PIL: Smart City unconstitutional?

A division bench of Justice PK Jaiswal and Justice DK Paliwal while accepting an interlocutory application directed the government to file a reply to the application within two weeks.

INDORE : Questions on the constitutionality of the smart city project were raised before the Indore bench of Madhya Pradesh high court on Friday, when the PIL challenging the smart city plan was heard.

A division bench of Justice PK Jaiswal and Justice DK Paliwal while accepting an interlocutory application directed the government to file a reply to the application within two weeks.

Abhinav Dhanotkar, counsel for petitioner Tapan Bhattacharya told TOI that the application sought answers on whether the smart city plan was in accordance with Article 77 of the constitution or not.

Article 77 of the constitution states that any scheme or project announced by the cabinet or minister of urban development or even the prime minister cannot be the decision of the central government unless authenticated by an officer authorized by Business rules of Government of India.

"The identity of the person who authenticated the cabinet decision is also not clear and neither is the date when the decision was authenticated," Dhanotkar submitted.

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Ten Richest Real Estate Tycoons

Acknowledged by Forbes, these people are not just rich; they are “Richie-Rich” rich. We bring to you the richest real estate tycoons around the world.

Lee Shau-kee

Born on January 29, 1928 in Shunde, Guangdong, China, Lee Shau-kee is a Hong Kong-based real estate tycoon and majority owner of Henderson Land Development, a property conglomerate with interests in properties, hotels, restaurants and internet services. Bloomberg Billionaires Index listed him as the 19th richest person in the world in 2012. According to Forbes, his personal wealth is estimated to be $24.8 billion He is also affectionately known as Uncle Four.

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Wang Jianlin

Wang Jianlin, a 1954b born Chinese businessman and philanthropist, serves as the chairman of the Dalian Wanda Group, which is also China's largest real estate company, as well as the world's largest movie theater operator. He owns 20% of the Spanish football club Atlético Madrid. After sixteen years in the People's Liberation Army, Wang started working as the office administrator for the Xigang District in the city of Dalian. The Economist called him "a man of Napoleonic ambition.

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Donald L Bren

Born May 11, 1932, he is an American businessman who is chairman of the Irvine Company, a US real estate investment company, which he wholly owns. Bren built his first house in Newport Beach with a $10,000 loan, in 1958. He began his business career in 1958 when he founded the Bren Company, which built homes in Orange County, California. Forbes, in its 2015 edition of, "The 400 Richest Americans", ranked Bren as the wealthiest real estate developer in the US and 30th "Richest American" with an estimated net worth of $15.2 billion. In 2008, BusinessWeek named Bren one of the top ten philanthropists in the nation, with his contributions to various causes such as education, conservation and research among other areas exceeding $1 billion.

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Cheng Yu-Tung

Cheng Yu-tung owns Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, a conglomerate which operates the Sheraton Marina Hotel and controls the publicly listed New World group. Among their businesses, Chow Tai Fook is Asia’s largest jewellery retailer with New World having large interests in real estate. According to Forbes, his net worth is estimated to be around $14.4 billion.

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David & Simon Reuben

Starting their careers by heavily investing in the Russian metals market, the Reubens became the world’s third largest producer of aluminium. When the Russian business environment turned sour, they sold all Russian assets and have since focussed most of their business activities around the UK property market. They recently completed the purchase of Metro International from Goldman Sachs in 2014 and a data centre business, GlobalSwitch, buoyed by demand for cloud computing space. Fobes estimates their net worth at $13.7 billion.

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Joseph Lau

With the net worth of around $10.9 billion Joseph Lau is a Hong Kong real estate investor who owns a 61% stake in Chinese Estate Holdings, one of Hong Kong’s largest real estate investors. He is a wine lover. It is estimated that Lau owns more than 10,000 bottles of red wine as well as a Boeing 787 private jet, and a multi-million art collection. According to the Sunday Times, Lau owns one of the world's fine least 10,000 bottles, and is an avid art collector. In May 2007, Lau was revealed to be among the first seven purchasers of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner jet for private use.

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​Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor

Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor is not only a landowner, businessman and former Territorial Army Officer, but is also the 6th Duke of Westminster, with a net worth significantly greater than Queen Elizabeth. Heading private property group, Grosvenor Group, he owns hundreds of thousands of acres across the UK, alone owning 190 acres in one of London’s most expensive neighbourhoods, Belgravia, adjacent to Buckingham Palace. His net worth is estimated to be around $12.6 billion.

