Govt plans to merge existing state sponsored urban housing projects

BY  PTI

The government is looking to enable online clearances for housing and other urban development projects.

With the target of providing of providing houses for all by 2022, a new integrated National Housing Mission will be launched soon by merging some of UPA's flagship schemes like JNNURM and Rajiv Awas Yojana.

Noting that the gigantic task of ensuring housing for all needs large scale participation of private developers, Urban Development and Housing Minister Venkaiah Naidu said the Government is committed to promote Public-Private-Partnership and operational hurdles will be removed by making available land required and enabling expeditious clearances.

The Minister said that in consolations with states/UTs and urban local bodies, an effort is being made to enable online clearances for housing and other urban development projects.

"We have experiences of JNNURM, Indira Awas Yojana, Rajiv Awas Yojana, Rajiv Rinn Yojana. There are so many yojana some of them even did not take off," Naidu said at a real estate conference here.

While JNNURM was meant to create urban infrastructure and also affordable housing, Rajiv Awas Yojana, Indira Awas Yojana and Rajiv Rinn Yojana launched with much fanfare were exclusively for providing housing for the needy and economically weaker sections in the society.

Targeting UPA government's flagship programmes, Naidu said Rajiv Rinn Yojana, "inspite of best efforts, could not take off. So after taking over we have studied all these schemes and now the government has decided to merge all schemes into one. It will be National Housing Mission which will be launched soon."

Lamenting the shortage of housing, he said "a decent house is a basic requirement for a dignified living. But even after 67 years of Independence, crores of families do not have proper houses to live which is big challenge before the country. That is why the government has given a clarion call for houses for all by 2022."

Assuring real estate developers all help, Naidu asserted that the proposed Real Estate Regulation Act will not "stifle and strangulate the development of real estate sector but only seeks to protect the interests of the consumers."

While responding to the concerns over excessive regulation of construction sector, Naidu emphasised the need for protection of consumers whose confidence is critical for the growth of the sector.

"Given the deficiencies in the 'Law of Torts', the consumers are finding it difficult to address their grievances as legal remedies are expensive and time consuming."

He said things were not moving as per expectation for many years now.

"The Ministry would consider the suggestion to rename the proposed law as ?Real Estate Facilitation and Consumer Protection Act?," he said.

Naidu said that he is making efforts to enable increased flow of bank finances into real estate sector through various options including that of priority lending. 

Naidu appealed to the private builders to accord priority for affordable housing schemes, saying that "profits are OK but not profiteering".

He suggested a 10-point agenda for the real estate sector to promote affordable and inclusive housing including rental housing for the economically weaker sections and low income groups looking at opportunities at the "bottom of the pyramid" as this sector is viable through larger volumes.

The agenda should include energy efficient, sustainable and aesthetic construction, harnessing solar energy and recycling of water through decentralised Sewerage Treatment Plants, rainwater harvesting and conservation of water bodies, marshy areas, grasslands, boulevards among others.

It should also include transparency and accountability in project implementation, ensuring consumer protection and symmetry of information, skill development of construction workforce and standardisation and professionalization of construction processes.

 
"Make profits but avoid profiteering and engage with central and state governments for promotion of the sector along with ensuring 'Housing for All' by 2022 in the spirit of 'Team India'," he said.

Brigade Group forms $247M JV with Singapore’s GIC for residential realty projects

BY  Swet Sarika

Dutch pension fund APG and Canada’s CPPIB had also struck similar platform deals in the Indian realty space.

Bangalore-based Brigade Group has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC to jointly invest up to Rs 1,500 crore ($247 million) in residential developments in select cities of South India, the company said in a stock market disclosure.

The JV aims to acquire land for residential and mixed use developments in cities reporting strong secular demand for high quality residential units.

MR Jaishankar, chairman and managing director, Brigade Group, said, "Our first joint venture project - Brigade Cosmopolis is a well conceived, residential community with several amenities coming up at Whitefield, Bangalore that will be home to over 880 families. This JV will provide us a platform to acquire and execute a series of similar projects in South India."

Lee Kok Sun, managing director and co-head, Asia, GIC Real Estate, said, "As a long term investor, GIC is a believer in India's growth potential. We seek partners who share our philosophy and values and have a reputable track record in the markets in which they operate."

A number of real estate and infrastructure developers have formed alliances with global investors for investment and development of real estate in India. In February this year, Piramal Enterprises Ltd and Canada-based CPPIB Credit Investments Inc joined hands to offer rupee debt financing to residential projects in major urban centres of India. The two partners committed an initial investment of $250 million each for the same.

Recently, it sealed its debut deal from the joint venture where it invested Rs 110 crore in a luxury residential project of Advance India Projects Ltd in Gurgaon.

In March this year, The Xander Group Inc. and an investor consortium led by Dutch pension fund asset manager APG Asset Management NV, announced the creation of a $300 million (Rs 1,800 crore) venture that will buy income generating, institutional grade commercial assets across India’s main office markets.

