Latest Property News on 'Hyderabad'

TCIL Plans Exit from Real Estate Business

Transport Corporation of India (TCIL) will demerge its real estate and warehousing divisions in next three months and expects to create greater value for shareholders through the hive-off. After the demerger, the company would focus on the core activity of providing logistic services, according to a report published in Financial Express.

“Our board approved the demerger in April this year while shareholders have just given their nod to the proposal. The matter is with the Andhra Pradesh High Court at present. We are expecting a green signal in next 2-3 months,” (TCIL) executive director Vineet Agarwal, said. “The logic in the demerger is that we want to create value for shareholders by focusing on our core activity. The development of real estate and warehouses will be done by the new company,” he added.
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Zuri Group Looking at an Investment of Rs 1,200 crore to Expand its Presence in Hotel Industry

Zuri Group Global, the multinational conglomerate, has chalked out a multi-pronged expansion approach for its hotel chain, Zuri Hotels and Resorts, in India and abroad over the next five years. The company is looking at an investment of Rs 1,200 crore in the hospitality sector to set up its own brands and take up management contracts as part of its strategy to increase the number of wholly-owned properties.

The management contract model will allow Zuri to rapidly build a presence in more cities around the world, Priti Chand, assistant vice-president, PR and Corporate Communications, said. Chand said the company intends to set up at least 10-15 projects under the management contract models in cities, such as Hyderabad, Chennai, Mysore, Kochi, while the owned projects will be coming up at Bangalore, Nairobi and in West Asia in the next two years. The company is in advanced stage of discussions with various private owners for management of these hotels, she added. Read More »

DLF in Discussion with ICICI and SBI to Refinance $300-million Loan at 7%

The country’s largest real estate developer DLF is in talks with leading domestic banks ICICI Bank and State Bank of India to refinance a $300-million loan it had raised via external commercial borrowings (ECB) last year. The company is likely to get the debt refinanced at a rate of around 7%. DLF had raised the debt from Standard Chartered last year at about 9.5% to develop integrated townships in the country.

Since the debt raised was in dollar terms, the refinancing would also be done in dollar terms, which means that it need not be according to the current base rate. The current base rate for lending by ICICI and SBI is 7.5%. Read More »

L&T Bags Hyderabad Metro Train Project

The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to award the Rs 12,132-crore Hyderabad Metro Rail Project to Larsen and Toubro (L&T).
The state Cabinet, which met on Wednesday under the chairmanship of chief minister K Rosaiah, approved the recommendations of a three-member committee to award the project to L&T that has emerged as the lowest bidder.

L&T has sought Rs 1,458 crore as Viability Gap Funding–a one-time grant from the government to infrastructure projects undertaken through public private partnerships. The VGF amount would be released by the Government of India while the AP government would spend Rs 1,980 crore towards acquisition of 204 acres of land at two places in Hyderabad as well as relief and rehabilitation of the affected people.
The state government would release Rs 500 crore as the first installment in the current financial year, according to Minister for Information J Geeta Reddy.
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Andhra Pradesh State Govt Increases Property Registration Charges

In a move to offset losses due to reduction in stamp duty charges to a uniform 5 per cent across the State, the Andhra Pradesh Government has effected upward revision of the registration charges and market prices for properties from August 1.

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FKCCI Opposes FDI in Retail

The blood of 160 million Indian families will be on the Centre’s hands if it allows foreign direct investment (FDI) in the multi-brand Indian retail market, corporate consultant and economist S Gurumurthy has said.

Addressing the Federation of Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI) on the dangers of FDI in retail market at a city hotel on Tuesday, he said the West was trying to hoist a failed system on India, which had strong familial and savings culture helping it withstand the recent economic turbulence caused by the ‘consumerist America’. Read More »

Mid-Cap Real Estate Firms Expected to Post Mixed Trend in June quarter

Mid-cap real estate firms are expected to post a mixed trend as spiraling prices hit affordability and new launches tapered in the April-June quarter. A Reuters’ poll of brokerages estimates Anant Raj Industries to post a 47.79 percent fall in net profit, Housing Development and Infrastructure a 49.26 percent rise and IndiaBulls Real Estate a 114.44 percent rise.

“There would be a year-on-year growth, because of the low base (of previous year). Secondly, margins will go down as product mix has changed, with lot of sales happening in mid-income sector, where margins are lower…,” Param Desai, analyst at Angel Broking, told Reuters. Read More »

Real Estate Regulation Act can Increase Housing Prices by Rs 300 per sq ft- CREDAI

The Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India has expressed reservations about the proposed Model Real Estate (Regulation of Development) Act in its present form, saying it could lead to an escalation of prices of housing stock in the country by Rs 300 per sq ft. The bill would be placed before Parliament soon.

Terming it a draconian bill aimed at strangulating developers alone, CREDAI vice-president Prakash Challa told reporters on Tuesday, “We are not opposed to having a legislation to regulate the real estate sector. But the proposed legislation, in its present form, would be detrimental for the industry. If the cost of projects go up, the sufferers will be the end customers. Real estate is already an overly regulated sector. The best way to make housing affordable to all is to liberalise the sector by introducing a single window clearance system for projects, clubbed with a rationalized tax system. The very concept of affordable housing will be a failure if cost escalates by roughly Rs 300 per sq ft on account of introduction of the regulatory bill.” Read More »

Upswing seen in Demand of Luxury Homes Signals

Yet another piece of the real estate market appears to be getting back in shape. After realtors focused on the affordable housing space, where demand remained reasonable when market prices crashed two years ago, they are now launching luxury homes as the segment is witnessing early signals of an upswing in demand. Sensing this turnaround, a host of property developers including DLF, Unitech, Emaar MGF and Ansal API are gearing up to launch plush housing projects, where a single unit costs upwards of 2 crore, over the next six months.

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SEZ Developers Urge Govt to Retain SEZ Act

Special economic zone (SEZ) developers are peeved over the continued uncertainty created by the direct tax code (DTC) drafts, released by the union finance ministry, over tax benefits prescribed by the SEZ Act.

They want the central government to retain the SEZ Act, as passed by the Parliament, as they fear linking it with the proposed DTC regime, to come into force from April 1 2011, will eventually dilute the prescribed tax benefits. The second draft of the DTC, released on June 15, 2010, limits benefits under income tax, minimum alternate tax (MAT) and dividend distribution tax to only those units that exist or come into existence in SEZs by March 31, 2011. Read More »