The Green footprint
The NCR region seems to be in the grip of a ‘green wave’ with a number of eco-townships coming up, reports Geetu Vaid

Development has its flipside too, as one can see in the case of our major cities that have become virtual concrete jungles in the race to accommodate the burgeoning population. The concept of energy-efficient office buildings and green offices is already popular in several metros. A number of projects promising a clean and serene lifestyle are coming up in the Delhi-NCR region hinting that the trend of green or eco-friendly homes is fast becoming popular.

These projects are mini eco-systems that will serve as oases in the midst of energy-gobbling and pollution-spitting cities. Green buildings conserve natural resources and minimise pollution. These not only cut down on the carbon footprint but also bring down maintenance costs.

Environment friendly innovative technologies like water harvesting, waste management, solar water heating and power, energy efficient doors and windows, herbal gardens etc are being used by many developers in different projects all over the country, but now more and more builders and developers are going in for projects that promote an eco-friendly lifestyle, making the benefits of different innovations a part of day-to-day life of the residents.

"The trend of eco townships is getting popular these days. A lot of such projects are coming up in NCR region, which reflects the current market demand. Estimates reveal that the market potential for all such green building materials will be about $40 billion by 2012", says Bhim Yadav, CEO of Falcon Realty, and the brain behind Global Eco City project in Noida. Other projects on similar lines, include Supertech's two projects worth over Rs 4,000 crore - Eco Village (Noida Extension) and Eco Citi, (Expressway, Noida). Then there is the Lotus Panache project by 3Cs in Sector 110, Noida. Thus the trend of eco-communes is gaining a foothold in the region. "The concept acquires a larger significance in these mini townships where we are endeavoring to make a point that it is possible in the 21st century to live in harmony with Nature and by causing minimum damage to our fragile eco system", says Mohit Arora, Director, Supertech Limited. According to Arora eco-responsibility is visible in everything related to the project, be it the type of machinery used for construction or the materials used. At Eco Village where construction is going on, the power back-up generators are CNG-powered and the machines create less noise pollution. There are also plans to use pre-fabricated building material instead of bricks to save energy.

Affordability

Green buildings cost three to eight per cent more than the conventional buildings. However, the higher cost is recovered within two to three years through savings in maintenance costs. "Due to substantial reduction in operational cost, the total cost of ownership of green buildings is invariably lesser than that of the conventional buildings", says Yadav. As affordability is the key factor for most Indian home buyers, the developers have taken extra care to keep these green communes within the reach of a common man.

With 55 lakh housing units required in Delhi-NCR, within a price range of Rs 5 to Rs 20 lakh, GEC has kept people in the income bracket of Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 per month as its target group. Eco Village, too, has one-room units available at the starting price of Rs 10 lakh that goes up to Rs 40 lakh for a four-bedroom home, says Arora. Eco Citi, too, is a mid range project with prices ranging between Rs 24 to Rs 60 lakh.

Tech advantage

While wind energy is being harnessed to generate power in Eco Village, at Lotus Panache the pre nursery school will have net zero energy consumption and geo thermal technology. A host of such innovations have created a storehouse of eco-friendly building materials and techniques.

Net Zero technology is the one where there is zero net energy consumption and zero carbon emissions annually. Zero energy buildings achieve one key green-building goal of completely or significantly reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions for the life of the building.

Geo thermal technology is the leading edge of heating and cooling technology. This technology is used in green buildings to move heat energy to and from the earth to heat and cool the indoor environment of an apartment and thus save monthly energy bills.

Teelock, the principal architect for GEC says, "At Falcon, we envisioned the Mughal architecture plan as the natural cooling technique used in the Mughal era buildings is awe inspiring. We shall be using hollow bricks to keep outer walls of buildings warm in summers and cooler inside and vice-versa in winters". The use of wide windows will help in conserving energy as there won't be a need to switch on lights during daytime. “Organic manure will be used to grow organic food for the consumption of the residents and this will make our project self-sustaining on food front, too”, says Yadav.

