Waiting for better times
The prices of property meant for commercial use along the highways in Sangrur and Barnala districts are on a sluggish growth path, reports Shariq Majeed

Very little commercial activity can be seen along the highways in Sangrur and Batala districts Photo by the writer

The positive sentiment ruling the realty sector in the region has somehow failed to boost the capital value of commercial spaces along the highways in Sangrur and Barnala districts. The year 2010 didn’t turn out to be a good one for those dealing in the sale and purchase of commercial properties here unlike in the neighbouring Haryana and NCR region where the prices of commercial properties along highways increased by as much as 50 per cent last year.

Pointing out the reasons for this trend, Jasbir Singh Grewal of Grewal Properties and Real Estate in Sangrur, says, “There are many reasons for the slow growth rate of commercial properties along highways in the Sangrur district. Firstly, no new industry has been set up in this area for the past so many years. This has acted as a deterrent for the growth of commercial centres here. Secondly, the four-laning of Patiala-Sangrur-Barnala-Bhatinda National Highway and Jhind-Sangrur-Malerkotla-Ludhiana National Highway has also got delayed. As a result, investors are reluctant to set up commercial centres in the region. While in the Sangrur district the prices of commercial property have appreciated by 15 to 25per cent in the past 18 months, the increase in Haryana, Delhi and the rest of India has been almost 50 per cent”.

With the realty sector here in Sangrur not showing much signs of rapid growth in case of commercial properties, the people who had bought land for commercial ventures have shelved their plans for the time being. They are holding their horses till favourable conditions return after the completion of work on double-laning of the highway and coming up of industrial units in the area.

Sangrur resident Karnail Singh, who had bought land along the Sangrur-Patiala National Highway says, “I bought a piece of land about two years ago for commercial purpose. Since the rate of growth of commercial property is not too massive at present, I have decided to delay its sale so that I earn good money later on. The prices will increase manifold after the double-laning of the highway”.

A realtor from Sangrur, who deals in the sale and purchase of commercial properties along highways in the district, says, “In Sangrur district the rate of the commercial properties along the highway increased by 10-20 per cent in the past two years. The maximum increase of 25 per cent has been witnessed along the Sangrur-Mansa state highway, while the minimum increase of 10-15 per cent has been witnessed in case of properties along the Sangrur-Patiala road. Sangrur-Barnala road, Sangrur-Jhind and Sangrur-Malerkotla-Ludhiana roads have also witnessed an increase in the range of 15-20 per cent”. If one acre along the Sangrur-Mansa road was available for Rs 1.12 crore a year ago, its current rate has increased to Rs 1.5 crore now. In case of the Sangrur-Patiala road if the price of an acre was Rs 90 lakh a year ago, its current rate is roughly Rs 1 crore. Similarly, rates of an acre of land to be used for commercial purpose were Rs 1.35 crore, and Rs 85 lakh along Sangrur-Malerkotla-Ludhiana, Sangrur-Jhind and Sangrur Barnala highways, respectively, but at present the price of agricultural land to be used for commercial purposes is Rs 1.5 crore, and Rs 1 crore per acre in the same area.

The rates of commercial property within the Sangrur city have registered a growth of 10 to 35 per cent, with the maximum growth being witnessed in case of Prem Basti Road in the Kaula Park area where commercial centres have come up in the past few years. The minimum appreciation of 10 per cent has been reported in the Patiala Gate road area.

Pradeep Saini, a property expert from Ahmedgarh says, “Since the Ahmedgarh area is close to Ludhiana, the growth rate of commercial property along the National Highway has registered a steep increase. In case of Kup Rahira and Puhir areas, the prices of commercial properties have appreciated considerably. The four-laning of the road from Ludhiana towards Malerkotla has surely led to a massive hike in the rates of commercial properties along the highway”.

