Existing buildings in ‘red zone’ also need to get NOC from AAI

As per the guidelines of ministry of civil aviation, a suitable mechanism needs to be adopted regarding the already existing structures within the mandatory NOC zone (red colour zone)

PIMPRI CHINCHWAD: The vicic body will regularise all illegal constructions built before December 2015 by April 30, similar constructions under Pimpri Chinchwad New Township Development Authority, will be regularized till May 15.

The urban development department had issued a notification in October last year under the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act for regularization of such constructions in residential, commercial and industrial zones. Owners will have to submit complete details of the construction, survey and sector numbers, approved by a licensed architect, to the PCNTDA. However, constructions in buffer zones, red zones, blue lines of rivers, on hill slopes, and dilapidated or structurally unsafe buildings will not be regularised. There are around 40,000 illegal constructions in PCMC limits and around 26,000 constructions under PCNTDA.

PCNTDA engineers will visit the sites and give in principal approval. If the built up area is 10 metres, margin on the sides will be 0.75 metres. A no objection certificate from fire brigade department would be required for buildings which are 36-metre high. For Gaothan areas, the road width would be 4.5 metres, and for other areas, six metres. A structural stability certificate will have to be submitted. Development charges, infrastructure charges and compounding charges will be levied till May 15. Owners in PCMC limits will have to submit Google images of the property along with details of property tax, sewerage tax, and penalty tax on illegal construction till April 30.

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ATS Group to invest Rs 2,000 crore to construct affordable homes

The fund will be raised from a mix of internal accruals, debt and private equity funds.

NEW DELHI: ATS Group, a National Capital Region (NCR)-based developer, plans to invest close to Rs 1,500- 2,000 crore for construction mid- income and affordable homes under a new entity ‘HomeKraft’.

The fund will be raised from a mix of internal accruals, debt and private equity funds. “We are in advance talks with a major PE firm to raise funds for HomeKraft in the next 2-3 months,” the company said in a release here on Wednesday.

Prasoon Chauhan has been appointed as the CEO of HomeKraft. Previously he has worked with ICICI Bank and Yes Bank.

The company is looking to clock sales of 6000-6500 units in the next 3-5 years with expected revenue in the range of Rs 4,000-5,000 crore.

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Maharashtra finally clears way for drop in stamp duty on real estate sale

The state revenue and forest department has issued the Bombay Stamp (Determination of True Market Value of Property) (1st Amendment) Rules, 2018 that will allow the CCRA for the first time to either increase or decrease the RR rates.

MUMBAI: Homebuyers could expect some relief as the state government has introduced a provision that will allow reduction of Ready Reckoner (RR) rates. Until now, RR rates, which are revised annually, could only be increased or kept steady.

RR rates are used to assess market value of properties by government; stamp duty and registration charges are paid on this basis. The rates are revised every year on April 1.

The state revenue and forest department has issued the Bombay Stamp (Determination of True Market Value of Property) (1st Amendment) Rules, 2018 that will allow the Chief Controlling Revenue Authority (CCRA) for the first time to either increase or decrease the RR rates.

The March 12 notification amends rule 4 that says in case the CCRA cannot issue an annual statement of rates then the preceding one may be “incremented” in view of “increase” in market rates. The word “incremented” has now been replaced with “revised” and “increase” with “increase or decrease”. The change in the wording signals the government’s acceptance of the fact that real estate rates have dipped in recent years.

Mumbai is divided into 700 zones for which RR rates are prepared annually. In the last five years, rates for these zones have been increased by 6-7% annually. However, it was not always so. In 1995, 1996, 1997 and 2001, the government, despite there being no amendment, had reduced the RR rates.

Commenting on the latest change in rules, property valuers said RR rates need to reflect true market value. Mayur Shah, president, Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry, said they have been urging the government to reduce the RR rates as the real estate industry has been in a bad shape for the past three-four years.

Shah said CREDAI-MCHI is considering recommending a 20-25% reduction in RR rates. “Earlier, rates were only increasing. Now that Maharashtra, like other states, has a provision to decrease the rates, housing will get a boost,” he said.

The increase or reduction in RR rates impacts buyers in a significant way as the 5% stamp duty is to be paid as per RR rates; in some cases, the actual sale may have taken place at a lower rate.

Sunit Gupta, a property valuation expert, said the RR rate for Nariman Point, for instance, is Rs 50,000 sq ft while the market rate is Rs 30-35,000 per sq ft. “Also, builder and buyer have to pay income tax based on the RR rates and not the market rate,” he said.

