Latest Property News on 'Pune'

Airport spells gold for land investors

Though govt has not announced the final site, land prices in villages nearby have gone up; middlemen have mushroomed.

In the 11-km stretch between Koye-Pait-Kadus, about 48 km from the city ahead of Chakan, everyone knows that the patch of land on the left of the winding road is the ‘likely-to-be-proposed’ site for the Pune International Airport. While the officials concerned continue to offer ‘no comments’ to keep the location a secret, rising land prices in the fringe villages tell a different tale.

Post March 27, after the State Finance Minister allocated Rs 438 crore for five airports in Maharashtra, land prices in the belt have witnessed 40-60 per cent increase. While investors are lining up to buy plots, farmers, who hold 90 per cent of the land, are refraining from selling them, hoping that prices might go up further. Agents are cropping up, and villagers are holding meetings to oppose the airport — all this, when the government has not called the site a proposed airport location.

What forms part of the discussion in village panchayat at Koye is the story of how a 5.5-acre plot was sold for Rs 1.18 crore (Rs 21.5 lakh per acre) in April in Dhamne. “This was the only transaction in the recent past. People are not selling their lands because the rates can go up further after the official announcement of the proposed location,” said S M Waghole, talathi of Koye village. “The prices started increasing when the earlier site — Shiroli-Chandus — was cancelled and the discussions of this site started doing the rounds. From Rs 7 lakh then, the prices today are over Rs 20 lakh per acre for plots along the road.”

Six km ahead of Koye is Pait. In a village of 4,500, there are 15 middlemen. Besides, 20-22 middlemen flock into three hotels in Pait to settle deals. Narayan Aherkar, a middleman, agrees that he makes more money than the farmers who sell the plots. “The farmers are happy if they get ‘a particular’ price for their land. We know what the land is worth, now that the airport is likely to be proposed. We approach investors with the actual worth, which is way above what the farmers expect. Middlemen bag more than the actual land price,” says Aherkar.

According to Aherkar, roadside land rates have gone up from Rs 7-8 lakh per acre to Rs 12-15 lakh per acre in January-February. In April, following the budget announcement, the rates rose to Rs 18- 20 lakh per acre. In the surrounding wadis — Tekawadi, Palu, Waghu, Hedrus — the rates for roadside lands reached Rs 12-15 lakh from Rs 8 lakh in January-February. A guntha is no less than Rs 2 lakh if located along the road.

Compare this with the government rate of land, which is Rs 1.25-1.5 lakh per acre. Clueless about the acquisition process but aware of the earlier protests, the villagers are thinking of protesting against the proposed location. Koye has already witnessed three-four meetings with a majority voting against the airport. Why oppose? No one knows. “The other villages protested. There must be some reason. Why shouldn’t we,” asks Deepak Rale, villager. “The protests won’t last longer this time as NCP dominates most of the gram panchayats here,” says Hari Roundhal, villager, Pait.

A meeting was held recently at the commissioner’s office in Pune, which was attended by representatives from the Khed tehsil office. However, Rohini Akhade Phadtare, tehsildar, Khed, refused to comment. S D Chabukswar, sub-registrar said, “The rates have gone up by 40- 50 per cent since the budget. But no one is selling, hoping the rates might go up.”

Pune homes will sell the fastest: survey

Pune is a “genuine space for home buyers” and tops the list of six metro regions in the country, including Mumbai and NCR, as far as pace of sale is concerned, shows a recent survey by real estate rating and research consultant Liases Foras.

At the current pace of buying, Pune homes will be sold the fastest, taking just 14 months to sell its 43.06 million (430 lakh) sq ft, the survey states. The RBI cutting lending rate to banks last month has led to cheaper home loans, boosting the sales further.

Pune real estate is a genuine buyers’ rather than investors’ market. “Pune market has always been up and will continue to go up,” said Satish Magar, president, CREDAI-Pune Metro. “Supply is as per demand and we have a good number of genuine buyers rather than investors unlike other metros,” said Magar.

The study covered units in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR)- Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan and Navi Mumbai-the National Capital Region (NCR), Pune, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai.

