Smart Value Homes Enters Bangalore

Mumbai: Smart Value Homes, a 100 per cent subsidiary of Tata Housing Development Company, today said it has launched an affordable housing project in Bangalore, marking its entry into the city.

Smart Value Homes is developing affordable homes under two brands Shubh Griha New Haven and currently has projects in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Pune.

"Envisaging a rising demand for affordable homes with premium facilities in the Silicon Valley of India, we are pleased to bring this iconic and successful affordable housing brand for the people of Bangalore," Tata Housing managing director and chief executive officer Brotin Banerjee said in a statement.

The Bangalore project would be developed under the New Haven brand, he said.

"New Haven - self-contained, amenity and lifestyle affordable homes are intended for the urban aspirers' segment of consumers that have a distinct lifestyle preference. The launch of New Haven in Bengaluru is in line with our expansion plans for the Smart Value Homes across the country," Banerjee said.

New Haven, Bangalore is the fourth project of Smart Value Homes under the brand name. The first New Haven was developed in Boisar and later at Vasind near Mumbai and early this year in Ahmedabad, the release said.

Affordable Housing Under Infrastructure List?

To provide cheaper houses for lower income groups, the ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) is working for the inclusion of affordable housing in the infrastructure list.

"In order to provide greater outreach for housing schemes of the government, my ministry has recently revised the income sealing for qualifying for various schemes. Now the revised annual household income limit for the economically weaker section is enhanced to Rs 1 lakh from Rs 60,000 and for that of Lower income group, it is 2 lakh from the earlier limit of Rs 1.2 lakh," Maken said.

"We are also working for the inclusion of affordable housing in the list of infrastructure to provide necessary fillip to this sector," he said, speaking at a convention organized by the National Real Estate Development Council Maken said that as per the technical committee constituted by his ministry, the shortage of housing stands at 18.78 million out of which 96 percent is in the economically weaker sections and lower income group category.

The minister said that efforts were needed to be made at the centre, state and private levels to meet this shortage. He said that banks were finding it difficult to provide credit to economically weaker sections due to a number of reasons.

Maken said that housing for the economically weaker sections will make a viable business proposition if private players focused on the economies of scale where larger the quantity, greater will be the cost savings.

"I urge the private sector to venture in to this realm in a big way," Maken said, referring to large scale construction of cheaper houses.

"Bringing transparency in the real estate sector is another area of my ministry which will go a long way in ensuring orderly growth of this sector. We have been working for formulation of a real estate regulation and development bill after getting inputs from all the stakeholders," he said.

He said a recent Mckinsey report has said that India is capable of unleashing a wave of affordable housing stock, even in the short term. [Source]

26 Villages Declared Low-Density Areas

New farmhouse policy: High-density development allowed in 4 villages under transit-oriented development corridor.

The Delhi Development Authority has declared 26 villages as low-density residential areas for development under its new farmhouse policy.

The policy has a provision for regularization of unauthorized farmhouses built before February 2, 2007, if the owners pay a penalty.

The new notification says that high-density development will be allowed in parts of Mehrauli, Sultanpur, Ghitorni and Gadaipur villages along the Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road — part of the transit-oriented development (TOD) plan.

“This new notification is in continuation to the public notice issued on October 27, inviting objections and suggestions on the farmhouse policy. The new notification gives a list of villages to be declared as low-density residential areas,” a DDA official said.

While the new notification allows low-density residential development in these villages, it will not be applicable in areas falling under regional parks. “In villages like Sayurpur, Ghitorni, Asola, Fatehpur Beri and Mehrauli, rules applicable to regional parks under MPD-2021 will be applicable in areas falling under that category,” a DDA official said.

In areas like Chhattarpur and Khanpur, relevant stipulations imposed by the DDA, arising out of Supreme Court orders, will be applicable to low-density residential development projects.

The notification further specifies that parts of four villages along MG Road will be allowed high-density development under the TOD policy.

Transit-oriented development is generally characterized by compact, mixed-use development near public transport infrastructure, which provides for housing, employment and civic functions within walking distance.

