Ahmedabad property Prices to Rise in 2007

Property prices in Ahmedabad are all set to rise in 2007 with an inflow of more than $3 Billion into Ahmedabad Real Estate.

Ahmedabad has witnessed some major infrastructure spending from the state government. The Ahmedbad Urban Development Authority has spent Rs 2,000 crores on city development. Another Rs 3,200 crores will be spent in developing the city, funded by National Urban Renewal Mission.

Land Shark, DLF which looted small investors is building a supermall in GandhiNagar near Ahmedabad. DLF is also looking for lands on the banks of river Sabarmati. 2000 more hotel rooms will eb added in the city in 2007.

The Vibrant Gujarat conference has also attracted some big IT / ITeS investments into Ahmedabad. Our survey shows that land prices on CG Road have shot up from Rs 35,000 / square yeard to Rs 50,000 per square yard in a year. Also non-resident Gujarathis are building their second home in Ahmedabad.

Tags: Ahmedabad Real Estate, Ahmedabad Properties

Shapoorji - Shukhobristi housing and IT SEZ in Bengal

Close on the heels when Tata Motors Ltd is involved in a Land Grabbing scam for their SEZ in Singur, another Tata group associate Shapoorji has announced the launch of Rs 2,500 crores housing project in West bengal near Kolkatta.
Shapoorji is building a mass housing project [Shukhobristi Housing] on a 150 acre land at Action Area III, New Town. The mass housing project will have 20,000 dwelling units. The cost of development of this project is Rs 1,500 crores and is expected to be completed by 2011.

Shapoorji Pallonji is no philanthropist, and is also grabbing land for a IT / ITeS SEZ project near Rajarhat. The development cost of this SEZ is Rs 1,000 crores. Looks like the communist leaders have sold West Bengal to powerful Parsi community in Mumbai.

Tags: Kolkatta Realty, Kolkatta Real Estate, West Bengal SEZ, SEZ India

SEZs in West Bengal - A Mess

The Special Economy Zone Policy in the communist ruled state of West Bengal is a total mess. Communist Leader and Hypocrite, Sitaram Yechury called the SEZ policy as a land bank scam and was against the eviction of farmers and other small land owners. However, his own partymen have forcefully evicted farmers in the Singur area for Tata Motors SEZ without adequate compensation and no rehabilitation plans for the displaced.

The story doesn't end there, a woman of Singur area was Rap*d and Murd*red a week ago. With leader of opposition Mamta Banerjee on an indefinite hunger strike, the situation is all set to worsen as her health detiorates.

Communist Party of India members are the BIGGEST Hypocrites in India with some speaking against the SEZ policy while other party members are misusing their power by forcibly snatching fertile green lands from poor farmers. Shame on you.

Tags: Singur SEZ, SEZ, Tata Motors, India Political

Integrated Townships near Bangalore

Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority has planned 5 integrated townships around Bangalore / Bengalooru. What are integrated townships ? Places that will let you work-live-play in a smaller area though you are not far from the Cosmopolitan Air of Bangalore.

The five places chosen by BMRDA for integrated townships are,

• Bidadi
• Ramnagaram
• Sathanur
• Solur
  
• Nandagudi

The cost involved in development of these townships is approximately Rs 30, 000 crores[ $7.5 Billion] which will escalate further as the Karnataka State Government has never completed a single project in scheduled time. BMRDA has received 32 applications for development which includes corporates such as Reliance Energy, Gammon India and Shanghai Urban Construction company.

Tags: Bangalore Integrated Township, Bengaloor Real Estate, India Real Estate, Bangalore Realty

Exclusive: Bangalore Real Estate prices Crash

The realty bubble has burst in the IT corridors of Dirty and Polluted Bangalore City. I spoke to several Realtors and they have confirmed that residential prices are on a downward swing in Whitefield and areas of Kormangala. Some good locations have seen corrections upto 33% while overall the correction has been around 25%.

The Whitefield area presently commands Rs 2500 / SFT against Rs 3,000 / SFT couple of months ago. But why the sudden crash ? Whitefield has been an area of high speculation interest. Around 40% of the homes in Whitefield area were booked by speculators even before construction of the projects had begun. These projects are now completed and ready for occupancy and the early bird owners have to pay the remaining cost and get the registration done which has led them to desperately hunt for BUYERS and to their dismay their are no BUYERS which has led to unload panically at whatever cost they can. No doubt even at Rs 2,500 / SFT the early bird bookies have made Rs 500/ SFT but what is the government doing to curb speculation in real estate ?

Some quoted that the shift in IT companies towards peripheral business districts towards Sarjapur has also led to the decline for properties Whitefield and Earthquake Porn Kormanagla area. "The rentals are likely to rise in Peripheral Business Districts due to easier connectivity and rise of IT companies" said Hamilton , Director of DebenHam Tie Leung.

Real Estate activity is brisk near Devanhalli where the new international airport is coming up. Kankapura road is also seeing lot of activity because of the DeveGowda family factor who are heavily invested in that area. However, the central business district of MG Road, Brigade and Mallya Road which had seen modest increase in 2006 are likely to see an exponential rise in 2007 when UB City opens for business.

With Inputs from Business Standard, 22-Dec-2006.

Tags: Real Estate Bubble, Realty India, Bangalore Real Estate, Bangalore Property Prices

Mukesh Ambani SEZ skyrockets Jamnagar Real Estate

Mukesh Ambani's dream to build a petroleum refining SEZ at Jamnagar has led to the skyrocketting of Real Estate prices in Jamnagar.

Reliance Retail is also building a shopping malls with multiplex. Pantaloon Retail India, Niho Constructions and Crystal have lined up their shopping mall projects. Reliance is also building a highway supermall just opposite to the existing refinery complex.

Despite Gujarat earthquake, Jamnagar has witnessed constructon of high rise buildings. Reliance has also built a township for its employees 'Reliance Green'. However, other who cannot be accomodated in Reliance Green have to shed out higher rentals. Rentals in Jamnagar are comparable to South Bangalore. A 2 BHK flat costs somewhere between Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 / month while a 3 BHK apartment rents out between Rs 12,000 and Rs 15,000.

DLF, Parsvnath and Rahejas are on lookout for land to establish their townships but have had little luck till now with Mukesh Ambani's group buying ever piece of land on sale.