CREDAI vice-president Rohit Gera, who has conducted a survey in the city, said the Pune realty market has always been considered very bouyant. “Overall supply position as published by us shows that 80 percent gets sold out. This a very healthy position and part of the reason Pune has seen a sharp increase in buyers,” said Gera.

He explained that the Pune market has not seen any sharp increase in prices as against other markets. “It is a reasonably mature market and one has not seen any sudden, sharp or indiscriminate price rise and developers have been keen on not raising prices too much. Considering the present rates, one sees continuous buying and selling and the market has always been an active one. While Mumbai may be second to Delhi in unsold homes, it has also been assessed that a steep rise in interest rates in the last 18 months was a key reason for low sales as buyers try to avoid high home loans,” he added.

“The RBI rate cut has been to the advantage for the Pune market in particular,’’ said a broker in Kothrud area that has seen a lot of buying and selling.

As against Mumbai, property prices in Pune are definitely lower, said Rohit Rao, an IT professional who shifted from Mumbai to Pune and brought a property here. “In Mumbai the realty market is beyond our reach,’’ he said.

The survey states that Pune, although closer to the Mumbai market, sees higher sales in residential units despite having just half the units built in Mumbai because of high costs in Mumbai. Land cost is also higher in Mumbai pushing up project costs.

The Liases Foras report says Bangalore with 71.29 million sq ft and Chennai 42.75 million sq ft of unsold homes will be cleared in 20 months. But Hyderabad may take 38 months to sell its 33.82 million sq ft residential units as political unrest in the city pulls down buyer sentiment. According to MCHI-CREDAI, there are nearly 500 projects awaiting environmental clearance.

Greens see red over move to change land use in draft DP

Upset over the state government notification on substantial modifications in the development plan of 23 merged villages, the Green Pune Movement has alleged that the state government move is illegal and favours developers.

“The state government notification on substantial modifications in the draft DP, which proposes that land for public purpose be changed to residential use is illegal. This is in the interest of developers,” said Lt Col (Retd) S C N Jathar. He added that citizens should oppose the state government move.

Activist Aneeta Benninger said there are set norms by the Union urban development department on the percentage of land to be kept for public use in the development plan. “The amount of land reserved for public use is less than the set norms. The state government proposal further reduces the land for public use and is a violation of the set norms,” she said.

The city has been getting funds under the JNNURM, Benninger said. “We would appeal the Union government to consider the violation of norms by the PMC in preparing DP and only then allot funds for development projects.”

Activist Satish Khot said they would also ask the Union government to take back the funds allotted to the PMC under JNNURM since the DP is not prepared as per norms. “We hope that the state government will withdraw its proposal. If, despite public pressure, this does not happen then we will move court,” he added.

Meanwhile, activists of Green Pune Movement started a signature campaign against the state government notification. The time given for submitting suggestions and objections was very little, Khot said, adding that they would demand extension of the deadline to one month from the date of publishing the notification in newspaper.

Apart from deleting a plot in Bavdhan from Bio Diversity Park (BDP), the state government decided to convert land reserved for bio-technology park and agri-business zone and town planning scheme to residential zone.

PMC bid to get plots fails to yield results

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) administration’s efforts to acquire 46 state-owned plots, which are reserved for public use but face a constant threat of being encroached upon, are not yielding results. The reason, say PMC officials, is that the district collectorate has referred proposals to hand over the plots to the civic body, to its regional offices for verification.

“The PMC has been repeatedly urging the collector’s office to hand over these plots to the civic body so that they can be developed for public purposes. This time, we have compiled a list of 46 such plots,” said R T Shinde, PMC land acquisition officer.

Shinde added that the collector’s office did not respond to the PMC’s request for a long time, and has now referred the proposals to respective zonal offices for verification. “We don’t know if there is a need for verification. The plots have already been reserved for public use in the development plan. They can be developed by the PMC as soon as they are handed over to us,” Shinde said.

Resident deputy collector Anil Pawar said the PMC often sends such proposals. “I don’t know if they have sent fresh proposals. If indeed they have been sent, we will forward the same to the collector’s office,” he added.

