July 20, 2021 - CREDAI Bengal Homes
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July 20, 2021
CREDAI Bengal Daily News Update | 20.07.21
Newspaper/ Online Money Control (Online)
Date July 19, 2021
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/real-estate/nbcc-floats-
Link tender-for-appointment-of-channel-partner-to-sell-around-5000-
unsold-units-7191161.html
NBCC floats tender for appointment of channel partner to sell
around 5,000 unsold units
Some contractors involved in completing Amrapali projects say they have not received dues
worth Rs 500 crore from NBCC since February this year. NBCC says delays on account of
COVID-19 and would be regularised soon.
The government’s construction arm NBCC has floated a tender for appointment of a channel
partner for sale of around 5,000 unsold housing units and commercial areas that are part of
projects by embattled firm Amrapali Group. The amount expected to be generated from the sale
of these units will be around Rs 2,000 crore, NBCC CMD PK Gupta told Moneycontrol.
These units are located in Noida and Greater Noida. The closing date is July 29, 2021.
“We are planning to depute a channel partner to sell the unsold inventory that comprises around
5,000 units located across Amrapali projects in Noida and Greater Noida. The tender has been
floated. We are expecting a revenue of around Rs 2,000 crore from the sale of these units,” he
said.
According to the tender document, the housing units comprise 2BHK/ 3BHK 4BHK/villas and
penthouses spread across an area of 6,45,90, 73 sq ft. The commercial space is spread across 0.22
lakh sq ft.
NBCC had in March this year put up for sale around 49 units as part of the offline draw whose
results were announced on June 14. It had managed to sell 20 of the 49 residential units spread
across Amrapali projects in Noida and Greater Noida worth Rs 20 crore, sources had
told Moneycontrol.
It had received 95 applications for the 49 residential units. Demand for the six commercial units
was subdued, they had said. The units had been completed by the state-run company NBCC
tasked by the Supreme Court to complete unfinished projects of Amrapali Group.
The Supreme Court had in 2019 asked the government’s construction arm to finish and deliver
38,159 flats by 2023 after several homebuyers sought its intervention, complaining about years
of delay in handing over their homes.
Meanwhile, some contractors involved in completing the Amrapali projects have said that they have not received payments from NBCC since February this year. An amount of around Rs 500 crore is pending from NBCC to these contractors. When asked, Gupta said that this was on account of COVID-19 and payments would be regularised soon. “As far as delay in construction is concerned, we should be able to make up for the time lost,” he added. The Supreme Court on October 13, 2020 had permitted the court receiver to incorporate a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to enable flow of funds from SBICap for completion of unfinished projects. It is for this reason that the company Amrapali Stalled Projects Investments Reconstruction Establishment (ASPIRE) has been floated. It consists of a court receiver, forensic auditor and chartered accountant. It is a not-for-profit company under Section 8 of Companies Act, 2013. ASPIRE had announced the sale of the units through an open draw on February 7, 2021. Amrapali Group Projects have 46,575 apartments, of which 8,416 units are occupied. As many as 38,159 units are under execution by NBCC and these include 5,229 unsold apartments. Of the 38,159 units, close to 2,000 units have been completed by NBCC, which handed over two projects of 618 units in late 2019 (Eden Park in Noida and Castle in Greater Noida). Around 1400 have been completed in other projects. NBCC is the project management consultant for the Amrapali projects and is responsible for the quality and timely completion of work. The total cost of completing all stuck projects by Amrapali Group is approximately Rs 8,500 crore. NBCC is executing these projects as PMC and would get 8 percent as fees. It is not using its funds, which are being facilitated by a receiver appointed by the Supreme Court. The main source of funds is the pending dues — around Rs 3,870 crore —from the owners of the apartments that have been sold and Rs 3,000 crore, the worth of unsold residential units. The remaining amount will accrue from sold and unsold commercial units, sale of FAR, surrendered or attached flats and the sale of Amrapali Group’s attached properties. SBI Cap is also funding Rs 650 crore for six projects to bridge the temporary liquidity gap. More than 40,000 homebuyers invested in various Amrapali projects, most of which are in Noida and Greater Noida, more than eight years ago. NBCC has already completed and handed over two stalled projects. On July 23, 2019, the top court cancelled the registration of the Amrapali Group under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, and ousted it from its prime properties in NCR by nixing land leases for breaching buyers’ trust. _______________________________________________________
Newspaper/ Online Business Standard (Online)
Date July 20, 2021
https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/real-estate-
Link fund-managers-rush-to-raise-fresh-money-as-banks-baulk-
121071901424_1.html
Real estate fund managers rush to raise fresh money as banks
baulk
Early this week, ASK Property Investment Advisors (ASK PIA), the real estate private
equity arm of ASK Group, launched a fund with a corpus of Rs 1,000 crore
Given the dearth of funds and a growing investor appetite, real estate-focused private equity fund
managers are raising fresh money. From Godrej Fund Management to Motilal Oswal to ASK
Group, fund managers have launched or raised funds worth Rs 7,000 crore in the past six months.