As for the Barnala district an increase of 20-25 per cent has been witnessed in the prices along the highways. Deepak Bansal of Barnala Builders and Developers private limited, says that there has been a sort of stagnation in the prices of commercial property in the area, however, with more industries likely to be set up here the prices will get the much-awaited boost.

Net gains
R.M.S. Atwal

The real estate business in the region has been on an upswing during the past year. With the business involving big bucks, no one can afford to take any chances while finalising a deal. With the Internet blurring boundaries and narrowing times and distances, a number of property portals on the cyber scene are making Indian buyers and sellers even smarter. While a property buyer or seller in India and abroad is now able to make an informed and better choice just with the click of a mouse, realtors and website owners, too, are happy to see their business growing.

Unlike in the West, in India where the people are still wary of online transactions, web-portals like magicbricks.com, 99acres.com, makaan.com, indianpropety.com etc have shown the way by being more customer-friendly. One can save money, time and effort by going online and doing thorough spadework before making a personal visit.

These property websites have helped in connecting buyers/sellers and brokers. While the registration is free for the people, builders/colonisers advertise through these websites and make money through the sale of their residential and commercial complexes. The websites have contact details of property dealers/estate agents in each and every state, city and locality of the country.

According to Ashish Choudhary, Chandigarh Area Sales Manager of Magicbricks.com, “Ours is a platform for builders and buyers where a common man can compare prices and get a good value for his money.” Claiming to have over 10,000 registered users over a period of five years, the website mainly targets NRIs and rich corporate houses.

“We have our regular NRI clients who help us expand our business worldwide through the exhibitions that we organise in different countries. Despite recession, we were able to generate positive revenue during the past couple of years,” adds Choudhary.

The younger educated lot among the estate agents is quite innovative and modern in business approach. “With Broadband availability even on mobiles, net gains through property are higher. Buying or selling is a lot easier for customers because they can do good search and research before coming to us,” says Gurpreet Singh of Diamond Estates, Jalandhar. According to Vikas Malik, Business Manager (Chandigarh and Punjab) of 99 acres.com, “property websites have made ‘long-distance’ sale/purchase much easier without wasting valuable money and time on phone-calls. Websites like ours have made it possible to show the people properties within their budget range. In this fast-paced life who has time for correspondence and wasting money on long-distance phone calls? Basically it is the question of convenience of time and location. Our NRI customers love it when they get all the information on the Net.”

True, the Net gains are shooting higher in the property business these days. The number of hits on a particular website are the barometer of its success, and advertisements on search engine like Google are a good indicator of the success of these sites.

Talking of the risk of online frauds, a Mohali-based realtor, “It is for the buyer to verify the facts. We cannot find out a disputed property through the net and people have to be very careful in that.”

According to Sukhpal Singh of e-Properties Amritsar, with the GenNext getting more computer savvy, Punjabis in India and abroad are building more trust on online information, and in some cases online transactions too.

“With online websites in India, too, adopting the Remax online security system like in Canada, the day is not far when our NRIs will be able to do online property transactions sitting abroad. Such a system will minimise online money frauds to a great extent,” says Singh.

And it is just not property deals that these sites are offer. According to Vipen Tiwari of Indiapropety.com, their website not only helps the people in providing property information but also helps in arranging loans.

“We give a wider choice to our customers and solve their money problems too. Money plays a big role in property transactions and we take care of that. With our wide network and longer association in the business, people trust us more than any other property webite,” he claims.

On the other hand, Prince Chopra, Director of PPR Group, Jalandhar, says that though his company does not advertise through such property websites, it feels that they have an important role to play in keeping people well-informed. “Though the websites are part of business promotion, despite technological advancements, our people still believe in personal interaction and feel a sense of security,” he adds.

It is believed that within the next five years or so, with more and more people getting net savvy, property business will boom in the region.

