How to Pay Off Your Home Loan Faster

http://profit.ndtv.com/news/your-money/article-how-to-pay-off-your-home-loan-faster-680354

How to Pay Off Your Home Loan Faster Though it's a great feeling to be a homeowner, paying a fat portion of your salary towards the EMI payment is not the happiest feeling. And to to keep paying this sum of money for a period of 10-15 years (the tenure of your home loan) may feel exasperating, as the best part of your youth is over by then. Besides, the interest rate you pay the lender may actually end up making the repayment amount bigger than the principal amount you have borrowed. What then is the solution? The solution is prepayment of your mortgage in easy and simple steps to lighten your debt burden and save money in the long run.

Till about a couple of years back, one had reason to be worried about the prepayment of one's home loan because of the costs involved. But that does not hold true any longer, with the RBI having directed banks and financial institutions to do away with any penalties on floating rate home loans.

This directive from the apex bank came in the monetary policy announcement in June 2012.But if you still think that prepayment of your mortgage is an impossible feat given the fact that you are barely managing your other fixed expenses, read on to find out how it may not be such a far fetched possibility after all.

1. Take a look at your financial plan
Before you jump the gun and panic thinking that you must pay off your home loan as soon as you can or at least think about a refinance option for your home loan, take a closer look at your financial plan. See the number of investments you have and the returns they are yielding. Once you are assured that your investments are taking care of your short, medium and long term financial goals, you can direct the surplus you have towards the prepayment of your home loan. The thing to remember here is that you should not dip into your emergency fund or compromise with your financial goals to make this prepayment.

2. Tweak your EMI structure
The thought of part payment of EMI may seem intimidating to you, because it is not possible for you to make a full payment of an EMI altogether. But have you considered the possibility of making a slightly higher EMI payment? Even a small amount of Rs 1,000 to 2,000 will go towards towards the repayment of the principal amount of your loan. As your principal comes down, so does your interest amount and you end up reducing your tenure by at least 1-2 years.

3. Make partial payments whenever possible
Most large banks allow their home loan customers to make N-number of partial payments in a year (However some banks may have a limit of the number of partial payments one can make in a year, so make sure you check with your lender about this provision upfront) . So whenever you have a festival related bonus or a performance bonus coming in, use it for the part payment of your home loan, instead of buying that expensive LED television set or the latest iPhone in the market. While, you may have to make certain compromises, you will end up saving a lot of money in the long run.

4. Cut your costs and live below your means for the first few years Having a home loan to pay off is a great financial burden, but there is nothing that matches up to the satisfaction of having a roof over your head. Let this be your motivation to cut corners wherever you can and direct the money saved towards the prepayment of your home loan. You may have to let go off the annual vacation in a foreign location for the first few years of your mortgage tenure, but having the peace of mind will be a much bigger incentive.

5. Get the family involved
You may be the main breadwinner of the family and the onus may be on you to manage the finances, but when it comes to the mortgage, make your family as responsible as you are. Make them as involved in the prepayment process as you are. They may not be able to pitch in with the extra money, but they can sure think up some interesting means of spending quality time together. A vacation in a place that is closer to home or doing up the kid's room with their favourite furnishings could save money and give them as much joy!

By using these simple yet effective strategies you can actually end up saving a lot of money and having the full ownership of your home much before your tenure ends.

Disclaimer: All information in this article has been provided by Creditvidya.com and NDTV Profit is not responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the same.

Why does everybody love to hate the Indian real estate sector?

http://m.indiatvnews.com/business/india/why-does-everybody-love-to-hate-the-indian-real-estate-sector--15644.html

  Why does everybody love to hate the Indian real estate sector?
New Delhi: Over the years, Indian real estate has been a seemingly limitless source of negative hype. Scams, controversies, rumblings about delayed projects, agitations by consumers and debates about the over/under-regulation of the real estate sector have all provided ready cannon fodder for countless publications, internet forums and assorted activists. In fact, the real estate sector has drawn more media flak and outrage than any other industry in India.

This tempts the question – why is Indian real estate a sector that everyone loves to hate? It is a valid question, and one that many corporate heads, industrialists and big-ticket investors have asked me during my business travels abroad. The question – or variants of it - is sometimes asked in an amused and otherwise unconcerned manner, but more often with real interest tinged with worry. After all, almost everyone with a healthy investor instinct has or intends to have a piece of the massive Indian growth story, and any kind of participation in it invariably involves real estate.

There is no easy answer to this question, which is in any case a rather unfair one to begin with. Nevertheless, the generalized negativity about the Indian real estate sector that has been created in the public mind is a reality.

I usually counter the question with another question – “What have you read or heard about it that makes you think so?” My intention is not to be evasive, but to understand whether the question comes from a real understanding of the Indian real estate industry and its complexities, or whether it just a knee-jerk reaction to yet another hyped-up media report. Very often, the questioner is genuinely informed and has been following media stories about the sector quite closely, but no longer knows what to believe.

This is understandable, and I invariably ask my questioners if they have enough time for a detailed answer. After all, this confusion is the result of a war of opinion that has been waged against the Indian real estate sector for quite a while. The controversy is made even more complex by the fact that it is being actively encouraged by people who have no interest in presenting a more realistic picture of the Indian real estate industry.

What lies beneath

Real estate is something that lives and breathes at the very core of every Indian’s being, not least of all because it is considered the most important manifestation of success, wealth and power. Unfortunately, the fact that real estate transmits such signals in India has made it an object of not only admiration and desire, but also of something close to fear. While fear is invariably the result of a lack of understanding, it is nonetheless a very real force on the ground.

Naturally, any environment involving fear also needs villains. It is almost axiomatic that Indian real estate developers are the designated ‘bad guys’ – the greedy perpetrators of crimes against the helpless common man, wielding their wealth and political clout with impunity, with the sole intention of turning a profit and furthering their own agenda.

Such a stage-setting lends itself rather well to a protracted public drama involving the tantalizing element of good battling evil; of victims versus perpetrators. The epic battle of the Mahabharata, as it were, translated into present-day brick and mortar. Such a drama is readily absorbed by Indians almost by default, but is more damaging is the fact that it is also exotically interesting to foreign palates.

Market watchers in countries that India has or is seeking to have economic ties cannot but notice the bad press that Indian real estate is getting. This is how the unfair and wildly inaccurate blacks and whites of the Indian condition as depicted by ‘Slumdog Millionaire’, become superimposed on an industry which is - if fact be told - the backbone of the country’s economy.