Early this week, ASK Property Investment Advisors (ASK PIA), the real estate private equity
arm of ASK Group, launched a fund with a corpus of Rs 1,000 crore. It also has the option to
raise Rs 1,500 crore via a greenshoe option.
________________________________________________________________________
Newspaper/ Online Money Control (Online)
Date July 19, 2021
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/india/cantonment-bill-india-set-
Link to-introduce-sweeping-changes-in-defence-land-policy-for-the-first-
time-in-250-years-7191001.html
India to introduce sweeping changes in defence land policy for the
first time in 250 years
The new rules come ahead of a series of defence land reforms that is under consideration of the
government, which is also working towards finalising a Cantonment Bill 2020, aiming to provide
for development in special zones - considered virtually sacrosanct till now
A policy on tinkering with defence land in India for any purpose other than the military has been
a strict no-no since the British set up the first cantonment in Bengal’s Barrackpore in 1765, shortly
after beginning the process of consolidating their rule in the sub-continent.
In April 1801, the East India Company’s Governor General-in-Council ordered: “No bungalows
and Quarters at any of the Cantonments shall be allowed to be sold or occupied by any person
who does not belong to the Army”.
What was supposedly then cast in stone may now be recast in 2021.
EVI development
The Narendra Modi government has approved new rules that allow equal value infrastructure
(EVI) development for armed forces in lieu of the land procured from them.
The new rules come ahead of a series of defence land reforms that is under consideration of the
government, which is also working towards finalising a Cantonment Bill 2020, aiming to provide
for development in cantonment zones, considered virtually sacrosanct till now.
According to Ministry of Defence (MoD) officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity,
defence land needed for major public projects – like building of metro, roads, railways, and
flyovers – could only be exchanged for land of equivalent value, or after payment of market
prices.
Under the new rules, eight EVI projects have been identified, which the acquiring party can
provide infrastructure for in coordination with the concerned Service.
They include building units and roads, among other projects. According to the new regulations,
the value of land would be determined by a committee headed by the local military authority – in
cases under cantonment zones.
For land outside cantonments, the district magistrate will decide on the rate.
Connected moves There are connected moves on the governmental chessboard as well. The Ministry of Finance (MoF) has pegged monetising defence land as the only way to generate revenue for the proposed non-lapsable modernisation fund. According to officials, a draft cabinet note on setting up the defence modernisation fund is currently undergoing inter-ministerial consultations, and a final decision is expected soon, following which it will be placed before the Union cabinet for approval. Says Lt Gen HS Panag (Retd): ``Since defence lands are in the most prime areas all over the country, over the years, politicians and civic officials have demanded that they be used for undertaking developmental activities. Now it seems, it is happening.” All along the GT Road - from Delhi to Peshawar for instance – there are camping grounds and old depots that are not in use any longer, built by the British Indian Army during the Second World War when troops had to be moved from one place to the other. "You can monetise the land if the army is not using it and provided, they are given alternate land,” Panag told Moneycontrol. But in his reckoning, the estimated money that the government may earn from monetisation of land would barely suffice. The Department of Military Affairs (DMA), headed by Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen. Bipin Rawat, had told the government last year that proceeds from defence land monetisation would be hardly adequate to meet the armed forces’ requirements. Inadequate capital budget The DMA had also highlighted that the capital budget of the defence forces is inadequate to meet their committed liabilities and objected to 50 per cent of the funds from defence land monetisation going to the Consolidated Fund of India, as the Ministry of Finance has suggested. Most agree that it was only a question of time before the defence sector – the biggest landowner in India – would face acquisition issues. Politicians and developers have long waited to transform the lush green expanse of endless defence land into glass-and-concrete boom towns. In 1991, the then Defence Minister Sharad Pawar was the first to moot the idea of abolishing cantonments, "these remnants of a colonial past" so that "excess land" could be utilised. Given the outrage that followed, however, he tempered the statement saying that cantonments will not be scrapped. According to the Directorate General Defence Estates, the MoD has about 17.95 lakh acres of which about 16.35 lakh acres are outside the 62 cantonments in the country. This, mind you, does not include lands with the public sector units (PSUs) under the MoD, including Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, Bharat Electronics Ltd, Bharat Dynamic Ltd, Bharat Earth Movers Ltd. Garden Reach Workshops Kolkata and Mazagon Docks Mumbai, among others and the vast Border Roads Organization, which has constructed over 50,000 km of roads.