Tags: Reliance SEZ, Jamnagar Real Estate, India Real Estate, Real Estate Bubble

Ansal Properties $4 Billion Greater Noida Township

Ansal Properties and Infrastructure Ltd will build a $4.5 Billion township in Greater Noida to take advantage of the economic growth.

The township will be built on an area of 2500 acres. The township will house more than 30,000 people and have 18 hole golf course, hotels, shopping mall, service apartment and a convention center.

The company in October raised $10 Million from HDFC Ventures and another $30 Million from Citigroup. Earlier this month the company raised another $150 Million by means of qualified institutional placement.

Tags: Real Estate India, Noida Real Estate, Delhi Real Estate, Real Estate Bubble

Bangalore 3rd largest office real estate space in the world

I was wondering where the IT/ITeS and BPO companies were expanding their operations in Bangalore / Bengalooru and here are our findings.

Most office space additions in 2006 has happened in Outer Ring Road, Sarjapura, Hosur Road, Bellary Road and Electronics City. Together this forms the Bangalore Peripheral Business District. In the Downtown / Primary business district Vijay Mallya's contributions are the highest.

In 2005, Bangalore / Bengalooru witnessed absorption of 9.5 million sft of commercial and office real estate, only behind Tokyo [12.33 Million sft] and London [ 9.96 Million sft] beating all the American cities. Bangalore's commercial real estate is the fastest growing space in the world.

In the first three quarters additional 9 Million sft of office space was absorbed in Bangalore / Bengalooru and is all set to be the leader global leader by the end of 2006.

Tags: Bangalore Real Estate, Commercial Real Estate, India Real Estate, Japan London Bangalore Realty

Chennai Real Estate Prices Update

The southern Metro of India Chennai has been witnessing huge MNC inflows lately, Thanks to IT Minister Dayanidhi Maran.

We went to Chennai the Real Estate scenario and here are our findings.

• In Shollinganallur the rates are between rs 5.75 to Rs 6.25 crores / hectare.
• Since 2004, price of land in industrial estates of Guindy and Ambattur have escalated between 50% - 60%
• Current land prices in Guindy are in the range Rs 18,000 - Rs 22,500 / sq mt
• Current Land prices in Ambattur are between Rs 3,700 - Rs 4,500 / sq mt
• We found that the old part of GeorgeTown is now transforming into Commercial Hub
• Old Mahabalipuram Road has attracted most of the Real Estate activity after being inducted in the IT corridor 3 years ago.
• The main factors contributing to the growth of Real Estate is the presence of IT/ITeS/BPO services and Chennai has doubled the value of software exports in last 3 years.

Residential Real Estate Update in Chennai:

• Prices of Premium properties have zoomed over 200-300% in central and south chennai over the past 12-18 months [It's ridiculous]
• Apartments on Kasturi Ranga Road in upmarket Alwarpet were sold at Rs 12,000 / sft
• High end flats in upmarket area od Rutland Gate, Nungambakkam were sold at Rs 4.25 crores.
• Average residential flats in RA Puram are fetching Rs 8,000 / sft which was quoted at Rs 2,500 just 18 months ago.
• Prices on Harrington Road have shot up from Rs 6,000 to Rs 7,000 sft from Rs 3,000 / sft a year ago
• Prices in Pycrofts Garden Road are hovering around Rs 7,000 / sft
• Poes Garden, high end residential apartments are now quoted at Rs 12,000 to Rs 15,000 / sft
  

We feel the prices are insane and are abnormally high. IMHO, you should wait for sometime before you enter the mad rush.

Tags: Chennai Real Estate, Chennai Realty

Nitesh Estates raises $55 Million

Bangalore / Bengalooru based Nitesh Estates has raised $ 55 Million by diluting 25% stake in the company. Och-Ziff, UK based hedge fund manager is the investor.

Nitesh Estate is promoted by Nitesh Shetty and is developing several projects including a 5 star hotel in Bangalore at an estimated cost of Rs 500 crores. The developer is also building a SEZ in Mangalore and several residential projects.

Earlier, JP Morgan invested $60 million in Lodha Bellissimo in Mumbai.

Tags: India Real Estate, Bangalore Real Estate, Private Equity Real Estate, Private Equity India

Bangalore SEZ & Real Estate Update

Bangalore - Garden City to most Polluted and Dirty city in India has attracted a textile SEZ and four large housing projects from Prestige Constructions.

Bangalore based Gokaldas Exports Ltd is setting up an apparels SEZ near Kanakapura 44 kms from Bangalore. Gokaldas has acquired 400 acres of land for the same. Kanakpura is DeveGowda family constituency and the family owns large chunks of land between Bangalore and Kanakapura. CNBC TV 18 had also reported that most of the real estate development in Bangalore is now taking place on Kanakapura road, mainly because of the DeveGowda factor.

Prestige Group has lined up four mega projects in Sarjapura and Whitefield areas. Presitge Ozone is located in Whitefield and will be spread on 46 acres of land constructing 290 villas. Prestige Palms is another housing project located in Whitfield. Prestige Tech Park is a commercial IT park spread on 16 acre plot and will house JP Morgan, Nokia, Airtel and others will be built on Sarjapura Road. Prestige Featherlite will be located in Whitefield and will house BPO companies.

Thanks Prestige and Gokaldas for helping get Bangalore more dirty and polluted.

Tags: Bangalore Real Estate, Prestige Group, SEZ India, Realty India

India Real Estate Sector Update.

The Insane and abnormal Real Estate boom in India is expected to last for a decade said Kamlesh Chanda Chakrbarty, CMD, Indian Bank.

Those who enter real estate with their own money will never lose the money inspite of changing business cycles. [Buy High and Hold when the market crashes, example folks who bought property in Bangalore in 1996 could sell in profits only in 2005]

The Indian real estate sector is currently valued at $12 Billion and growing at a rate of 30%.

Tags: India Realty, India Real Estate Boom, Land Bank,
Real Estate

JP Morgan Invests $60 Million in Lodha Bellissimo

J P Morgan and other foreign funds are chasing the Indian real estate space as if their is no tomorrow.

Lodha Builders, Mumbai based realty company has just informed us that J P Morgan will invest $60 Million [Rs 275 crores] in their upcoming project on erstwhile Apollo Mills Land in Mahalakshmi.

