLF plans to develop over the next 36 months, spread across 30-35 cities. Some cities that have been identified for expansion include Amritsar, Jalandhar, Coimbatore, Kochi, Vadodara, Rajkot, Surat, Nasik, Lucknow, Kanpur and Varanasi.

Apart from destination malls and shopping centres, other specialized formats such as luxury malls are also being planned along with Mall of India at Gurgaon, which is being dubbed as the world's biggest mall.

In the words of DLF senior executive director (retail) Ajay Khanna, "We believe that there is a huge potential in tier-II and tier-III cities. To provide the initial depth to our retail plans, we will be spending close to Rs 1,250 crore each on building the two formats, destination malls and shopping centres across the country. The development of destination malls and shopping centres will be spread over an area of 15 million sq ft each."

The branding too will be differentiated according to the format and the shopping centres will be called City Centre or Galleria, Mr Khanna said. The company is yet to decide on the brand name for the larger destination malls. "The overall signature brand, of course, will be DLF in both the formats," he added.

DLF sees a huge demand for the smaller shopping centres and is looking at building them in the central business districts. The larger destination malls, on the other hand, will be developed in the more spacious and strategic suburban areas to cater to a bigger catchment of the community in the respective cities.

"The destination mall format will be more of a sold model where retailers will be able to buy the spaces within the mall while the shopping centre will revolve around the theme of leased model," Mr Khanna said.

The group's first shopping centre outside Gurgaon is slated to open next month at Shalimar Bagh in Delhi.

Courtesy: Indiarealestateblog

Citigroup is investing around $250 million in Bangalore-headquartered real estate major Nitesh Estates. However, the exact quantum of stake could not be ascertained.

The deal, the single-largest in India's hospitality sector, will see Citi partner Nitesh in the latter's hospitality foray, which involves setting up at least five luxury hotels, said sources close to the deal.

Citigroup Property Investors will invest directly from its global fund into holding entity Nitesh Estates as well as special purpose vehicles (SPVs) for setting up properties, which may also include shopping malls. Citi's Asia-Pacific real estate fund head David Schaefer led the investment into the 31-year-old Nitesh Shetty-managed realty group.

However, Nitesh Estates executive director LS Vaidyanathan declined to comment on the deal. Citigroup is picking up a minority stake in the holding company. Citi will, however, hold substantial slakes in individual SPVs setting up the chain of hotels, sources added.

The latest deal with Citigroup does not include India's first Ritz-Carlton property, which Nitesh is developing in Bangalore. It is believed that Nitesh may be Ritz-Carlton's preferred partner, not exclusive though, in India.

Along with Citi, Nitesh plans to develop five-star hotels in Goa, Kochi, Kolkata and Chennai, sources added. This will be the fourth private equity deal being tied up by Nitesh in the past 30 months, and the third in the last one year. First, the US-based Siachen Capital invested $100 million through an SPV. This was followed up by the 25% stake sale in the parent company to the $26 billion global hedge fund Och-Ziff, for $51 million.

Subsequently, Citi invested $35 million into an SPV for the Ritz-Carlton project in Bangalore. Currently, Nitesh Estates has over 8 million sq ft under construction across segments like residential, hospitality, commercial and shopping malls.

Nitesh Group, as part of a backward integration move, is also getting into construction as well as infrastructure with separate entities being set up for the same.

Courtesy: The Economic Times

The tax rate on long-term capital gains earned on sale of property is 20%. In case, the value goes over Rs 10 lakh, the tax rate increases to 22.66%. The rule remains same for both Non Resident Indians (NRIs) and India residents.

Serving as a savior, Section 54 of the Income Tax Act exempts those capital gains which are invested in a residential property/house within a year before to two years after the sale. In case, an investor wants to build a house, the time limit is increased to within three years of the date of sale.

The exemption would be proportional if only a part of the capital gain gets utilized and the excess will be liable to tax. NRIs can benefit from the rule as it is not mentioned that the new house purchased should be located in India. This gives NRIs the liberty to purchase a house in their host country abroad and yet save tax here.

However, this is simply a theoretical possibility based on a plain reading of the law. There are possibilities of extending the exemption offered by Sec 54 to a property bought abroad, says Income Tax Tribunal.

The Mumbai Tribunal verdict in case of Mrs. Prema P Shah vs ITO 282ITR (AT) 211 [2006] is critical to shed the light on the law. Outlined below are the facts of the case:

Mrs. Prema P Shah is a NRI, who sold her house purchased in 1983 for Rs 6 million in 1992. She bought another property in London on 150 years lease, and claimed exemption u/s 54 of the IT Act.

The A.O. did not permit the claim because of following reasons:

The assessee had only bought the tenancy right.

Only the individual investing in India can claim the exemption.

The sale proceedings were not used for buying the residential property.

The argument was rejected by the Tribunal based on the facts of the case.

In the UK, property is granted long term leases rather than being allowed to buy. In the given case, the residential property was taken on a lease of 150 years, which clearly is in perpetuity and the assessee was the property owner.

