Kolkata Real Estate

Calling it an "investor's paradise", the government is wooing potential investors assuring them that it has reserved the 9,178 acres required for the project to quicken the process, according to a report published in Mint.

Land acquisition delays by the government and a liquidity crunch were the main reasons why DLF, which had formed a 50:50 joint venture with Limitless, pulled out of the project last year, seeking a refund of Rs 400 crore, which it paid upfront to the Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority (BMRDA).

The project, which will be developed in phases, requires a total investment of Rs 60,000 crore.

Taking advantage of the two-day Global Investors' Meet (GIM), a fresh brochure has been issued for the project asking interested bidders to submit the "request for qualification" document by 30 August. The Karnataka investor meet ended on Friday.

Source: Realty Plus After DLF's exit, Bidadi project put back on track

Here is a verbatim transcript of his comments on CNBC-TV18. Also see the accompanying video.

Click On Image For Watch Video..

This is going to be a test case for denotification. DLF was one of the first companies to apply for denotification for its SEZ in Delhi. Post that, a whole host of companies had started applying for denotification, citing a slump in global demand for IT-related projects. As a result of which, no IT company was taking up leasing space inside the SEZ.

The realty major has now asked the government to reverse the denotification of its Kolkata SEZ. In its application, DLF has said that it sees demand for IT space leasing reviving in India and has cited the Finance Minister's Budget wish to support SEZs.

DLF's Kolkata SEZ, which was spread over 10-hectares, was denotified on June, 2009. It was part of the four SEZs -- Gandhinagar, Sonepat, Bhubaneswar, and Kolkata -- that were denotified.

The project was slated to take off during the end of last year but was delayed by land acquisition disputes. The West Bengal Government had acquired the land on behalf of Peerless, as per joint sector agreements. Bengal Peerless is a joint sector company of the West Bengal Housing Board and the Peerless General Finance and Investment Company Ltd.

"All land related issues have been resolved and we are currently waiting for approvals from the municipal authorities and environment department," Bagchi said.

The first phase of the project, which involved setting up of 500 residential units in the low-, middle- and high-income categories in equal proportions, will be completed in two years, said Bagchi.

The entire project, to be developed on 13 acres near the Metro Cash and Carry outlet near EM Bypass, will contain 1,460 residential units along with some commercial office space. The company aims to complete the whole project in seven years, Bagchi added.

Source: Realty Plus Bengal Peerless set to begin new project work

The West Bengal government is planning to distribute for free at least 200,000 acres of state-owned land among underprivileged people in a bid to regain the political support it lost after the forcible acquisition of land for industrial projects.

The takeover of some 10,000 acres of farmland had resulted in the Left Front government led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPM, losing votes in the 2008 village council polls and the 2009 general election, reversing the result of the 2006 assembly polls.

The state government is now trying to make amends by distributing land, both in cities and in rural areas, before the assembly elections scheduled for next year.

The proposed largesse will benefit at least one million families, according to the state's land and land reforms minister Abdur Rezzak Mollah. "It is an attempt to regain the confidence of people who have left us," said Mollah, whose department is coordinating with others for implementing various schemes under which land will be distributed.

The schemes would mostly benefit people who have built homes on state-owned land and those tilling the soil for absentee landlords.

Source: Live Mint By Romita Datta West Bengal To Give Land To Underprivileged

 Real estate developers Emaar MGF Land Ltd and DLF Ltd have dumped plans to build luxury hotels in Kolkata, four years after buying land at steep prices.

In April 2006, Emaar MGF won in an auction a 99-year lease for a 5.6-acre plot on Eastern Metropolitan Bypass, an arterial road connecting the city to the airport, for around Rs190 crore.

It was then a record price paid for a property in Kolkata.

Emaar MGF had said it would build on this plot leased out to it by the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA), a civic body, two luxury hotels under the JW Marriott and Holiday Inn brands.

Three months later, DLF secured on lease at an auction on the same road a 5.5-acre plot from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) for Rs155 crore. It said it would build in four years a 16-storey hotel under the Hilton brand.

In 2007-08, Emaar MGF got a lease for an undisclosed amount another property in the heart of Kolkata from the Royal Calcutta Turf Club. It had proposed to build there a 227-room hotel under the Park Hyatt brand.

Source: Live Mint By Romita Datta & Aveek Datta Emaar, DLF shelve plans to build luxury hotels in Kolkata

Cheap and skilled manpower, along with low cost of living compared to other cities, is drawing entrepreneurs to the state.

According to the latest Business Confidence Index (BCI) by industry body Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), West Bengal has scored 6.5 on a scale of 10.