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Pan Sutong

Pan Sutong made the wealth of his fortune from his stake in Goldin Financial Holdings, which has interests in real estate, wine and factoring. Beginning his career trading with electronic brands such as Panasonic, Sutong went on to found Matsunichi Digital Holdings Limited, which is now known as real estate giant Goldin Properties Holdings Limited. An avid wine lover, Sutong has purchased a number of wineries across France and in the famous Napa Valley region. His net worth is around $8.6 billion.

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Stephen M Ross

Stephen M Ross is an American real estate developer, philanthropist and sports team owner. According to Forbes magazine, Ross has a net worth of $6.5 billion. Ross began his career as a tax attorney at Coopers & Lybrand in Detroit. In 1968, he moved to New York City and accepted a position as an assistant vice president in the real estate subsidiary of Laird Inc.

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Hui Ka Yan

With an estimated riches of $6.2 billion, he is a Chinese businessman and the founder and chairman of Evergrande Group, a Chinese real estate development company. Xu Jiayin was born in a rural family in Jutaigang Village in China.

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Pledging PF to buy home may soon become a reality

Labour Secretary said the proposal will be placed before the EPFO's CBT meeting and once approved, the scheme will be available for the subscribers.

NEW DELHI: Retirement fund body EPFO may soon introduce a scheme to allow its over 4 crore subscribers to pledge their provident fund to buy low-cost houses and use the account to pay equated monthly installments.

"We are working on a housing scheme for members of the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). Under it, members will be allowed to pledge their PF accumulations to buy homes," Labour Secretary Shankar Aggarwal told PTI.

He added that the proposal will be placed before the EPFO's Central Board of Trustees meeting expected next month. Once approved by the CBT, the scheme will be available for the subscribers.

Finer points of the scheme, as to what extent subscribers will be eligible to avail loans and what will qualify as a low cost house, are yet to be worked out.

Aggarwal further said: "We don't want to impose anything on the subscribers. Therefore, we will not buy land or build houses for them. They will be free to choose their own homes from the open market."

The panel had suggested this scheme for low income formal workers who are EPFO subscribers and could not buy a house during their entire service period.

Under the proposed scheme, there will be a tripartite agreement between member, bank/housing agency and EPFO for pledging future PF contributions as EMI payment.

Last year, the proposal for facilitating the EPFO subscribers to buy low cost homes was listed on the agenda of the CBT meeting held on September 16.

A report of an expert committee on housing facility for the subscribers was also presented to the trustees during the meeting.

The committee has unanimously recommended a scheme to facilitate subscribers to buy houses where they will get an advance from their PF accumulation and will be allowed to pledge their future PF contribution as EMI (Equated Monthly Installment) payment.

The panel had suggested that subscribers will purchase a dwelling unit with loans from bank or housing finance companies and hypothecation of property in favour of the latter.

It was suggested the benefits under the scheme of Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation can also be extended to the beneficiaries of the scheme.

In May, Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya had told Lok Sabha in a written reply: "Government is exploring the possibility for providing a suitable low-cost housing scheme for subscribers of Employees' Pension Fund. It is in preliminary discussion stage."

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Gr Noida's Jewar International Airport gets NOC from defence ministry

The Jewar airport project was also taken up keenly by the previous Mayawati government in UP.

LUCKNOW: The proposed Jewar international airport has moved a step ahead with the Ministry of Defence giving formal no-objection certificate for the ambitious project in Greater Noida, adjoining the National Capital Region of Delhi.

Sources said the NOC was given only last month after BJP MP from Gautam Buddh Nagar and former minister of state for civil aviation Mahesh Sharma sought a push for developing airports in small towns as part of regional air connectivity scheme.

The Jewar airport project was also taken up keenly by the previous Mayawati government in UP. In fact, the project was one of the key features builders and real estate bodies used to lure the buyers with to invest in the upcoming residential and commercial projects.

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Homebuyers move consumer court against DB Realty over delay

These homebuyers are among the 3,500 customers who have been waiting for possession of their homes since 2014 despite having paid 90% of the total amount.

MUMBAI: A group of more than 50 homebuyers has approached the Maharashtra State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission against DB Realty over delay in delivery of apartments at the developer's project DB Ozonein Mumbai's Dahisar suburb.

These homebuyers are among the 3,500 customers who have been waiting for possession of their homes since 2014 despite having paid 90% of the total amount. The matter is scheduled to be heard on September 2.

Another group of about 200 homebuyers at the same project is in the process of moving the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission against the builder.