If we take a closer look at Indian real estate today, there is no escaping how important it is:

* The Indian real estate sector generates employment for about 7.6 million people across the country last year * Real estate is the most single-important consideration for any foreign company eyeing Indian shores to launch operations and create countless more jobs * Real estate’s overall contribution to India’s GDP was estimated at about 6% in 2013 * Real estate constantly cross-fertilizes other industries like cement, steel, paint, chemicals, tiles, fixtures and fittings

The scams that have so seriously impacted the image and credibility of Indian real estate in the past were not the result of a unified developer nexus, but the work of individual players whose crimes have now been attributed to the industry at large. Should we not also consider how some of India’s biggest real estate developers took incredible risks to open up entire new cities to add to the country’s growth?

The urbanization that is the focal point of India’s economic growth hinges on the growth of its cities, and therefore on the products that real estate developers deliver. Wherever we see new cities rise from obscurity into prominence, there are developers restructuring skylines, building homes for population and office spaces for them to work in.

No Indian’s heart can help but swell with pride as they perceive a city like Mumbai, Gurgaon or Bangalore from the air as their planes prepare to land there. What gorgeous evidence of progress is displayed in the tapestry of skyscrapers jostling each other for space, road networks spreading out to connect new areas to existing ones, and office and manufacturing complexes providing the economic nerve-centres.

This is the work of real estate developers, but their contributions towards weaving the very fabric of our cities is overshadowed by the specter of antipathy that has been generated against the entire real estate sector. We must try to understand the basis for this antipathy before we can explain it.

At the end of the day, real estate is a business like any other, and no industry can claim to be free of flaws and anomalies. Almost every day, we hear about delayed projects, deviations from project quality and configurations, and additional payments being charged for changes in apartment areas. We read about how real estate is the first port of call for politicians looking to off-load their unaccounted funds, about developers who have launched projects on land which has not been cleared for development, and how others have been pulled up for flouting FSI and environmental norms.

Such things do occur, and the developers who practice business in such a manner must be held responsible and brought to book. However, these developers do not represent the industry as a whole – they are anomalies that must be eradicated, not symptoms of an industry-spanning pandemic of manipulation and wrongdoing.

A closer look at project delays

Most of the extensively-reported incidents of delayed project completion are often not the result of malpractice, but of a flawed regulatory environment. It is true that some unscrupulous smaller developers intentionally undertake a slower pace of construction if sales in the project are sluggish or a larger part of the project is unsold. However, in most of the cases being touted as evidence of a corrupt industry, delays have happened because the authorities have not granted timely approvals, and the morass of bureaucratic red tape that developers have to navigate for every project.

Before a project is officially launched on the market and offered to buyers, there are myriad permissions that a developer needs to obtain from the state and central agencies and ministries. This does not only lead to delays, but also cost escalations.

Like in any other business, the longer raw material is held, the higher is the holding cost – which, in addition to interest costs in case of borrowed funds, causes an increase in the overall price of the finished product. In real estate, land is the basic raw material for development, with construction materials being the variable costs. The longer a developer has to hold his land without getting any receipts through the sale of proposed apartments, the higher his project costs escalate.

The time consumed in obtaining all approvals adds to the total time expended in completing and delivering the project as per the promised times. Obtaining the 57-odd permissions to begin construction of a project can take as much as two years. During this time, the cost of acquisition or even just holding the land for a project rises. Builders already have to cover external and internal development charges, license costs and often charges for change of land use from various departments, which have also risen. Cost of construction has gone up by more than 35%, as well.

Again, if we consider changes in the apartment area or unexpected price increases after consumers have purchased properties from a developer, these too often occur because changes in project plans were required by the authorities before they issue an approval. There are many examples of how abrupt changes in regulations governing real estate development have worked against both developers and real estate buyers.

To cite just one – a couple of years ago, there were revisions made in the DCR regulations for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region which simultaneously road-blocked innumerable projects and added to overall development costs by about 15%, including the fungible premium builders had to pay for the additional 35% FSI option. The fact that this resulted in a cumulative 20% hike in construction cost and led to price increases across most projects in MMR is just one aspect of the story.

The other fallout was that developers had to re-work the specifications of their upcoming as well as on-going unapproved projects, which led to significant project delays. Apart from an exacerbated cash-crunch, developers also had to contend with the ire of their buyers.

Likewise, while certain instances of faulty land acquisition or title disputes are endemic to fly-by-night operators, it is also true that cases such as in the Noida Extension, land acquisition issues have been legally established to be the fault of the involved authorities. But as always, the blame has been conveniently laid at the feet of a vaguely-defined builder nexus.

The Indian real estate sector is changing

The ugly caricature of Indian real estate as an industry controlled by corrupt despots is naive, hopelessly outdated and extremely damaging to the country’s global image as a thriving economic dynamo. The fly-by-night players who were responsible for this image are still around, but their ranks are rapidly decreasing. In the meantime, it makes absolutely no sense to paint every real estate developer with the same brush. Most large listed real estate developers in India today have wholeheartedly embraced the mantra of complete transparency.

They are selling their products on the basis of declared carpet area, firmly refuse any hint of black money monies as part of their sales transactions, and do everything in their power to deliver their products on time. They are also fighting hard to correct the structural deficiencies of the overall regulatory system – not only because their businesses are suffering on account of conflicting rules and regulations, but because they are being held accountable for factors which are beyond their control. They take their roles as industry stakeholders very seriously, and are among the loudest voices in the outcry for positive change at a policy and regulatory level.

Common to all these players is a vision of Indian real estate as a level playing field in which the business of real estate development and consumption can be carried out in a rational, transparent and uniformly beneficial manner.

This is a long and detailed counter-argument to offer to a simple question – why does everyone love to hate Indian real estate? And for this reason, I only answer it if the question comes from someone who is willing to accept a balanced response, no matter how long it takes to give. (Anuj Puri is Chairman & Country Head at JLL India

PCMC chapter in Punes real estate growth story

http://m.moneycontrol.com/news/real-estate/pcmc-chapterpunes-real-estate-growth-story_1226222.html PCMC chapter in Punes real estate growth story

Arvind Jain Pride Group

When we look at Pune's real estate market, we see ample justification for it having emerged as one of India's most aspired-for residential property investment destinations today. Its advantageous connectivity to Mumbai is only the tip of the iceberg, though this fact did play a big role initially.

Pune also has an unmatched economic profile, with a huge number of multinational companies and industries active in and around the city. Pune's economy is significantly driven by foreign business, and this fact has resulted in the city becoming an independent economic microcosm that no longer depends on Mumbai - or, for that matter, any other city.

The jobs being created by the multitude of large domestic and global industries have made Pune one of the most important employment markets in India - and employment drives demand for real estate. This dynamic has resulted in a quantum boom in real estate development.

Without a doubt, Pune's urban growth has been phenomenal, and each year sees more and more people migrating into the city from all over India. The fact that Pune's population is growing so rapidly has made it necessary for new infrastructure to be put in constantly. However, even though we are seeing constant infrastructure upgrades in the city, the fact is that the Pune Municipal Corporation has been largely unable to meet the pressing requirements for better roads, parking, public transport or electricity and water supply.