The score, while indicative of the state government's industry-friendliness, is at par with investment destination states such as Gujarat, Maharasthra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh, according to the report. As per chamber estimates, West Bengal has received investments of up to Rs 5.3 lakh crore till September 2009 over a 12-year period which indicates the investors' confidence on the State, said D S Rawat, secretary general, ASSOCHAM while releasing the Survey.

"India Inc. still trusts the State government's industry-friendly policies which are working on the right direction to make the state's industrial prospects conducive," according to the report.

Source: Business-standard West Bengal back on investment radar, says Assocham survey

Plans are also afoot to set up office space in Siliguri, Patna and Raipur. Ambuja Realty chairman Harshavardhan Neotia on Thursday said the company plans to start construction of new projects in couple of months. "We are in the process of receiving the necessary approvals. All the projects will be ready for possession within three years," he added.

While Ambuja plans to invest Rs 200 crore for a 5-lakh sq ft business park in Salt Lake, the second project will be set up over 1.5 lakh sq ft and will entail an investment of around Rs 60 crore. On the other hand, the Rajarhat project (1.2 lakh sq ft) is coming close to the group's existing shopping mall, City Centre II, and will bear an investment of around Rs 35 crore.

"While we will definitely target the IT sector for leasing out and sell out of space, but the parks will be designed in a way which will have appeal for all the sectors. At the same time, we plan to set up office space in three of our upcoming mixed development projects in Siliguri, Patna and Raipur," said Mr Neotia.

Ambuja Realty on Thursday announced the launch of the second phase of the group's first business park, Ecospace, in Rajarhat. The second phase comprising of two blocks will have a saleable area of 4.5 lakh sq ft. The entire project is spread over 10 lakh sq ft. Already 85% of the area in the first phase is leased or sold out to the likes of Bajaj Allianz, HDFC Bank, Voith, Thyssenkrupp, Indus Towers and Bayer Corp. "Of the total project cost of Rs 300 crore, we have already invested Rs 200 crore in Ecospace. The project will be completely ready by April 2010."

A study by global realty consultant Cushman & Wakefield revealed that the Burrabazar-BBD-Esplanade area-Park Street belt that comprises Kolkata's central business district (CBD) commands a rent of Rs 98/sqft, way over Gurgaon prime commercial (Rs 77), Bangalore CBD (Rs 73), Pune CBD (Rs 55), Chennai CBD (Rs 55) and Hyderabad CBD (Rs 50).

What's even more surprising is that rents in Kolkata have been least affected by the downturn that sparked a major price correction in the real estate sector across the country. While rent in the city's CBD is down 7 per cent against last year, the rentals erosion elsewhere is 10 to 28 per cent.

But despite the 20 per cent rent correction, office space in Nariman Point, Mumbai's CBD, remains the costliest in the country at Rs 300/sq ft ($107/sq ft/year). It is also the fifth most expensive location globally after Tokyo ($190), London West End ($161), Hong Kong CBD ($160) and Dubai CBD ($120). New York Midtown ($105), Moscow CBD ($102), Paris CBD ($102), Milan CBD ($89) and Zurich CBD ($88) are all cheaper than Mumbai.

Source: Realty Plus `Office rentals remain high in Kolkata'

Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) on Wednesday floated an expression of interest (EOI) requesting proposals for development and operation of twin tower IT park in Sector V.

Confirming the development, Debesh Das, West Bengal IT minister, said, "We have invited bids for a twin tower IT park in Salt Lake Sector V. The project cost is estimated at Rs 200 crore. This will be a built over 3 acres owned by STPI."

STPI and Webel, the nodal agency for the government of West Bengal, have invited developers who have developed similar buildings or spaces to be a joint developer with STPI and Webel in this initiative under public-private-partnership (PPP) model.

"The project cost and profits will be shared between STPI, Webel and the Bengal IT department," Das said.

Source: Business-standard By Pradipta Mukherjee & Devjyot Ghoshal Bengal invites bids for Rs 200-cr it project

Real estate developers are reviving big-ticket projects in Kolkata after securing a commitment from the West Bengal government that "some kind of incentive" would be offered to help them emerge from the downturn. The projects had been halted for at least 18 months.

Road to recovery: An under-construction complex in Rajarhat, Kolkata. Consultants say real estate prices in Kolkata have begun to firm up

States such as Maharashtra, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh have already announced incentives for real estate developers. Maharashtra has raised the so-called floor space index, or FSI, a measure of the amount of covered space that a developer can set up on a plot of land. Uttar Pradesh is asking developers to put up a smaller amount than before at the time of allotment for state government projects.

"Demands (for incentives) from real estate developers are reasonable," said Asok Bhattacharya, West Bengal's minister for urban development. "We are examining the legal aspects and hope to announce some kind of incentive soon."

