The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) might have rapped the state government for doing little for the upkeep of heritage properties in the state, but the state government is yet to take any measures in this direction.

In a recent report, the CAG, taking strong exception to the low priority being accorded by the government in the upkeep of nazul properties, had advised it to ensure a proper system so that these remained free of encroachment and that a periodic survey of these properties is done. Nazul properties are those that have been received by the state government from the former rulers of Rajasthan. The CAG observed that properties were sub-let, transferred and encroached without the knowledge of the authorities …. inadequate monitoring by the authorities concerned led to a loss of control over unauthorised occupancy.

Meanwhile, in a similar case, Colonel Rajesh Sinha (Retd), secretary of the Khetri Trust founded by late Raja Bahadur Sardar Singh, has been writing to the district magistrate for the past eight years to remove encroachments, check thefts and illegal sale of the vast property of the erstwhile ruler of Khetri but little has come out of it.

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DLF, the countrys largest property developer, plans to book nearly Rs 2,000 crore revenue from sale of 4.5 million square feet of commercial space to the group company, DLF Assets Ltd (DAL), by next month, according to a company executive.

The company would also book Rs 3,500 crore revenue from sale of 3.5 million sq ft space expected to be delivered to DAL, a holding company promoted by DLFs KP Singh and family, in the next 12-18 months, the executive said.

The company has already booked Rs 5,450 crore revenue from sale of 5 million sq ft it has sold to DAL. It is, however, yet to receive the same. In a bid to pay DLF, the groups arm, DAL, plans to raise Rs 2,000 crore through lease rental discounting, analysts say.

More : business-standard.com

The countrys largest developer by market value, DLF Ltd, has put its ambitious Mall of India project back on the drawing board after cash-crunch and falling rentals forced the company to shelve the 4.5 million sq. ft project in Gurgaon, on the outskirts of New Delhi.

Mall of India was proposed to be the biggest mall in the country. DLF is now reworking the project dynamics. The developer is exploring options such as reducing the size of the mall or building a hotel and office space besides the mall.

Construction is on at the project, but at a very slow pace, a DLF official said on condition of anonymity. It is now back at the drawing-board stage and we are looking at many options for the project. We need to utilize the land somehow.

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DLF shares on the BSE ended at Rs 167.40 against the previous close of Rs 171.10.

The CFO of DLF Group, Mr Ramesh Sanka, refused comment citing the silent period ahead of closing of the fourth quarter. Mr Sanka had last week termed similar reports as rumours.

A Mumbai-based analyst said that if these reports turned out to be true, it implies that DAL, which owes DLF over Rs 5,000 crore, does not have the liquidity to pay back the Delhi-based realtor.

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Fairmont Hotels & Resorts recently signed its second project in India, the Fairmont Jaipur. Scheduled to open in 2010, the hotel, located in Rajasthan in the northwest of India, joins Fairmont Hyderabad as the luxury hotel brand’s first forays into the Indian market.

The property is being developed by Capricorn Hospitality Investments India and its local partner.

The 248-room hotel will offer guests a variety of restaurants and bars, including a poolside bar, a 10,000 square foot Willow Stream spa, and a 5,000 square foot health club.

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It was more than a month ago, that the Ashok Gehlot government, through a notification directed the N N Mathur Commission to look into all deals , where the land had been provided at concessional rates. However, the deals made under the Board for Infrastructure Development and Investment (BIDI) have deliberately been given a skip and the commission has not been provided with any of the related files.

According to reliable sources, the commission had itself shown an interest in looking into the cases under the board, as most of them are controversial and were specifically mentioned by the Congress when it laid corruption allegations to the tune of Rs 22,000 crore against the former Vasundhara Raje government.

These include the allotment of 45,000 square metres plot, worth Rs 450 crores, to DLF Construction Company, at throw away prices. The plot is located at a prime location on JLN Marg and had been provided to DLF for the construction of a seven star hotel. Initially, the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) had planned to auction the plot but it was subsequently sold off at much lower rate.

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DLF Ltd, the countrys largest listed realty company, will acquire DLF Asset Ltd (DAL), the real estate investment trust owned by promoters K P Singh and his family, for an enterprise value (equity plus debt) of around Rs 7,000 crore.

The move is aimed at repaying some of DALs debt and to bring commercial properties under the flagship company to generate an annual income of around Rs 600 crore in the form of lease rentals from 2009-10. DAL currently earns around Rs 325 crore from lease rentals.

DAL had acquired four Special Economic Zones (SEZs) from DLF Ltd with a built-up area of 4.5 million square ft, which will increase to 9.5 million sq ft by the end of this month and to 19 million sq ft when fully ready.

More : business-standard.com

Cigarette-to-hotels conglomerate ITC is planning to bring three heritage properties into its fold this week as the slowdown engulfs tourism.

ITC WelcomHeritage, a joint venture between Calcutta-based ITC and Marudhar Hotels of Jodhpur, will sign agreements for Shivavilas Palace at Hampi, Karnataka; the Sirsi haveli in Jaipur; and the Naukuchiatal resort near Nainital, Uttarakhand.

Many chains believe the time is ripe for buying or leasing properties because the slowdown has diminished valuations.

More : telegraphindia.com

Theres good news for homebuyers. Smarting under liquidity pain and inventory pile-up, real estate developers across the country have effected significant price cuts on their residential units, besides making price adjustments on properties already sold at higher rates before the credit crunch engulfed the sector.

Mahindra Lifespaces, the BSE-listed Mahindra Group-owned real estate firm, New Delhi-based Omaxe and DLF are undertaking price adjustments for customers to whom they had sold property earlier at a higher rate. Mahindra Lifespaces project, Splendour, in the central suburbs of Mumbai is now quoting at Rs 6,300 a square feet, which according to Pawan Malhotra, managing director and CEO of the company, is down 10 per cent from the earlier price of Rs 6,950 a square feet. We are helping customers with price adjustments, he added.

Over-valuation had raised property prices to almost absurd heights during the boom period.
Typically when a customer buys a property, the money is paid in tranches and usually it is linked to development. The developers are adjusting the payment to be made in those tranches. Sometimes, towards the completion of the project, there are some payments to be made towards parking space, maintenance charges and others. The developers will adjust with those payments as well, said Ambareesh Baliga, vice-president of Karvy Stock Broking.

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In a crackdown on land mafias in the city on Saturday the Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC)s anti-encroachment squad freed eight bighas from the clutches of encroachers at the Kundanpura village near Indira Gandhi Nagar, Sanganer. At least 20 rooms and 50 boundary walls were destroyed. According official estimate the property was worth Rs 10 crore.

Amid heavy police bandobast, the encroachers could not come out in full strength to resist the drive. FIR has been lodged against 12 people who may be arrested soon, say officials. Some of the eyewitness complained of official high handiness.

The zonal commissioner of Sanganer, OP Gupta, said the encroachers had acquired fake lease documents pertaining to the JMC land in connivance with the Sarpanch of Jaipura village. When we investigated no such records were found to be true. The entire stretch of land is of commercial value, said Gupta.

More : timesofindia.indiatimes.com