Such development will help reduce usage of private vehicles. “The new TOD corridors in Delhi are to be notified soon. Once this happens, higher floor area ratio will be allowed along MG Road in villages which fall in the influence zones. These villages are Mehrauli, Sultanpur, Ghitorni and Gadaipur,” a DDA official said.

The four partially demolished malls along the MG Road stretch had been given approval “to construct and restore their buildings” by the Lieutenant-Governor’s office earlier this year.

The new farmhouse policy also allows for usage of farmhouses as banquet halls, recreational centers including amusement parks, resorts and spas on plots of two hectares and above, subject to certain conditions.

Source

Infrastructure growth rebounds in October

Driven by coal and petroleum refinery, eight core sector industries registered eight-month high growth of 6.5 per cent in October, a trend that is in contrast to fall in country's overall economic growth in July-September period.

Core sector industries had grown by a mere 0.4 per cent in the same month last year.

Petroleum refinery products and coal production grew by 20.3 per cent and 10.9 per cent, respectively in the month under review. Steel output grew by 5.9 per cent.

Fertiliser and cement output increased by 2 per cent and 6.8 per cent, respectively.

"The modest growth in October was on account of double digit growth witnessed in the production of petroleum refinery products and coal," said an official statement.

This is the highest growth rate registered by core sector industries since February, 2012 when the expansion was 6.9 per cent.

Notably, 6.5 per cent growth in infrastructure industries is in contrast to the decline in GDP growth in July-September period of this financial year (2012-13).

Economic growth slipped in the July-September quarter to 5.3 per cent, raising fears that the 

 slowdown may pull down the annual growth rate to decade's low level.

In October, growth in electricity generation, however, slowed to 5.2 per cent.

Natural gas and crude oil production contracted by (-) 14.9 per cent and (-) 0.4 per cent, respectively.

During April-October, the core sector growth has slowed to 3.7 per cent from 4.3 per cent in the year-ago period.

Source:  Businesstoday.Intoday.In

Slowing economy disrupts investment in infra sector

The depreciating rupee coupled with slowing Indian economy may propel the Planning Commission to revise downward the initial target of $1 trillion investment in the infrastructure sector during the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17). According to Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the Commission had set the $ 1 trillion target with an assumption that the economy will grow at the rate of 9% during the 12th Plan period and if that growth target looks difficult the investment target needs to be toned down.

India's economy grew at its slowest pace in almost a decade in the year's first three months, an evidence of its growth story turning sour amid global uncertainty and its government's failure to push through reforms. Given the gloomy economic scenario in India and around the world, achieving 9% for five year average, is not looking feasible. 

Investment climate in India has slowed down tremendously with investments across the board taking a backseat with corporate capex activity still looking some time away. Order inflow has slowed down since the last two years and a sudden revival in the order inflow is not expected. Currently, financing costs and rupee depreciation, among other factors, have led to a record number of projects moving into the freeze mode, resulting in reduction in capital expenditure of companies.

Amidst all uncertainty, government has plans of increased infrastructure investment by the private sector and has targeted for private investment contribution of 50% in 12th Plan as compared to 37% in the 11th Plan and 25% in the 10th Plan. However, looking at the economy’s current scenario and tight liquidity conditions, it appears to be a difficult task. The slowdown in the economic activity, especially in the infrastructure space, has resulted in poor financial performance for most of the companies in this sector. The infrastructure investment target in the 12th Five Year Plan may be revised downward; but the government needs to trigger some policy action and should display speedy decision making towards its Endeavor to create an environment for a meaningful recovery in the investment cycle.

Why Detroit Real Estate is Ripe for the Picking in 2012

4 Major Indicators that Detroit Real Estate Investing is going to be a hot commodity in 2012:

Price – So I am pretty sure that you know by now that Detroit Real Estate is one of the most inexpensive places to buy right now.  These basement level prices are obviously not going to stick around for much longer so right now is definitely the best time to take advantage of really low real estate prices in and around the city of Detroit.