It is the joint director of town planning and valuation who annually assesses rates of lands and buildings for every tehsil, municipal corporation and local body area and prepares a statement. The CCRA then approves these rates and they come into force. 

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Punjab govt approves affordable housing policy

This would help make these available to the lower income groups on affordable price. Plot sizes in such colonies shall be maximum up to 125 sq yards and their average size shall not exceed 100 sq yards.

CHANDIGARH: The PunjabCabinet on Wednesday paved the way for the notification of the Affordable Colony Policy - 2018 to facilitate affordable housing for lower income groups, thereby also checking the mushroom growth of unauthorised colonies.

With most unauthorised colonies found to have small sized plots that are normally purchased by economically weaker section (EWS) and lower income group (LIG), the state government had decided to relax certain provisions in approved colonies, including relaxation in saleable area, FAR etc., with the aim to make plots available to the common man on affordable rates.

The Cabinet has now given its nod to the new policy, aimed at offering higher density and floor area ratio (FAR) to the promoters who were keen to develop an affordable colony, according to an official spokesperson in a release.

The new policy has proposed rebate in rates pertaining to Change of Land Use (CLU), External Development Charges (EDC) and License Fee (LF) to enable construction of the maximum possible number of flats over an acre of land.

This would help make these available to the lower income groups on affordable price. Plot sizes in such colonies shall be maximum up to 125 square yards and their average size shall not exceed 100 sq. yard.

Under the policy, a maximum of five acres of land would be required to carve out an affordable colony in all the master plans of the state, except SAS Nagar and New

Chandigarh master plans, wherein any activity to set up a colony is only allowed to be undertaken as per the provisions of the approved master plans.

The policy proposes plotted, flatted and a mix of plotted and flatted development by the promoters.

It also envisages the maximum saleable area for the flats at 65 per cent of the total project, as against the existing 50 per cent, which would come as a major relief to builders.

Similarly, under the flatted development on roads of 40 to 80 feet and above, an FAR of 1:2 to 1:3 has been proposed. Parking norms for the dwelling units have also been relaxed.

As per a recent inventory, there are approximately 8,000 unauthorized colonies having about 40,000 acres of land, which have come up without permission from the competent authority in a haphazard manner and are devoid of basic facilities such as water supply, sewerage etc.

The mushrooming of unauthorized colonies has been found to be directly linked to non-availability of affordable housing for the lower and middle income groups, release said.

Meanwhile, Punjab cabinet also gave its nod to renaming the Department of Welfare of Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes and Minorities, as Department of Social Justice and Empowerment and Minorities'.

The decision to rename the department was taken as the existing name neither carried a positive connotation, nor truly reflected the efforts and endeavor of the government for upliftment of disadvantaged sections of the society, said an official release.

The Directorate of the concerned department has also been renamed accordingly as Directorate of Social Justice and Empowerment and Minorities.

Concurrently, the post of 'District Welfare Officer & Tehsil Welfare Officer' has been renamed as District Social Justice and Empowerment Officer &Tehsil Social Justice and Empowerment Officer.

The population of Punjab is 277.43 lakh, as per the census 2011, which comprises weaker sections of the society that include 31.94 per cent population of Scheduled Castes and about 16.1 percent of Backward Classes besides Christians, Muslims and other minorities.

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Kotak Realty-Cube Highways offer Rs 6,000 crore to build 25,000 Jaypee flats

The bids are due to be opened next week, and the resolution plan is expected to be finalised by March-end or early April.

NEW DELHI: Kotak Realty Fundand Cube Highways, which have bid for Jaypee Infratech, have proposed to set aside Rs 6,000 crore for constructing 25,000 undelivered homes, while offering to pay all lenders and promising that banks will not have to take a ‘haircut’ on their exposure.

At least half a dozen bidders, including the Adani Group, JSW, Deutsche Bank, Sudhi Walia-promoted Suraksha Asset Reconstruction Corporation and Chinese realtor Jieyang Zhonguci, apart from the Kotak Realty-Cube Highways combine, are in the fray for the company facing insolvency action. The bids are due to be opened next week, and the resolution plan is expected to be finalised by March-end or early April, sources told TOI.

Last August, the National Company Law Tribunal had initiated insolvency proceedings against Jaypee Infratech with the resolution process now in the =final phase. The Supreme Court has also stepped in and appointed an amicus curiae to protect the interests of homebuyers.