Two years ago, Godrej Properties forged a residential property development platform with a string of foreign institutional investors led by Dutch pension services provider APG. The platform focuses on developing mid-income residential properties in Mumbai, Delhi-NCR and Bangalore besides looking at opportunities in Pune and Chennai. Godrej Properties is the exclusive developer of the projects and also gets development management fee.

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)

Reliance Inds formally opts out of proposed Haryana SEZ

BY  Anuradha Verma

Reliance and HSIIDC had formed a JV in 2006 for setting up SEZs in Haryana.

Reliance Industries Limited’s (RIL) group company Reliance Haryana SEZ Limited (RHSL) has returned 1,383.68 acres of land in Gurgaon which it had acquired from the Haryana State Industrial & Infrastructure Development Corp (HSIIDC) to set up special economic zones due to revision of strategic priorities.

This formally ends RIL’s proposed plan to develop an SEZ, which was already in the cold storage for years.

RSHL – a joint venture between RIL and Haryana government-owned company HSIIDC – was formed to develop SEZs, model economic townships and other infrastructure facilities in Haryana. HSIIDC has also exited the venture and project, the company said on Monday.

However, RIL would continue with development of a part of the project.

“The model economic township project will continue to be developed in the Industrial Model Township framework on the directly-purchased land. The development work has started on 290 acres of land as an 'industrial colony'. Companies such as Panasonic and Denso have established their manufacturing units in the MET Project,” it said in the statement.

Reliance Ventures Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of RIL, and HSIIDC had formed a JV in 2006 for the development of a large multi-product SEZ in Gurgaon and Jhajjar districts of Haryana.

HSIIDC transferred 1,383.68 acres to RHSL in 2007 to development the project. In 2010, Haryana government approved the development of SEZ over the land transferred by HSIIDC in Gurgaon and development of Model Economic Township (Industrial Model Township Framework) on the directly purchased land.

However, the Indian government withdrew the fiscal concessions of exemptions of MAT of DDT for the SEZs following which RSHL decided to return the 1,383.68 acres in January 2012 as SEZs became unviable with the withdrawal of fiscal incentives.

Earlier this year, the Haryana state cabinet gave approval to return the land to HSIIDC at a price much lower than the price at which it was transferred to them. It also approved the exit of HSIIDC from the project. Source VCCircle

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)

Piramal Fund invests in Lotus Greens’ Noida residential project

BY  Swet Sarika, VCCircle

Piramal’s realty investment unit plans to invest as much as $1 billion towards real estate this fiscal.

Piramal Fund Management, the real estate investment arm of Piramal Group, has invested in a residential project by north-based developer Lotus Greens, two people familiar with the development told VCCircle. The investment has been made in the form of structured debt.

VCCircle could not immediately ascertain the size of the investment but it could be in the same range as its other recent deals.

Piramal recently sealed a deal with Satya Group for a Gurgaon project, where it invested Rs 100 crore. In the first deal from its separate alliance with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), it invested Rs 110 crore in a luxury residential project of Advance India Projects Ltd in Gurgaon.

The latest investment has been made in a project called Lotus Greens Arena located at sector 79, Noida. This luxury residential project is spread across 10 acres and offers 3 & 4 BHK apartments ranging from 1,495 sq. ft. to 2,395 sq. ft. The project forms a part of developer’s township Sports City.

“The deal was closed recently,” said a source quoted above.

Emails written to Khushru Jijina, managing director, Piramal Fund Management and P Sahel, vice chairman, Lotus Greens, did not elicit any response till the time of filing this story.

Lotus Greens is present across residential, commercial, hospitality, education and healthcare verticals. Founded by Nirmal Singh and led by its vice chairman P Sahel, the company has ongoing projects in Noida and Gurgaon.

As for Piramal, it plans to invest as much as $1 billion towards real estate this fiscal. In the last four months, it has invested Rs 2,000 crore on behalf of proprietary debt book and funds business. In a recent interaction with VCCircle, JIjina said he will be approving between Rs 600-800 crore of transactions every month through the rest of the year.

Training Program on Property Documentation on 18th July, 2014

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However finding out the steps, process and documents required in a property transaction is a difficult job today, despite the huge growth of real estate in India.

It is therefore NIREM, the leader in real estate education and training in the country, offers a one-day training program on property documentation. Apart from this course, NIREM offers a range of real estate courses for both working real estate professionals as well as those who want to start their career in real estate.

The property documentation program aims to help participants identify the various documents required in property sale/purchase transaction, know how to establish marketability of title, understand the due diligence process, know the phases of real estate development, analyse the buyer-seller-broker relation in property sales process etc.

The training program on property documentation is suitable for Real Estate Developers, Property Consultants & Advisors, Real Estate Marketing Professionals, Housing Finance, Home Loan & Banking Professionals, Property Investors, Potential Home Buyers, Banking, Finance & Insurance Professionals.

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