GROUND REALTY
Better safe than sorry
Planning to buy a flat? Jagvir Goyal lists some of the important points that every home buyer should check before finalising a deal

Thinkstockphotos/Getty Images

The apartment culture has become popular in India with several projects coming up in smaller cities and towns. High land prices have played a major role in the popularity of apartment culture. Flats, with their affordable price tags are the best option for a home buyer these days.

But the recent ups and downs in the realty sector have made the buyers extra cautious. Whether the builder will deliver or not is the biggest question in a buyers’ mind. A common man has no time or money to enter into litigation with a builder, who certainly has the means to hire a battery of highly paid lawyers. The buyer, therefore, makes it a point to check the credibility of the builder before making a decision.

Having satisfied himself about the builder’s credibility, the buyer then looks for further points. He has a look at the floor plans, cost, location and the specifications of the flat and the building. Is the design earthquake resistant; Is the structure RCC framed; Will the woodwork be completed fully or partially; Which type of flooring would be provided; Are the toilets and kitchen fairly sized — these are some of the questions asked by a buyer. The builder’s marketing staff thus is always ready for these questions. The drawing sheets are spread over the table, the specifications are explained, coffee is served and half an hour later, the buyer comes out beaming and more confident.

There are a few such issues and fronts which are always taken for granted by the buyer but often remain pending. Consequently, the buyer is unable to move into the flat even after it is completed. It is most important to keep a tab on the progress of these issues. Once a deal is struck, the buyer has every right to ask for the progress on this account. Take a note of these:

Sewerage connection

Every buyer feels that sewerage connection of the township will mature in due course of time and he will face no problem while living in his flat. But the reality is a lot different. Many townships reach an advanced stage of construction, and even the finishing work of the flats is completed but the sewerage connection is not made. Note that the sewerage problems of a township are best solved if it gets connected to the municipal sewer. The builder makes every purchaser pay heavy extra development charges (EDC). These charges are, in fact, meant to be deposited with the government authorities for securing permission to connect the township services to the mains outside. If there is no sewer line laid nearby, the MC also charges for extension of its sewerage up to the township and these charges, too, are recovered from the buyer. Many builders don’t succeed in getting their township connected to main sewer line and later offer to provide septic tank arrangement. This arrangement has its own limitations. The best waste disposal system for a township or a housing society is its connection to the main sewerage. Therefore, a buyer should always check this point while buying the flat and later during various stages of construction also.

Water supply

Equally important is to check the water supply system of the project. Normally, the first thing that the builders do is to build an overhead tank for the township. However, more important is to check if it is of adequate capacity. What is the arrangement of its connection to various flats? Is each flat getting sufficient water? Is the water pressure good? What are the standby arrangements in case the main pump fails? Sometimes, the builders prefer to create underground water tanks. Here again, the above points should be checked. Low pressure of water may steal the joy out of your living in the flat.

Quality of water

Every flat buyer should ensure that the water to be supplied to his flat is potable. This is the water that he and his family going to drink and use for the rest of their lives. It must be certified as potable. The buyer should check the water source and its test certificate. The credibility of the laboratory from where the water has been got tested should also be checked. Was the sample of water drawn from the actual source? Was it drawn in a correct manner? Did the lab people draw it or builder’s men took the sample and deposited with the lab? — these are some of the questions that a buyer must put to the builder’s people. Keeping in view the increasing levels of impurities in ground water due to increased use of pesticides, reckless dumping or discharge of wastes, no laxity should be allowed on this account. Quality of water must be ensured.

Power supply

Back up power supply is highlighted by every builder, but what about the main supply? All builders tell the buyers that power backup arrangements have been created, buying a certain minimum power backup is mandatory and heavy charges are got deposited on this account. However, the brochures remain silent about the main power supply. This should also be checked by the buyer. Has the sub-station come up? Have the cables been laid? Has the arrangement got checked and passed from the electricity department? Will it be possible for the electricity department to release power supply to the township? Has the builder deposited the necessary charges (already recovered from the buyer under EDC) with the department? — are some questions on which a buyer must satisfy himself before striking the deal.