"With futures like CNG-powered backup stations, in-house garbage treatment (an unexplored western concept). Anaerobic digesters, we ensure we save energy and produce it too, enhanced emphasis on use of natural resources ensures we do our bit in reducing the carbon footprint", says Arora of Supertech.

Government policies

As the effects of global warming have reached our doorstep, the government is taking the task of building eco friendly houses much more seriously. The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), part of the Confederation of Indian Industry, is taking its promoting green cities. India is well poised to emerge as one of the global leaders in green buildings. Council's India chapter and CII is fanning out in nine states to create awareness about the benefits of green construction.

Not only this , the World Green Buildings Council, is creating an Asia-Pacific network which will help green building leaders to strike partnerships in the region, promote their products and services, and gather market intelligence about products, technologies and business opportunities. "The IGBC has come up with Green Homes Green Building Rating System which provides a set of performance standards for certifying the design and construction phases of residential buildings. Such a rating system will help in determining high performance, healthy, durable, affordable, and environmentally sound residential buildings", says Yadav.

Achieving LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification is the best way to demonstrate that your building project is truly "green", says Arora whose Eco Village project has platinum rating.

With the increasing number of green projects, one sees a great future in going green.

Going natural

l Eco townships are a confluence of innovative measures for conserving energy and to maximize the utilization of natural elements.

l Homes in these communes require minimum maintenance.

l Constructions in a typical eco-friendly township use locally available materials and materials that are recycled.

l Wind and solar energy are harnessed for natural cooling in summer and heating in winter.

l These townships create less solid waste.

l Waste water is recycled or treated for flushing and watering gardens.

l The sewage plant or mini-sewage plants in the complex takes care of the management of waste.

Region shines on Lalit Group’s radar
Sakshi Gulati

the Lalit Suri Hospitality Group, that operates luxury hotels under the brand name The Lalit, will invest Rs 1,200 crore on expanding properties in the the premium segment, said the group’s chairperson and managing director Jyotsna Suri.

“We are coming up with hotels in Kolkata, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Noida, Amritsar and Dehradun over the next two years. The properties in Chandigarh and Jaipur are almost ready. These will be operational by early next year."

The group, which represented InterContinental Group of hotels before rebranding itself in 2008, plans to double the number of rooms in luxury segment to 3,600 by 2012 from the present 2,000, the chairperson said. It is also looking at opportunities in the mid segment and has planned 25 hotels with an investment of Rs 800 crore ($175 million).

“By 2013, we plan to have an inventory of 1,400 rooms in the mid segment. We will set up mid-market hotels in Tier-I and Tier-II cities like Ludhiana and Surat. Each of these hotels will have 50-75 rooms,” Suri said.

At present, brand The Lalit has eight properties in India, six hotels operate under The Lalit brand, two in Goa and Mumbai have a co-branding with InterContinental. On the two overseas properties, Suri said a hotel in Dubai and the resort at Koh Samui in Thailand will start next year.

“The Lalit Grand Fort Dubai and the Lalit Resort and Spa in Koh Samui will be ready for guests by 2011,” she said, adding the group was investing around Rs 175 crore (nearly $40 million) in the Thai property. —IANS

GREEN HOUSE
Weed out problem corners
Satish Narula

Those who have good experience in gardening know about the treatment to be given to different spots in the garden. However, for amateur gardeners it may be a problem. So let’s discuss some of such “problem” spots.In the confines of a small garden where space is always a constraint, every inch of land has to be utilised judiciously. There are certain spots which are tough to handle e.g. the space under a tree, along the shady wall and at the sides, behind hedges and trees where sun rays hardly reach rendering the place barren. Such spots become an eyesore and catch attention first even when the rest of the garden has been done nicely otherwise.