This is indeed worrisome, as Pune will expand dramatically over the coming years, both geographically and in scope. One of the most important aspects that will need to be looked at is inter and intra-city road connectivity. Pune's many residential and commercial nodes need to be much better connected, and its connectivity to other key must also be upgraded cities. The work at hand includes the construction of new roads and widening of existing roads,building more flyovers and subways to reduce traffic congestion, and more reliable public transport.

In this scenario, the upcoming 90-meter wide Ring Road that will provide connectivity between the Pune Municipal Corporation and the neighbouring Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) is an infrastructure initiative which will make a huge difference. But more than connectivity, the manner in which the Ring Road has been planned once again highlights how important PCMC has become in the overall Pune growth story.

The PCMC presents a picture of urbanization which is very different from that of Pune. PCMC has been globally acclaimed for its accent on planning and infrastructure. As a municipal corporation, it has won multiple important awards on various counts. In terms of its real estate sector, it is by far the hottest chapter in Pune real estate's growth story, thanks to its thriving industrial and automobile manufacturing belt.

In fact, the MIDC area in PCMC is a veritable Who's Who of massive multinational and domestic companies that are generating a tremendous number of jobs each year, and thereby driving the demand for homes in areas which provide ready access to these workplace hubs.

Among the most promising locations under PCMC's purview, areas such as Charholi enjoy the best of both worlds. Located on the border of the Pune Municipal Corporation and PCMC, this area benefits equally from the Bhosari-Chakan industrial belt and the Hinjewadi IT hub. It is also provides superlative access to important locations in the Pune Municipal Corporation such as the Pune Airport, the entire Nagar Road belt, Kalyaninagar and Koregaon Park.

It is interesting to note how the distance between the PMC and PCMC has shrunk over the years, even as Pune is growing exponentially. The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation is no longer an outlying sister city but is now, for all practical purposes, considered as partand parcel of Pune's larger landscape. As such, there is a high level of combined, symbiotic growth which will put Pune in an even stronger position in terms of attracting investments into its real estate sector in the future.

Real estate is taxed heavily and buyer ends up paying more

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/141116/nation-current-affairs/article/real-estate-taxed-heavily-and-buyer-ends-paying-more

  Real estate is taxed heavily and buyer ends up paying more DC | Suresh Hari | November 16, 2014, 06.11 am IST About six per cent of the total value of the property is collected by the government, merely for registering the details! It should instead come up with another model to fix stamp duty and registration charges.

The government has made an indisputable faux pas with its decision to hike guidance value. It should not have been done at all.

While the authorities are right in saying it will crack down on black money, why is the guidance value being used as a tool to increase stamp duty? All the government is thinking of is increasing its own revenue, but it has chosen a poor way of doing it.

What is the value of the services rendered during registration? It is mere record keeping work. The government doesn't authenticate or judge quality or verify documents.

About six per cent of the total value of the property is collected by the government, merely for registering the details! It should instead come up with another model to fix stamp duty and registration charges.

The bottomline here is that the customer suffers. Real estate is taxed heavily and the buyer ends up paying about 40 per cent of the property value in taxes! You pay a higher tax if you pick an apartment on a higher floor, because this is more expensive to purchase.

Why does a builder hike the rate by the floor? Simply because construction costs go up with the height of the building. The builder isn't necessarily collecting a higher profit by charging more.

Amenities like a clubhouse, pool and gym are also supposed to be 'adding value'. Why is that a mark for authentication? Does the government then declare these buildings five-star accommodations?

They also have a new system of identifying projects. For instance, if I am developing a property that I launch at 'x' price, it is listed before it is complete.

So the customer is paying x times three as stamp duty. We have been asking the government not to list projects that are incomplete, but have had no success. What we really need is an external agency to determine the guidance value of a property.

Guidance value, is in essence, a tool of information for the common man, to help him understand the price prevailing in a certain area.

It's also a tool for the revenue department, through which it can keep a watch on registration and black money. But why levy stamp duty? Yes, we want the process to be clean and transparent, and welcome any initiative to cut down on black money, but this is hardly the way to go about it.

The value also goes up with houses that face parks, lakes, the road or that are near a temple. The guidance value is a good indicator of these fluctuations and is normally fixed at about 70 per cent of the market rate.

As far as a builder is concerned, land is the basic raw material, so hiking the rates is disastrous for real estate. To add to this, construction costs are also constantly going up. So where does that leave the builders?

The government claims that construction is a priority sector, but it certainly isn't treated that way. There is no way they can achieve housing for all by 2020 at this rate. In fact, it won't be done even in 2080.

Hiking guidance value will most likely cause a slump. The market is slowly picking up but that will slow down, partly because of the rise in construction costs.

The government has sent a wrong signal to the market, creating an artificial bubble that will lead to inflationary pressure. The builders will bounce back, but can we say the same for the common man?

—The writer is secretary, CREDAI

Example A Builder purchased 5guntha land in Pune Gov.Ready reckoner is 20Lakh/guntha for land and 5100/sq ft for flat Economics of Gov.
Land purchase stamp duty+ registration + LBT
Is 7% =7,00,000/-
I sanctioned plan
Cost is Rs175/sq ft for development charges + LBT+other cost+noc + under table which is
=5000sq. ft*Rs175 =875000/-
Builder started booking and did agreement of flats
Customer paid stamp duty+registration + LBT
=5000sq. ft*Rs5100*7% =1785000
Addition
1% vat+3.09 service tax
=1042000/-
Govt Makes Rs.44,00,000/- from 5 guntha in Pune
Wait
Builder had already paid Rs.31,00,000/-
Income tax for land purchase amount of 1 Cr for white transaction
Wait
Who sold land to me paid
Rs.20,00,000/- for capital gain to Gov.
All in this process after construction work completed
Builder earned profit from this construction site was Rs.45,00,000/- and paid income tax for this project Was Rs.15,00,000/-
Final economic result of 5Guntha land transaction is
Builder Earned Rs.30,00,000/- and
Government earned Rs. 1,10,00,000/- ( Rs. One Crore Ten Lakh only) from 5 guntha land which’s cost was One crore which was developed by Builder Final result In public mind
Builders are looting People.
In democracy, Govenment Is selected by people. This is economics of current situation

Wait Height of all In all abovesaid transaction construction cost is not included in which service tax, VAT, sales tax etc. Has to be paid to Government

Maharashtra govt to simplify deemed conveyance for housing societies

http://wap.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/maha-govt-to-simplify-deemed-conveyance-for-housing-societies-114111300755_1.html Maharashtra govt to simplify deemed conveyance for housing societies

Maharashtra government will simplify the 'Deemed Conveyance' procedures for convenience of the co-operative housing societies in the state.