Other services

Three other services i.e. internal roads, their connection to main roads, gated security, round-the-clock deployment of security guards and streetlighting are mostly provided by the builders. However, there is no harm in examining their status, too, while buying a flat.

Price

In case you are a bit late in buying a flat in a township or the township is in advanced stage of construction and the builder is telling you that most of the flats have been sold out and only a few are left, do one thing. Go to the property dealers sitting in the vicinity of the township. They often maintain lists of the flat buyers and their addresses.

How they extract this information from the builder’s people is their skill. Ask them if a flat is under resale in the township. Chances are that you will get a positive response. If a flat is under resale while the builder is still offering them, then you can buy it at a discount from the first buyer. Ask the seller the reasons for selling the flat. If it is due to financial crunch or job transfer, then you may go ahead. In case you discover certain limitations of the township that the first buyer has already discovered, then you should do some serious rethinking.

— This column appears fortnightly.

TAX TIPS
Coop Societies’ Registrar should take action

Q. CGEWHO (Central Government Employees Welfare Housing Organisation) constructs dwelling units for its employees all over the country to meet the housing needs of central government employees. It undertook one such project in Panchkula, Haryana (Sector 14) some 13 years ago. It received money from the allottees, which it used to purchase land from HUDA (CGEWHO got the land registered in its own name and not in the name of the beneficiaries, though it used the money of the allottees), and then constructed dwelling units on it from the money deposited by the allottees on a no-profit-no-gain basis. In its brochure, it mentioned that after handing over the units to its beneficiaries, it will execute Conveyance Deeds with the individual allottees, but it failed in executing this part of its commitment. After a lot of communication in this regard, in February 2010, it started the process of executing Conveyance Deeds with the allottees. However, during these over 13 years, 60 per cent of the allottees have sold their units on GPA basis and the purchasers have got the dwelling units transferred in their names from the Registrar of Cooperative Societies. The registrar signed the L Form confirming this transfer of membership of the cooperative society that runs the day-to-day functioning of the vihar. CGEWHO is not coming forward in executing the Conveyance Deeds with those beneficiaries who intend to get the same executed on their behalf by the duly registered GPA holders. The GPA holders are requesting CGEWHO to sign the Conveyance Deeds in the name of the original allottees only who are presently out of the country or somewhere far away in India, but the GPA holders will sign on their behalf, as this power has been duly conferred to them. What should the GPA holders do as they intend to pay the due stamp duty to the government exchequer and don’t intend to twist the law in any way. Please advise.

— Sanjay Suri

A. It would be advisable for the GPA holders to approach the Registrar of Cooperative Societies with a request to issue a direction to the Cooperative Society for executing the Conveyance Deed in favour of the members of the society who are also the GPA holders. In case the society does not comply with such directions of the Registrar of the Cooperative Societies, the Registrar of Cooperative Societies will have to be approached again for taking appropriate action against the society.

Return Service Tax

Q. I have got Service Tax registration number in December 2010, as my gross rental value in respect of SCO comes to Rs 9.30 lakh for the financial year 2010-11. Kindly advise me on following points:

a) That, a new tenant (from June 2010) paying Rs 90,000 pm rent has also paid me Service Tax in addition to the rent, whereas another old tenant paying Rs 2500 pm in same SCO has not paid me the Service Tax. Now, I think that I am not liable to pay Service Tax to the department concerned for 2010-11 as my rental income is below Rs 10 lakh and I have only to deposit the Service Tax received from one tenant (new) only and not in respect of the old tenant and also not required to recover Service Tax from old tenant in 2010.11. Is this correct?

b) How this fact will be reflected in Service Tax return?