Among those restarting construction of key projects in Kolkata are Emaar MGF Land Ltd, which plans to build two 250-room hotels under the JW Marriott and Holiday Inn brands, and local players such as Dhoot Developers Pvt. Ltd, South City Projects (Kolkata) Ltd and Merlin Projects Ltd, which are building large commercial complexes in partnership with the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority, or KMDA--an arm of the state government.

Source: Live Mint By Romita Datta and Aveek Datta Realty firms revive projects in Kolkata

The stake could be valued at Rs 8-9 crore per acre and the total deal size is expected to be above Rs 100 crore, the DNA has reported, citing unnamed market sources.

However, the news could not be confirmed.

Bata India is developing the Calcutta Riverside project through two special purpose vehicles. An integrated township is being developed on 237 acres through a joint venture, Riverbank Developers, in which Bata holds 50 per cent and the Calcutta Metropolitan Group the balance 50 per cent.

Another 25 acres are being developed into an IT park/special economic zone through a second SPV, Riverbank Holdings, in which Riverbank Developers holds 50 per cent and the balance is with PE fund Yatra Capital.

The Calcutta Metropolitan Group, in turn, is a 50:50 joint venture between the United Credit Belani Group and the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority.

According to market sources, the stake sale could happen in the integrated township project, in which Bata holds 50 per cent. "The stake could be valued on per-acre basis valuation," a market source was quoted as saying.

However, a Bata official said, "We do not comment on market speculations."

With the economy on the recovery track and the IT players gradually renewing commitment for their projects, DLF, the country's largest real estate developer, has also pulled up its socks.

DLF is understood to have resumed negotiations with a host of IT players- both large as well as the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) for offering its IT workspace of international standards at its Infopark project being developed on a 54-acre plot in the city's Infocity area.

Confirming the development, a senior company official said, "We are in talks with the IT companies- large as well as SMEs. The project plan for our Infopark project is ready and we are keen to start construction work soon. But before resuming construction, we would launch marketing for our project."

He did not share details on the timeline of starting construction work on the project.

Source: Business-Standard DLF in talks with IT players for space at Infopark project

Bureaucrats who have conceptualised the clause hope this would entice IT majors, particularly Infosys, to step into Bengal. For now, they think the clause is the most crucial part of the agreement between Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (Hidco) and Wipro and might become the cornerstone of all future agreements with IT investors seeking land near the city or Rajarhat.

"Wipro chairman Azim Premji found the deal extre-mely encouraging and paid up the first instalment of Rs 18.9 crore for its 50 acres within a fortnight of meeting the chief minister," a Hidco official said.

Hidco chairman Gautam Deb told TOI on Saturday: "This step is a milestone for Brand Bengal and may now be replicated. Everyone's interest has been considered."

Putting the Vedic Village fiasco behind, the Bhattacharjee government is now trying hard to keep the fire burning in the state's sunshine sector. Officials are optimistic that they might manage to woo Infosys, which has so far remained unresponsive to the CM's call to set up business in Rajarhat's Action Area III.

Source: Times Of India Tech investors can sell part of land to realtors

The West Bengal Estates Acquisition (Amendment) Bill, 2009, was necessitated by the fact that the land at these units was being used to build commercial and residential complexes and not to serve the purpose for which it had been given on lease.

"With the amendment, land retained by individuals or groups under the West Bengal Estate Acquisition Act, 1953, for... running factories, mills and tea gardens cannot be used or developed for any purpose other than for what they had been retained and will be taken back," says the bill tabled by the land and land reforms minister.

The land will then be reused for industry, government officials said.

They added that many of the shut jute factories dotting the city and its suburbs are on such land.

Land minister Abdur Rezzak Mollah said the total area of land that had been given on lease under the 1953 act was 4.63 lakh acres. "So far, we have identified 41,000 acres that have closed factories or tea estates. But the process of identification is on."

"After the bill becomes law, we can immediately begin the process of acquiring this land," he added.

Source: The Telegraph Law To Take Back Land From locked Units - Bill Bar On Shopping Malls On Factory Plots

According to the report, Tatas' budget hotel chain is also in talks with the same group for selling out at least two other properties at Haridwar in Uttarakhand and Agartala in Tripura.

Citing officials in the know, the report said that the latest development may actually be part of the $72 billion group's overall asset stripping initiative, which could see at least three to four Ginger properties being sold off, thereby bringing down the leverage on the books of Indian Hotels (IHCL). Roots Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of IHCL.

Although the Ginger Hotels spokesperson was evasive while responding to specific queries on this sell-off deal, the Rose Valley spokesman confirmed the development. "We have already acquired Ginger's Durgapur property. We will re-launch the hotel under its new name, that is Rose Valley Hotel, Durgapur on December 20," quoted Rishav Haldar, AGM (operations), Rose Valley Hotels in the report.