Lodha Bellissimo is a premium residential complex coming up in Mahalkshmi. J P Morgan said,
"We have invested significant time and effort in understanding the local market and market players and have found Lodha's worthy of investment".

Yesterday, Uday Kotak, CMD of Kotak Mahindra Bank has said that Real Estate Prices in Mumbai made no sense to him and is looking for a revolution in real estate market where the middle class could easily afford to BUY.

Tags: Realty India, REIT, Mumbai Real Estate, Premium Apartments Mumbai

RBI cut backs lending to Realty and Retail in India

Atlast the banks have taken the cue from RBI's credit policy and have slowed down their lending to Real Estate and Retail sectors. The banks have been advised to rebalance their folio such that their lending to small and medium enterprises and farm sector takes off.

Sucheta Dalal has warned that the realty bubble can spoil the growing economy of India. Sucheta warns that FIIs are illegally investing heavy sums of money into NBFCs and companies registered in Mauritius that have significant interest in the Indian Real Estate sector.

We have been telling from day one that India needs manufacturing base to grow and not unrealistic Real Estate or Lands Sharks to build SEZs . The Economic Times has an article which says what we have said 6 months ago and they further add that 70% of Chinese exports are by Small and Medium sized enterprises. However, in India, the small and medium enterprises have no scope from the Government as the commerce ministry is busy clearing SEZ proposals of Land Sharks instead of focusing on developing industries that can export.

Commerce ministry is not copying the Chinese model in its entirety but just the SEZs fined tuned to suit Rich Indians which can be dangerous to the Indian economy.

Tags: SEZ India, Realty India, REIT, Land Bank

Supreme Court notice on Reliance SEZ Land Acquistion

Earlier we had reported about Reliance SEZ being dragged to Haryana High Court. The Supreme Court of India today issued notices to the centarl government seeking an explanation as to why fertile agricultural lands were acquired on behalf of industrialists for SEZs without proper compensation to farmers.

Kuldeep Bishnoi in a public interest litigation has urged the court to quash all the acquisitions that had already taken place and direct that the land be returned to the respective farmers. Bishnoi has also sought to declare the SEZ act as unconstitutional.

SEZ Act in India is the largest land bank scam and should be scrapped with immediate effect. Every big industrial house including the house of Tatas are involved in SEZ controversy.

Tags: SEZ India, Reliance SEZ, Land Bank Scam, Real Estate Scam

Tata Motors Singur SEZ in Big Problem

Tata Motors Ltd, Singur SEZ which will build Ratan Tata's small car priced at Rs 100,000 is in big trouble. Looks like the state government is going an extra mile to protect Tatas.

State Chief Minister, Budadeb Bhatacharya forcibly acquired land. Yes, farmeres are given the checks and pushd out of their lands using Police force. [The constitution of India, lists that the State Police should protect the fundamental rights of Indian, but they are doing the opposite] Leader of Opposition, Mamta Banerjee tried to meet the farmers when her saree was torn and taken out of the Singur area.

The Congress and BJP two other political parties are now opposing TATA SEZ at Singur and are all set to go on a strike from today.

Enough of this Land Grab, why can't the Tata's go and start it at some remote area ? Why Singur ?

Tags: SEZ India, Tata Motors, Realty India

DLF trading at Rs725 in grey market ?

DLF India Ltd which wanted to re-list itself on the Indian stock exchanges during May had to postpone to August because of the market crash. Subsequently, we exposed the company on how they had looted and cheated small investors. This issue was settled in November with the company deciding to allot shares to small investors who were cheated as mentioned above.

Now it is back in the news again after two high profile Real Estate IPOs in India - Parsvnath Developers Limited and Sobha Developers Limited. This time around their are vested interests trying to figure out what is the best price the company can re-list itself by brining rumors such as it's grey market price is Rs725 and insiders talk about approaching existing small equity shareholders of the company to surrender their shares.

Insiders also tell that a new RHP will be filed and this time the size of the issue is likely to go up from Rs 10,000 crores to Rs13,500 crores. DLF is in partnership with Hilton group to establish a branded chain of Hotels in India. DLF is likely to make a private placement to Private Equity Investors, VCs and FIs before its IPO in Jan-07. When will Indians realize that current Realty prices today are far from reality ?

Tags: DLF IPO, Realty India, DLF, Hilton, SEZ India

Emaar - MGF wants to be Indias Number One Realty Co

Emaar the Dubai based Realty developer in association with MGF of India wants to eb the Numebr One realty player in India.

Emaar MGF have the following SEZ approvals in India and their is no shortage of finaces for this group.

Mohammad Alabbar, Chairman of Emaar was in India to sign a deal with Accor Hotels to build 100 Formule1 Budget Hotels across India by 2010.

Speaking to bloggers after signing the deal, Mr Alabbar said,
"We see a great investment cliamte in India, as far as the real estate sector is concerned. We will continue to invest heavily in India and will be looking at expanding our base and diversifying into new areas with the aim of becoming India's leading real estate company"
[Sure their is great climate with so many Babus and Netas cashing in on their black money investments in Real Estate].

Mr. Alabbar's opinion on steep real estate prices - Given the power of local consumtion in India, there is absolutely no need to panic. Alright, continue to invest in real estate and KILL the manufacturing and services industry of India.

Tags: Emaar MGF India, Accor Hotels India

Goldman Sachs to invest $45 Million in Peninsula Realty

Goldman Sachs the American financial giant which has set aside the highest corpus amongst institutional investors of $1 Billion for Indian Real Estate investments is in talks with Ashok Pirmal promoted Peninsula Realty Fund.

Peninsula Realty Fund - PRF is floating a Rs 1,500 crores [$300 M] special purpose vehicle to invest in FDI compliant real estate and infrastructure projects. PRF is also likely to have another scheme where the company is likely to accept investment from Indian investors.

Goldman Sachs is extremely bullish on the Indian real estate sector and may soon start signing the deals. Obviously, Goldman wants the easiest route to make money. Why aren't they investing in startup manufacturing units ?

Tags: India Real Estate, Goldman Sachs, Peninsula Real Estate, Realty+India

Tax sops to SEZs will cost $20 Billion to exchequer

Various Tax sops to the SEZs (Land Banks) in India will cost the central exchequer a whopping $22 Billion. The finance ministry has said that over a four year period they will stand to lose in various taxes amount to the tune of Rs100,000 crores or $20 Billion.