Space under a tree is the most problematic. In fact, as the tree spreads, its does not let any other thing grow in its ‘drip area’. Such an area, however, could be used for different purposes depending upon the location — whether the tree is in the backyard or in the front garden. See the accompanying picture. Here in the front lawn, Zephyranthus lily has been grown at the base of a tree. This bulbous plant can be successfully grown at the base of trees and thrives even in partial shade conditions. It is a perennial bulbous plant and when in bloom puts forth spectacular mass display. Even when there are no flowers the 10-inch-long onion like deep green plant keeps the place live with its glossy leaves. There are three colours available viz. pink, white and yellow. The plant at certain locations is prone to caterpillar attack but it is easily controllable by spraying Sevin (carbaryl), dissolved at two gram to a litre of water.

Another way of decorating the area under a tree is to grow ground cover plants in a planned manner. One could create designs alternating the ground cover bed made in triangular fashion with stones or pebbles. The partitioning could be done with the help of bricks or marble strips. In fact such ‘plantations’ do not need much of the extra watering as these are in shade. Sedum (kali patti) is one of the most suited shade-loving plant for this purpose.

Another way of decorating such a spot is the use of marble chips or pebbles. The round area under the tree could be divided into sections that could be filled with marble chips (the biggest size available in the market) of different colours. You can easily get such chips in red, green, white, black, grey and yellow. These should be thoroughly washed before being spread on the slope made towards the main stem with a very gentle gradient. What kind of design you could make depends upon your imagination. It could be like a rangoli. One of the main advantages of such designs, especially under deciduous trees, is that when they shed leaves in winter, the design below is prominently visible and the pebbles can also be removed when the tree is in full foliage. The design could also be changed after every few days to give the garden a new look.

This column appears fortnightly. The writer is a senior horticulturist at PAU and can be reached at satishnarula@yahoo.co.in

Fortnightly Alert

Keep an eye on borer attack on your tomato and brinjal plants. In case the produce is getting spoiled, remove the affected fruit and destroy by burying it in the soil. Spray malthion, dissolved at two and a half millilitre to a litre of water alternating the spray after a week with thiodan, dissolved at eight millilitres to a litre of water. Wait for at least 10 days after the sprays and consume the vegetable after washing thoroughly. 

BUILDING UP Cement sense - II
The strong bond
Sandeep Goel

Quality and strength are the key factors that should be kept in mind while selecting the right cement for your construction.

Strength is the main criterion for classifying cement. Strength acquired by the cement motar in one day, three days, seven days and finally 28 days determines the quality of the cement. It is the strength after 28 days that is the most important factor. For instance, a new construction has to be cured. The grade of the cement used decides the number of days that will be required for curing. It is here that the strength of cement comes into play.

If you are using 53-grade cement, then the setting time is low and, therefore, the curing time is less. But this also requires a lot of water.

In case of Ordinary Portland cements (OPC) Grade 33, OPC Grade 43 and Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC) the setting is gradual, and it is more durable, highly resistant to cracks and shrinkage.

Choose as per need

So the consumers need to understand whether they want a cement that sets quickly or the one which has high resistance to cracks and shrinkage.

There is no need to use 53-grade cement for ordinary constructions. When it comes to constructing houses, commercial complexes or roads, use of 53-grade cement is a sheer waste of resources — water and manpower— required to carry out the curing. The compressive strength of Grade 33 OPC, Grade 43 OPC and PPC after 28 days do match that of 53-grade cement.

PPC is the best choice for hydraulic or marine structures, for mass construction. It can also replace OPC completely because PPC is best under aggressive conditions and is 10 to 15 per cent cheaper, too.

One may ask then why are the cement companies producing OPC cements? The simple answer is that market dictates what needs to be produced and also its quantity. Cement companies are throwing 53-grade cement purely to capture this market. Since there are several contenders and the end product is more or less the same, the only way to influence a buyer is to state that a particular kind of cement has high strength and that it sets very quickly. This is also why companies ignore the production costs and raw material wastage while manufacturing this brand of cement.