— R.K. Sharma

A. Your queries are replied hereunder:

• It would be advisable to refund the amount of Service Tax received from the party who is making a payment of rent at the rate of Rs 90,000 per month on the condition that such tax would be payable with effect from April 1, 2011.
• The above step would enable you to avoid the payment of Service Tax in respect of rent of Rs 2,500 per month.
• If the above step is taken then you should be able to file ‘Nil’ return with the Service Tax authorities for the financial year 2010-11.

Maximum limit of tax rebate

Q. I and my wife are government employees. We have purchased a flat in joint name. The installment of loan is paid to the bank by me from my salary account. Please tell me if I can claim the income tax rebate of loan amount and loan interest from my salary alone and what is the maximum limit of income tax rebate of loan amount and loan interest?

— Kuldip Singh

A. You have not indicated in the query as to whether the loan has been obtained from the bank in the name of you and your wife or you are the only borrower. The reply to your query is based on the presumption that the amount has been borrowed by you only. The repayment towards the principal amount can be claimed as deduction from your salary income within the overall limit of Rs 1 lakh specified under Section 80C of the Act. Section 80C of the Act also covers amounts deposited/contributed towards specified saving schemes and the deduction permissible for the repayment of the principal amount will be within the said overall limit. The deduction for the amount of interest payable in respect of amount borrowed for the purchase of a residential home is allowable against income from house property. In case the flat purchased by you is going to be used for self-occupation, the permissible deduction will be limited to Rs 1,50,000. This limit would not apply in case the income from property arises by let ting out the flat.

No tax

Q. I own a flat in Mumbai which I intend to gift to my son, who is working in Mumbai and intends to settle down in Mumbai only. What are the tax and other application in this regard?

— Ashutosh

A. The gift of the flat, which I presume is a residential flat, would involve the execution of a Gift Deed in favour of your son which will have to be registered with the Sub-Registrar in accordance with the applicable legal formalities. You would be liable to pay stamp duty on execution/registration of the Gift Deed. Such stamp duty would be chargeable on the basis of the market value of the flat. The gift so made would not have any income-tax implications as any receipt by a person who is a relative is exempt from the chargeability of any tax. With the Gift tax Act, 1958, not being applicable presently there would be no tax liability on you as well.

Short-term gain

Q. I am member of a cooperative house building society. For a plot of 250 sq yd, I have made payments as under:

• Rs 8,80,000 on January 30, 2006 as cost of land
• Rs 1,20,000 on April 10, 2006 as cost of land
• Rs 2,00,000 as external development charges (EDC ) on October 7, 2008
• Rs 1,75,000 as EDC on May 29, 2010.

On the basis of the facts given in the query, the plot of land which has been allotted to you on September 8, 2010, and is intended to be sold before March 31, 2011, will be a short-term capital asset. Any capital gain arising on the sale of such plot would be treated as short-term capital gain. Such capital gain would be added to your other income and the tax would be payable on such total income (inclusive of short-term capital gain) at the applicable slab rates.

No gift tax liability

Q. I retired from Punjab Government service in 1996. Isubmit my IT returns regularly and pay income tax as assessed. I have sold my ancestral agricultural land, which was not covered under Capital Asset as it was located far away from municipal limits. I gifted some amount from the sale proceeds through accounts payee cheque to my only son on his birthday. He invested this money to purchase a commercial property and is getting a monthly rent from it. He, too, is submitting IT returns showing this income. Kindly clarify my Income Tax liability from this transaction and from my son’s income from commercial property.

— Jagdish Singh Bal

A. Your queries are replied hereunder:

• Capital gain arising on transfer of the agricultural land not being covered within the definition of capital asset would not be exigible to tax.
• The amount gifted by you to your son would not be included as income of your son in view of the provisions of Section 56 of the Income Tax Act, 1961(The Act) which provide that the amount received from a relative even though in excess of Rs 50,000 would not be treated as income in the hands of a recipient. There would be no gift tax liability for such a gift since the provisions of Gift Tax Act, 1958 are presently not applicable.
• Your son will be liable to pay tax on the income from commercial property. The income from commercial property would be computed in accordance with the provisions of the Act. The income so computed would form a part of your son’s total income and he would be liable to pay tax in accordance with the applicable slab rates.