Source: Realty Plus Tatas sell Ginger hotel property in Bengal, more selloffs possible

The government has decided to fix the land price and the rehabilitation package for the land owners after considering their requirements and speaking to local administration and political parties.

Earlier, the government followed the policy of acquiring land from the owners by giving them the prevailing market price, which was a standard price for all plots in the state.

Now, the state has decided to fix the price according to the area -- the price of a particular plot in a specific area will be fixed after considering the requirements of the people of the area, said Commerce and Industry Minister Nirupam Sen. He was speaking at the Steel Conclave 2009, which was organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

Stressing the fact that land availability is not a problem in the state, Sen said: "Land is not at all a serious issue in the state and it has been made to look critical deliberately by some people. We have set up land committees locally to fix the price of land according to the demands of the land-owners or farmers."

DLF Galleria is a 300,000-sqft project proposed on a 3-acre plot in Action Area-I of New Town. The 13-storey mixed development comprised of retail on the ground and first floor, food court on the second and office space in the remaining 10 floors.

"Though the project commanded a very high premium, we booked into it because of DLF's name. The project was to be completed in two and a half years, but construction has only just begun. We don't want to be a part of the project any longer as there are several other irregularities that have come to our notice. Hence, we are demanding a full refund of the money that we have advanced," said Rajarhat Welfare Association (RWA) president Rajendra Kapoor.

The RWA was formed by individual shop and office owners who wanted to exit the DLF project but were not permitted without forfeiting a major chunk of the money invested in the project. RWA has reported the matter to the Barasat SDO and 78 investors have filed complaints. The remaining 22 will register their complaints on Monday. The matter will come up for hearing on November 24.

Source: Times Of India Another DLF project runs into rough weather

“I don’t feel price lines in Calcutta metropolitan areas will recede because of this ongoing land controversy and shelving of the IT project. If anything, cost of available plots will go up, since there aren’t too many parcels going in the heart of the city,” feels Pradeep Sureka, the president of Credai’s state chapter.

In most city core areas of Mumbai and Delhi, prevailing prices would be over Rs 100 crore an acre, and even more in prime residential neighbourhoods. Calcutta is yet to attain that high, for obvious reasons.

But in the past few years, real estate prices in Calcutta have scaled “often unreal” peaks thanks mainly to the auction of land parcels by government agencies like the CMDA and Calcutta Municipal Corporation, which has “artificially” jacked up the market, allege realtors.

Source: The Telegraph City centre feels heat of flare-up on fringes

With land becoming the most sensitive -- and scarce -- asset in a business enterprise, a logical question that few dare to ask is why cash-rich land-seekers such as Infosys and Wipro cannot pay the market price for space.

In Rajarhat, both Infosys and Wipro were once offered Hidco land but the deal fell through because of differences over price. The two infotech behemoths were apparently willing to pay only Rs 40-50 lakh an acre.

"Seeking land at such a low rate is in effect a demand to subsidise these rich companies by the government and the original owners of the land, which in many cases are farmers," said a realtor.

After Infosys and Wipro declined to pay, TCS, the infotech titan, did pick up land in Rajarhat. "We negotiated with the government for the price of the land and Rs 1.5 crore was acceptable to us," Ajoyendra Mukherjee of TCS said.

Not that Rs 1.5 crore was a great bargain for the government. In 2006, a private developer paid Rs 4.6 crore an acre for a 10-acre plot in Rajarhat to build an IT park. In 2008, a telecom giant paid Rs 8 crore an acre for three acres in Rajarhat for its own use.

Source: The Telegraph Rich but hungry for cheap land

Unitech was roped in from the latter part of 2007 as a strategic partner and was primarily responsible for the marketing of the project. Subsequently, the project was renamed Nirvana Township when Unitech was in the picture but has gone back to its orignal name, Kolkata West International City since the disassociation, the report added.

Citing officials close to the development, the report stated that earlier Unitech was associated as part of the project in the marketing capacity but now that Salim Group had their own marketing team in place, there was no real need for marketing support from Unitech. Added to this is the fact that Unitech has its own projects in the city now, it said.

The project which has been delayed by more than a year, delivered about 50 bungalows as Phase-I in June 2009. Project officials said that the project had been delayed due to pollution board clearance problems. They further added that the project was well on track as the first instalment of bungalows had been delivered. According to the officials, the Phase-I of the project consisting 750-800 bungalows would be completed by 2010.