"To protect the interest of the depositors in the co-operative credit societies and co-operative banks in the state, the Government will come out with a long term policy within the next three months," Governor C Vidyasagar Rao said in his address to the state legislature here yesterday.

Speaking on wide range of topics, the Governor said that after decontrol of sugar by the Central Government, it is being procured through open market for the public distribution system.

He said the state government will undertake long term measures to mitigate the adverse impacts of drought, specially in areas which are chronically drought prone.

The Water Policy will be reviewed keeping in mind the developments in Agriculture, Industries and the need of drinking water, he said.

Efficient fiscal planning based on completion of 75% of the completed projects, particularly in districts with backlog, and an all out effort to complete 50% of incomplete projects, including distribution systems by 2019 shall be the government's priority, he said.

Other top priority includes, efforts towards forest and wild life sanctuaries conservation. Conservation of tigers, with Nagpur as Tiger Capital of India, rehabilitation of villagers from tiger reserves and promotion of wild life tourism around Tiger Reserves in Vidarbha and Sahyadri regions.

"In view of the vision of Prime Minister to develop hundred smart cities in the country, my Government will develop maximum smart cities in the State in the next five years," he said.

On transportation, he said to improve mass transportation in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, an integrated approach will be adopted which will include a network of roads, waterways, metros and mono rails.

In order to lessen the burden on the existing rail and road transport systems, the government will create basic infrastructure and amenities to promote Water Transport Projects on the East and West coasts of Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Konkan region.

The objective of 'Housing for all: By 2022' will be achieved through large scale construction of affordable houses through Government and semi-Government agencies like MHADA, MMRDA, CIDCO and Nagpur Improvement Trust, he said.

The ‘Smart’ Option

http://www.businessworld.in/news/business/infrastructure/the-%E2%80%98smart%E2%80%99-option/1619064/page-1.html

 The ‘Smart’ Option
Building happy, futuristic cities is the flavour of the season. Earlier, polluted, over-crowded cities were seen as India’s ugly face; something nobody was doing anything about. Now, cities are ‘in’; urban India is where people are moving to. Call it the Modi-effect or a realisation that has come late, but governments at the Centre and the states are now tripping over themselves to announce new initiatives and reforms.

It cannot be otherwise. Today, 35 per cent of the country’s 1.2 billion people live in urban agglomerations. By 2050, half of India will be living in cities and towns. Meanwhile, neglect and lack of comprehensive civic programmes have made existing cities cesspools of deprivation. Nearly 45 per cent of Mumbai lives in slums, while for Kolkata and Chennai the figure is close to 30 per cent.

So when the Narendra Modi government unveiled its first budget proposals in July this year, it grabbed the bull by the horns. Finance minister (FM) Arun Jaitley put building homes and cities at the top of the development agenda, while Prime Minister Modi said ‘housing for all’ was not just a slogan but an achievable target by the year 2022. Simultaneously, the FM announced that the government was committed to building 100 ‘smart’ cities, and allocated Rs 7,060 crore for initiating the process. Everybody knew this was not enough to even set up the drawing boards for planning the new cities. So where is the money going to come from?

THE TOP 10 CITIES IN 2014

DELHI
MUMBAI
GURGAON
NOIDA
CHENNAI
HYDERABAD
BANGALORE
KOLKATA
PUNE
AHMEDABAD

Overseas investment is part of the answer. To attract money to construction and realty, the Union Cabinet has now approved dropping the minimum 10-hectare requirement for serviced housing plots and reducing the minimum floor area for FDI-compliant projects from 50,000 sq. metres to 20,000 sq. metres. The new norms also halved the minimum FDI requirement to $5 million from $10 million earlier. Further, the condition of a three-year lock-in period for developers of FDI-compliant projects has been dropped, making exits for foreign investors easier.

Beyond the hype though, little is known about ‘smart’ cities and where they are to come up. ‘Smart’ cities is a term used by European urban planners to define technologically advanced urban communities that use gadgetry to make life comfortable and transportation seamless and easy. Metropolitan commissioner for Mumbai, U.P.S. Madan, says for him turning the posh corporate enclave of Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) into a ‘smart’ city meant complete wi-fi coverage, electronic display of parking, intelligent signalling systems and a hi-tech security network with CCTV coverage to protect the community.

Others have defined ‘smart’ cities more comprehensively based on international experience stretching from Copenhagen to Cape Town and from San Francisco to Singapore. Anshuman Magazine, chairman and managing director of realty broker CBRE South Asia, flags a few important pointers: scientific governance at the municipal level; holistic urban planning; involving the urban citizen; smart technology; integrating green technology with human development; and addressing challenges of informal urban settlements.

What is also becoming clear is that the ‘smart’ cities the government has in mind will be new, greenfield creations, probably satellite towns of larger cities rather than re-engineered versions of decrepit metropolises. The government has announced a few — Ponneri in Tamil Nadu, Krishnapatnam in Seemandhra, Tumkur in Karnataka, Varanasi in UP, and the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT). An initial concept note prepared by the Union Ministry of Urban Development has estimated the project development cost over 20 years to be around Rs 6.86 lakh crore, of which it proposes to earn Rs 39,000 crore from a slew of environmental and green taxes.

Fast-tracking infra projects will give good signal: P Hinduja

http://m.economictimes.com/news/economy/infrastructure/fast-tracking-infra-projects-will-give-good-signal-p-hinduja/articleshow/45086329.cms Fast-tracking infra projects will give good signal: P Hinduja
NEW DELHI: With infrastructure holding the key to India's economic recovery, government should fast-track projects in this sector to send positive signals to investors, noted industrialist Prakash Hinduja has said.

A $250 billion investment is needed just to boost basic urban infrastructure to get the lumbering economy to grow faster.

Hinduja, Chairman of the Hinduja Group of Companies in Europe, said there is also a need to concentrate on enhancing the India's technological and manufacturing prowess.

"Programmes on infrastructure, many projects are not moving. Foreigners have invested in infrastructure... If the government works on them and puts them on fast track, this will give a good signal to the world," Hinduja told PTI.

Praising the efforts of the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said government's track record in the last 5 months has generated a positive sentiment among the global business community.

"The way government has been moving in these 5 months gives a good signal to the world. Stock market has gone up. Different projects are coming in. Investments are coming from abroad. In these 5 months so much movement has happened. It gives a proper feel that change is happening," he added.

Government has already made revamping the infrastructure sector in the country as its top priority with Modi chairing a high-level meeting earlier this month to review the progress on inter-linking connectivity-related infrastructure sectors.

Reviewing work in connectivity-linked infrastructure sectors, Modi has emphasised on faster inter-ministerial coordination and resolution of issues and laid stress on achieving visible results in clear time frames.

