Paul Joseph

India’s Lodha Group in Talks to Buy DLF’s Mumbai Land-Sources

by Paul Joseph May 18, 2012

India’s Lodha Group is in advanced talks to buy a plot of land in Mumbai from DLF, the country’s largest listed real estate developer, for about $500 million, two sources with direct knowledge of the situation said. Sale of the 17-acre plot is seen as part of DLF’s plan to sell some of its assets to pare its debt of about $4 billion. DLF bought the land for about 7 billion rupees ($129 million) in 2005. Mumbai-based developer Lodha has emerged as the front-runner for the land parcel in central Mumbai said the sources, declining to be named as the matter is not public yet. DLF declined to comment, while a spokesman for Lodha said the company was not in talks with DLF.  

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Petition seeks BMC to implement property tax ULB level reforms

by Paul Joseph May 17, 2012

Mumbai: A Thane-based political party has approached the Bombay High Court seeking direction to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to implement the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) property tax Urban Local Body (ULB) level reforms. According to the petition filed by one Rajendra Phanse, general secretary of ‘Dharmarajya Paksha’, the civic body, since the launch of the JNNURM scheme in December 2007, has been neglecting implementation of property tax as prescribed under the scheme for ULBs. “It is mandatory for the municipal corporations to follow the JNNURM property tax ULB level reforms which are formed to eliminate weaknesses and deficiencies of the current property tax collection system,” the

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DDA taking measures to repair cracks in Dwarka flats

by Paul Joseph May 17, 2012

New Delhi: The Delhi Development Authority is taking measures to repair the cracks that have developed in several of its flats in Dwarka’s sector 13. “Keeping in view the site condition of the flats, NCCBM (National Council for Cement and Building Material) has been appointed as consultant to inspect the flats and suggest remedial measures,” Minister of State in the Urban Development Ministry Saugata Roy said. “DDA has informed that the repair work in dangerous roofs slab as per consultant’s report has been taken,” he said. He was responding to a question in Rajya Sabha about cracks in top floors of DDA flats in Metro View Apartment in Sector 13

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Noida-based Supertech launches first housing project in Gurgaon

by Paul Joseph May 17, 2012

NEW DELHI: Noida-based developer Supertech has signed a joint development agreement with land aggregation company GTL for 11 acres of land in Gurgaon’s sector 79. The land has all permissions required for building a residential group housing project for which a minimum of 10 acres is required in under Gurgaon rules. Supertech has now launched a housing project, called Araville – Premium homes at the location, which will have a total of 610 apartments with a total saleable area of around 1 million sq ft. This project will also include EWS flats that are mandatory for group housing projects in Gurgaon. “We will invest Rs 400 crore for the project,

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Century Real Estate and IIM-B sign MoU

by Paul Joseph May 17, 2012

Bangalore-based, Century Real Estate and the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore has signed an MoU for setting up the IIMB-Century real estate research initiative. The IIMB-Century Real Estate Research Initiative will focus on collecting data and conducting scientific, cross-disciplinary research on the Indian real estate sector that will be published in leading academic and practitioner journals, the realty company said in a statement. “There is a tearing need for such an initiative in the real estate space that will focus on research, act as an interface between the industry and the policy makers and eventually churn out quality human resource for this sector,” says P Dayananda Pai, Founder-Century Real Estate.

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New Theme: A Simpler Time

by Paul Joseph May 17, 2012

There’s something about this time of year that always makes me wistful for the good old days—the simpler times, if you will—when all that mattered were family, friends, and a whole lotta blogging about everything under the sun. I miss those days, don’t you? Fear not, my fellow blogging friends. We’ve got you all covered today with a theme that will make you want to stop time and write about everything in your lives until you can’t write anymore. A Simpler Time, designed by Denise Chandler , is a theme that’s beautiful, bold, and memorable—pretty much exactly like the types of stories you’ll be writing alongside it on your WordPress.com blog: A Simpler Time: Single Post It’s a traditional blog theme in the sense that it offers everything you’ve come to expect from a WordPress theme— widgets , custom menus , and custom headers , and more—and it also looks incredible. If you’d also like to mix it up with different colors and fonts, try the Custom Design upgrade . You can do all of that and more. A Simpler Time is a premium upgrade for your blog; read more about its features on the Theme Showcase or dive right into previewing it on your blog from Appearance → Themes .

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Will CREDAI, Fire Department MoU work?

by Paul Joseph May 17, 2012

Announcement of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) and the Karnataka State Fire and Emergency Services (KSFES) Department on fire safety certification has raised quite a few eyebrows in the real estate industry. While an industry expert questioned how “credible” would the entire process be, if the issuance of a no-objection certificate (NOC) and a clearance certificate (CC), which earlier took months or even years, would now have to be completed within 30 days. “Currently, the KSFES has been manually going through each drawing and then mulling over all the errors and suggestions. This consumes a lot of time. According to our MoU, we will be providing software prepared by a company which would identify the errors in the drawing. It would indicate whether a particular project proposal is in acceptance of the norms by highlighting the faults in red colour. Then at the click of a button, the department can either condone or reject the proposal. The company has provided similar software to civic bodies of other places like Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Nagpur and other places. Hence, their credibility is established,” asserted Sushil Mantri, under whose President ship CREDAI signed the MoU. He argued that it is important to make this move as almost 90 percent developers are suffering because a handful of builders did not follow norms. “CREDAI members are responsible for almost 60-70 percent output of the city. Further, to become a member of the confederation, they have to sign a code of conduct which covers all the approvals and rules. By delaying progress of approvals, not only do builders incur losses as production suffers, but also the revenue to the city and BBMP is further delayed,” he said.  

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Parliamentary panel proposes tougher norms for acquiring land for industrial use

by Paul Joseph May 17, 2012

NEW DELHI: A parliamentary panel on Tuesday proposed tougher norms for acquiring land for industrial use, as it finalised the new Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development, in a report due to be tabled in the House on Thursday, proposed a more stringent definition of ‘public purpose’ to ensure that the government does not acquire land for private businesses. According to the report, the government should not acquire any land for infrastructure and projects executed under public-private partnerships. The committee has argued that the government shouldn’t acquire any land that will be used ‘for profit’. Since the government can acquire land citing ‘public

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Indians opt for ready-to-move in property

by Paul Joseph May 17, 2012

IF YOU are planning to invest in a new housing project, think again. Fear of buying an under-construction property is driving most of the Indians toward ready-to-move-in homes. So, saying ‘no’ to a new launch project is the ‘in’ thing, as revealed in a recent survey. The survey titled ‘Home Buyer’s Satisfaction Index’ by real estate market news portal Track2Realty’s says, “About 74 percent home buyers across India are negotiating for a ready-to-move property.” The survey says out of the remaining 26 percent, who opted for new launches for price discounts, as many as 82 percent were now repenting their decision, mainly due to delays in project completion. The survey

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Farmers allege being misled by Noida Authority

by Paul Joseph May 17, 2012

NOIDA: Even as Greater Noida Authority has begun the procedure for filing an appeal in the Supreme Court after its review petition was rejected by the Allahabad high court, farmers from Noida and Greater Noida allege authorities have misled them. Farmers say the Authority promised to pay hiked compensation and larger percentage of developed plots in accordance with the court verdict, but, on the contrary, is filing review petitions against the order. Farmers held protests in Sector 118 of Noida threatening to stall work of developers. They held a panchayat in Bisrakh threatening to gherao the Authority office if the high court order is not implemented. Farmers have set the

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