Source: Realty Plus Kolkata West International City 'on course' sans Unitech

It's clear that chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's most valued brands have left Singur and Dankuni well behind them and are ready to begin all over again. Both -- Tata and DLF -- are currently working overtime on their condominiums at New Town, the report added.

Eden Court is Tata Housing's major endeavour into the eastern market and New Town Heights is DLF's prized project also at Rajarhat. Both projects had come under a cloud after the Nano debacle last October and DLF's subsequent decision to pull out of the 4,840-acre Dankuni township project, it said.

"Ratan Tata has kept his word. He had promised that none of his other projects in West Bengal would face the consequences of the Nano pullout. And now, the much-awaited Eden Court is ready to take off," quoted an official of Hidco, the keepers of the Rajarhat township in the report.

Ditto for DLF, which opted out of the Rs 40,000-crore Dankuni project over land issues. Downturn was the other big reason. Not for New Town Heights, though. Thankfully, even Tata Housing (a Tata group firm in which Tata Sons holds 97.5 per cent) hasn't allowed itself to be bogged down by downturn blues, it said.

Source: Realty Plus Mega housing plans on track at Rajarhat

"I am now ruing the fact that I left Dehradun to settle here. The authorities had made lots of promises, which are yet to be fulfilled," Ghosh said. There are hundreds of others who believed in the dream shown to them by Housing and Infrastructure Development Corporation (Hidco) and moved in here five years ago. Only to land in a trap.

Hidco had called New Town the "best in the country" and promised all modern civic amenities. The authorities expected 15 lakh people to live here by 2015 but there are hardly 3,000. The New Town skyline is packed with elegant highrises -- mostly deserted.

The reasons are many. The drinking water supplied here is of very poor quality. There are no sheds at busstands. Even buses are few and far between, for that matter. The sewerage and drainage system is nothing worth talking about. There aren't even proper markets here, nor even a single medicine shop. Residents do not even know when their woes will end.

And all these at Action Area-I, which Hidco proudly claimed to have "fully completed". Work on developing the four other Action Areas is expected to be finished by 2012.

Showing A Pipe Dream  
 But what exactly is going wrong? Even after so much planning, why is the 3,779-hectare Rajarhat New Town becoming a concrete desert?

Source: Times Of India Promises Not Kept: New Town A Concrete Desert

• Every Day Worry    

• Not A Sip To Drink

• Hope? Not Anytime Soon

This has led Avani Projects and Infrastructure, a subsidiary of the Avani Group, to develop a 6 lakh sq ft shopping-dining-entertainment facility, christened `Avani Riverside Mall', right on the banks of Hooghly.

"The retail potential of Howrah and its suburban areas of Shibpur, Andul and Shalimar is exponentially high and largely untapped. By launching the Avani Riverside Mall, we hope to provide business opportunities to retailers," Parita Mehta, spokesperson, Avani Group, told FC Estate.

She said Avani Riverside Mall would have a food court, kid's entertainment zone, cineplex, a fine dining restaurant, live band and landscaped gardens with waterfront view.

Saket Mintri, senior manager for sales & acquisition, said that Avani Riverside Mall would be ready in a year's time. "Brands such as Pantaloons, Big Bazaar, PVR Multiplex have already booked their spaces," he said. For the first time, the residents of Howrah would have a plush new-age cinema theatre (a four-screen cineplex by PVR with seating capacity for 1,200).
The complex would have over 1 lakh sq ft of retail space on each of the four floors. Retail zoning would be introduced to ensure that tenants get good product display and visibility. "It will also make the shopping environment stress-free," Mintri said.

Source: Mydigitalfc.com Avani Projects to roll out mall in Howrah

The company plans to raise the money partly through debt and equity and also through sale of some existing properties. "About Rs 1,000 crore would be raised by selling some existing properties," Neotia added.

The value of the projects would involve both cost of land and construction. "We have already acquired about 60 per cent of the land required for the projects," said Neotia.

The economic downturn had forced the company to reassess its target against the backdrop of a severe liquidity crunch. "Last year, the target was obviously higher because the real estate market was growing. But since then, targets had to be revised due to the crisis," Neotia said.

The company had to delay some of its projects as well. "All projects need to be structured for longer periods. If we were pushing to open a mall in a year, now it is two years," Neotia said.

Source: Realty Plus Ambuja Realty plans Rs 5,000 crore projects

PS Group, which had projected an investment of Rs 200 crore in the SEZ, has so far been able to acquire only four acres for the project. "We have now decided to convert the entire project into a residential one, due to the economic slowdown and land acquisition problems," said Pradeep Chopra of PS Group.

Abhijeet Das, joint managing director, Lemongrass Advisors, said, "The whole idea behind the de-notification of DLF SEZ was to widen the scope for inviting more companies to set up offices in the space."