He has also directed strict monitoring of projects, based on monthly completion of targets.
Last month, stressing on the need to scale up urban infrastructure, Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said the country needs to invest an estimated $250 billion over next 20 years for basic urban infrastructure like roads, transport and water supply.

Analysts say that infrastructure in India is poised for an explosive growth. Consultancy firm PwC in a report has said India's share of the overall Asia-Pacific infrastructure market is expected to continue to grow, reaching around 12.5 per cent or $6.6 trillion by 2025.

Besides infrastructure, Hinduja said, the government also needs to concentrate on developing the technological and manufacturing potential of the country.

He added: "The most important issue for India is technology and manufacturing. Like 'Make In India' is a good concept, but how to make that happen. You need technology. So slogan is that technology is top priority to be brought into the country where we are able to learn the skills and learn other programmes."

Sent from my iPhone

पुण्यात गृहप्रकल्पासाठी "अच्छे दिन'

पुण्यात गृहप्रकल्पासाठी "अच्छे दिन' http://epaper1.esakal.com/5Nov2014/Enlarge/PuneCity/page4.htm
पुणे - दिल्ली, अहमदाबाद, बंगळुरू, मुंबई यांसारख्या महानगरांतील घरे बांधण्याचा वेग कमी होत असताना पुण्यातील गृहबांधणी मात्र चांगलीच वाढली आहे. देशात कोलकत्यातील घरबांधणीचा वेग गतवर्षीच्या तुलनेत सर्वाधिक 28 टक्के होता, तर पुण्यात तो दुसऱ्या क्रमांकाचा म्हणजे अठरा टक्के होता.

कुशमन ऍण्ड वेकफिल्ड या जागतिक स्तरावरील संस्थेने याबाबत पाहणी केली असून दिल्ली, अहमदाबाद, बंगळुरू, मुंबई यांसारख्या महानगरांमध्ये अशा प्रकल्पाची संख्या गेल्या वर्षीच्या तुलनेत घटली असल्याचे त्यात आढळून आले. देशामध्ये 166 नवीन गृहप्रकल्प गेल्या तिमाहीत सुरू झाले असले तरीही परवडणाऱ्या घरांच्या प्रकल्पात मागील वर्षीच्या (जुलै- सप्टेंबर 2013) तुलनेत यंदा 52 टक्‍क्‍यांनी घट झाल्याचे या पाहणी अहवालात नमूद केले आहे.

कुशमन ऍण्ड वेकफिल्ड ही जागतिक स्तरावर बांधकाम क्षेत्रात सल्लागार म्हणून काम करणारी संस्था आहे. या संस्थेतर्फे भारतातील आठ शहरांमध्ये जुलै- सप्टेंबर या तिमाहीत नव्याने बांधण्यात येणाऱ्या गृहप्रकल्पांची पाहणी करण्यात आली. या शहरांमध्ये यंदाच्या तिमाहीत 166 गृहप्रकल्प हाती घेतल्याचे दिसून आले. चेन्नईमध्ये सर्वाधिक 45 प्रकल्प तर अहमदाबादमध्ये सर्वांत कमी म्हणजे पाच प्रकल्पांची पायाभरणी यंदा झाली. या अहवालानुसार, देशातील या शहरांमध्ये मागील वर्षी (जुलै- सप्टें 2013) 43 हजार 800 सदनिकांचे प्रकल्प हाती घेतले होते. त्या तुलनेत यंदा 34 हजार 600 सदनिकांचे प्रकल्प उभारण्यात येत आहेत. यंदा 400 लक्‍झरीस्‌ सदनिकांचे प्रकल्प देशात उभारले जात आहेत. परवडणाऱ्या घरांची संख्या 9 हजार 800 वरुन 4 हजार 700 म्हणजेच 52 टक्‍क्‍यांनी घसरली आहे.

Govt to develop dry port in Pimpri Chinchwad

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Govt-to-develop-dry-port-in-Pimpri-Chinchwad/articleshow/45008645.cms

Govt to develop dry port in Pimpri Chinchwad

PUNE: The Centre will develop a dry port in Pimpri Chinchwad to enable export, Nitin Gadkari, Union minister for road transport and highways, said on Saturday.

Gadkari was speaking after inaugurating the Institute of Driving Training and Research, developed by Central Institute of Road Transport (CIRT) and Tata Motors on a public-private partnership basis.

The minister said the roads and ports in the country are congested and there was a need to develop inland transport. "Inland transport forms 20% of the total traffic in China, while it is only 0.5% in India. If tourism is to be promoted, there is need to develop inland transport," he said.

Gadkari said the CIRT must set up a centre here wherein research can be conducted in transport, automobiles, pollution control norms and other aspects meeting international standards. "We will provide all the funds needed for setting it up. Small models of the driving training institute should be set up in villages on a public-private partnership basis to train drivers and reduce accidents," he said.

The Union government will also encourage state governments to develop bus ports on public-private partnership basis to give facilities similar to those at airports to passengers. Hotels, restaurants, malls and other facilities at these bus ports will also generate employment, he said adding that the Union government will also give subsidy for gap funding to make them viable.

Gadkari said the Centre has prepared a draft suggesting changes in the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 and will make efforts to get it passed in the Parliament in the winter session. He said that negligence by drivers was responsible for the maximum number of road accidents, but there is also a need to improve roads and give proper training to drivers to reduce accidents.

The country will need around 4.7 crore skilled drivers by 2020. These drivers can also get jobs abroad, he added. Sent from my iPad

Reserves ! Savings

http://www.arthayantra.com/latest-blogs/item/379-three-out-of-four-indians-would-go-bankrupt.html
Three out of four indians would go bankrupt

Mr. Horace Mann said ‘There is nothing as costly as ignorance’. We follow an age old habit of ignoring the consequences of an emergency in our life. The practice of maintaining emergency fund is not in the highest priority list amongst the most of the professionals. ArthaYantra conducted a research on 2000+ working professionals across various cities of India covering various age demographics, some alarming results came out which expose the preparedness of these professionals to meet an emergency in their life. An emergency is the risk caused due to death/disability, risk of health or loss of job.

Entry Level Professionals

When it comes to preparedness for an emergency, Entry Level professional fared surprisingly low. As high as 85.6% of professionals do not have enough savings for emergencies or have inadequate liquid reserves.

The entry level professional are generally those who have less than 6 years of working experience, mostly single with less financial burden. But considering the future aspects, it is very important for them to start having adequate reserves.

Mid - Level Professionals

The midlevel professionals are categorized as young family with mortgages to pay and some immediate financial requirement. This category ideally should have a sufficient reserves as the cash requirement are short term and immediate. But they fall short when it comes to preparedness for emergencies. Research shows that 61.60% percent do not have proper surplus to meet any future contingencies.