Best option

The lime content in the clinker is crucial to ensure the required strength development in cement. For instance, to produce 53-grade OPC, high quality limestone is required, which is scarce in India. So basically, 53-grade cement consumes a lot of limestone, and it is extremely energy intensive. The best option available for cement companies in terms of resource efficiency is 33-grade, 43-grade cement or PPC in places where the limestone deposit has lesser lime content. In fact government should discourage the use of 53-grade OPC unless its application is essential for certain specific area of use. This will save a substantial amount of fuel used in the kiln for production of cement.

The government has not undertaken any efforts to promote PPC manufacturing. In fact, the government policy and stand on PPC is not very clear even though it has not encouraged the use of 53-grade cement. There are some discrepancies in the government policies. For instance, for all government constructions, it was mandatory to procure 33-grade cement. However, recently, the government revised this norm and made it mandatory to use 43-grade OPC without considering the advantages of PPC — technically and price wise — intentionally or unintentionally which could have replaced 33-grade OPC. But now, it cannot happen unless the 12-year-old standards are revised.

Fly ash advantage

The advantages of using more fly ash in cement production are many. First of all, it’s the best way to reuse the waste generated by thermal power plants. Secondly, fly ash based cement surely reduces the use of limestone and finally, it reduces production costs. It is time we start using PPC as an alternative to OPC.

PPC easily replaces OPC and provides additional advantages for practically all types of construction applications — commercial, residential, bungalows, complexes, foundation, columns, beams, slabs and RCC jobs. It is especially recommended for mass concreting work, and where soil conditions and the prevailing environment take a heavy toll of constructions made with ordinary cement.

In concrete made from ordinary cements, moisture reacts with calcium hydroxide in concrete to form calcium bicarbonate, which leaches out of the concrete, leaving pores that reduce its strength. PPC has ingredients which react with calcium hydroxide to form CSH gel, to provide additional strength, which actually makes the concrete grow in strength over the years. It also produces less heat of hydration and offers greater resistance to the attack of aggressive water than the normal Portland cement.

Durablity factor

For “concrete constructions in hot weather,” where the concrete is likely to be exposed to an environment of Sulphate-bearing water or soil, it is preferable to use a proven type of blended cement containing ground granulated blast furnace slag. Concrete made with Portland Slag Cement (PSC) has a higher density than concrete made with OPC, and hence it improves the durability of concrete structures.

PSC, therefore, can be used for all purposes where OPC or PPC is used.

PSC benefits the structure, protects the environment by reducing CO2 emissions and helps conserve energy. Which is why it is often referred to as an eco-friendly cement.

The use of Ready Mixed Concrete (RMX) is an environmental friendly practice that ensures a cleaner work place and causes minimal disturbance to its surroundings. This makes its utility more significant in crowded cities and sensitive localities. It is cost effective in the longer term.

5 lakh affordable homes planned

Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry (MCHI) plans to develop five lakh affordable houses by 2015 in co-ordination with the state government.The total investment will be around Rs 15,000 crore and more than 500 builders will participate in the project.

“We are closely working with the state government and its officials to come up with the modalities of the scheme,” MCHI President Pravin Doshi said in Mumbai.

The aim of the project is to provide affordable homes to middle and lower-income groups living in the metropolis and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Doshi said.

The MMR, besides Mumbai, consists of some areas in neighbouring Thane and Raigad districts.

MCHI, a prominent body of real estate builders and developers, will be working with the government to examine and identify measures to strengthen the housing industry's role in the state's socio-economic development, Doshi said. A convention will be held here on April 28 and MCHI will also sign an MoU on the same day with the government to create confidence among investors for this project, he said.

“Mumbai has an immediate demand of around 1.4 million homes, of which 80 per cent is expected to emanate from the Rs 3-5 lakh income group. There is an unmet demand for basic affordable housing in Mumbai and the MMR region due to rise in land, labour and construction costs,” Doshi said. — PTI

High-end housing back in business

On the back of a revival in demand, real estate developers are again building super luxury apartments, say experts. Consultancy firms Jones Lang Lasalle Meghraj (JLLM) and Knight Frank India said there are about 7,000 such apartments to be delivered within a year in Mumbai alone, where the cost is not below Rs 4.7 crore for a single unit.

