Ireo Victory Valley, Gurgaon
Seven new residential sectors, three small commercial belts and two industrial sectors would come up at Gurgaon under a Draft Development Plan for Gurgaon-Manesar Urban Complex-2031 approved today.
The state-level committee of Town and Country Planning Department, Haryana, which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda here, approved the plan, an official spokesman said here.
It was informed in the meeting that the plan has been prepared for a projected population of 42.35 lakh by 2031.
As per the plan, the land use of about 1,179 hectares on the western side of Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway had been changed from industrial to agriculture zone, with prohibition on grant of any Change of Land Use (CLU) permission or of licence as per the decision of Cabinet Sub-Committee on Infrastructure.
It was also informed that under the plan, seven new residential sectors, three small commercial belts and two industrial sectors would come up at Gurgaon, he said.
Besides, public, semi-public and open space zones have also been earmarked.
Read more: The Economic Times
India’s Real Estate Boom Yields Suitcases Full Of Cash
As the Indian economy has grown rapidly during the past decade and a half, the country has also experienced its own real estate boom, eclipsing the mania the U.S. experienced in the giddy markets of South Florida and Las Vegas. As a result, anyone who owned even the most modest piece of property, especially in the major metropolitan areas, found themselves sitting on a pot of gold. According to a recent Whitepaper on Black Money released by the Indian Government, real estate accounts for a whopping 11% of the nation’s GDP which is estimated by the World Bank at about $2 trillion and forecast by Dun & Bradstreet to grow to $4.5 trillion by 2020. This means real estate contributes over $200 billion to the nation’s GDP. If only half the transacted value is being reported to the taxman, the public treasury is being drained of literally hundreds of Billions of sorely needed funds every year.
Read more: Forbes
Developers in Punjab oppose new levy on property transactions
Developers in Punjab today opposed the state government’s move to levy social infrastructure cess on property transactions, saying it would hit demand in the sector which is already facing slowdown.
“The imposition of (social infrastructure) cess is not a right move by the Punjab government as it will further aggravate realty’s woes,” Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI), Chairman (Punjab), Anil Chopra told PTI today.
Punjab cabinet yesterday decided to levy social infrastructure cess for health and education at a rate of 1 per cent on property transactions, besides raising the ceiling of registration fee from Rs 30,000 to Rs 2 lakh. Proposal for increasing mutation fees at ‘Fard kendras’ has also been approved.
The Punjab government with these proposals would fetch additional revenue of Rs 480 crore from real estate sector.
Read more: The Economic Times
Industry and Economy
Trade between India and US could cross $ 100 billion this year
Trade between India and the US has increased by 40 per cent since the launch of India-US Strategic Dialogue by the Obama Administration three years ago and could cross the $ 100 billion mark this year, a senior administration official said.
The elevation of India-US relationship to that of a strategic dialogue in 2009 has produced real results for the well-being and security of the people of the two countries, the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Robert Blake, said.
The third annual session of the strategic dialogue was held in June this year.
Read more: The Economic Times
World economy facing challenges, India no exception: Raghuram Rajan
Raghuram G. Rajan could not have chosen a better time to take over as the Chief Economic Advisor in the Finance Ministry. Or a worse time.
Although Rajan is no stranger to the current turbulence in the Indian economy, having served as the honorary economic adviser to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he is now a key member of the Finance Minister’s team with the unenviable task of putting the economy in order.
“(The) world economy faces very serious challenges right now and India is no exception. I hope that over the coming days, I can help in whatever solution we devise,” he told reporters after taking charge.
In his stellar career, the IIT-IIM alumnus has served as the Economic Counselor and Director of Research at the International Monetary Fund. He has also taught at the Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago.
The economist, who received his PhD in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been credited with predicting the 2008 global financial crisis, an intuitiveness which Finance Minister P. Chidambaram will bank on to help him guide the economy to a growth track. Rajan was also involved with the report on financial sector reforms authorized by the Planning Commission.
Read more: NDTV Profit
Inflation still key threat: RBI Governor Subbarao
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Duvvuri Subbarao said on Tuesday that inflation remains too high and needs to fall further or risk more damage to the economy, dismissing criticism of the bank’s hawkish policy stance.
Since cutting its main interest rate in April by more-than-expected 50 basis points to 8 per cent, the RBI has stayed on hold, drawing complaints that high rates are burdening consumers and slowing growth.
Cutting interest rates, however, may only support growth in the short term, while high and persistent inflation will harm the economy longer term, Subbarao said.
Much of the criticism of the bank’s policy is coming from a “very articulate” growth lobby, that includes companies, in India, he said. However, the central bank must consider other constituents, including the poor.
Read more: NDTV Profit
Dollar-rupee parity shiftdown may be more long term
Raamdeo Agrawal, Joint Managing Director at Motilal Oswal Financial Services, shares his views on the market, stock valuations and the rupee. “Dollar-rupee parity shift may be long term,” he says.
Watch video: NDTV Profit
Govt to announce steps to boost investor confidence, exports
The government is expected to soon announce some initiatives to boost investor sentiment and push exports which may miss the $360 billion target because of global economic uncertainties, a top official said on Tuesday.