There are substantial military lands outside the Cantonments. Camping grounds, abandoned cantonments, ranges, and even discarded airfields of Second World War vintage constitute defence lands, which according to one estimate totals land area of up to five Delhis – old, new and rural areas - put together! Prime property From the famous sprawling maidan in front of Victoria Memorial in Kolkata to the huge Delhi Cantonment and Navy Nagar in tony South Mumbai; hill stations like Dalhousie, Lansdowne, Kasauli and the Nilgiris– to name just a few - are owned by the Ministry of Defence and its allied organizations. In a country where land is extremely scarce, it is tempting for political parties to `encroach upon’ or `use’ defence land for developmental purposes. Added to the huge land holdings, the armed forces also have veto powers on land sale or construction activities near their stations on grounds of security. To be sure, however, the concept of a non-lapsable defence modernisation fund is not new. In the interim Budget of 2003-2004, the then Union finance minister Jaswant Singh had announced such a fund of Rs 25,000 crore, which would be made available to the MoD. However, in the subsequent years, the finance ministry had repeatedly objected to setting up the fund. The fund has now been recommended again by the 15th Finance Commission, which made its report public on February 1 this year. The same month, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said her ministry had agreed in-principle to the fund. “The modalities and the structure will be worked upon,” Sitharaman told the Lok Sabha. Others, like Lt Gen Satish Dua (Retd) believe that surplus defence land can be monetised for modernisation of the armed forces. ``The capital generated should form a non-lapsable kitty for modernisation only (not revenue expenditure). A firm recommendation to this effect has been made to the 16th Finance Commission,” he told Moneycontrol. Dua, however, points out that monetisation of land under use in cantonments is not being suggested. ``Only the land which the Army is forced to accept in some unviable location as barter, may as well be monetised,” he said. Civilian glasnost The point to be seen is how this civilian glasnost pans out. As of today, military cantonment and lands are governed by a special 1924 Act and they have their own laws and administration, independent of civilian municipalities. Will these unique powers remain or is this fine distinction going to blur? Officials do admit that encroachment of defence land is a major issue. Between 2017-2020, over 55 acres of encroachments or unauthorised constructions were detected on defence land. In a country like India with a burgeoning population and the demands of urban living weighing heavily on civic planners, the old consideration of keeping defence areas away from civilian habitats, also seems to be breaking down.
A former Chief of Army Staff told Moneycontrol on conditions of anonymity that every country has exclusive defence lands, which is beyond the purview of civilian administration. Analyst Pravin Sawhney, who retired after 14 years as an officer in the Indian Army and now edits Force,a news magazine on Indian defence, believes the new defence land use plans are in consonance with the whole idea of aatmanirbhar (self-reliant) India. ``The British were keen to keep the military away from the civilian population, hence their planning was based on those lines. This government wants a peoples’ army, where the military lives in proximity with the local populace,” he told Moneycontrol. The Directorate General Defence Estates, the ultimate arbiter of defence land in India, notes: ``Lord Clive initiated the policy of setting up exclusive habitats for the company’s forces, slightly away from the then urban areas…He wished to keep interaction between the Englishmen and local population very limited, in the interest of discipline.’’ That policy, clearly, is going to be turned on its head. _____________________________________________________________________________
Newspaper/ Online Magicbricks News (Online)
Date July 19, 2021
Link https://content.magicbricks.com/property-news/over-67000-projects-
registered-under-rera-since-enactment/122725.html
Over 67,000 projects registered under RERA since enactment
Since the enactment of real estate regulation law, RERA, and establishment of regulatory
authorities across states, a total of 67,313 projects have been registered in the country, 46% of
them in Maharashtra alone.
The western state also leads the list so far as registration of property agents is concerned while
Uttar Pradesh tops among states in several complaints disposed of by regulators.
Official data till July 10 show that 31,221 projects have been registered with the RERA in
Maharashtra, followed by 8,685 in Gujarat. Karnataka has the third maximum number of projects
registered with RERA at 4,151. The UP RERA has registered 3,033 projects and the tally in
Madhya Pradesh is 3,659.