Loss by means of Direct Taxes - Rs53,740 crores. [$11.5 Billion]
Loss by means of Indirect Taxes - Rs48,881 crores. [$9.5 Billion]

Ultimately the ordinary and middle class citizens of India will have to make up for the loss of these taxes that are directly pocketed by Land Sharks developing these SEZs.

Via [FE]

Tags: SEZ India, Real Estate India, Realty India,Tax India

Real Estate Mutual Funds in India

In July-06, I had written that Real Estate Mutual Funds will hit the Indian market. Today, Mr. Kurien, Chairman of Association of Mutual Funds in India said that AMFI had worked with SEBI and the guidelines are expected to be out soon.

Latest developments can be summarized as follows.

• SEBI wants these schemes to be listed on various stock exchanges.
• Mutual Fund managers don't want to list on exchanges for reasons stated below
  
• Mutual Fund managers are worried about non-transparency in real estate and land bank deals. Non-existence of REITs [Real Estate Investment Trusts] will cause liquidity problems should the investors opt for mass redemption.
• Fund managers want Real Estate Mutual Funds initially to be closed ended for 3 years so that the Indian real estate market currently dominated by Politicians, Mafia and Black Money businessmen mature as an Industry.
• Fund managers initially want to introduce these funds only for High Networth Individual

Hopefully SEBI will resolve the issue with AMFI.

Tags: Real Estate India, Mutual Funds India, Realty India

Sobha Developers IPO Open.

After the success of Parsvnath Developers Ltd IPO, Bangalore based, Sobha Developers IPO is now open for subscription. The IPO seems to be priced at very high P/E of 37.5 but due to sound track record of managment most of them may apply. Dalal Street Business has more details on Sobha Developers IPO.

Also read another article on how people and foreign investors are evaluating the Indian Real Estate Stocks on Dalal Street. The situation is getting crazy and ENAM, a brokerage house has told that the property market will cool down in 2008.

Tags: Sobha IPO, Real Estate, India Real Estate, Real Estate Stocks

K Raheja raises money in London. Hirandani Plans 750 Million float

The Mumbai based K Raheja group, today raised Rs 1,500 crores on the London Stock Exchange's AIM - Alternate Investment Market for their group company Ishaan Realty.

Ishaan is a real estate investment company promoted by K Raheja group and plans to invest in Indian real estate development projects located in the southern and western parts of the country - such as Hyderabad, Mumbai, Bangalore and Pune. They are also planning to build an IT SEZ.

Following the success of Ishaan Real Estate, Hiranandani Developer insiders talked about their plans to go for a listing on London Stock exchange with a mega float of $750 Million. Hiranandani are the developers of Mumbai's landmark for corporate executives, Hiranandani Gardens.

The main reason for these promoters to go for international listing is to get visiblity and also higher valuations for their company.

Tags: Raheja Real Estate, Ishaan IPO, Hiranandani IPO, Hiranandani Gardens

Institutional Money Chasing the Indian Real Estate Sector

We know that every major financial institution wants a piece of Indian Real Estate pie. Here is the record of the Fund and Size in USD Million they have raised to invest in India.

Goldman Sachs proprietary India Fund (partly for real estate) 1000
ICICI India Advantage Fund 800
HDFC India Real Estate Fund 720
Horizon International Fund (Pantaloon Group) 350
Citigroup Property Investors 350
India aReit Fund (Piramal Group) 350
AIG Group 300
Deutsche 300
Maia (Malini Alles) 250
3i Group 160
Xander RE Fund LLC 150
Kotak Mahindra 100
Kshitij Venture Capital Fund (Pantaloon Group) 100
Dream Fund (Dewan Housing Finance Ltd.) 100

Funds deployed So Far:
Name of the Fund followed by Investee company, Amount in USD Million and Stake

Citigroup Property Investors in Gera Developers 125 JV 50:50
HDFC India Real Estate Fund in Ansal IT City & Parks 100 Stake-33%
Siachen Capital LLC in Nitesh Estates 100 PE
Capitaland in Mumbai based Runwal Group 100 JV 49:51
Laing O’Rourke in DLF 100 50:50 JV
Morgan Stanley in Mantri Developers 68 PE
Morgan Stanley in Alpha G Corp 65 PE
3i Group in Suntech group 41 PE
India aReit Fund (Piramal Group) in Suntech group 13.6 PE

Tags: India Real Estate, Citi, Morgan Stanley, Real Estate Funds

SEZ Policy is absolutely Non-Sense and a MESS

What are SEZs for ? If you thought they were for promoting export orienetd industrial and manufacturing, you are so wrong. SEZ India act is the largest Land Bank scam ever on this universe.

Realitycheck is reporting that someone wants to setup a University on SEZ. God Damm these policy makers! The story doesn't end there, Anil Agarwal controlled Vedanta Resources wants 10,000 acres of land to setup a university in a SEZ.

Tags: SEZ India, Scam India, India Real Estate Scam, University

RBI Warns again on rising Indian Real Estate Prices

RBI governor, Dr Y V Reddy has ssaid that he is uncomfortable at the rate at which property prices are rising in India. Earlier, he had told lending to real estate would get expensive and had slammed the government's SEZ policy.

Today, the RBI said that it is monitoring exposure to Real Estate, bank by bank, branch by branch. "We don’t take a view as to whether there’s a bubble, but there is slight discomfort that asset prices have been moving too fast".

He has further added,
"On the whole, my assessment is that our warnings would have had some impact and given the exposure of the banks, I would not expect damage to our banking system in a systemic sense, assuming there is a localised bubble that bursts"

Hopefully we will see the trend reverse soon as we want lower real estate prices to provide global services and manufacturing activity which is the main job creator and driver of our economy.

Tags: RBI India, Realty India, Real Estate India, Indian Economy

Sobha Developers Land Bank and Land Reserves

We have obtained the figures of Sobha Developers Ltd Land Bank and Land Reserves in Bangalore, Chennai and other south Indian cities. For IPO details, kindly refer to DalalStreet.

Bangalore / Bengalooru - 1767.90 Acres. (1767 Land Reserve of which 57 acres is Green Belt)
Pune - 995 Acres. (302 Land reserve + 693 Land Arrangement)
Chennai - 3,000 Acres. (392 land Reserve + 2607 Land Arrangement)
Cochin - 256 Acres. (183 Land Reserve + 73 Land Arrangement)
Coimbatore - 26.14 Acres (Land Reserve)
+Mysore and Thrisur.