“After the recession got over, real estate developers are back building high-end super luxury projects because there is good demand for such projects. At the same time, margins are also higher in these projects,” JLLM Country Head and Chairman Anuj Puri said. Anand Narayanan, Knight Frank India’s National Director (Residential Agency) said in the central business district of Bangalore, 400 high-end luxury apartments are going to hit the market in the current year itself.

Cost here ranges between Rs 3.5 crore and Rs 20 crore per unit. Similar high-end projects are coming up in the National Capital Region as well, but nowhere in other parts of the country as demand for such projects depend on many things, including the location of the property and its novelty.

The higher cost of such products is justified because not a single one has a common design and layouts are also never identical, the consultants said. They have great locations as well- the unique selling proposition for a property of such nature, they added. — PTI 

TAX TIPS 
Agricultural land holding
S.C. Vasudeva

Q. I am an agriculturist and have been farming on my ancestral land. I purchased 34 acres of agricultural land in rural area of Ludhiana district and registered 17 acres in my name and 17 acres in the name of my son (who was a minor at that time). I had not marked any land for my daughter. My son is at present doing agriculture on the said 34 acres. I have two ancestral houses and some cash in my name. Both my son and daughter are married now. My son is still issueless. According to my settlement with my son I have to transfer 17 acres of my land to him or his wife (a housewife) and my two ancestral houses in my name of my only daughter without taking any penny from them and keeping the cash with me for my requirements. The valuation of the movable and immovable properties, after transfer, would not be equal and my son and daughter would be getting the share in the ratio of 3:1. My son and daughter are not coming to any practical compromise in the distribution of my movable and immovable property. Now my query is:

What is the limit of agricultural land that a person can hold legally in Ludhiana district?

Can my son hold 34 acres of agricultural land in his name or his wife’s name or jointly?

Now suppose I gift my 17 acres of land to my daughter-in-law, then would this gift be clubbed with my son’s land?

Can my daughter claim in court her share in my immovable and movable properties, even after I have transferred or gifted my 17 acres to my son or his wife?

Is there any type of tax liability  on my part?

— Harinderpal Singh

A. Your queries are replied hereunder:

The limit of holding an agricultural land has been laid down by the Punjab Land Reforms Act, 1972. It has been specified in the said Act that subject to the provisions of Section 5 of the said Act, no person shall own or hold as land owner or mortgagee with the possession or tenant or partly in one capacity and partly in another in excess of the permissible area. Section 5 of the Act deals with gift etc. after the appointed day (i.e. 24.01.1971) which is not considered to be bonafide.

Since the land is situated in Ludhiana district, it is presumed that the same is of as assured irrigation and capable of yielding at least two crops. The permissible area in such case as per the aforesaid Act is 7 hectares (approximately 17.30 acres).

Your son can therefore hold 7 hectares of land. Any gift to your daughter-in-law would not help you as the said Act also provides that where a person is a member of a family, the land held by every other member of the family, whether individually or jointly, shall be taken into account for determining permissible area.

The right of your daughter to claim share in self acquired immovable property after your death would depend on the facts of the case. In case the gift is absolute and is duly registered, it should be difficult for your daughter to claim any share in such a gifted property. However, in case of joint Hindu family property she will have a right equivalent to your son.

The liability of income-tax arises in case the agricultural land is sold and such agricultural land falls within the jurisdiction of a municipality or within such distance not exceeding 8 km. from the local limits of the municipality etc. as has been notified by the government. The wealth-tax would be chargeable in case the agricultural land is of the similar nature as stated above. There is no gift tax chargeable at present. However, gift made to a person who is not a relative as defined in Section 56 of the Act is treated as income of the  recipient and is taxable along with other income at the applicable slab rate. The issue regarding the property tax would arise if the land is  situated within the jurisdiction of the municipality.

