Latest Property News on 'Real Estate Developers'

13 realty companies like DLF, Parsvnath and Eros bid for Sebi’s Delhi office

NEW DELHI: Realty players DLF, Parsvnath and Eros are among the 13 companies, which have put in a bid for the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s new northern regional office in Delhi as the regulator seeks to expand its operations in Delhi.

The market regulator is in the process of buying 30,000 sq ft or more of office space in Delhi’s Connaught Place area. It currently operates through an 8,000 sq ft office on Sansad Marg and wants to make an outright purchase of built-up office space or a plot of land.

Parsvnath has offered to sell its 1.18-acre plot on Kasturba Gandhi, which it has been trying to sell for the last two months for 600-700 crore, said sources in the know who did not want to be named. DLF wants to sell space at DLF Towers in Jasola while Eros has offered space in Eros Corporate Towers in Nehru Place, said the sources.

An email sent to Sebi did not elicit a response.

The transaction for 30,000 sq ft of space in Connaught Place is expected to happen between 150 crore and 200 crore, though a Sebi spokesperson did not confirm its budget sanctioned for the specific property.

In its budget for 2012-13, Sebi has put aside around 281 crore for the acquisition of office and residential premises. This amount includes acquisition of new office premises or plot of land in BKC for additional office space in Mumbai, setting up of five local offices at new locations, purchase of flats for senior executives at Mumbai and also the purchase of office space for a northern regional office at New Delhi.

According to the source, technical bids received by Sebi were opened on Friday and are being analysed currently. The financial bids of the shortlisted parties will be opened subsequently.

Sebi has been trying to buy a larger office in Delhi for the last two years and has gone through the bidding process twice already. In both the attempts it remained unsuccessful because the properties involved had ownership issues, improper municipal permissions and other issues.

Realtor to pay Rs 11.31L for delay in delivery of shop

New Delhi: A real estate firm has been asked by a consumer forum here to refund Rs 10.31 lakh to a customer for its failure to give him the possession of a shop, “reasonable time”, besides paying him a compensation of Rs one lakh.
Observing that firm TDI Infrastructure Pvt Ltd collected booking amounts without having an agreement, the New Delhi District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum said it amounted to unfair trade practice.

The bench presided by C K Chaturvedi also pointed out that the complainant, Rakesh Shangari, cannot be expected to wait indefinitely after paying the booking amount.

“The terms of delay, penalty for delay on either side and conditions of exit or cancellation are not agreed so far. The collection of booking amounts, without such agreements is unfair trade practice. The complainant, cannot be expected to wait indefinitely.

“We hold opposite party (TDI Infrastructure Pvt Ltd) guilty of deficiency in service in not getting the possession of shop delivered after construction in reasonable time,” the forum said.

The forum’s order came on a plea by Pitampura resident Rakesh, who said he had paid Rs 10.31 lakh in three installments to the firm in 2007 for buying a shop in a commercial shopping mall, being built by TDI on main G T Road, Sonepat.

When after two years of paying the amount, he received no response from TDI about completion of the project or delivery of the shop property, he sought refund from the firm, he said.

TDI Infrastructure in its defence said the project got delayed as Rakesh had failed to pay the amount as scheduled.

The forum rejected the contention saying “project of OP, obviously, cannot come to stand still only because of balance outstanding amount of the complainant.”

“In these circumstances, we direct OP to return Rs 10.31 lakh deposited by complainant. We also award compensation of Rs one lakh for his harassment and loss of missing opportunity elsewhere by blocking of his money with OP,” the forum said.

DLF to start its own fire brigade

New Delhi: Country’s largest real estate player DLF is all set to start its own fire brigade beginning with Gurgaon and Chennai, making it probably the first private company to dabble into such activities.
DLF, which is credited to have established almost the entire Gurgaon — one of the first MNC hubs of the country, will set up at least three fire stations in this NCR city as also in southern city of Chennai, in the next two months.

The three stations, mainly to safegauard DLF properties, would have about 120 employees and more such stations could follow going forward.

“With the burgeoning urban population, providing secure living spaces should be a top priority. This move is in line with DLF’s philosophy that the life of our residents and those working in DLF premises are our top priority,” DLF Head (Fire Safety) S K Dheri said.

These will be the first private fire stations in India that will cater to nearby areas also, along with the three complexes of DLF, in the case of need, he said.

“These fire stations will be located in the Cyber City and DLF Phase V in Gurgaon and the IT SEZ in Chennai. These stations are expected to be operational in the next two months,” Dheri said.