Until Saturday, more than 100 of these homebuyers had recorded statements for lodging a complaint at Kashimira police station in Mira Road. In 2008, DB Realty's subsidiary Neelkamal Realtors Suburban Pvt Ltd had started the pre-launch bookings for the project.

The construction work for the project was started in 2009 and the company had assured its buyers of possession in 2014. "We have been making construction-linked slab-wise payments regularly since 2009. We were promised delivery of our homes by 2012 verbally, while on the agreement it was mentioned as 2014," said Fahim Sutriwala, one of the buyers.

DB Realty's spokesperson said in an emailed response to ET's query, "Since the matter is sub judice we would not like to comment." The project is spread over 16 acres with 25 buildings and falls under the jurisdiction of the civic authorities of both Mumbai and Mira-Bhayandar.

"In April 2016, the company told us that they don't have funds to complete the project...Now the company is saying the first four buildings will be delivered by January 2017. However, not many of us are ready to trust this deadline either," said Sheetal Kadam, one of the homebuyers who have moved the state commission.

Home buyers are questioning as to how the company can say it does not have the money to complete the project if they have already paid nearly 90% of the total amount. While the recently cleared Real Estate Regulatory Act expects a developer to maintain 70% of sales proceeds in a separate bank account to cover cost of construction and land, the current system does not have any such restriction.

The home buyers said they have been burdened with home loan instalments as well as rents during this period, and therefore, need to be compensated. The possession deadline has been extended at least four times from December 2014 to December 2015 and December 2016, while now the company is giving assurance of phased completion of the project starting January 2017, they said.

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Narendra Modi takes up flat buyers’ concerns in his speech

PM Narendra Modi bats for flat buyers after the realtors, especially in the Delhi-NCR region, are being blamed for prolonged delay in delivering projects to their clients

Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his address to the nation on Independence Day Monday. Photo: Pradeep Gaur/Mint

New Delhi: Breaking his silence on the homebuyers’ sufferings due to delay in real estate projects, Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought up the issue in his Independence day speech delivered from the Red Fort on Monday.

“Builders show nicely printed booklet to buyers to lure them. The middle class do not have technical knowledge but keep giving builders money and yet the builders don’t build the houses on time,” Modi said.

The real estate market in India, especially in the Delhi-NCR region, has been characterized by prolonged delay in delivering projects, with buyers organizing themselves into associations and protesting to get the authorities’ attention.

Some have reached out to the prime minister himself. The buyers from Jaypee Wishtown project organized a protest last month and signed a petition to the prime minster, asking for help in getting the builder to finish the project.

While the prime minister had constantly mentioned the issue of lack of affordable housing in India, he has steered clear of talking about widespread delay in real estate projects, especially in the Delhi-NCR regions.

Empathizing with the public about the emotions attached with buying a housing, Modi said, “my fellow brothers and sisters, middle class persons dream of constructing a house, buy a flat.”

“Middle class invests their life long savings and capital in this one-time investment. To protect the interests of buyers, we brought forward Real Estate Bill to regulate the builders. This measure will help the middle class home buyers,” the prime minister said.

The central government passed the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA), 2016 in March to clear the way for setting up a real estate regulator, with a provision that can sharply improve transparency.

“This means the matter has reached the prime minister and the government is up to something, so very soon a clampdown can be expected on the builders,” said Nrip Kumar Mehta, coordinator of Wish Town buyers’ movement and a buyer in Jaypee Krescent Homes project in Noida.

“However, we haven’t got any formal response from the Prime Minister Office,” Kumar added.

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Telangana CM KCR wants 2-BHK scheme to be expedited

CM convened a review meeting at his camp office during which he took the stock of the scheme.

HYDERABAD: CM K Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday directed officials to expedite the works of free two-bed room houses scheme for poor. The government has fixed a target of building three lakh houses under the flagship scheme.

CM convened a review meeting at his camp office during which he took the stock of the scheme. A release issued by the CMO said he wanted different approach."In cities like Hyderabad, where land is scarcely available, we must go for buildings with nine or ten floors, while in rural areas we can build independent houses," he said in the meeting.The government has proposed to build two lakh houses in districts and one lakh houses in Hyderabad this year. He wanted the officials of both housing andMA&UD to take steps to turn slums in Hyderabad into well-developed colonies with proper structures including roads, drainages, and regular supply of drinking water and electricity.

The CM said the government would give incentives to companies coming forward to build two-bed room houses. Supply of free sand, and cement at the factory price were among other incentives proposed.

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