So far as the registration of real estate agents or property dealers is concerned, out of the total
51,895 registrations across states, Maharashtra alone has registered 29,995 of them. In UP, 4,579
such agents have been registered while Delhi has registered barely 389 agents.
The data also shows that so far 70,001 complaints have been resolved by the regulators with two
benches of UP RERA leading the list having disposed of 27,825 complaints. Haryana, which has
also set up two benches, has reported disposal of 14,591 complaints, followed by Maharashtra
where 10,043 complaints have been resolved.
Abhay Upadhyay, who heads the Forum for People’s Collective Efforts (FPCE), a group that
campaigned for the enactment of the RERA, said, “Merely tracking the number of projects
registered under RERA is not of much significance especially after five years. We need to seek
data like the number of projects completed within the scheduled date as per registration, number
of projects granted an extension and completed within an extended period, number of projects
delayed beyond one year from original scheduled completion and number of projects for which
registration expired and extension also not sought by the promoter to assess the real success and
effectiveness of RERA.”
He added similarly, the number of complaints disposed of by RERA authorities is of not much
importance. To gauge the effectiveness of RERA, there is a need to know how many promoters
have obeyed the orders of RERA, Upadhyay said.
“The RERA Authorities must disclose the number of refund orders passed by them and an actualnumber of refunds received by the complainants. On the same lines, they also must disclose how many promoters have obeyed their orders about handover, completion of facilities and amenities and lastly how many have paid penalty if any levied. Till such details are made available by the authorities, the actual impact of RERA cannot be gauged,” he said. ________________________________________________________________________
Newspaper/ Online ET Realty (Online)
Date July 20, 2021
Link https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/regulatory/karnatak
a-rera-puts-project-details-in-public-domain/84574167
Karnataka-RERA puts project details in public domain
Under the ‘Services’ tab on the website, K-RERA has provided data on the projects that
received time extension and projects that were rejected or revoked by the authority.
The forum of home-buyers that was demanding transparency in the functioning
of Karnataka Real Estate Regulatory Authority (K-RERA) has received a partial victory. The
regulatory body -- which had stopped displaying information related to extension and rejection
of projects as well as copy of the orders on its website -- has made them public once again.
Under the ‘Services’ tab on the website, K-RERA has provided data on the projects that received
time extension and projects that were rejected or revoked by the authority.
These sections were available for public view last year, but the authority quietly withdrew these
details from its website. It was only after the Forum for People’s Collective Efforts (FPCE)
campaigned for bringing transparency in the system, when the K-RERA made the details public.
However, MS Shankar, General Secretary of the forum, is not entirely happy. “The authority
while displaying the projects that have received extensions -- should also provide information on
what grounds the additional time was given,” he said. “The website states that 235 applications
seeking extension has been approved. As per the Act, RERA does not have the powers to extend
a project beyond one year,” he said.
The forum, he said, has also suggested that the Authority should display the complaints received
from the home-buyers. “RERA has reserved judgements of over 100 cases without pronouncing
them. I have come across a case where the judgment was not pronounced for more than a year.
This is now how the home-buyers should be treated by the regulatory body,” Shankar said.
Kishore Chandra, who was recently appointed as chairman of the authority, said he would look
into the issues raised by home-buyers.
Developers or promoters not honouring the judgments or orders passed by K-RERA is one of the
major issues concerning the home-buyers. While the regulatory body has a record of passing
judgments on 2,921 cases, only 232 home-buyers benefited from the orders passed by the
authority. So far, RERA has received nearly 6,000 complaints, majorly from home-buyers.
________________________________________________________________Newspaper/ Online Live Mint (Online)
Date July 20, 2021
Link https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/rents-decline-vacancies-
rise-in-it-hubs-11626718690029.html
Rents decline, vacancies rise in IT hubs
Bengaluru has seen a sharp drop in rents over the past year.
The annual rent escalation of around 5-10% has also been skipped due to the ongoing covid-
19 pandemic
Sivaram S. is struggling with a continuous decline in tenants at his multi-storey apartment
complex in Bengaluru’s Electronic City, roughly 2km from Infosys Ltd’s sprawling campus and
close to the offices of many other IT companies.
Nearly 80% of the inmates, largely young, single professionals, went back to their home towns
during the first wave of the pandemic last year to save on rentals, with some returning only earlier
this year. The deadly second wave again led to a rise in vacancies in his building.