Meanwhile, the civic administration is concerned that these plots will be encroached upon because they are not in its custody. “The PMC cannot spend money on fencing the land to protect it from encroachments. The collector’s office is also not able to check encroachments on the land in its possession,” Shinde said.

The state government recently issued a government resolution stating that civic officers who fail to act on complaints of encroachment would face two years’ imprisonment. Legal action against those encroaching the land would also be taken.

The civic administration has complained that there is a shortage of machinery and staff to check encroachment in the city.

PCMC collects Rs. 190 crore as Property Tax

Pune: With the tax collection crossing the annual target of Rs.180 crore, officials of Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation express their gladness on surpassing the mark by Rs.10 crore. The tax collected for the financial year 2011-2012 is almost Rs.31 crore more, in comparison to the fiscal year 2010-2011.

The concessions and other benefits have borne fruits. With 10% concession to women owners and 50% tax cuts to ex-servicemen and freedom fighters. Apart from this, stringent measures taken by the officials have cut down the count of defaulters to a major extent. With penalties and fine levied on tax defaulters, property owners have been prompt in paying taxes before the due date.

Sending reminders and property seizure notices, distributing property bills on time, making house visits for tax collection, holding meets on a regular basis with the employees and officers have been the game plan behind achieving the annual target for tax collection.

A statistical survey has revealed that with the identification of 18,000 new properties, an increase of Rs.15-20 crore in the annual target has been anticipated. Tax rebate of 5-10% has been announced on general tax for residential and non-residential properties, for owners willing to write off their dues before June 30. Tax collection for the financial year 2011-2012, being the highest collection till date, has left the PCMC in a state of contentment.

Source: http://www.bharatestates.com/blog/index.php/pcmc-collects-rs-190-crore-as-property-tax/

ASK Property Investment Advisors invests Rs 40 cr in Pune project

MUMBAI: ASK Property Investment Advisors, the real estate arm of the ASK Group, today said that it has invested Rs 40 crore in realty developer Paranjape Schemes’ project in Pune.

The investment, in a Rs 150 crore worth project, is a part of Rs 340 crore raised through the ASK Real Estate Special Opportunities Portfolio 1 in 2009, a company statement said here.

“The current market situation has provided us with very good investment opportunities to partner with reputed developers in promising growth areas. We are extremely bullish on the outlook of the Pune real estate market,” ASK Investment Holdings chief executive and managing director Sunil Rohokale said.

The ASK Group, which manages domestic real estate funds of over Rs 1,000 crore, has already invested in a residential project worth Rs 255 crore with Amit Enterprises and in another project with Darode Jog, worth Rs 270 crore.

“As per our analysis, Pune is a very stable market and demand is expected to be firm due to growth in services and manufacturing sectors. With accelerated economic activity, growth of IT/ITeS sector and migration, city will witness increased demand for housing,” he said.

Under the special opportunities portfolio, the firm has so far invested in the key markets including Delhi NCR, Pune, Bangaluru, and Chennai, the release said.

“Given our experience and professional knowledge in this industry, we are confident of delivering a high quality product that would appeal to the preference of the customers.

This partnership with ASK group would enable us to execute such projects with agility, which is our strength” Paranjape Schemes (construction) chairman Shrikant Paranjape said.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/real-estate/news-/ask-property-investment-advisors-invests-rs-40-cr-in-pune-project/articleshow/12237141.cms

Senior citizens fight for PMC sanctioned plot

Pune: When the plan of their bungalows was sanctioned in 1964, hardly had they imagined that the approved 10 per cent of the total area of the plot would take away the peace of their retirement days.

Senior citizens of the upmarket Bund Garden Road are today fighting for a 15,000 square feet plot, which was sanctioned by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) as open space against acquisition by builders and ownership claimants. In a tussle that began in 2007, a group of 10 men and women, allegedly sent by the ownership claimant, broke open the lock and occupied the open space. The residents immediately filed a complaint at Mangaldas Police Station against them.