Although the numbers as compared to the entry level professionals are slightly better, but looking at their future burden of responsibilities, they are the most vulnerable to such emergencies. It would be prudent for this group of professionals to proactively start building an emergency corpus to face any adverse situation in life.

Senior Level Professionals

When it comes to even higher level professional the picture doesn’t look good at all. Alarmingly, 70.83% of senior level professional do not have proper buffer for emergencies.

Consider middle age families with young kids in a situation where the sole breadwinner dies due to accident or loses the job or one of the family members get seriously ill. In such circumstances, they would be forced to either sell their assets like jewelry or even their homes. Personal loans, hand loans and credit cards start playing their role in addling on to their debts and hence disturbing their financial life completely.

Planning for future financial goals should never be done at the cost of ignorance of planning for an uncertain future event. One needs to make sure that the amount spent for securing such a risk is not treated as an unnecessary expense. Just like planning for retirement, planning for an uncertain job loss by setting aside a multiple of the monthly expenses is also very important. It would ensure the lifestyle remains unchanged even when the situation gets tough.

In personal finance there are three risks which are required to be covered.

Risk of death/disability

For a family where the earning member either dies or suffers disability which results in the loss of income, a proper insurance coverage against such situation would ensure adequate support to the dependents. The insurance coverage should only be in the form of a pure term plan or personal accident insurance policy.

Risk of health

With the change in lifestyle and increase in hospital expenses, one has to ensure that proper health insurance coverage is taken. This would cover the expenses in case of illness of any family member. Although there is coverage provided by the employer in some cases, this coverage is always not adequate. Hence one should not rely only on the coverage provided by the employer but also buy some coverage on their own to ensure the entire risk is adequately covered.

Risk of Job Loss/Major expenses

Planning for this kind of emergencies is the most ignored aspect of personal finance. Proper liquidity has to be maintained throughout so that any possibility of personal/hand loans and credit card usage is minimized. The ideal amount to be kept aside should be 3 to 6 months of monthly expenses.

Conclusion:

Before determining future financial aspirations, the savings for an emergency should be considered as the highest priority objective. Although there are other options that can be used in such contingencies like personal loans, hand loans, etc. but they would finally end up as a liability and hence will cause serious dents in surplus levels. Ignoring the savings for emergency can even cost future goals impacting the entire personal finance of the individual. It would be good to start saving with a disciplined approach to face any emergencies in life.

The Difference Between Real Estate Investment and Speculation

http://www.realtyplusmag.com/rpnewsletter/fullstory.asp?news_id=25988&cat_id=1
Property Pulse - the Realty Plus Newsletter

The Difference Between Real Estate Investment and Speculation
Arvind Jain,
Managing Director - Pride Group

In financial circles, the terms real estate investors and real estate speculators are used to refer to people who are buying property to make a profit, rather than for personal use. Though the two terms are often used interchangeably, they are not exactly the same. Nevertheless, even veteran financial specialists tend to get mixed up between the two.

In order to understand the difference between the real estate investor and the speculator, it is necessary to have a look at their methods of operation. A speculator predicts (or attempts to predict) the future return on any investment, and tends to be focused on short-term profits. He or she is often not very well informed on how the asset class of real estate works in a particular locality. Since speculators are usually also active in other investment segments such as stocks, bonds and bullion, they tend to use the same approach for all asset classes. The general approach is to buy low and sell high in a very short period of time.

A real estate investor, on the other hand, makes a careful analysis of the current market position, market trends and related affecting factors so as to make an informed and forward-looking investment decision. Investors are not looking at short-term profitability, which is in any case not a viable objective to operate from in Indian real estate. While investors also tend to invest into other asset classes, they do not do so without fully understanding them.

The next question about the difference between speculators and investors would pertain to the returns they get. While a speculator may make a lot of money if he makes an accurate guess, all such returns are short lived. If the real estate market is facing a short-term decline, the speculator stands to lose all his money because he is also investing only for the short term. A related facet of real estate speculation is that it is, for the above reasons, not suitable for rental income generation.

An investors, however, is looking at healthy, steady returns on capital appreciation and rental income. For this reason, he maintains a reasonable investment horizon which is tailored to the market dynamics of this particular asset class. This is important because Indian real estate is subject to cyclical ups and downs. A property cycle is dictated by various factors related to population growth, GDP, policy framework and sentiment, and boom and slump periods are more or less a given. Indian property investors aim to ride through the predictable ups and downs of this cycle. To do so they must remain invested for a period of at least 5-7 years.

Another reason why a longer investment horizon is important is that most investors look at buying properties at a lower rate at new locations in anticipation of the demand to come. For this to bear fruit, they must give these locations sufficient time to receive basic infrastructure and spillover demand from adjoining areas.

Long-term investments made by property investors provide stable and reliable returns. Investors are not prone to losing their money due to a receding market, because they have made a more careful analysis of the market condition and are willing to wait till their expected results are delivered as per the market data before they make their move.

As Robert Kiyosaki puts it ‘Real estate investing, even on a very small scale, remains a tried and true means of building an individual’s cash flow and wealth.’ Also, real estate is by far the ultimate asset since it not only grows in value but also performs as a rental income generator. But it must always be approached from an investor's perspective rather than from speculative objectives.

Realty demand looking up: Credai

http://wap.business-standard.com/article/companies/realty-demand-looking-up-credai-114082101416_1.html
Realty demand looking up: Credai

The Confederation of Real Estate Developers of India (Credai) said the property market across the metros in the country was looking up and it expects good absorption in residential property in the next 6-9 months.

"In my communication with some of the builders in the south, I was told the demand scenario has picked up in the last few months. Demand in the metros in the last 3-4 months was also encouraging, when compared with the same period last year," said C Shekar Reddy, national president of Credai.

According to him, the RBI's recent move to lend support to the affordable category by allowing banks to raise exposure through priority sector lending was a positive step for the realty sector.

He said the Rs 4,000-crore allocation to the National Housing Bank in the Budget for affordable housing would help developers leverage funds at a lower cost.

Reddy, however, said regulatory issues related to acquiring no-objection certificates (NOCs) and environmental certificates, and absence of single window system were impacting the developer community at large.

"To plug the shortfall of 80 million homes in the country regulatory issues have to be simplified as more and more developers were seeing themselves at a disadvantage to build homes for economically weaker sections," said Reddy.

Is it right time to take a home loan and a property?

Is it right time to take a home loan and a property?

New Delhi: Because of the on-going economic uncertainties, many aspiring home owners in Pune are still hesitant about taking a home loan and buying a residence. One of the questions that people, who seek to make this beautiful city their permanent home, ask is does it makes more sense to rent now and await a price correction.

For those who are thinking of renting a home in Pune, there are many aspects to consider. In the first place, the affordability of both rental and purchased property is highly location and project specific. To illustrate – someone in Pune who can afford to buy a home in Undri may not even be able to afford the rentals at Boat Club Road, Koregaon Park or Kalyaninagar.