Labour blues

A shortage of masons and skilled labourers is affecting construction industry in Pune. All these years, a majority of this labour force used to come from the Orissa, Bihar and Jharkhand but with ample opportunities in their own states, these labourers are not too keen to hop over to other places like Maharashtra in search of work.

Jaiprakash Shroff, a real estate developer, speculates that the concept of ‘development’, which was the prime agenda during the recent elections in Bihar, is the main reason for the shortage of skilled workforce.

“The numbers are less because there are growth initiatives in Bihar Jharkhand and Orissa. Government is focusing on lot of development and infrastructural development. So, these workers are getting in their own states,” said Shroff.

Shashank Paranjape, another builder, stated that social stigma is another factor for the decreasing number of labourers in the state since many prefer to take up jobs in offices.

Paranjape further said that despite availability of human resource among the residents, due to this trend of seeking jobs in office, the gap between demand and supply of manpower at construction sites is widening with each passing day.

“There is an absolute dearth of workers because construction activity is considered to be very low line. A person would rather become peon in office than working on a construction site. Therefore people are drawn more towards office jobs than the construction work,” he said.

“That is why there is a very big gap between what is available as construction labour force to what is required and as construction activities are going on in a big way therefore this gap needs to filled,” he added.

The Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI) has initiated various pilot projects to give extensive training to the available workers.

Bodies like Promoters and Builders Association of Pune (PBAP) and Construction Quality Rating Agency (CQRA) are being roped in to look after the pilot projects. — ANI

Destination Dera Bassi
Parmod Mehta

The realty scene around the tricity is buzzing with activity ever since the dark clouds of slowdown have receded. Dera Bassi is one such area that is witnessing a lot of construction activity and the real estate prices have also maintained an upward trend here over the past 8 to 10 months. With the tricity reaching its saturation point and prices going out of the reach of a common man, end users as well as investors are preferring Dera Bassi and other adjoining areas for buying a house. This has made some major real estate companies choose this area for their housing projects. With the coming up of these groups, the prices of residential and commercial properties have increased significantly.

Recently the ATS Group had launched its Golf Meadow project here. It is a large, self-contained comprehensive development, designed by the world renowned architect Oru Bose of Bose International, Florida. Speaking about the project Getamber Anand, Managing Director of group, remarked, “ATS Golf Meadow is an effort to offer world class lifestyle experience to the people of Punjab as Dera Bassi emerging as the gateway to Chandigarh. The proposed project spread over 300-acre area will also have a 5-star hotel with large banquet halls, school, hospital, shopping malls, retail park, luxurious club houses, golf and other sports facilities”. Along with this other housing projects like Gulmohar City, Silver City and Green Estate are providing ample choice to the buyers. Bhupinder Saini, general secretary of the property dealers association said, “Dera Bassi is going to become a residential hub because housing space is decreasing in Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali and people prefer this area due to availability and reasonable prices”. The setting up of industrial and educational institutions is also creating the need for more housing in the area, he added.

The current market rate of property at Dera Bassi are between Rs 7,000 and 15,000 per sq yd for residential and Rs 25,000 and 50,000 per sq yd for commercial properties depending on the location. The rates of residential flats at Dera Bassi are between Rs 2,000 and 2,200 per sq yd. The property rates in rural areas along the national highway between Dera Bassi and Lalru are between Rs 20 and 50 lakh per acre depending on the location.

The upward movement in the real estate business can also be gauged from the revenue earned by the revenue department in Dera Bassi during 2010 as compared to that in 2009. The Revenue Department earned Rs 87,25,92,429 from the sale purchase of properties during the period between April1, 2010 and November 30, 2010 whereas this revenue was Rs 43,80,44,477 during the period between April 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009. With better connectivity and houses with better facilities Dera Bassi is all set to become the preferred choice for those wanting to settle near the tricity.