Get confirmation from builder 

Q. I have the following important queries soliciting your reply: A residential flat was purchased by A from a builder B at Zirakpur. A made complete payment to B for the said flat along with an additional amount for getting the flat transferred in the name of A. The builder got the formalities done and the said flat was transferred and registered on the name of A. However, all receipts for stamp duty, registration fee and other expenses are in the name of the builder. In such a situation, can the buyer claim IT rebate under Section 80C (xvi-iid) permitting “stamp duty, registration fee and other expenses for the purpose of transfer of the house property to the assessee”?

During the Year 2010-11, Ms C has purchased a built-up residential flat in joint name (equal share) with her husband Mr D. For the said purchase, the couple has also taken a housing loan in which the wife is the applicant and husband is the co-applicant. In case the entire EMI amount for the loan is being paid through post-dated cheques issued by Mr D only, Can he avail 100 per cent IT benefit of deduction and rebate for interest and principal repayment, respectively under relevant Sections? Or both Ms C and Mr D are bound to avail maximum of 50-50 IT benefit?

 — Baljit Singh

A. Your queries are replied hereunder:

The deduction under Section 80C of the Act can be allowed only if the amount of stamp duty and other expenses specified in the said Section are incurred by the assessee. In case the payment in respect of such amount has been made by you to the builder, it would be advisable to get a confirmation from the builder to the effect that the payment in respect of stamp charges etc. has been made by the builder on behalf of the buyer and the same has been reimbursed to the builder by the buyer. This should enable you to make a claim for the deduction under Section 80C of the Act.

I presume that the year 2010-11 mentioned in your query refers to assessment year 2010-11. The reply to your query is, therefore, based on that presumption. The deduction under Section 80C of the Act is allowable for the repayment of the amount borrowed by the assessee. The facts in the query indicate that Ms C and Mr D are applicant and co-applicant. In fact, it means that the borrowing has been made by both of the parties. However, as the repayment towards the loan is being made by Mr D, the deduction under Section 80C of the Act in respect of the repayment of principal amount shall be allowed to him.

Judgement issue

Q. With reference to your query answered in April 17 issue regarding the validity of stamp papers. The Supreme Court has held that there is no time limit for the usage of stamp papers. I wanted to know the name and citation of the judgment.

— Aditi Gupta

A. The decision of the Supreme Court quoted in reply to the query was in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 290 of 2001 in the case of Thiruvengada Pillai vs. Navaneethammal and Another. I do not have citation. May be it is one of unreported judgments of the Supreme Court. 

Gift to save tax

Q. I and my other family members have invested in a commercial building. We haven’t got the possession of the space as yet, but as per the agreement we have started getting 12 per cent interest on the amount invested and getting the cheques in all following family members’ name:

Dev Raj Sharma 65 years (family head)

Satya Devi Sharma 60 years (wife)

Ranjan Sharma 34 years (son) Working in merchant Navy

Jyoti Sharma 30 years (daughter-in-law) Working as teacher.

Total investment is Rs 28 lakh Jyoti Sharma’s share of investment is Rs 80, 000 and the rest of the money of family savings and of course major part is contributed by my son. We are all getting equal return from this investment. Is it okay as per the income tax law and if not then how we can set it right so that we all have equal income from of this investment. The return started from April 1, 2010.

— Deva Sharma

A. The amount of interest received on the amount invested in the commercial space of which the possession has not so far been given, should be taxable in the hands of each of the co-owners on the basis of the investments made in the acquisition of the commercial space. It would be advisable for your son to gift the amount to your wife so as to make her contribution equivalent to the contribution of others. In case the shortfall exists in case of other relatives referred to in the query, the same procedure should be followed. Such gift would not involve any tax liability in the hands of such relatives. 

Q. There are two flats and one shop, of which only one flat and the shop are being sold by me. I will be left with one flat. Since I have bought another residential property in 1984, I will be in possession of two houses even after selling one flat and shop, which will not make me eligible to avoid paying LTCG by purchasing a new house. Correct me if I am wrong. Can I gift my property (two flats and one shop), to my son, and then he sells it off, and invests the realised amount in a new property within six months?