Secondly, whether it makes more sense to rent rather than buy a property would also depend on one's future plans in a particular locality. Does one wish to settle down there, or is also open to other areas? It definitely makes sense to rent a home while someone is deciding upon a particular locality.

If an individual is certain of a locality in Pune and is committed to settling down there, the right time to buy a home is now. There are many projects available in the excellent new residential areas that have come up in Pune, and prices are still competitive. There will not be a correction in real estate prices in Pune, as demand for a movement of residential properties in the city is healthy.

The wait-and-watch policy is only valid if there are informed reasons for anticipating a correction in a certain locality. On the whole, property rates in Pune will either remain stable or appreciate, depending on the area. Also, there are no prospects of home loan interest rates rationalizing over the mid-term, and economic indicators suggest that inflation will continue to drive up costs.

Given that it is the right time to avail of a home loan and purchase a property in Pune, one still needs to consider the financial implications. As a thumb rule, an individual's home loan EMI should not exceed a rational percentage of his or her net monthly disposable income. Generally, EMIs can amount to 50 per cent of monthly income.

However, home loans are not the only cause of debt in the contemporary context. People take out personal loans and have pre-existing debts, too. In other words, even a 'fair' EMI percentage could prove unaffordable. The 'ideal' EMI component can only be calculated vis-à-vis a debt-free person's salary. This would be between Rs. 1000-1200 per lakh.

People availing of home loans sometimes forget that they are under legal obligation to repay. There are numerous cases where borrowers have neglected to undertake a due diligence with regards to their financial capabilities and the suitability of the loan of which they have availed. As a result, they find themselves in debt traps and sometimes default on their repayments. Borrowers should stretch themselves only to the extent that they realistically foresee their financial position improving in a given time frame.

No home loan strategy should ever be based on anticipated financial windfalls as a means to pay off the loan. It should be based on realistic factors such as reasonable salary hikes and maturing of insurance policies and investments. If one anticipates a salary hike, even if this amounts to only a certain annual increase, one can consider a 'step-up' option for the existing home loan. Here, the borrower pays a lower EMI initially and steps up the repayment of the home loan in proportion to the assumed percentage increase in income.

(Kishore Pate is CMD of Amit Enterprises Housing Ltd.)

How to build new cities

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/how-to-build-new-cities/99/

How to build new cities
Resources are not the problem. We need to change controlling mindsets.

India’s rapidly urbanising population needs space to live in, and providing that space in the form of new cities is easily within reach, provided we change our mindsets. No fresh resources are needed other than what is available within India’s Plan budget. But in order to see those resources, we should desire what Harry Potter figured out in the Room of Requirement — the object alone, and not how to do it or what can be done with it. It is the desire to control all processes and be the prime mover that renders us unable to see what should otherwise be evident. Let’s see what it would take to create 200 new cities over the next five years. Four cities in the periphery of every large one, only at a distance of, say, 50 km, so that people need not live in Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai or Hyderabad; they can merely commute and still lead a life of dignity and better in quality. It would take an average investment of Rs 2,000 crore per new city, or say Rs 400 crore every year for five years. The total bill comes to about Rs 80,000 crore per year for 200 cities.

How would we acquire the land, given its astronomical costs? You would not acquire any land at all, but merely propose a business model in which every group of landholders able to provide 500 hectares of land would be given 50 per cent equity in the venture that is a new city. The other 50 per cent would belong to the government. That way, the farmer would get a real share of the return on investment and a steady yearly income. Once it is clear to the farmer that the government is not planning to take away his land at rock-bottom prices to gift it to a real estate major for a commission, there would be a queue of farmers lining up, asking the government to develop their spaces into a liveable city. This is the kind of model used by Magarpatta City, a township next to Pune, spread over 430 acres and owned by 120 farmers, each a shareholder in proportion to his landholding. In Magarpatta City, farmers came together on their own and did everything by themselves. With some help from the government, the experiment could be widely replicated. The rub is that there is no agency that would benefit from such a proposition: only the people. Perhaps this is why no one has so far proposed what should be otherwise evident.

The next question is where the Rs 80,000 crore would come from. It would come from two sources. The first is the cost of food security for the nation and the second is the MGNREGA. Far be it from us to suggest that India does not need to feed its hungry or give them employment. It certainly does. If not for moral or ethical reasons, then for the reason that hungry and illiterate people can neither participate in nor contribute to a growing economy. But similar objectives can be achieved for one third their present cost, provided we scale down our desires somewhat and abandon age-old shibboleths. The basic proposition is that subsidies be limited to BPL families and small and marginal farmers. Here again, we repeat Harry Potter’s exercise. If we were to give the approximately six-seven crore BPL families an annual subsidy of Rs 5,000 to buy food, the bill would still be a third of the current cost of food security. What’s the balance being used for? To support organisations like the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and its operating costs.

The food subsidy bill is the operational deficit of the FCI, or the amount spent by it on market operations and buffer stocking over and above its sales realisation. This bill in the last budget was around Rs 90,000 crore. These operations serve dual objectives: to provide market support to farmers and also to subsidise consumers through the present public distribution system. If we were to provide cash subsidies for food to all BPL families, a similar objective could be achieved at Rs 35,000 crore, and if we were to further provide cash subsidies to all small farmers — even of Rs 2,000 per tonne for up to 30 million tonnes per annum as support against low market prices, it would take another Rs 6,000 crore. What you would not get would be the huge buffer stock India has been building for the last so many years.

This buffer stock, as also the FCI, is simply a relic of a time when the fear of famine dominated our mindset. The memory of PL 480 is bitter indeed, but surely we are long past that barrier now. Our cash reserves are no longer rock bottom. If needed, we can still engage in market operations to provide food. But leaving market operations to private traders does not mean abandoning all interest in the food market.

In return for dismantling the FCI, what the government would need to do is bring about transparency in food pricing and set about eliminating the hidden costs in food prices. The way is not difficult: set up internet-enabled markets in all cities for foodgrain and for fruits and vegetables, remove inter-state restrictions on movement of farm produce, impose checks on hoarding, abolish the agricultural produce market committees that function in the interests of traders and not farmers, and keep detailed records of transactions and markets. Removing all these hidden costs would bring down food prices far more effectively than any FCI or food security bill. These are the tasks the government seems unwilling to do. Surely, it is the government’s job to keep detailed records, conduct market regulation, pre-empt artificial scarcities and remove restrictions rather than be the prime mover.