DLF has procured the three hydraulic platforms — two 90 metres and one 60 metres height — from Finland, which is the first time in India that lifts of this height will be available for rescue and fire fighting operations, he claimed.

“The height of the equipment is very crucial for conducting rescue operations in a high-rise building in the eventuality of a fire outbreak. These hydraulic platforms at DLF fire stations are capable of carrying a load of 400 kg,” he said.

The company will have 25-40 people per fire station in the three locations, he added.

He, however, did not share the size of the investment that the company has made in this venture.

Elaborating on the facilities, Dheri said DLF will keep two fire tenders per station with the fire dousers having the capacity to carry 18 kilolitres of water per vehicle.

Dheri said the company already has some fire safety mechanism at its complexes that are managed by its own employees, who conduct fire safety drills and evacuation procedures among others.

“More than 150 qualified fire officers are working round the clock to ensure safety of their occupants – whether owners or tenants. Besides this, the company is maintaining all the systems and equipment at its own cost,” Dheri said.

Godrej Properties to focus on residential space

MUMBAI: Bullish on improvement in the real estate sector in the next couple of months, Godrej Properties, the real estate arm of Godrej Group, plans to continue its focus on residential space, a top company official said.

“Though there is negative sentiment among buyers at present, the demand for houses will continue to grow, which is a huge opportunity for developers like us. We will continue to remain very much focused on the residential space,” Godrej Properties (GPL) managing director and chief executive Pirojsha Godrej said.

Of the 10 deals that the company signed last fiscal, only one was in the commercial space, at Bandra Kurla Complex.

“Going forward, the entirety of our business will be focused on residential space,” he said, adding, “It is not that we feel the commercial space will not do well, but given our current portfolio, we think we have a significant exposure to this segment.”

“Financing for residential projects is much easier than commercial projects. In residential, construction can be financed by customer advances. That is the key for scaling growth.”

GPL plans to launch 15 projects this fiscal, he said, adding that these will primarily be residential projects.

Triveni Infra Dev. to pay Rs 6.35L for not delivering flat

New Delhi: Real estate developer Triveni Infrastructure has been directed by a consumer forum here to refund Rs 6 lakh to one of its customers, who had booked a flat in their township project at Faridabad but did not get possession for more than four years.

Finding the company guilty of unfair trade practice for giving a flashy advertisement despite being “well aware that the aforesaid project would never be successful”, the New Delhi District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum also awarded Rs 25,000 as compensation for harassment and Rs 10,000 as litigation costs

“OP (Triveni Infrastructure Development Co Ltd) knowingly and deliberately extracted money from the complainant’s pocket through unfair trade practice by publishing in various news papers, ‘Path breaking developments in the city of future, Township at Faridabad’, as it was well aware that the aforesaid project would never be successful.

“It is totally, unlawful, injustice, malpractice, unfair trade practice of developer (Triveni), which is a violation of Consumer Protection Act, 1987,” the forum presided by C K Chaturvedi said.

The order of the forum came on the plea of Kalkaji resident Vivek Kumar who had alleged that he had paid Rs six lakhs in two instalments in 2006 and 2007 for booking a flat in the real estate developer’s township project at Faridabad, but even after four long years the status of the township was not communicated to him.

He had alleged that his requests for delivering possession of the flat or failing that, to refund his booking amount, were met with threats and added that the firm did not even reply to any of his emails.

As the company chose not to contest the complaint despite serving of notice, it was proceeded against ex-parte.

New bench to decide DLF dispute over CCI’s Rs 630 cr fine: Compat

New Delhi: The Competition Appellate Tribunal (Compat) has said a new bench will decide the DLF case wherein the realty major has challenged CCI’s Rs 630 crore penalty on it and the final hearing has been adjourned to July 18.
Compat Chairman Justice Arijit Pasayat, who is retiring on May 9, said during the proceedings that a new bench formed under the new Chairman, who is yet to be appointed, would take a decision on the case.

Pasayat said that “since the bench is not sitting post May 9, it was not possible to pass an order at this stage”, and adjourned the final hearing on the matter to July 18.

Apart from Justice Pasayat, two other members Rahul Sarin and Pravin Tripathi are part of the bench.

Compat also denied the plea of DLF to put its order of March 29 in abeyance till the next date of hearing.

Passing an interim order, the tribunal had send the draft of the modified terms and conditions to the Competition Commission of India asking it to pass an order under Section 27(d) of the Competition Act.

Compat is conducting daily hearings of the DLF plea challenging Rs 630 crore penalty imposed on it by fair trade watchdog CCI after finding the realty major guilty of abuse of the dominant market position.