Sobha Developers: Total Land Reserve is 2,747 acres. Total Land Arrangement 3,373 acres.
Total amount paid for these lands is Rs 662 crores and total amount to be paid is Rs 1,345 crores.

Unlike, Parsvnath Developers SEZ, Sobha Developers has no SEZ.

Tags: IPO India, Sobha Developers, Parsvnath, Real Estate India

Bangalore based DivyaSreee Developers to setup IT SEZ

At a time when MNCs like HP are opting out of the SEZ race in India, Bangalore based Real Estate Developer DivyaSree is understood to have applied for an IT/ITeS SEZ license.

They propose to setup a 73 acre campus with over seven million sft of office space. It is proposed to be built in Whitefield, Bangalore.

Tags: Sez India, Bangalore RealEstate, Whitefield, Divyasree

Xander Real Estate to pick stake in RIL Bandra Kurla Project

Sidharth Yog promoted, Xander Real Estate fund is close to pick-up 25% stake in Reliance Industries Ltd promoted Bandra Kurla project. RIL had tied-up with Maker group to jointly develop an alternative to Nariman Point. The plot earlier used to host an open air theatre run by Maker group.

Insiders claim that the value of the deal could be in the range of $125 Million (Rs 560 crores). The project will have 60% residential accomodation and 25% commercial office space. It is also likely to have commercial retail space which is likely to be filled by Reliance Retail.

Tags: Reliance SEZ, Mumbai Real Estate, Bandra, Xander Real Estate

Government to let Indian Realty Developers take ECB Route

Faced with cash crunch, Indian realty developers are lobbying hard with the Government to make External Commercial Borrowing easier for them.

Current ECB and FCCB norms make it tough to borrow without diluting equity said a Bangalore based developer currently financed by wealthy Doctors from the US and the UK. With ECB borrowing he will have access to cheaper loans but however he was quick to point out that this is likely to benefit only the large developers.

Tags: India Real Estate, SEZ India, Loans

Commercial Real Estate prices Sky Rocket in India

I am sure you are aware of the Supreme Court decision to seal all commercial establishments in residential areas. My sources tell me that lease and rental prices in South and East Delhi have shot up by 70% in one month. Fashion designers who were paying Rs 60,000 as monthly rental after relocating to East Delhi mall are paying around Rs 150,000 per month said another source.

Meanwhile, in Bangalore / Bengalooru the IT capital of Asia, legal commerical property prices rose by 10% in a day in Jaynagar said one of my trusted aides. The BMP has started a drive to hunt for such tainted residential-commerical properties. A property owner spoke on condition of annonymoity, that this is a move by the corrupt government to make money in the booming real estate. Lot of speculators have also entered the market making it difficult for true businessmen to conduct business. This should end soon or our economic boom itself will end.

Tags: SEZ India, India Real Estate, Reliance SEZ, Commercial Real Estate

Breaking News: No More IT SEZs in India

Commerce Secretary, Mr, G K Pillai, said in a speech that, they will not approve more IT SEZs due to the controversy surrounding land acquistion. However, if a company comes with an application after land acquistion, then a formal approval maybe given. We were the first one to report that HP had given up their IT SEZ plans in Bengalooru, India.

In another announcement, SEZs will get 100% Income Tax rebate during the first 5 years of operation and 50% during the next 5 years.

Trump Real Estate to be in India

New York real estate tycoon, Donald Trump with a passion for downtown towers is all set to invade India. According to my insiders, recently his kids working for him were in India and the Emerging Economy watch who seems to be an ardent follower of Donald Trump has more views.

Parsvnath Developers Ltd SEZs in India

Here is an exclusive list of Parsvnath Developers Ltd SEZs which have received in-principal approval from state and central governments.

Parsvnath Developers Limited Tattanaram Villages, Ranga Reddy, Hyderabad, AP Biotechnology 10.11 Hectares

Parsvnath Developers Limited Kundli, Sonepat, Haryana Food Processing Industries 100 Hectares

Parsvnath Developers Limited Indore, MP IT/ITES 30.76 Hectares

Parsvnath Developers Limited Pune, Maharashtra Automotive & Auto Component Industry 100 Hectares

Parsvnath Developers Ltd Jaipur-Ajmer Raod, Jaipur, Rajasthan Gems & Jewellery 45.6 Hectares

Parsvnath Developers Limited Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu Multi-Product 1000 Hectares

Parsvnath Developers Limited Sahastra Dhara Road, Dehradun, Uttaranchal IT/ITES 14 Hectares

Parsvnath Developers Limited Agra, UP Leather & Leather Products 100 Hectares

Parsvnath Developers Limited Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh Handicraft 100 Hectares

Total Area to be developed by Parsvnath in SEZs is 1,500 hectares.

Burj - The Tallest Tower in the World

One of my friend from Dubai sends this picture. It is the picture of Burj, when completed will eb the tallest tower in the world. It will be much taller than Taipei 101. Burj is being built by the Emaar group.

Emaar groups interests in Indian Land bank are as follows.

• Emaar MGF Land Private Ltd. Shikohpur, Distt. Gurgaon, Haryana IT/ITES 100
• Emaar MGF Land Private Ltd. Gurgaon, Haryana IT/ITES 28
• Emaar MGF Land Private Ltd. Villages Kherki Daulla and Sihi, District Gurgaon, Haryana IT/ITES 20
• Emaar MGF Land Private Ltd. Village Boda Kalan, Distt Gurgaon Multi-Product 4000
• Emaar MGF Land Private Ltd. Jahajpur, Distt Gurgaon, haryana Multi-Product 2000
• Emaar MGF Land Private Ltd. Lakhnaula, Distt Gurgaon, Haryana IT/ITES 240
• Emaar MGF Land Private Ltd. Machigarh, Bhupani, Distt Faridabad, Haryana Multi-Product 1000
• Emaar MGF Land Private Ltd. Banskusla, Gurgaon, Haryana Auto Ancillary 100
• Emaar MGF Land Private Ltd. Bans Hariya, Gurgaon, Haryana IT/ITES 120
• Emaar MGF Land Private Ltd. Naweda Fatehpur, Gurgaon, Haryana Gems & Jewellery 40
  

Will they build any taller than Burj in India ?