State IT minister Debesh Das admitted that IT exports from West Bengal were indeed downand that de-notification of IT SEZs was on the rise. "Realty is slowly picking up and many developers are now pitching for residential and commercial complexes," said Das.

From TCS, Wipro, Infosys to HCL, Patni and Cognizant, companies are now scrambling to raise their share in the domestic software and IT services pie, valued at Rs 58,000 crore. According to industry insiders their earnings from the domestic market have been less than 10 per cent.

Source: Realty Plus Real estate developers review IT SEZ projects in Kolkata

In another significant move, the Left Front has taken away the responsibilities of land map and land bank creation from the commerce and industries minister, one of the strongest advocates of state's industrialisation drive, and given it to the state land & land reforms minister, who had once aired reservations on indiscriminate land acquisition during the Singur imbroglio.

Sources in the state government were quoted in the report saying that the state land and land reforms minister and senior CPI-M leader Abdur Rezzak Mollah had unequivocally told the state cabinet that the decision on fresh land acquisition should be taken politically, rather than administratively.

"Earlier, the state government used to issue notice for land acquisition after getting the requisitions from various state departments. But in future, I will not issue any notice before consulting my party," said Mollah.

Source: Realty Plus Bengal puts fresh land acquisitions on hold

Once a sleepy hamlet in the north Bengal foothills, Siliguri is now a challenge for the city and town planners. Stupendous population growth with even higher motor vehicular growth rate of the city indicates its economic development and thus potential in the real estate sector. With less than 5,000 population in 1931, the city today hosts over 9 lakh heads in its 117.54 sq km urban area, showing 118% decadal growth rate, the highest in West Bengal.

SILIGURI

The active nature of the city is evident from the rise in the number of motor vehicles. From 42,000 registered vehicles, including LMVs and two-wheelers, in 1996, it had grown to 86,000 in 2004. Over 13,000 new registrations are being added to that every year. "Vehicles in Siliguri are growing at a much faster rate than the population. This trend is expected to continue in the future," says a study on Siliguri city development strategy, prepared by the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi.

The high population growth, along with the vehicular growth and increasing power needs which are as high as 90MW clearly indicates a growing potential for the city in the real estate sector too. The Siliguri Jalpaiguri Planning Area, a zone encompassing the districts of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri with Siliguri, requires over Rs 30,040-crore projects in 20 years to cope with increased housing demand.

"Strategic links like the growing trade paths with China, the trans-Asian railway through the North East, the East-West corridor under the Golden Quadrilateral projects of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which all touch Siliguri, are contributing to logical upsurge in housing demand in Siliguri," West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, recently said.

Source: Economic Times Pvt sector wooed to fulfil demand

The Cabinet, which met on Thursday for the first time after the results were declared, decided to set aside, for now, plans for creating a city centre on 120 acres at Kharagpur in Paschim Medinipur district, after some ministers expressed reservations about the project.

Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee told his Cabinet colleagues that there was need for more details of the nature of land, and for an assessment of job opportunities the project would generate.

It was also decided that the Land Use Board, tasked with the preparation of a map delineating land-use patterns, be brought under the Land and Land Reforms Department, instead of the Industries and Commerce Department.

Leaders of the Left parties and some ministers felt that the political implications of the debate on acquisition of farmland for industries were evident in the poll outcome.

Source: Realty Plus West Bengal shelves plan for Kharagpur city centre

The Mahindras have already an integrated township, Mahindra World City, on NH45 at Singaperumal Koil, near Chennai. "The second township near Chennai on NH5 will focus more on the domestic tariff area (DTA). It will have a logistic zone and a residential area," Anita Arjundas, president and chief executive officer, Mahindra Lifespace Developers.

Arjundas said the details of the projects were being discussed by the board.

The first Mahindra World City project near Chennai was promoted by the Mahindra group and the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO), a public-private initiative.

The company also handles the World City project in Jaipur, residential complexes in Pune, Chennai, Mumbai and Faridabad and also utility schemes like Tirupur water project and Tirupati solid waste management project.

Arjundas said the Mahindra Group was planning to set up a Mahindra Research Valley at its existing World City Chennai. "The group would be investing afresh over Rs 700 crore into the research project and could employ 2,500 people. The facility would be completed in the next two to three years," Arjundas added.

The company is also coming out with new residential projects inside the Chennai Mahindra World City. "The "Aqua Lilly" project with an investment of Rs 350 crore would have 700 houses (both villas and twin houses). The second residential project would be on smart homes or budget homes. It would be investing Rs 100 crore to develop 18 acres within the township. Both the projects would come up in three years," said Arjundas.