“I haven’t been able to increase rent in nearly 1.5 years. The second wave has had a severe
impact, with some tenants and their families back home getting infected. Most IT companies have
allowed work from home indefinitely and people are not in a hurry to return to Bengaluru," he
said.
If the situation does not improve in the next 2-3 months, Sivaram plans to partner a branded co-
living firm on a revenue-share basis.
India’s rental housing market, particularly in IT-driven cities such as Bengaluru and Pune, is
seeing increased vacancies at apartment complexes and decline in rents as companies extended
the work-from-anywhere option after the second wave. While rents have plateaued in most cities,
Bengaluru has seen the sharpest drop of 10-20% in the past year.
Landlords have also been forced to skip the annual rent escalation practice, of around 5-10%, due
to the ongoing pandemic.Saurabh Garg, co-founder and chief business officer, Nobroker.in, said the second wave has impacted the rental market, which had made some recovery during January and February. “Single professionals-led accommodation in Bengaluru and Pune has been more impacted compared to Delhi-NCR and Mumbai, which have been relatively stable. The demand collapse and rise in vacancies in co-living and paying guest facilities and one-bedroom apartments, largely meant for singles, has been huge. The drop in demand in the family segment occupying 2-3 BHKs has been much less this time around," Garg said. The woes of the rental residential market interestingly coincided with a sharp demand for buying homes in the past year, until the second wave. Fence-sitters, with job security, took advantage of low home loan rates, builder discounts and stamp duty waivers in some states. “The extended work-from-home option due to the second wave has once again put pressure on the residential rental market. Just when we thought the situation was improving and tenants were looking to return, the signs of the second wave deterred them. Vacancies in housing societies have also risen significantly—even in those which remained fully-occupied during the pre-covid period," said Anuj Puri, chairman, Anarock Property Consultants. A recent report by 99acres.com said the rental landscape received a significant blow yet again as the resurgence of covid-19 delayed opening of offices and colleges by at least two quarters. “Any growth in the segment is unlikely until these open up," it said. Nobroker’s Garg said that demand has started coming back but it will take another quarter. “We are also seeing a lot of owners, who didnt use online platforms earlier, listing their properties and coming online to use tools like virtual toors to bring in tenants," he said. Puri said rentals dipped by at least 10-20% across several micro-markets in Bengaluru or even up to 40% in others depending on the property, facilities on offer etc. “The rental market may remain somewhat subdued for another quarter or more, depending on how soon companies begin to open office for their employees. As of now, especially in Bengaluru, most IT companies are still pursuing the WFH option and may maintain status quo till the end of the year. The anticipation of the third wave in the coming months is also deterring
several tenants from returning to their city of work as of now. Only once we see offices resume – hopefully by early next year – we may see the rental market pick some momentum," Puri added. ____________________________________________________________________________________
Newspaper/ Online Live Mint (Online)
Date July 20, 2021
https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/regulatory/gujarat-
Link government-to-introduce-new-tenancy-act-for-rented-
properties/84574207
Gujarat government to introduce new tenancy act for rented
properties
Although the new act will be structured to ensure impartiality to both owners and tenants
of properties, the new act is expected to shield property owners from unwarranted
harassment by tenants.
Adopting the government of India's Model Tenancy Act 2021, the Gujarat government plans to
introduce a new tenancy act for the state to replace the Bombay (now Gujarat) Rents, Hotel and
Lodging House Rates Control Act, 1947.
Although the new act will be structured to ensure impartiality to both owners and tenants of
properties, the new act is expected to shield property owners from unwarranted harassment by
tenants.The new law is expected to facilitate the growth of rented properties in the state. The existing laws give less protection to owners, who are apprehensive of renting out properties as they fear harassment by tenants who do not vacate the premises. The new act will have a provision to establish a state-level authority to regulate the rented property market. A source privy to the development said the state government has decided to replace The Bombay (now Gujarat) Rents, Hotel and Lodging House Rates Control Act, 1947, with a new tenancy act on the lines of the model act by the government of India. "The state government is likely to adopt the model act with no or minimal changes during the coming monsoon session of the state assembly," sources said. The model tenancy act makes it mandatory for the landlord and tenant to sign a written agreement which specifies the rent, period of tenancy and other related terms. The state government will establish a body on the lines of RERA (Real Estate Regulation Authority) to regulate all rented property transactions. The model act recommends that the security deposit be capped at two months' rent for residential premises and six months' rent for non-residential (commercial and industrial) premises. The new act will have a provision on sub-letting of properties. ________________________________________________________________
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