Tags: Burj, Real Estate, Dubai, Indian Malls

From Tech Startups to Nanocity

Sabeer Bhatia, the pampered Hotmail founder is now venturing into all sorts of deals where Technology doesn't matter.

Last month we saw him become an Online Travel and Holiday Booking agent by rekindling his Arzoo.com (A failed venture after Dot Com bust).

Now he has all set his sight to build a Nano City. What ? Yes he has turned into a Real Estate developer. Is he also a Land Shark ? Maybe ? I guess its mainly because when you stay in India, you f*ck your creativity and all day you think is how to get rich. Good infrastructure is necessary, but a better entrepreneurs and a technocrat is much more needed.

Tags: India Real Estate, SEZ India, Sabeer Bhatia, NanoCity

Film makers come to rescue of Farmers in India

A documentary film has been made on the SEZ Land sharks and corrupt state governments that are adamant to push the SEZ reforms at the cost of farmers livelihood. The documentary made by a Pune-based producer shows how the farmers already weighed down by debts are being separated from their lands for setting up of special economic zones (SEZ).

The film was exhibited for a select audience in Pune . The film covers the issues of farmers suicides, their forced eviction from their lands and carries the views of Medha Patkar , Vandana Shiva, retired high court Judge P.B.Sawant and economist Sulakba Brahme

Justice Sawant says in the documentary that every attempt would be made to stop SEZs, including judicial remedies. According to him, agricultural land acquisition for SEZs has no valid provision in the SEZ Act. Sawant rubbishes special concessions for SEZs as unconstitutional. The documentary shows advocate Govind Pansare passionately arguing against the SEZ Act. He ridicules the description of SEZs in the Act as foreign islands within the country. He fears that SEZs could become powerful tools in the hands of developers to turn thousands of acres of land acquired for the purpose into real estate. He says developers are utilising only 35 percent of the land for setting up of export-oriented units and use the remaining for developing real estate, five-star hotels, casinos and bars.

The documentary producer promises more on SEZs in future as the momentum against them gathers.

He said neither district collectors nor the ministers concerned were willing to come forward to offer their views on the issue.

Tags: Real Estate India, SEZ India, Reliance SEZ

Lending to Real Estate Sector gets Expensive

RBI today hiked the repo rate by 0.25% . This is unlikely to hurt banks lending in normal capacity. However, if banks overstretch, then they have to borrow from RBI which will be 0.25% higher.

In the monetary policy review today, RBI raised the repo rate, the rate at which it lends to banks, by 25 bps to 7.25% while keeping the reverse repo, the rate at which it borrows from banks, unchanged at 6%.

"Banks having liquidity problems may charge a higher price for Personal, Real Estate and Equity Market loans," Allen Pereira, executive director of Oriental Bank of Commerce, told PTI.

K Raghuraman, executive director of Punjab National Bank, said RBI's repo rate hike is a caution on credit growth, specially for banks who are aggressive in the market.

The Land Sharks of corporate India will find it tough to borrow for their shady Land Bank deals. Good Job Done, Dr Y V Reddy! We don't want a Japan like situation in India where the collapse of the Japanese Real Estate market led to the collapse of their Banking System and then their entire economy in 90s.

Sitaram for Chinese Model of SEZs in India

We were the first in the world to compare and contrast the difference in SEZ act between China and India late last month. Sitaram Yechury, Leader of CPI visited China last week to study why SEZs were successful in China and has said the same words we did.

Sitaram calls for separate tracts of lands to be owned by government and infrastructure be developed in those areas then inviting Foreign and Indian industrialists to setup their manufacturing base. Instead what has now happened is the corrupt governments of Mahrashtra and Andhra Pradesh have acted on behalf of corporate India killing the poor Indian farmer. Without citing the name of Mukesh Ambani, Sitaram said, "If a private company gets to own 10,000 hectares of land, we are re-inviting Zamindari system 60 years after independence".

Mukesh spoke of big plans at World Economic Forum in Davos, and why has he become a Land Shark rather than being an industrialist ? The days of getting rich by corrupt means by bribing hands of Netas and Babus are behind us. Wake up Land Sharks, go manufacture :-)

Hewlett-Packard Company surrenders SEZ license in India.

Right from day one, I have shouted at the top of my voice that SEZ act in its current state was a land grabbing act and was against industrialization. When they talk about modifications to the act to bring transperency in deals, State Governmnts have become the corrupt agents between corporates and the land owners, mostly farmers.

Some ethical managements don't like such business practices and have put a hold on their SEZ plans. Silicon Valley giant, Hewlett-Packard Company today surrendered its IT SEZ license back to the commerce ministry. HP India had got an approval in June this year to start an SEZ in Bangalore. HP had thought of a mega 1 Million SFT IT park but the project was simply not viable.

In an interview to CNBC TV 18 today, G K Pillai the Commerce Secretary and optimistic man behind SEZs has said 25% of the SEZs will fail to take-off and they may surrender their licenses. The SEZ shake-out has begun lets see who will survive.

Related Stories:
RBI Concerned over SEZ Policy.
Best Policy is not to have any SEZ
Special or Scam Economy Zones of India

Jaaydaad.Com introduces Real Estate Retailing in India

After Pantaloon Retail India Limited and failed dreams of Reliance Retail, Global Infocomm has ventured into organized retailing of Real Estate in India.

Global Infocomm, is planning to open 600 showrooms with a PAN-India presence. The company is launching from Uttar Pradesh, which, is a very bad move considering the law and order and backwardness of the state. They should have started from Maharashtra or Karnataka the most sought after states for urban development these days.

The company also has a B2C portal JaayDaad.Com. The portal enables you to BUY, SELL or Rent properties immediately but I didn't find much listings as their are on 99Acres.com.

Mega Real Estate Deals Hit Indian Real Estate

With the beginning or operation Land Grabbing by Real Estate land sharks in India, greedy banks and financial institutions from all over the world have joined the bandwagon to finance these mega real estate deals.

After George Soros' Quantum Fund picking up stake in Anant Raj Industries, CitiBank has bought 5.75% stake in Ansal Properties and infrastructures Limited. UK based Trinity Fund has bought a whopping 16% stake in Kapstone Corporation. The Citibank deal is valued at Rs175 crores. Ansal Properties and Infrastructure Limited will issue preferential shares at price of Rs610 on Face Value of Rs5. The Trinity Kapstone deal is valued at Rs85 crores.