On August 12, CCI imposed the penalty on DLF for alleged abuse of its dominant position and passed a ‘cease and desist’ order over unfair conditions imposed on the buyers of its flats.

In late August, CCI had passed another order in a separate case wherein it asked DLF to ‘cease and desist’ from misuse of dominant position but did not impose any penalty.

These orders followed inquiries into complaints filed by the flat buyer associations’ of two separate DLF projects in Gurgaon, DLF Park Palace and The Belaire, alleging delays in the project and increase in the number of floors than planned earlier, among other things.

The company had challenged the CCI directive on various grounds, including the jurisdiction of the case, the basis for determining relevant market and dominant position and not being served with show-cause notices before the order was passed.

Mahindras to build affordable houses in Maharashtra, TN

The Rs 80,000-crore Mahindra Group is to foray into affordable housing this year to tap demand for such homes.

Currently, Mahindra Lifespaces, its property development arm and known for its World City projects in Chennai and Jaipur, is finalising land parcels in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. “We have got a go-ahead from the management and appointed architects. We are in the process of getting the land within the company by next month,” said Anita Arjundas, managing director and chief executive officer.

Each project will have 1,000 to 2,000 units spread over 10 acres. A home is to be priced between Rs 7 lakh and Rs 15 lakh.
When the company launches such a project, it would join the ranks of Tata Housing, Usha Martin Group and Jerry Rao’s Value and Budget Housing Corporation, all of which have launched similarly priced ones.

“It (Mahindra’s entry into affordable housing) is good. I have always maintained that more credible players should enter the market, as demand is good. There is a continuous shortfall in the space. More numbers of private players are always welcome,” said Brotin Banerjee, managing director, Tata Housing Development Company. They’ve launched low-cost housing under a ‘Shubh Gruha’ brand, at Bhoisar and Vasind, 80 km from this city.

Adds Pranay Vakil, chairman of global property consultant Knight Frank, “Many companies have realised this is the need of the hour. They are willing to live with the low margins and large volumes. A lot the corporates backing these developers have also created large employee housing. They think if they have done it for themselves, they can also do it for others.”

Currently, Mahindra Lifespaces sells houses in the price bracket of Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore, in markets other than Mumbai. It is also looking at launching projects in Hyderabad, Pune and Ghatkopar in this city over 2012-13, and is awaiting approvals and acquiring land for the second stage of its Chennai project. Currently, it is developing four million sq ft of properties.

“If you have good location, the pricing is right and people see the project on the ground, then buyers get confidence to buy,” Arjundas said.

In Nagpur, where the company released 20 per cent of the stock in the fourth quarter, it sold half of this in 45 days, she said. “We would like to build three years of inventory in the next 18 months,” Arjundas added.

The MD said the company had not seen any slowing in property sales. It did sell less in 2011-12, compared to the previous year (Rs 590 crore, compared to Rs 700 crore), but this was due to delay in getting approvals. “We were awaiting approvals in many projects. Otherwise, we are sold out in Mumbai, Pune and the NCR (National Capital Region, in and around Delhi),” she said.

Arjundas said the company would use a combination of debt and a joint development model to keep investment light. The debt to equity ratio is 0.56; debt is Rs 600 crore on a consolidated basis. “We do not want to inflate our books, which we are not comfortable with,” she said.

The company announced results on Friday and saw an increase of five per cent in its profit after tax at Rs 32 crore in the fourth quarter of 2011-12, as against Rs 30.5 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2010-11.

Tata Housing’s La Montana the only Indian project to represent APAC at the International Property Awards, London

Tata Housing Development Co. Ltd., has bagged one of the most prestigious Asia Pacific Property Awards 2012 (part of the International Property Awards), 4th year in a row bagging five coveted awards under various categories.
Tata Housing is the country’s only residential developer to receive the prestigious Five Star Award in the Leisure Architecture Category for La Montana; Highly Commended Awards in the Show Home Category for Prive & Primanti; Highly Commended Award in the Development Marketing Category for La Montana; Highly Commended Developer Website fo lamontana.

Additionally La Montana, a Mediterranean themed township designed by International Architect firm F + A, located at Talegaon was adjudged as an Asian Contender in the Leisure Architecture category to compete against the highest scoring contenders from Europe, Africa, the Americas and Arabia to find the ultimate ‘World’s Best’.