According to residents, the PMC in 1964 had sanctioned a plan of seven plots and an open space at Bund Garden Road. The land was sold to seven persons — Hemant Kanitkar, Navalkishor Madanmohan Diddee, Anil Gugale and four others — by late Chintamani Patwardhan of Sangli. In 2007, a group of individuals forcefully entered the plot and manhandled the residents who tried to stop them. “Later, we learnt that it was one Mr Shanbag who claimed that Patwardhan had sold the open space to him. On filing a suit in the civil court, the court ordered a status quo on the plot. Eight months later, Vijaysinh Patwardhan, son of Patwardhan filed a suit against Shanbag and the court ruled against Shanbag saying his title was fake and that he had forged the documents,” said Anil Gugale, 58, share broker and resident.

“Later, one Srinivas Bajaj tried breaking open the gate lock and entered the plot in 2009. The civil court ordered in favour of Patwardhan. In 2010, we appealed against this order in the district court and the matter is subjudice even today,” said Diddee, 70, businessman and resident. A notice by sub-inspector of Mangaldas Police Station confirmed Bajaj’s involvement in the incident.

Leaving open space is mandatory as per rules of the Townplanning Department of the PMC. In a reply to an RTI query by a residents, the city engineer had written, “Open space can be used only for recreation purpose. The usage of the open space cannot be changed and that interchanges can be made only if written consent is obtained from all the plot owners.”

“The plot has been lying vacant and we have no monetary interest. We are fighting against a group of people who are trying to make money by bending rules,” said Hrishikesh Kanitkar, ex-Indian cricketer and resident. The case hearing is scheduled on March 9.

Source: http://www.financialexpress.com/news/senior-citizens-fight-for-pmc-sanctioned-plot/921038/0

Noble Thamburaj planned to relax FSI on last day in office

Pune: As the CBI continues its probe into Lieutenant General Noble Thamburaj’s alleged role into an out-of-court settlement regarding a plot in cantonment area, another case throws light on how he, on his last day in the office of GOC-in-C, Southern Command, proposed an increase in FSI. Activists claim that the move was “out of the GOC-in-C’s powers”. The decision was opposed not only by civic activists, but also by the Principal Director Defence Estates (PDDE). It was only when the subsequent GOC-in-C took over the office that the proposal was cancelled.

Thamburaj held the office of the GOC-in-C, Southern Command, between October 2007 and December 2008 before assuming the office of the Vice Chief of Army Staff on January 1, 2009. The proposed revision of FSI from 1 to 2 in civil areas and from 0.5 to 1 outside civil notified areas, which was looked upon by activists as pro-builder lobby in the city, was made public through a notice dated December 31, 2008 in a leading English daily.

The notice, a copy of which is with The Indian Express, says, “Representations were received to the effect that the FSI of 1 in civil and bazaar areas was very stringent and unfair as the FSI in the neighbouring municipal corporation is more liberal — between 1.5 and 2 in congested areas — which are comparable with the civil areas of Pune Cantonment. The GOC-in-C is inclined to believe that their grievance is genuine and that it is not advisable to have wide disparity between the FSI applicable in the cantonment and that applicable in municipal areas in the neighbourhood. Therefore, it is proposed by the GOC-in-C to rescind the said order dated 26-03-1984 and substitute it with the following scheme of restrictions: The permissible FSI shall be 2 in the civil area and bazaar area. The permissible FSI shall be 1.0 in Bungalow area, Ghorpuri Village, Bhairoba Nallah and Fatima Nagar (outside civil area which had existing FSI of 0.5).”

The GOC-in-C’s proposal to rescind the order, which fixed the FSI to the then existing values, was objected to by activists. With more than 300 activists opposing the proposal, it was argued that as per the Cantonment Act, the GOC-in-C had no powers to raise FSI in cantonment; it was decided under the Bye Laws set in the Parliament. An advocate who represented the activists, said, “The GOC-in-C could propose restrictions to avoid overcrowding. There is no provision to relax the FSI as it is the Parliament which decides the same. We strongly objected and it was only in January-February 2009 that the subsequent GOC-in-C rejected the proposal.”

The public notice was an outcome of a discussion on the issue of FSI restrictions held on December 1, 2008 and was presided over by Thamburaj. A draft of the public notice dated December 30, 2008, a copy of which is with The Indian Express, has the signature of Lt Gen Thamburaj, Brigadier R J Sharma, president, PCB and S K Sardana, the then CEO of PCB.