Sources said that apart from upfront payment, Kotak Realty Fund and Cube Highways — both backed by funding from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority — have proposed to swap a part of the land for loans taken by Jaypee Infratech that it is yet to repay. This proposal was made by the company’s majority shareholder, Jaypee Associates, to banks last June but was rejected. Jaypee Associates had also submitted its bid but it was not opened following recent amendments to the law that barred promoters of companies that had been a non-performing asset (NPA) for over a year from bidding. A loan is classified as an NPA if it remains unpaid for 90 days at a stretch.

In most insolvency cases, the resolution plan comes with the bidders offering to clear a part of debt, which the Economic Survey said was as high as 80% in the initial set of companies where NCLT had ordered insolvency action. Initial estimates had suggested that Rs 2,500-3,000 crore could be required for completing construction work, but the fund requirement may be much higher.

While Kotak Realty is aiming to develop and monetise the high land bank available to Jaypee Infratech all the way from Noida to Agra along two expressways, Cube Highways is looking to tap the revenue potential from the Taj Expressway, where traffic is expected to increase with Agra, now that it is linked to Lucknow through a new expressway.

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Smart City proposals to be cleared soon: Bihar housing minister

Four cities from state – Patna, Biharsharif, Muzaffarpur and Bhagalpur – were included in the Centre’s Smart City project.

PATNA: State urban development and housing minister Suresh Sharma said the Smart City proposals submitted by companies concerned for the four selected cities of the state, including Patna, would be cleared in a week.

Four cities from state – Patna, Biharsharif, Muzaffarpur and Bhagalpur – were included in the Centre’s Smart City project. Bhagalpur was the first city selected for the project, followed by Patna, Muzaffarpur and Biharsharif.

The proposals include improvement of transport infrastructure, mechanism to give quick solution to problems of citizens and facilities based on information technology. “At least 12 companies from the country and abroad have submitted their proposals for consideration,” the minister said, adding a dedicated ‘smart control room’ will be established in the state capital to monitor implementation of the projects.

“The smart control room will be linked with the CM’s office as well as the offices of state DGP and heads of other departments,” Sharma said.

A Spanish company, active in management work in two other proposed smart cities in the country, has already been selected by the state government to manage the projects worth Rs 2,700 crore in Patna.

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Bengaluru development body sees growing demand for villas, plans to build 300 more

The BDA has invited tender for its new villa project at Dasanapura, off Tumakuru Road, 24km from the central business district (CBD)

BENGALURU: Sites and flats can wait. The Bangalore Development Authority’s (BDA) new focus seems to be on villas. Encouraged by a massive response to its first villa project in the city, the authority is now set to embark on developing another residential enclave with 300 high-end villas.

The BDA has invited tender for its new villa project at Dasanapura, off Tumakuru Road, 24km from the central business district (CBD). The move follows BDA’s earlier enclave consisting of 452 villas in Alur, also off Tumakuru Road, north Bengaluru, which saw 90% allotment.

N G Gowdaiah, engineer officer with the housing projects wing of BDA, told TOI a good response to its villa project in Alur has prompted the BDA to go for more such projects. “We have invited tender for the construction of Villa Housing Project at Survey No. 35 of Hunnigere village in Dasanapura hobli on a lumpsum turnkey basis. For the first time, we are going to build high-end 4BHK villas as part of the project,” he added.

As part of its Alur villa project, the BDA had built 104 3BHK duplex villas (costing Rs 50 lakh each). “In fact, soon after the first notification in late 2016, we received 200 applications for the 104 3BHK villas at Alur. Each villa is spread over 1,800sqft. Demand for villas in the simplex and duplex categories also grew gradually,” Gowdaiah added.

Gowdaiah said the villas at Dasanapura will have more modern amenities based on the feedback from Alur allottees. “Once the tender is finalized, we will be ready to deliver the villas within 12 months. The new villas will cost marginally higher than the ones at Alur; BDA villas cost about 40% lesser than similar private projects,” Gowdaiah added.

Krishna Murthy, assistant executive engineer with BDA’s housing division, said there could be multiple reasons behind rising demand for BDA villas.

“Those who can afford to pay Rs 50 lakh or more for properties are looking for independent housing and want houses where they can get their own space. However, they can’t afford the same with villas offered by private developers. Also, we are developing these projects close to highways like Tumakuru Road and NICE Road, which is an added advantage when it comes to connectivity,” Murthy pointed out.

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