Operation Land Grab begins in Andhra Pradesh

The picture on your left shows a piece of agricultural land in Rambilli Mandal in Vishakapatnam which has been acquired for a multi-product SEZ by the corrupt state government of Andhra Pradesh on behalf of SRF Limited the promoter of SEZ. The SEZ is 1040 hectares in size.



This piece of fertile land is in Ravivaripodu village of Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh. Farmers want to know how they have been getting good yield for years if the farmland was 'dry' ?

The State government has manipulated land records and has marked fertile agricultural lands as dry and arid lands unfit for agriculture so that they can grab it at throw away price. [Via MM]

Govt BANS pre-launch offers on Homes.

The Union Urban Development Ministry has finally woken up to the woes of large number of Middle Class Indians taken for a ride by Shady Builders and Real Estate Developers.

What non-reputed builders usually do is, collect large sums of money as advance and use the money for their own purpose or divert it to other projects. Also the greedy real estate brokers in order to make quick bucks has become a speculator who keeps trading in pre-launch offers. To curb all such ir-regularities, the government has proposed a bill which will put an end to this. A clear-cut date of completion will obviate the scope for speculation.

Sanjay Verma MD of Cushan and Wakefield said that,
"A lot of speculative buying and selling had been taking place in the pre-launch residential business. This high level of continued speculative buying has put certain degree of selling pressure in the market. Therefore, the move to curb pre-launch mechanism will provide for a healthy & stable growth for the realty sector in the coming years".

Hopefully the Babus and Netas who are also part of the Land Bank Scam will protect the middle class interest. Via ET

DLF to reissue debentures to small investors

Earlier in August we had exposed the DLF Debenture and IPO scam on our blog here. DLF, the New delhi based Real Estate company has agreed to re-issue debentures to small investors who were cheated in the earlier issue.

The company has called for a EGM to approve the issue for small investors who were earlier cheated by the greedy management of DLF and its shady promoters. This is all a makeup before its $2 Billion IPO which they want to go for. Investors kindly be aware of this shady real estate company.

Professor Jagdish Bhagwati slams Indian SEZ Policy

Dr. Jagdish N Bhagwati, Professor of Economics and Law at the Columbia Business School in New York has said that, their is no need for SEZs in India.

He said,
"Give the current progress in reforms undertaken in earnest since 1991, there is no need to establish SEZs. It made sense to have SEZs in the pre-reform era when policies of the country as a whole could not be tweaked. That period warranted the setting aside of certain exclusive economic zones with low trade barriers and other favourable policies to enhance growth"

Map of proposed Reliance Maha Mumbai SEZ

Ambani brothers are now fighting to build the 25Km long bridge which will connect Mumbai with Navi Mumbai. Mukesh certainly doesn't want Anil to build the bridge as it will be the life line for Mumbaikars travelling to Reliance SEZ. Looks like Mukesh's lobby has gotten Anil dis-qualified on technical grounds. L&T-Gammon India and IFFCO are the other two bidders to build this 3+3 lane expressway and bridge.

Heavy demand for Bangalore's Central Business District

The Central Business District of Bangalore comprising MG Road, Brigades, Lavelle Road, Vittal Mallya Road and Commercial Street are in huge demand. Indian and Foreign realty firms are wooing current land owners with unseen money in the past.

Here are the commercial Lease/Rental rates for retailing, Banking and other established commercial activity in Bangalore's commerical district.

M G Road Rs200-250/SFT/Month
Brigade Road Rs225-Rs300/SFT/Month
Vittal Mallya and Lavelle Road Rs175-Rs250/SFT/Month
Commercial Street - Rs200-Rs250/SFT/Month

Other Areas
Airport Road Rs50-Rs75/SFT/Month
Outer Ring Road Rs100-Rs150/SFT/Month
Kormangala Rs100-Rs150/SFT/Month Kormangala is earthquake prone.
IndiraNagar Rs150-Rs200/SFT/Month
Jaynagar Rs125-Rs150/SFT/Month

Once UB City is completed, prices are likely to shoot up on Vittal Mallya Road as well. If you are looking for commercial real estate in Bangalore, then blindly BUY in the central business districts as they will be very well connected with Metro Rail and will be at par with any downtown in the world.

Mega Renewable Energy SEZ in India

The government of India is planning to build a mega renewable energy device manufacturing SEZ with an investment of Rs30,000 crores or $6.5 billion. This is one of the TRUE SEZs the country badly needs. The SEZ will come up at an area of 1,000 acres in one of the following states - Karnataka, Mahrashtra, AP, MP or TamilNadu.

RBI issues notification on Loans to SEZ

Earlier last month India's highest banking authority had issued a notification stating that debt lending by Banks to SEZ projects be treated as commercial real estate loan. RBI in its notification dated 10-OCT-2006, has changed its mind after several industrialists protested with commerce and finance ministry. New notification says, "exposure of banks to entities for setting up SEZs or for acquisition of units in SEZs which includes real estate would be treated as exposure to commercial real estate sector". Don't worry our Land Sharks will find a loophole to get cheap money from banks. In broader interests, a regulatory like SEBI should be setup.

Eon Free Zone - IT and ITES SEZ In Pune

Eon Free Zone is the largest IT and ITeS SEZ in India. It is situated in Kharadi, Pune. The total campus area is 18 hectares. Each of the four clusters(A, B, C, D) are of 1 Million SFT in size. Cluster - C will be the first one to be completed by March-2007, followed by Cluster - D in October - 2007. Cluster - B and A are expected to be operational by April and october 2008 respectively.

The EON SEZ has clearance from the central government under the SEZ act and establishments located here can avail all the tax benefits as well. The total project cost is estimated to be around Rs850 crores. It will also house a 400 room hotel, Air Taxi service between Pune and Mumbai airports and 200 serviced apartments with all other common amenities like health club, banks etc.

Here is a complete presentation of the EON Free Zone.

Google Earth comes to farmers rescue

Pen Taluka farmers have turned to Google Earth to prove that their lands are fertile. Google Earth is powered by world's superior technology and is one of the largest archives of satellite pictures of the world updated regularly.
The evil land sharks of Maha Mumbai SEZ along with state government, have marked large tracts of fertile land as salty crek water so that they can acquire the land at throw away prices. Farmers sought the help of Google Earth and produced satellite pictures proving that their lands are fertile.

