Ansal Properties & Infrastructure Limited, a leading real estate developer in India, has received a formal approval from the Department of Commerce (SEZs), Govt. of India to develop an Engineering-based Special Economic Zone (SEZ). The SEZ, spread over 250 acres, is coming up on the Amritsar-New Delhi Grand Trunk Road. A separate subsidiary – Ansal Kamdhenu Engineering SEZ – has been set up specially for the project.

Strategically located on the northwest periphery of Delhi, the SEZ has excellent connectivity through the National Highway-1 and the proposed Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway. The Rajiv Gandhi Educational University at Sonepat, that is spread over an area of 2,000 acres, which would also comprise world-class educational institutes, is also located in the vicinity. Sonepat being the gateway to the major business towns of Punjab, the SEZ will also attract export oriented units from Punjab. Located in the hub of manufacturing sector in North India the SEZ will meet the pent up demand of the industrial sector for space in the area.

An important factor behind the development of the Engineering-based SEZ is that the engineering industry in Sonepat contributes substantially to the total exports in the country. Given the demand for Indian engineering products in the developed and developing economies the existing units are looking at options to expand and new units plan to set up here. The proposed SEZ will also help in generating substantial job opportunities.

More : news.moneycontrol.com

City-based realtor Suncity Projects Saturday announced plans to develop four mixed-use retail malls in four Indian cities with an investment of around Rs.20 billion.

The projects, under the brand name Jewel of India, would come up at Jaipur, Mohali, Indore and Greater Noida.

The malls will have office space, hospitality and retail space, and entertainment space all in one extended Zone.

The Jewel of India, Jaipur, to be developed over 40 million square feet, would house a Johari Bazaar showcasing traditional Rajasthani jewellery, a Jaipur haat selling traditional Jaipuri handicrafts, a wedding bazaar along with premium retail brands like Lifestyle, Shoppers Stop, Pantaloon and Westside.

More : mangalorean.com

IT parks are no longer the favoured destination for IT companies with many bigwigs opting for SEZs, which has led to a fall in rentals.

The activity at IT parks has slowed down. HCL, Capgemini and Accenture are heading to SEZs instead of IT parks, after the tax sops under the STPI scheme was not extended beyond 2009. Property experts say this will lead to an oversupply and subsequently lower rentals at IT parks.

Koustav Roy, Director, Cushman And Wakefield said, There are pockets of oversupply across various micro markets within cities and across cities as well. So you will find IT parks like OMR in Chennai and Noida where there is an oversupply happening.

More : moneycontrol.com

A rental budget of Rs 40,000 is big enough to get you an apartment in upmarket areas like south Delhi and Gurgaon. In south Delhi, two-bedroom apartments are available in Gulmohar Park, which offer 2,700 sq ft of space. Defence Colony has similar options. Greater Kailash II has three-bedroom flats of 2,200 sq ft. Saket and New Friends Colony offer three-bedroom builder floors of 2,700 sq ft. Lajpat Nagar is slightly expensive because of its location and good connectivity. Here one can get two and three-bedroom apartments of 900 sq ft and 1,600 sq ft, respectively. If one is looking for slightly cheaper options, then Jungpura Extension is apt, as it offers three-bedroom flats built on a 200 sq yd plots.

West Delhi areas like Punjabi Bagh and Kirti Nagar have a few options. Three-bedroom, 1,900 sq ft, furnished apartments are available in these areas. Three to four-bedroom apartments are available in East Patel Nagar. These offer a built-up area of 1,800-2,000 sq ft.

One can also try east Delhi areas like Patparganj, where spacious four to five-bedroom flats are available.

DLF City Phase IV, in Gurgaon, offers three-bedroom apartments with an area of 1,750 sq ft. Wellington Estate in DLF Phase IV has slightly bigger four-bedroom flats. Similar accommodation is available in DLF Phase V, but the area would be 1,350 sq ft. Uniworld City offers furnished apartments with three-bedrooms. These have an area of more than 2,000 sq ft.

More : expressestates.in

The persistence of inflationary pressure in the market will further affect the recovery in the real estate sector. As the government measures to improve supplies of essential commodities , so far, have had limited impact on controlling prices, RBI is likely to further take harsh measures to push the interest rates up on July 29 when it review its credit policy.

Because of the central bank’s monetary measures taken so far to contain inflation, the interest rates on home loan have gone up by 2 percentage points - to over 12% in the last one year. Prior to this, the central bank, in order to contain the rise in the prices of real estate, had curtailed the flow of money to the sector. This has resulted in the rise in interest rates by over three percentage points between 2005 and 2007.

In fact, in the last three years, interest rates on home loan have increased by around 5 percentage points from around 7% in 2005 to over 12% at present. This has led to increase in the equated monthly installment (EMI) on a 20-year loan by a whopping 42%. That means, EMI on Rs one lakh loan for 20-year , increased by Rs 326 - from Rs 775 to Rs 1,101. And on a loan of Rs 50 lakh, EMI has increased by as much as Rs 16,290!

More : economictimes.indiatimes.com

Dubai-based Emaar Properties is poised to plough in $150 million for a 20 to 25 per cent share each in three real estate developments in India, to burgeon its monetary interest in the countrys joint venture.

An Emaar spokesperson said: Emaar is evaluating the options of private equity investment in special purpose vehicles in India. Due diligence on potential investments are on and details have not yet been finalised.