REALTY BYTES
Realty cos on growth track

Post-the economic downturn and capital restructuring, the Indian real estate sector is back on the growth track with realty companies’ interest burden declining by 10 per cent, according to a report by Dun & Bradstreet.

The increase in equity capital by realtors led to a sharp fall in their debt-equity ratio to 0.66 from 0.83 in FY 09, a positive development for the sector, the report ‘India’s Leading Real Estate Companies 2010’ said.

Dun & Bradstreet is a leading provider of global business information, knowledge and insight.

The report, that studied the profiles of 68 leading real estate companies, not only provided insight into the current trends and challenges in the sector ahead but also gave a detailed analysis about the financial performance of 30 listed Indian real estate companies.

“The real estate industry has shown positive signs of recovery in FY 10-11 after a preceding year of slump in property demand. Our study revealed that many real estate companies undertook various debt and capital restructuring measures owing to an increased debt burden in FY 09,” D&B India’s President and CEO Kaushal Sampat said.

He further said that the companies started to off-load their expensive short-term loans and replaced them with lower cost long-term loans, which had a positive impact in FY 10.

Further, the companies focused on de-leveraging by increasing their equity capital which in turn leads to a fall in the debt-equity ratio, Sampat added.

The study also indicated that improved sentiments in the capital markets in FY 10 and FY 11 also meant that real estate developers were able to raise capital through IPOs and QIPs, he said.

Real estate developers were able to raise Rs 1,658-crore through QIPs in the first-half of FY 11 and Rs 7,240-crore through QIPs and Rs 650-crore through IPOs in FY 10.

The companies also went through capital restructuring measures following which overall interest expenses of the real estate companies declined by 10 per cent in FY 10 as compared to the previous year.

“Interest expense as a percentage of debt also reduced to 11 per cent in FY10 from 13 per cent in FY 09,” he added.

The report also stated that in FY 09, real estate companies faced a 38 per cent decline in sales against 82 per cent growth in the previous year. However, in FY 10 as the economy showed signs of recovery, sales grew by 4 per cent.

Another interesting fact was that the mid-sized real estate companies reported better recovery in sales with growth of 16 per cent in FY 10 as compared to large companies - which recorded sales growth of only 2 per cent during this period.

Companies started to off-load their expensive short-term loans and replaced them with lower cost long-term loans. This had a positive impact in FY 10 as these companies saw an overall decline in the short-term loan component by 41 per cent. Long-term loans increased by 17 per cent in FY 10. — PTI

Intelligent floors

Everest Industries Ltd has recently launched environment friendly Access Floors. This intelligent flooring system provides an integrated flooring system for all hi-tech buildings, warehouses and offices. Integrating the technological advancements, access floor is a cost effective way of providing a new look to the work area as it is convenient to dismantle and install.

This new flooring system assures great sustainability as it is non-combustible, strong and lightweight. It also promises safe and excellent grounding and electrical continuity. These floors not only reduce disruption during configurations by 50-80 per cent but also reduce wiring costs from traditional cable management practices for the proper cable distribution. It has a modular wiring systems which provides an ultimate flexibility and accessibility in terms of telecom/data services and power connection configurations to provide a clean power supply.

These are available in various finishes such as steel raised floor with cable tank, anti-static European style composite raised panels, Calcium Sulphate panel etc. Steel raised floor with cable tank are designed for easy laying of cables such as that of computer, air-conditioner, TV, telephone, fax machine etc. While anti-static European style composite raised panels are specially designed for computer rooms. This kind of panel features anti-static properties and durability while adding to the aesthetics and convenience for maintenance. On the other hand the calcium sulphate panel provides maximum stability and high performance floor loading. These floors also offers cost effective design solution for the requirements of different kinds of offices.