As far as the MGNREGA is concerned, the recipe is even simpler. The scheme should be restricted to only the poorest districts. That’s the only way one can prevent it from interfering with the farm economy. A recent study shows that while Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal — which account for 59 per cent of the rural BPL population — accounted for only 34 per cent of total employment generated by the scheme. Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, which account for only 8 per cent of the rural BPL population, provided 23 per cent of employment generated. Such anomalies can be sorted out only by restricting the MGNREGA to districts where it’s really needed. This would halve the MGNREGA bill of Rs 33,000 crore as per the last budget and free up scarce resources.

Doing these is not so difficult. This is far more a question of mindset than anything else. The great desire to control all decisions and the sneaking desire to make a private profit are the only obstacles that prevent us from building new cities, from making the investment in infrastructure that India really needs.
Views are personal

Brand vs budget: What is important while buying property?

http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/real-estate/brand-vs-budget-what-is-important-while-buying-property_1042959.html?page=1

Brand vs budget: What is important while buying property?

Arvind Jain
Pride Group

It is often assumed that Indian property buyers are more focused on budget than brand value. This is a glaring miscomprehension of the ground realities - in fact, few consumer classes are as attuned to the value of a brand than Indian homebuyers. Moreover, developers have been responding to this trend by making best practices in their offerings as well as business operations as an integral part of their manifesto.

In most Indian cities, reputed developers have maintained consistency in these aspects and are even raising the bar on best practices in construction design, quality and business transparency. This focus is a natural consequence of the need to remain relevant in a highly competitive market. Even in smaller cities such as Pune, quality developers are known for the higher grade of their deliverables on the market. This explains why certain brands command a greater degree of trust among consumers than others.

The fact is that real estate as a business, from construction to marketing of the end product, is one of the strongest contributors to the country's GDP. Real estate fulfills a very necessary need, as is evidenced by the unrelenting demand for homes all across the country.

Brand loyalty is certainly not missing in Indian realty. This is amply evidenced by the fact that certain brands command instant attention while others do not even register on buyers' radars unless questionable marketing ploys such as marked-down rates in exchange for inferior quality and location come into play. In India, home buyers are very aware of the fact that some developers can be expected to deliver on their promises, while others represent a potentially costly gamble. This is also why the more reputed developers have no problems with obtaining domestic as well as international institutional financing for their projects.

Nevertheless, the image that has been created about the real estate sector in general is a persistent one. When it comes to changing public perception, the primary instrument of change will always be the media. Unfortunately, the Indian media has made it its business to portray the entire real estate domain in a negative and mercenary light.

Indian real estate is becoming a force that even global players are beginning to take very seriously. This change will become more pronounced as more and more serious players come to the fore-front of the sector. We are already witnessing a process of consolidation wherein smaller players are merging with or selling their stakes to bigger names, since these banners of repute are able to sustain their businesses as a result of their larger market share, higher credibility quotients and their superior funding options.

Not surprisingly, many people continue choosing real estate as a career because the business is based on the strongest possible fundamentals. With the rapidly improving transparency norms and considerable success of reputed developers despite the challenging economic environment, it makes a lot of sense for qualified people to choose top-rated real estate companies as their career partners and be part of the great Indian real estate movement.

Pune real estate's hottest growth corridor

http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/real-estate/pune-real-estates-hottest-growth-corridor_1036478.html

Pune real estate's hottest growth corridor

Anil Pharande
Pharande Spaces

The Pune residential real estate boom, initially kick-started by the IT/ITeS industry, has brought about a lot of unregulated development. While property prices in Pune rose unrealistically, the city’s traditional ease of living and pleasant climate, which were previously its USPs, suffered. Hills and trees have been razed to accommodate the rapidly expanding concrete jungle that all but defines central Pune today. The town planning commission found itself impotent in the face of the development mania, which soon transcended all reasonable, sustainable boundaries.
Real Estate Woes In Central Pune


In Pune, infrastructure challenges have been increasing because of the ever-increasing population. This has also put escalating pressure on available land, resulting in the forced extension of the city limits.

The pattern of development has been decidedly mercenary and unplanned, with the only criteria being accessibility to existing and upcoming IT hubs. While the rise of Hinjewadi created increasing demand for homes in its immediate vicinity, places like Aundh soon witnessed a slew of projects by property developers. Similarly, property prices in Baner and Wakad rose so steeply that they finally corrected.
New Focus On Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC)

As things stand now, central Pune no longer has an iota of its previous quality and ambience in residential property offerings. It is therefore not surprising that homebuyers are beginning to focus on the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation. This area has, in fact, emerged as the last outpost Pune’s previous residential property comfort levels.

The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation first came into the limelight as an industrial area. However, it also has an advantage that central Pune does not – planned development. The growth of the real estate sector in the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation is closely regulated by the PCNTDA, which works together with the PCMC to ensure planned and realistic growth.

Central Pune continues to suffer from pollution, depleting greenery, traffic jams, water and power scarcity, lack of proper infrastructure and unrealistic residential property rates. Meanwhile, Pradhikaran (the location that defines the PCNTDA) has been benefiting from sensible real estate development.

If one studies the demographical development of Pune real estate growth, it is evident that Pradhikaran is precisely where the city’s growth is headed in the North/North-Western direction. This is extremely significant in terms of long-term residential property investment.
The Importance Of Pradhikaran

In years gone by, the PCNTDA began to acquire land in the PCMC area so that planned development could take place in the future. This planning included the allocation of specific areas for industrial activity, residential property development, public parks, unobstructed spaces, shopping centres, office buildings, roads and utilities.

Water supply to all sectors was ensured by the construction of several mammoth water tanks, each with capacities of several million litres, before development was permitted in each sector. Once this was done, the PCNTDA made the developed land parcels available to property developers.

The PCMC master plan also provides for generous road widths, the likes of which are impossible elsewhere in Pune. This goes a long way in preserving one of Pradhikaran’s natural splendour and hygiene.


Because of these factors, and also because of the growth in the PCMC industrial belt, the last two years have witnessed a huge increase in demand for residential property in the Pradhikaran area.


The fact that a number of large international companies are operating in nearby Chakan has, in fact, been a primary criterion for the area’s development profile. These companies regularly deliver thousands of jobs at all levels, which has had a telling effect on Pradhikaran’s general economic status. Specifically, there has been a huge surge in demand for residential property there.

Pradhikaran’s expansion, which has been inspired by the Chandigarh model of controlled development, began with a few hundred acres. Today, the area speaks for about 7000 acres. Pradhikaran is continually seeing infrastructural enhancements on all fronts – including roads, water and electricity supply and digital connectivity.

Pradhikaran now boasts of massive integrated township projects that offer all the hallmarks of ambient, sustainable living. Apart from the high lifestyle quotient, the investment potential of these townships benefits from a magic mix of real estate market drivers. The presence of Tata Motors , Talawade, Hinjewadi, Chakan and the Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial belt add to the value of these townships, while the Mumbai-Pune highway and Expressway make it advantageously accessible to the financial capital of Mumbai