The chief operating officer, Mahindra World City Developers, Sangeeta Prasad, said nearly 45 companies had already signed up to set up their outfit in the World City, of which, 24 had started their operations.

With the fundamentals of the economy starting to improve, the number of enquiries for booking commercial space is on the rise, according to industry experts and real estate developers. Most of the new deals for space are being inked in a revenue-sharing agreement, as developers seem more receptive to the idea now, at a time of low demand.

Mr Pramod Dwivedi, Head, Marketing Ambuja Realty, said the retailers were now more cautious in choosing a mall. The developer has witnessed increased enquiries for space in the last one month. In Ecospace, a commercial project in the developing area of Rajarhat, Mcnally Bharat has taken 1,20,000 sq.ft from RMZ developers, he said.

Hard bargaining
The downturn has however resulted in hard negotiations between enterprises and property owners over rent amounts, according to experts. "The rent for commercial space in Kolkata has fallen anywhere between 10 per cent and 30 per cent over the last five-six months," Mr Hemant Kumar Sikaria, Regional Manager of the realty broking firm REBI, said, adding that in the next six months, the rent for office and retail space could fall by another 7-10 per and 20 per cent respectively. People looking for commercial space also need to rationalise on their expectations of further discounts in rents to reach the "meeting point", he pointed out.

While rents in the core business districts of Dalhousie, Central Avenue and Park Street are stable, those in the IT hub of Salt Lake Sector-V have fallen from Rs 60-70 per sq.ft to Rs 40 in the last six months. The rent for showrooms has been hit more than for office space, as revenues in retail ventures have fallen much more, Mr Sikaria said.

In the upcoming City Centre-II mall, expected to be launched by Ambuja Realty in August, the rent is in the Rs 80-125 per sq.ft range. A bulk of the space was booked four years back at Rs 65-70 per sq ft.

Source: thehindubusinessline.com Rents on the slide : Kolkata Witnessing Hard Negotiations B'ween Enterprises And Property Owners Over Rents In Comm Space

• Funds too

• Rent-revenue ratio

The company has increased prices of residential units at Eden Court, its first housing project in West Bengal, for the second time in the last one week, to Rs 2,900per square feet from the staring price of Rs 2,750 per square feet.

"The rise in prices is in tandem with the demand, as almost 70 per cent of the residential units in the project have been sold out," said sources at the authorised marketing agents for Tata Housing.

Tata Housing's first real estate project in the state is not a low-cost housing project, like the one it recently launched in Mumbai.

Widely applauded as a "Nano" in the housing sector,a 283 square feet flat in "Shubh Griha", the company's low cost housing projects in Mumbai, comes at about Rs 3.9 lakh.

Whereas, at Eden Court, about a 1,000 square feet flat will not come at less than Rs 30 lakh. A spokesperson from Tata Housing, while confirming the price hike, said, "The housing project in West Bengal has been well-received."

Source: Business-standard Spurt In Realty Demand, With Sales Gradually Picking Up ,Developers Are Swiftly Increasing Prices

Around 130 acres, out of the 1,200 acres of the leather complex, was sanctioned for the IT park in 2006, and the facility was to be commissioned by the first quarter of 2010. Around 17 companies, including Cognizant Technology Services, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra and Patni Computers, purchased land for approximately Rs 75 lakh per acre. However, as of now, hardly 25 per cent of the 130 acres has been developed. According to officials in Infinity Infotech, which had acquired four acres, work could not start if pollution levels were so high. According to Ramesh Juneja, the president of the Calcutta Leather Complex Tanners' Association, a leather complex and an IT park cannot exist side by side as leather is a polluting industry and IT requires a clean environment.

Among projects stuck before the LLRD was the 71 acre information technology (IT) sector SEZ at Panagarh in Bardhaman district 160km from Kolkata on National Highway 2. This SEZ was notified in August 2007 and was being developed by the Kolkata-based Sonthalia group. The IT Panagarh SEZ master planning was being done by Voyants Solutions, a Ramky Infrastructure group outfit, and project planning by IL&FS as technical consultants and equity partner in the project. Also stuck was the Sonthalia group's 25 acre biotech SEZ at the same site for which land was in hand and formal approval received from the board of approvals (BOA) of the Union ministry of commerce (MoC).