Prior to making the notice public, the Joint Director for the PDDE had, in a letter dated December 30, 2008, said, “We do not recommend any upward revision of FSI on buildings outside civil notified area from the existing 0.5.”

In a written response to a mail by The Indian Express, Thamburaj said, “All issues pertaining to the FSI and other civil matters are entirely dealt by the Pune Cantt Board and their duly elected representatives. As GOC-in-C, during my tenure when this issue was brought before me, I instructed them to follow the procedures laid down, which, among other steps, involved issuing a Public Notification. Since the response of the majority of the people was against the relaxation of the FSI, the proposal was dismissed. Revision of the FSI is a lengthy process and is likely to take a year or two.”

Source: http://www.financialexpress.com/news/noble-thamburaj-planned-to-relax-fsi-on-last-day-in-office/909890/0

Case stalls low-cost housing project

Pune: After the cancellation of the DB Realty project to build low-cost houses for the poor, the Pimpri-Chinchwad New Town Development Authority (PCNTDA) had in October 2011 taken upon itself to construct 5,040 homes under the Basic Services to Urban Poor (BSUP), and 2,750 homes for the Middle Income Group (MIG) and High Income Group (HIG). However, the township project is yet to start as a case regarding the cancellation by DB Conwood and Man Infrastructure is pending in the high court.
“We are awaiting the court decision before starting the project,” said PCNTDA chairman Yogesh Mhase. Even as the project was to take off, the ase has stalled the development, he added. “The hearing has not taken place yet,” said Mhase.

Former divisional commissioner Dilip Band had cleared the project but it never took off. It was supposed to be completed in two years. However, citing the delay, the central government had cancelled the DB realty project and subsequently the PCNTDA scrapped it. The project entailed making low-cost (Rs 1-1.5 lakh) houses available to residents. “Now, we will have to initiate the tendering process once again and build 8,000-10,000 houses on our own. It will take another three years for the township to be ready,” officials said.

DB Realty Ltd had contended that its Rs 400-crore township project was cancelled by PCNTDA without citing any reason. Band had said the project was cancelled because PCNTDA could not take the allotted money from the central government. The Centre had sanctioned Rs 150 crore under JNNURM for the project, which was to come up in Sector 12. Besides, Shiv Sena MP Gajanan Babar had approached the court and the chief minister complaining about irregularities in allotment of the project.

Source: http://www.financialexpress.com/news/case-stalls-lowcost-housing-project/909892/0

Twenty projects to come up in Pune under ‘GRIHA`

As many as 20 residential projects will come up in Pune and Pimpri- Chinchwad areas developed on Green Buildings Concept under GRIHA (Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment), said Dr. R.K. Pachauri, director-general, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).

He was speaking at a seminar organized by CREDAI Pune on the science of climate change, the impacts of continued greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions & mitigation technologies from the perspective of green buildings.

CREDAI-National has entered in to a MoU with GRIHA for wide campaigning on the Green Building Concept amongst the Member Developer throughout India.

Dr Pachauri added, “GRIHA” is India’s national rating system for sustainable habitats designed and developed by the MNRE (Ministry of New and Renewable Energy), Government of India, in collaboration with TERI. At present, under ‘GRIHA’ 160 projects, both residential and commercial, are going on nationally, out of which 20 projects are in Pune.”

Adding further, Pachauri mentioned that within a year’s time, TERI would prepare a detailed report on their research on effect of climate change on Maharashtra, and the report will be presented to Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan.

“It will also include various measures to stem global warming. Along with Maharashtra we are also working on the report of Gujarat, West Bengal, Rajasthan & Himachal Pradesh,” he said.

“To comply with Green building concept it is important for a project to utilize minimum water, install a solar system for saving at least 30 per cent electricity, treatment & re-usage of waste water, planting as many saplings/ trees. While contributing to India’s growth through this sector, one should not ignore the environment,” said Pachauri.

Source: http://business-standard.com/india/news/twenty-projects-to-comein-pune-under-griha%60/461499/