After a flawed SEZ policy, it's now time to fabricate land records and only god knows what else these hungry land grabbers will do.

DLF Plans to invade Chennai and TamilNadu with SEZ Plans

After Anil Ambani's $3 Bilion real estate and infrastructure investments, its now time for the DLF - Land Sharks to invade Chennai.

DLF founder K P Singh's son, Rajiv Singh is seen in talks with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M Karunanidhi. During the meeting, Mr. Singh offered to develop roads, bridges and airports across the State through public-private partnership. DLF plans to invest $2 Billion in Tamil Nadu.

The Chief Minister was keen that large-scale multi-product SEZs were taken up by groups like DLF. He asked the company to present more concrete and detailed proposals to the departments concerned.

Sitaram Yechuri and NCP for SEZ on Barron Lands

After CPI(M) protesting against SEZs, NCP has joined hands saying no fertile land shall be used for SEZ. Only Barron lands can be used. Sitaram Yechuri said that "Farmers should be paid 52% more than the current market price of the land and land should not be acquired without taking the farmers into confidence."

Former PM, V P Singh has sought a regulatory authority on SEZs, just like the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. This is fantastic demand as it will bring transparency in the deals.

Is it possible to build the Indian Infrastructure with Poor Health ?

The Prime Minister addressing a conference on Building Infrastructure: Challenges and Opportunities told that India needs investment to the tune of Rs1,450,000 crores by 2012. The thrust areas are Roads and Power. PM also invited for private participation and has promised to look into the controversial SEZ issue.

Few questions directly to the PM of India.

Dear Sir,
I have tremendous respect for you and it pains for me to pen the following few sentences. I have carefully thought about it and my conscious tells me that I am not wrong and hence I am putting it before you willing to face any consequence.

Sir, you are blind about the health issues Indians including your son-in-law and grand- children are facing today. Before building India and its SEZs, every human born in India has the right to life according to Article 21 of the Constitution of India. It does not mean mere survival or existence. It encompasses the right to live with dignity. Your government has been a total failure when not hundreds or thousands but whole states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, TamilNadu and Kerala suffered from Chikungunya. I see no action from your government at all.

After Chikungunya, Indians are now facing a deadly disease of Dengue killing 19 people so far. How do you expect your fellow countrymen to build India with such poor health conditions ? Or, can you kindly be frank and tell us if this is a sacrifice millions of Indians have to undergo ? We(I am willing) will happily do so when it is either told by you or the Supreme Commander of India. Your wish is our command.

Jai Hind!

China Vs India, SEZs Comparison and Review

The Chinese started their liberalization and industrialization with the formation of SEZs in late 70s and early 80s. Unlike India, where SEZ is being incorporated 15 years after the start of liberalization process.

China had a Master Plan and an economic framework on how to build and proceed with SEZs, most probably inspired by the success of Asian Trading Hub, Hong Kong. The Dragons started building massive cities for manufacturing and industrialization under their SEZ framework. Dragons also rolled out red carpet for foreign companies to build and operate from these SEZs.

If you look at the Map on your left, China has only 5 SEZs, India has approved 200 and still counting. All the Chinese SEZs are located along the coast line. Indian SEZs are mostly concentrated near major cities and more than half are being developed by Real Estate Companies in order to make a quick buck by grabbing land at cheap prices under SEZ land acquisition act which is a scam in itself. KPMG India, Tax Head, Sudhir Kapadia said, "They(Chinese SEZs) are close to ports and trade nations like Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. A lot of thought has gone into the location of these SEZs. "

Dragon SEZ blueprint says, Size Matters for SEZ. Shenzhen is the largest SEZ in China and is spread over 493 Sq Kms.(49,300 hectares). While the largest SEZ in India, Reliance - Navi Mumbai and Maha Mumbai SEZ, is mere 14,000 hectares. Exports from Shenzen SEZ reached $100 Billion in 2005. Total Chinese exports for 2005 was around $700 Billion which implies Shenzen contributed 15% of Chinese exports.

Chinese SEZ initiative is government driven, Indian SEZs are driven by private sector. Check out my earlier post on praise for few MIDC SEZs and I called them True SEZs :-)

Dr. J J Irani, former CMD of Tata Steel and currently one of the powerful Directors on Tata Son's is of the opinion, "India should also go slowly like China has done".

Mohandas Pai, Executive Director, Infosys Technologies said,"We should look at entire districts, with a port and a hinterland for SEZ. We should make large-scale investments in that so there is synergy, and we should ensure that manufacturing has priority, followed by services, but the vision has to be much larger. The way it is today, the vision is too myopic, and too small, and I am afraid we will not get the benefit that China did".

Stay tuned, I will post the number of Real Estate Sharks that have joined the SEZ bandwagon pretty soon. Your thoughts and comments are most welcome.
India SEZ, China SEZ, Reliance SEZ, Shenzhen

Reliance Haryana and Mumbai SEZ Size

Many were looking for the size of SEZs developed by Reliance.

Reliance Haryana SEZ has been approved for 10,000 hectares.

Reliance's Mumbai SEZ = Navi Mumbai SEZ + Maha Mumbai SEZ together is proposed to be 14,000 hectares. The combined will be the largest SEZ in India but still far smaller than China's Shenzhen SEZ which is 493 Sq Kms or 49,300 hectares. Navi Mumbai SEZ is already operational and Reliance has bought one of the promoters and will thus get a backdoor entry.

Check out the conversion chart here.

Maha Mumbai SEZ in Trouble

Mukesh Ambani's "Maha Mumbai SEZ" in fresh trouble now. Ministry of Commerce itself has filed objections against Maha Mumbai SEZ.

The Ministry has raised the following objections, Huge Agricultural Land acquisition from surrounding villagers, who have filed a complaint with Ministry of Commerce. Several thousand workers of existing JawaharLal Nehru Port Trust are affected. Large Export oriented business houses have been affected and have thus filed complaints directly with commerce ministry.

Commerce Secretary G K Pillai has asked the Board of Approvals to direct the Maharashtra State Government to look into the land acquisition issues and has further stated that No Government Lands should be sold but instead leased to the SEZ developer. Gujarat Government was the first to start lease Government Lands to SEZ developers for a period of 30 years.