— Ajoy Mahen

A. You are right in observing that you will not be entitled to the benefit under Section 54F of the Act since you own two houses. You can gift two flats and one shop to your son. However, this will entail the payment of stamp duty on the market value of the flats and the shop as well as mutation of the properties in the name of your son. Your son can thereafter sell the gifted property, and utilise the capital gain on the sale of flats in the purchase or construction of a residential house so as to save the payment of tax on capital gain arising on sale of flats. The purchase will have to be effected within two years of the date of sale and the construction within three years of the date of sale.

However, to save tax on capital gain arising on sale of shop, he would have to utilise net consideration for purchase or construction of a residential house. The term ‘net consideration’ means the amount of sale considerations less the amount of expenses incurred wholly and exclusively in connection with the sale. 

REALTY BYTES
ETA’s $250 m housing project

Dubai: Dubai-based developer ETA Star Property is set to launch the first phase of an integrated township project worth $ 250 million in India this year and is looking to tap the housing demand in the country.

The real estate arm of ETA Ascon Star will launch an integrated township project near Chennai this year as it looks to tap strong demand for property in the country, company’s Executive Director Abid Junaid said.

The first phase of the project— one of three or four phases— is worth $ 250 million, he said. “When it comes to property development itself, we are looking at India more aggressively and we believe there is potential,” he said.

He, however, declined to give the total value for the project, which will take five years to complete. “There is demand for the middle-income housing in India.

There are plenty of home loans available and the interest rates are regulated by the government and the economy is growing,” Junaid said.

The project will be funded by local banks and pre-selling of property, he said. The township will be in addition to similar smaller projects in Bangalore coming up this year, he said, declining to give further details.

ETA Star will hand over four projects in Dubai worth more than two billion UAE dirhams ($ 544.5 m) to customers this year, but will not launch new projects, Junaid said. “Our focus is to deliver projects, which are under construction and have been launched earlier.”

Integrated business district

New Delhi: Real estate group BPTP Limited has launched an integrated commercial district — Capital City — project at Noida. It will be an ‘all-in-one-place’ with facilities like hotel, service apartments, up-market retail, entertainment and office space.

Amit Raj Jain, Vice President, Marketing, BPTP, said, “The launch of Capital City signifies the commitment of BPTP to bring in global standards with sustainable design to create constructive synergies”. He further added, “The project also boasts of a healthy and serene work place environment, special emphasis on Vaastu-compliant buildings.

Spread across 21.17 acres, Capital City is a fully paid-up property, thereby ensuring zero-risk to buyers. It comprises 2.1 million sq ft of office space, 1 million sq.ft of retail and entertainment space and 1.1 million sq. ft of hospitality space including service apartments. A highlight of the project is that it will offer the best of the experience even for pedestrians ensuring walking in the Capital City from office to service apartments to entertainment zones is akin to the facilities available at Singapore and Hong Kong and nowhere in India.

DTZ wins award

New Delhi: DTZ India was awarded the 'Best Property Consultancy in India' at the Asia Pacific Property Awards held on April 16 in Hong Kong.

These awards were given at the 'International Property Awards' in association with Bloomberg Television. Established now for 16 years, the International Property Awards are open to commercial and residential property professionals from around the globe. These awards are supported by The New York Times, International Herald Tribune as well as professional bodies including the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (R.I.C.S), FIABCI (The International Real Estate Federation) and NAR (National Association of Realtors) among others. On receiving the award, Anshul Jain, CEO of DTZ India said, "DTZ India has received tremendous support from DTZ network around the world, which has been invaluable in contributing to our success in India."

Park Hotels forays into luxury segment

New Delhi: Hospitality group Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels has inaugurated its luxury lake cruiser in Vembanad Lake (Kerala), marking its formal foray into the leisure segment.

This is the group’s seventh property in the country and it also the first time it has ventured out of the business hotels segment, Apeejay Surrendra Park Hotels said in statement.

— Agencies