Rents – Detroit rental rates are pretty amazing if you ask me.  Whether it is a section-8 tenant or not, you can expect to bring in over $750/mo. as long as you are buying in the right neighborhoods.  We have seen many homes bring in well over $850/mo. as well.  Another key is knowing how much the annual property taxes are for your rental property here in Detroit.  Try not to buy properties that have $3,000+/mo in taxes if possible so you can keep your cashflow and ROI as high as possible.

Jobs – If you have been paying any attention to the Detroit news and what is going on there locally, you have most likely seen an influx of new businesses and jobs that are coming into the city.  Detroit has been adding thousands and thousands of new jobs and bringing a lot of stimulus back into the city.  More workers and a stimulated economy really benefits the real estate investors that own property in the area.

International money – This should not be a shock to you…there are a ton of foreign buyers that are jumping all over the Detroit Real Estate Investment opportunity.  In many of these countries, their markets are at the peak so they are looking towards the US (since we are pretty much at the bottom of our market) and seeing the huge upside of investing in a down market.  Also, their currencies are approaching the same value of the US dollar so they can get even more here in the USA for their money at this time.  Watch for a huge influx of international buyers this year in Detroit coming from China, Russia, Canada, Australia, UK, etc. If you can cater to these buyers, you have a great business model for success in 2012!
 
Ryan and In The Now Investments have been in the Detroit area for about 4 years now and has completed over 320 deals in that time. If you ever have any questions about Detroit Real Estate Investing, don’t hesitate to contact us at any time. Happy Investing folks!

REAL ESTATE & INFRASTRUCTURE

At Gateway, we have identified infrastructure sector in developing markets, as one of the areas where large amount of capital can be deployed successfully by institutional investors to generate superior long term returns.

In India, backed by several positive factors such as sustainable GDP growth, favorable demographics, lack of adequate infrastructure to meet the growing demands of business & population, etc, it is estimated that close to $ 350 - 400 billion is required to be spent by the infrastructure sector over the next 5 years.

We anticipate that, during this period, a lot of investment opportunities will arise for institutional investors to invest through the Foreign Direct Investment route in areas such as:

• Roads & highways

• Power plants

• Airports

• Railways

• Real Estate

• Ports

• Special Economic Zones

• Water & Sanitation

• Urban infrastructure

• Healthcare

• Hospitality & tourism

• Education

For instance, in toll roads, the total size of the opportunity is pegged at around $ 92 billion. The toll road model has already proved to be successful, with existing players including a few listed mid cap companies, generating positive cash flows and superior double digit returns on their capital employed.

To strengthen our capabilities in this area, we have entered into a MoU with the transaction advisory division of the leading infrastructure consultancy company in India, owned by 3 large institutions with a deep presence in this sector. Through its 63 offices and 855 employees in India, its spectrum of integrated infrastructure services is the most comprehensive in the industry. 17 of India's 50 biggest listed companies are its clients. So are 25 of India's 29 state governments and 3 of India's seven Union territories. In the last 3 years alone, 14 of the Fortune 500 companies have become its clients, testifying its leading position in the infrastructure consulting in India.

We also work closely with a boutique project management company in the UAE, who are currently working on some of the large prestigious projects in UAE, Libya, etc. This gives our clients the ability to conceptualize, fund, execute, and manage their infrastructure projects on time, on budget and within quality.

Some of the opportunities in this sector can be classified as under:

• Opportunities at a project SPV level and/or holding company level. For example, in real estate, power projects, toll roads, etc.

• Private equity opportunities in infrastructure services companies.

• Opportunities to participate in green field ventures in areas such as healthcare, alternate energy, power, etc.

• JV Opportunities for asset management firms to partner established infrastructure players to set up funds and coinvestment vehicles for their clients.

The minimum investment period in this sector can range as low as 2 - 3 years for real estate projects to 4 - 5 years for power projects and toll roads. Areas like healthcare, airports, etc have a much longer gestation period and the investment period can stretch up to 8 or 10 years.