Speaking on the achievement Brotin Banerjee, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Tata Housing, said, “At Tata Housing, it’s our constant endeavor to create benchmark projects based on the consumer’s needs and requirement. We are proud of our continued success at the Asia Pacific Property Awards. This year is special for us as our project La Montana achieved the distinction of winning the 5 star rating for Best Leisure Architecture India and it leads from the Asia Pacific region to be honoured with Best Leisure Architect Residential Asia Pacific. It is indeed a very proud moment for us as this is the only residential project to be nominated from India to represent Asia Pacific region for the International Property Awards. This will strengthen our commitment to create landmark projects in the country. ”

Held in association with Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Asia, the Asia Pacific Property Awards recognizes 40 categories of distinction within the fields of development, interior design, architecture, and real estate. Each project was judged by a team of 65 professionals from the property discipline. They are ascertained based on quality of design, construction and presentation of individual properties as well as interior, architecture, and marketing.

Stuart Shield, President of the International Property Awards, says, “We received a record number of entries for the Asia Pacific region this year and the standard was extremely high. Any company to win one of these awards has shown exceptional levels of professionalism and competence in their respective fields.”

The Asia Pacific Property Awards are part of the long-established International Property Awards and its winners’ logo is recognized as a symbol of excellence throughout the global industry. Founded 18 years ago, these accolades distinguish excellence in the property industry worldwide and promote international standards. For the last four years consecutively, Tata Housing has been acknowledged with multiple accolades at this prestigious annual symposium demonstrating it is again at the forefront of Real Estate Industry in Asia.

50 Indian companies participate in realty conference in Sri Lanka

India-Sri Lanka bilateral trade has increased by over 65% last year, close to U.S. $5 billion, Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Ashok K. Kantha, has said.

According to Mr. Kantha, Indian companies had invested about U.S. $150 million in Sri Lanka last year. He said both countries are witnessing a boom in real estate segment and construction industry, which provides opportunities for enhanced cooperation. Construction sector in both countries is likely to grow faster than broader economy over the next five years, he said, and outlined the opportunities for Indian companies in Sri Lanka and for Sri Lankan companies in India.

Kantha was speaking at ‘India Investrade 2012: An exposition and Buyer Seller Meet on Realty Construction & Construction Materials,’ organised here by the Indian Chamber of Commerce, Kolkata, from April 26 to April 28. The event is supported by the Indian Ministry of Commerce & Industry, and the Sri Lankan Ministry of Construction, Engineering Services, Housing & Common Amenities, Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka and The National Chamber of Commerce of Sri Lanka.

As many as 50 Indian companies participated in the exposition showcasing their profile in building materials, construction equipment and technologies, electrical and sanitary fittings, flooring and roofing material landscaping, consultancy, property development, financial service for construction.

The three day event comprised of Exhibition, Conference and Buyer-Seller Meet. The purpose of the event was to promote and facilitate trade and business engagement in the construction and construction material sectors, to provide a platform to introduce the Indian entrepreneurs to their Sri Lankan counterparts and promote the process of business engagement, exchange of ideas and facilitate G2G, G2B and B2B interaction on various issues pertaining to the construction industry of both the countries.

At the inauguration, Basil Rajapaksa, Sri Lankan Minister of Economic Development, said that the Sri Lankan economy has been growing over 8 per cent percent in past two years, which has resulted in high growth in the construction sector. He said that India has achieved a lot in the construction sector and that Indian companies can play a role in the Sri Lankan market by partnering with Sri Lankan companies. Commenting on the India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement, Mr. Rajapaksa said that FTA has been helpful in rapid growth of bilateral trade and invited the Indian companies to invest in Sri Lanka in sectors like construction, tourism, education and skill development.

Source:  http://www.track2realty.com/50-indian-companies-participate-in-realty-conference-in-sri-lanka

Avalon Group to invest Rs 400 cr on four housing projects

NEW DELHI: Realty company Avalon Group will invest about Rs 400 crore over the next three years to develop four housing projects in North India.

The Gurgaon-based company is coming up with these four projects, comprising nearly 3,000 apartments, at Bhiwadi, Dharuhera and Vrindavan.

“We have launched a housing project at Dharuhera having 800 units. We have also roped in Karishma Kapoor as our brand ambassador,” Avalon Director Ajay Singal said.

Avalon Group is developing two housing projects at Bhiwadi and one at Vrindavan that together have about 2,100 apartments. The company is offering these flats in a price range of Rs 10-40 lakh.

Asked about investment on these four projects, Singal said: “The total project cost will be around Rs 400 crore, which includes land cost”.

The company would fund the investment through internal accruals and advances from customers, director Ankit Aggarwal said.

Avalon Group has completed one housing project at Bhiwadi and has started delivering the other housing project in the same city in phases. Both projects have about 1,200 units.

Talking about expansion, Aggarwal said the company has 200 acres of land bank in Rajasthan and Haryana for future developments.