“I am sure that the government is taking proactive steps. In the next 3-4 weeks, I expect significant policy announcements which should encourage our industry, our exports,” commerce secretary S R Rao said at the CII Export Summit in New Delhi.
Rao said global trade is shrinking and countries such as China, the US, Japan and Europe are not showing signs of improvement. These are the major export destinations for Indian exporters.
Read more: Mint
Govt nod for setting up 20 more IIITs
A bill, which seeks to give IIITs administrative autonomy and enables setting up of 20 more such institutes, was approved by the government today.
The Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Bill, 2012 is set to be introduced during the ongoing monsoon session of Parliament, official sources said.
Once enacted, the legislation, cleared by the Union Cabinet, will confer the status of institutes of national importance on IIITs.
The establishment of each IIIT is expected cost Rs 128 crore, with the Centre bearing 50 per cent of the cost and the State Government concerned 35 per cent. The remaining 15 per cent will be borne by industry partners.
The Cabinet is understood to have allowed PSUs to become partners in establishment of IIITs.
At present, there are four IIITs funded by the central government. These are at Gwalior, Allahabad, Jabalpur and Kancheepuram and are currently categorised as deemed universities.
The plan is to establish one IIIT in every state, the sources said.
Read article: Business Line
Smaller cities favoured for upcoming logistic hubs
An acre of land in Oragadam, near Chennai, today costs Rs 2.50 crore, while it used to be around Rs 80 lakh three years ago. With the auto sector turning Oragadam into its hub, not only has the price of land gone up in and around the area, but it has also opened enormous business opportunities for logistics and warehousing operations.
Once the Goods and Service Tax (GST) is implemented there will be a great demand for logistic and warehouse operations, said V.N. Sridharan, Chief Executive Officer, Shri Kailash Logistics, which has a large logistics park in Oragadam. He said goods worth Rs 5,000 crore are manufactured in the zone every month.
The latest findings of C.B. Richard Ellis (CBRE), an international real estate consulting firm, validates Sridharan’s views on the demand for logistics space not only in Oragadam but across the country.
Read more: Business Line
NRI
Indian-origin judge named next chief justice of Singapore
Sundaresh Menon
An Indian-origin judge has been named as the new chief justice of Singapore, making him the first from the community to head the courts.
Sundaresh Menon, presently Singapore’s judge of appeal, will assume the office of the chief justice from November 6.
He would take over from Justice Chan Sek Keong, who retires at the age of 75, said a statement from the Prime Minister’s office on the appointment announced by President Tony Tan.
Reacting to his appointment, Justice Menon said: “I am greatly honoured and privileged to be entrusted with this awesome responsibility; and humbled by the calibre of those who have been so entrusted before me”.
Menon, 50, obtained his Master of Laws from Harvard University, after graduating with First Class Honours in Law from the National University of Singapore.
Justice Menon has been a leading lawyer and later became Singapore’s Attorney General before he was appointed to the position of judge of appeal on August 1, 2012.
Read more: The Times of India
RBI allows non-residents to provide non-fund based guarantees
The Reserve Bank today allowed non-residents to provide guarantee for non-fund based activities to residents, a move that would facilitate business relationship between non-residents and local businessmen.
Earlier, this facility of providing guaratnee by non-residents was avilable for rupee loans only.
“…it has been decided to extend the facility of non-resident guarantee under the general permission for non-fund based facilities (such as Letters of Credit/guarantees/Letter of Undertaking (LoU) /Letter of Comfort (LoC) ) entered into between two persons resident in India,” RBI said in a notification.
It said there would be no change in method of discharge of liability by the non-resident guarantor under the guarantee and the subsequent repayment of the liability by the principal debtor.
The notification further said that a new reporting format would be introduced to capture such guarantees issued and invoked. The banks would be required to furnish the details of such transactions by 10th day of the following month.
Read article: The Economic Times
Infrastructure
Infrastructure dominates pending cases at CCI
An average of one in every three investigations currently underway at Competition Commission of India (CCI) relates to the infrastructure sector, the fair-trade regulator has said.
While infrastructure sector accounts for the maximum number of pending cases with CCI (35 per cent), it is followed by banking and financial services (12 per cent).
As per the latest data in CCI’s quarterly newsletter, the regulator was looking into 39 cases and 26 other cases were under investigation with the Commission’s Director General as on June 30, 2012.
There were also cases related to film/entertainment/TV, information technology/telecom, medical/pharmaceuticals, civil aviation, petroleum/gas and automobiles, among others.
The pending cases are mostly related to anti-competitive agreements and abuse of dominant market position.
CCI said that 77 per cent of the cases were initiated on the basis of information filed by various entities.
Read more: Business Standard
Developers may get only Rs 2,200 cr this fiscal from NHAI
oad-builders looking to bag engineering procurement contracts (EPC) of over Rs 12,000 crore from the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) may have to settle for only up to Rs 2,200 crore in the current fiscal. This is because NHAI will make payments based on project status.
“The payout to successful bidders will be based on completion milestones. And the roads will be built over the next two-three years. So, the expense for NHAI will not be significant,” said NHAI officials.
The highway authority is expected to start the award process in the second half of this fiscal, as the Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure (CCI) approved the contract documents a few days ago.
Read more: Business Line
IREO: India's leading real estate developer 