The same amount of capital gains may or may not be used to purchase the property. Indeed, the assessee is allowed to buy it even on mortgage and is liable to exemption if it complies with the conditions mentioned in Sec. 54. For that reason, the borrower instantly becomes the property owner of properties purchased through mortgage.

Now, NRIs can think about buying property abroad and claiming tax benefits in India.

Courtesy: : Indianrealtynews

Whether it is Bangalore or Chennai, and irrespective of the direction or alternate routes motorists utilize to enter these cities, they are resigned to spending over one hour just to move from the borders to the residential colonies located within the cities.

So if you have a job that entails frequent travel between these cities, it would make terrific sense to reside just outside the metropolitan area, especially if your office is also around thereabouts. Maybe Hosur for Bangalore and Poonamalle, Porur, or Vandalur for Chennai. So who is building houses in Vandalur now?

GRA International Bizkom Limited a unit of the Ganapati group which has been primarily involved in the businesses of leather exports, steel smelting & manufacturing, commodity trading and construction since 1984, has built up a reputation for reliability and trust, GRA has been constructing quality homes at affordable prices in prime s in Chennai and is now constructing and marketing Vandalur Park, a unique residential Colony on a prime property owned by group company, Ganapati Leather Products. The housing colony will provide space for departmental stores, clinics, a pharmacy and various other retail shops.

The -wise advantages of land situated on the main GST Road, supported by bus stand, railway station, colleges, schools and yet within the CMDA Chennai jurisdiction.

It is but a short drive from Tambaram, and has the best possible infrastructure in the form of well constructed wide roads linked to a four-lane national highway, drainage treatment plant and water supply system. The site is within walking distance behind the Urappakkam Railway Station and is so large that it extends up to the next parallel road on the opposite sides.

The specifications reveal that only thirty-five percent of the area is covered whereas as much as sixty-five percent is left as open space. The architect has displayed a very pleasant atmosphere replete with well designed landscape, avenue trees and a children's play ground of round 15,600 sq ft.

In keeping with contemporary trends an excellent drainage system enhanced by a sewage treatment plant and ground water will be recharged with a rainwater harvesting system. The entire housing colony is secured by a compound wall with round the clock security ensures peace of mind.

The bus stand and Railway Station are located along the boundary walls. Outside the compound are numerous schools and engineering colleges and not far away is the Vandalur Zoo. In the other direction, 2 kilometres away is Perungalathur - GST Road, the Shriram Gateway, SEZ, IT Park, a shopping mall and Hotels. 12 KM Meenambakkam Airport

Demand for property has slowed down by as much as 30 per cent in lower and middle-income housing in Mumbai suburbs following the series of interest rate hikes since January that have seen lending rates rise 125 to 200 basis points this year, raising anticipation of a fall in prices.

Real-estate consultants and housing finance companies say the number of deals has dropped in suburbs such as Bhandup, Malad, Vasai, Kharghar and Panvel. "We have seen a slump of 30 per cent in the number of enquiries and sales in these areas. The slowdown in property registrations also indicates this trend," said Pranay Vakil, chairman of realty consultant and agents Knight Frank India.

"The maximum pinch can be seen in the Rs 15 lakh to Rs 50 lakh range in the suburbs," he added. This price range tends to be sensitive to rising lending rates. Confirming the trend, Rajesh Mehta, chairman, Raha Realtors, said half the registrations were taking place for rental accommodation rather than for property transactions, which used to account for 60 to 70 per cent of registrations.

The slowdown in demand has had a marginal impact in prices so far. Rajeev Sabharwal, head, retail assets, ICICI Bank, one of the largest private-sector lenders of housing loans, said though developers were not offering major price cuts, minor discounts could follow soon.

"Even though builders do not offer price cuts openly, they give discounts between 5 and 10 per cent when they come to the negotiating table," added Mehta.

Some areas, however, have seen a drop. "Prices have already dropped 10 to 15 per cent in places like Kharghar and Panvel, a 1.5 to two-hour drive from the business district Nariman Point," said Sanjay Dutt, deputy managing director of realty consultant and agent Cushman & Wakefield. He expected the stagnation to continue for another couple of months.

Part of the reason for the relatively minor fall in prices is the sharp jump in property prices over the past year. In Kharghar and Panvel, for instance, Dutt said prices had risen 50 to 70 per cent in the past year "which was way ahead of time."

"Property prices have gone up 50 to 100 per cent in the last one year in Bhandup, Vasai, Malad and other areas that are in a 50 km radius of Nariman Point" added Mehta.

The scene, however, is different in south Mumbai, where few new projects have come up in the recent years and prices have jumped 30 to 40 per cent, peaking to Rs 35,000 a square foot. Vakil of Knight Frank said apartment prices in south Mumbai have doubled in the last two years as sellers wait for higher prices before they sell their properties.

"There is a shortage of ready-to-use luxury apartments in South Mumbai. Non-resident Indians are also scouting for properties in these areas.

Today we have at least 15 to 20 people all wanting flats of more than Rs 6 crore to Rs 7 crore each, so prices are going up every 15 days," he added. Property prices have gone up 50 to 100 per cent in the last one year in Bhandup.