The Panagarh biotech SEZ demand study was done by Jones Lang Lasalle Meghraj while IL&FS was the technical advisor and equity partner. Sonthalia group recently proposed a third, 25-acre, SEZ dedicated to solar energy also at Panagarh, after acquiring land for the project. Application for approval had been filed with BOA-MoC, backed by a recommendation from the state department of information technology. The Sonthalia group was also developing two SEZs in the Rajarhat area, just east of Kolkata's city limits. DLF Ltd, the country's largest real estate company, had recently approached the Government for de-notifying four IT/ITES SEZs. The SEZs are in Orissa, Gujarat, West Bengal and Haryana. The de-notification has reportedly been sought in view of the falling demand in the IT and BPO industry. "It is due to the global slowdown and less demand for IT and BPO space. It has nothing to do with cash crunch. In other cases, whatever DLF has constructed so far has already been pre-leased, and so in IT there is no point in going ahead if the demand has slumped," DLF said.

According to Mayank Saksena, head - transactions, Kolkata, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, "From January onwards, we have been tackling an increase in live enquiries in Kolkata. The rate of enquiries is significantly higher than in cities such as Hyderabad. Chennai, Pune and Bangalore, primarily because Kolkata has a large number of old business houses that have been occupying prime spaces in the central business district (CBD). These entities are now in the process of shifting to suburban locations such as Rajarhat and Sector V in Salt Lake because of the huge difference in the cost of occupancy as well as the quality of buildings there. Typically, these clients have been occupying B-grade projects in the CBD, due to a dearth of A-grade buildings. However, these suburbs now offer A-grade buildings, which are available at reasonable occupancy costs in the suburbs."

"While Kolkata has not, so far, witnessed the rate of company consolidation evident in cities like Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi, we expect a step-up in consolidation in the coming quarter. This is because occupancy costs are now becoming a primary criterion even in Kolkata," Saksena said.

Real estate developers Srijan and P S Group have jointly built what is Bengal's first telecom park to house telecom and ITeS companies. According to Shyam Agarwal, chairman of Srijan, "Srijan and P S Group have jointly invested Rs 100 crore into the 5 lakh sq ft telecom park. Already Tata Teleservices and Idea Cellular have taken possession within the building."

Tech Mahindra too is looking at acquiring prime space in Kolkata to set up its fifth BPO centre here for outsourced telecom client servicing. According to a spokesperson of the company, "We are talking to several developers in Kolkata for a 500-seater BPO to begin with."

Currently Tech Mahindra operates two centres in Kolkata offering IT services. It has close to 1,000 employees delivering IT services to clients like British Telecom and others.

Source: Business-standard IT companies look for commercial space

* SEZs make little progress

As the residential real estate market in Kolkata has started to send out signals of a revival, it is the resale segment that is leading the way, according to experts and developers.

The resale of used flats picks up first in any upturn, they say, as the first wave of reviving demand comes from the real-time end users looking to move in immediately. While the overall investment orientation in the real estate sector is beginning to turn positive, lack of confidence about timely completion of projects is prompting buyers to go for a resale unit even at a higher price compared to those under construction.

The unorganised middle-income level resale market is, however, witnessing considerable amount of negotiations being worked out between buyers and sellers, according to local realty brokers. "The unique selling point of used houses over projects under construction in a difficult market condition is the `feel and touch' factor," Mr Lakhshmi Narayanan, President and CEO of realty broking firm REBI, said.

First-time house buyers have already delayed their investment plans to tide over the downturn and may not prefer to wait till the completion of new projects, he pointed out. However, projects just launched or nearing completion were likely to pick up, he said, adding that the prospective buyers could also capitalise on distress selling. "The demand for used houses is likely to see a 25-30 per cent growth, irrespective of market conditions, this year," he said.

A local property broker operating in the unorganised market in Kolkata said: "Faced by pressure from buyers, we are now negotiating with sellers to reduce prices lower than their earlier perceived realisations."

The price of an old private flat in most areas is lower by 15-25 per cent compared to new branded projects. "I closed a deal of an old 1,000 sq.ft flat near Dhakuria recently at Rs 18 lakh, which was earlier pegged at Rs 22 lakh," he said.

Source: www.thehindubusinessline.com Signs of revival in resale market

Property developers are of the view that there has been a significant improvement in demand in the last couple of months, and at lease one has increased prices in the last one month.

Pradeep Chopra of PS Group, said he had increased prices for one of its projects by Rs 200 per square feet to Rs 1,899 per square feet in the last one month.

Several real estate developers are also planning to launch new projects, which they have been holding for the last six months, which could be seen as a manifestation of demand revival.

"The demand for residential projects has started picking up, and the worst is probably over for the real estate sector. Property prices should look up in the coming months," said Chopra.

P S Group is planning to launch two new residential projects in Narendrapur and Rajarhat by May this year.

Harshvardhan Neotia, chairman, Ambuja Realty, also agreed that demand for housing projects had started picking up since last month.

Property prices in Kolkata and its fringes has seen a correction of almost 25 per cent in the last six months.

Source: Business-standard Kolkata Residential Projects Back In Demand