Dubai-based Emaar Properties and MGF Developments of India jointly formed a firm in 2005 called Emaar MGF, which currently holds Indias largest foreign direct investment (FDI) in real estate through projects with a combined development value of $1 billion. Emaar real estate is now considering to pick three separate special purpose vehicles (SPVs) which will then develop two retail properties and one office property in Gurgaon and Mohali.

Source : gowealthy.com

Khandsa, Narsingpur, Mohammedpur, Gadauli Khurd and Harsaru - are opposing the transfer of 1,395 acres of land to Reliance Industries by Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Corporation (HSIIDC) for setting up a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in the region. Farmers have been up in arms against SEZ to be set up over an area of 25,000 acre from Garhi Harsuru to Badli at the Farrukhnagar-Jhajjar Road. The proposed Kundli-Manesar-Palwal expressway is also to pass through the same area. The total proposed investment is about $30 billion with more than 10,000 acre for ’infrastructure, residential, leisure and entertainment and commercial establishment’ with only 6500 acre outlined for industries.

After visiting the affected areas on July 8, 2008, Janhastakshep: Campaign against Fascist designs team Ish Mishra, Sachin and Ramesh went to Panchayat on July 13, 2008 called by Haryana Kisan Mazdoor Bhoomi Bachao Sangharsh Samiti. For many villagers, the situation remained the same since June 30, the police barricades have only been partially removed causing great inconvenience to the villagers, creating a curfew like situation. The heavy police presence was creating a general sense of fear among the villagers. At Harsaru village, there were heavy earth moving machinery, cranes and work for construction of the wall continued amidst heavy presence of private security guards and the police prevented the villagers from using the public road. The police cases against 33 people who are leaders or farmers protesting the SEZ were also still in force.

Captain Satvir Singh said that such dialogues with the administration were of no use just as it was pointless to blindly follow laws, which were solely created and enforced by a small section of the Indian ruling class to further their own interests. He strongly felt that this Panchayat meet should not have been held in Gurgaon, but at the site itself where Reliance was constructing its wall. He stressed that this government was bent on using the armed might of the state to work as a broker for corporate houses and the only way to make them listen is by speaking to them in the only language they understand - people’s power. He stated that the only path was for a militant farmers resistance. He warned the people from trusting the ruling class parties which might even come out in support, keeping their votes in mind, but would eventually carry on the same anti-people polices once in power. He urged them to overcome their fear of the police and of being arrested and come out in huge numbers and prevent any further construction by Reliance Industries.

More : india.merinews.com

Farmers from five villages near Gurgaon — Khandsa, Narsingpur, Mohammedpur, Gadauli Khurd and Harsaru — are opposing the transfer of 1,395 acres of land to Reliance Industries by Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Corporation (HSIIDC) for setting up a SEZ in the region. Farmers have been up in arms against the SEZ to be set up over an area of 25,000 acres from Garhi Harsuru to Badli at the Farrukhnagar-Jhajjar road. The proposed Kundli-Manesar-Palwal expressway is also to pass through the same area.

The total proposed investment is about $30 billion with more than 10,000 acres for infrastructure, residential, leisure and entertainment and commercial establishment with only 6,500 acres outlined for industries. According to reports, to start work on the SEZ, the state government has created an curfew like atmosphere to quell any protests.

On July 1, villagers had assembled to protest the construction of a wall by RelianceIndustries, which was being done in the presence of more than 4,000 policemen, said Janhastakshep, an NGO. The police also completely barricaded the main road from NH 8 to Manesar the previous night itself, they said.

More : howrah.org

Weakening demand for retail space is prompting shopping mall developers to stall projects, which could result in a shortfall of millions of sq. ft in the supply of retail space this year, according to real estate consultancy Cushman and Wakefield.

(DWINDLING APPETITE) Supply of mall space across India is expected to fall short by as much as 3.43 million sq. ft in 2008, Cushman and Wakefield said. The consultant, which had projected 20.67 million sq. ft of additional mall space to be ready in 2008, has revised the forecast 16.6% lower to 17.24 million sq. ft.

In the second quarter of 2008, locations such as the National Capital Region (NCR), comprising Delhi and the suburbs of Gurgaon and Noida, and Mumbai saw the highest decline in the supply of mall space from what had been projected earlier, Cushman and Wakefield said.

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Enam Securities maintained underperformer rating on Unitech with a price target of Rs 161 as against current market price of Rs 171 (June 30). Unitech declared revenues of Rs 11.6 billion (up 167% YoY net of Rs 9 billion of sales), EBITDA of Rs 4.8 billion and PAT of Rs 3.6 billion on a consolidated basis during Q4FY08. Full year consolidated figures are as follows - Revenues: Rs 41.4 billion; EBITDA: Rs 22.3 billion; PAT: Rs 16.6 billion. Unitech`s revised land bank stands at 14,000 acres with a development potential of 700+mn sq. ft. acquired at Rs 200/ psf. Unitech delivered 8.5-9mn sq. ft. in FY08 of which 70% was residential space in Gurgaon & Greater Noida (75%) and Kolkata (25%). Unitech currently has 55-60mn sq. ft. under construction (30% residential), in NCR & Kolkata.

Unitech has recently entered into a 50:50 JV with Rohan Builders (Mumbai) to jointly execute various slum rehabilitation and redevelopment projects within Mumbai city.

Lehman Brothers real estate fund has acquired a 50% stake in Phase I (1mn sq. ft.) of the JV`s 97 acre slum rehab project (18mn sq.ft. of saleable area) in Golibar, Khar East, for Rs 7.5 billion.

More : myiris.com