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Up for Grabs
TAX TIPS
LAUNCH PAD
REAL TALK
Farm land commercialisation
REALTY BYTES
REALTY BYTES
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Up for Grabs
When in the mid 1980s, there was no space left for real estate development in South Delhi, the property prices were skyrocketing and were way beyond the ‘affordable’ range, Gurgaon was born. That was the time when builders as well real estate consultants diverted their attention towards Gurgaon, and the results are there fo everyone to see. The reason for this shift from South Delhi to Gurgaon was availability of vacant land at affordable prices and proximity to the Capital. In the present context, there is saturation in Gurgaon as far as real estate development is concerned, the prices are prohibitively high, and there is no land available to develop new projects. In such a scenario the attention has been diverted towards “Kundli and Sonepat” stretch on NH-I, which is being touted as ‘North-Delhi Extension’.
Factors in favor
“It made absolute sense for me to buy a flat in Kundli, than in any other part of Delhi, since the commutable distance is only 25 minutes from Connaught Place and the prices are almost 1/10th of what you get in an upscale colony like Pitampura”, says Rajesh Kalsiwal, an IT executive. The very fact that it is very close to Delhi is the main attraction of this area. Its location right on the NH-I in a clean-green ambience and the 15-minute signal free drive from up-market residential hubs of North and North West Delhi are like icing on the cake. There is even a proposal to extend the Metro right up to Kundli which would make commuting all the more easy. “Known as one of the largest industrial centres of Haryana, Sonepat has always been a prominent real estate investment destination. The city is witnessing large scale overall development due to its proximity to Delhi and industrial hubs. This has also increased the demand for quality residential and commercial real estate. Also, the state government’s proactive policy to develop the infrastructure has resulted in great growth in the housing segment in this region. The Omaxe group has launched Omaxe City project in Sonepat. This is an integrated township spread over 357 acres. The group claims to have received an overwhelming response from customers for this project. “We have already started giving the possession of residential units in phases and construction is going on in full swing in rest of the blocks”, said the spokesperson of Omaxe. Apart from the three existing industrial zones nearby — HSIIDC, Kundli Industrial Area (KIA) and Rai Industrial Area (RIA) — the growing industrial and business zones here are likely to generate significant job opportunities. The proposal to develop 5,000-acre Rajiv Gandhi International Education City has given a major fillip to the development of the area. Even top universities from around the world and a number of their Indian counterparts have already expressed interest to be a part of the Rajiv Gandhi Education City. The Haryana Government has also cleared the decks for setting up SEZs in Kundli and Murthal. These will enhance business activity in the area manifold. “The widening of NH-I has improved connectivity besides giving an image makeover to this area. Now NH-I is signal free and hence people will have no problem in reaching their destination much faster. It is just like living in North Delhi only that is why we call it the North Delhi Extension” says Amitabh Bhattacharya Senior Vice-President of TDI Developers. The work on KMP (Kundli-Manesar-Palwal) highway is going on at a breakneck speed and it will connect the southern and northern Haryana with the NCR, opening up at Kundli. This highway has proved to be a boon especially for the trading community of Haryana, with Kundli and the proposed industrial estates becoming the centerpiece of trading activity. Another reason because of which investors are showing interest in this belt is the healthy price appreciation. “When TDI City was launched four years back, land rates at Kundli were Rs 4,750 (approx Rs 5,000) per sq. yd at TDI City. Today the price is close to Rs 25,000 per sq yd, which has potential to appreciate further in the near future”, explains Amitabh.
Development and the developers
Nearly every developer having some kind of reckoning in the realty sector has presence in this area. Pranav Ansal, Chairman, Ansal Township and Land Development, is of the view that Sonepat has a great potential, “What Gurgaon has done for South Delhi, Sonepat would do for north and north-west Delhi”. Ansal API is developing three residential projects — Ansal Greenescape, Ansal Sunshine Country and Sushant City — in Sonepat. It is also constructing Highway Plaza Mall. Ansal API is also investing Rs 900 crore in engineering-based SEZ. Joining the bandwagon is Parsvnath Developers, which is also coming up with Parsvnath City in Sonepat. It will be a mega-residential township with a mall and a city centre. Omaxe City, Sonepat is an over 350-acre development designed to be in sync with Nature. The residential options comprise 200 and 267 sq yd area villas and plots in area ranging from 200 sq yd to 1,000 sq yd set amidst acres of landscaped greens. DLF is also having a considerable landbank in the proposed IT Park as well as in the industrial estate to be developed by the HSIDC. “We propose to develop office space over here, as and when the commercial activity picks up”, informed Rahul Mehta, ED, and DLF. TDI is developing TDI City, Kundli. This 1600-acre model integrated city will have all civic amenities like recreational clubs, hospitals, and schools. The township offers plots of various sizes, right from 250 sq yd to 700 sq yd. TDI is also developing shopping malls. The 6,50,000 sq ft area TDI Mall and Rodeo Drive of 5,50,000 sq ft are being planned for the township. Pankaj Bajaj, MD, Eldeco Infrastructure & Properties Limited, says, “Sonepat is emerging as the latest suburb of Delhi after Gurgaon, Noida and Greater Noida. It is physically well placed to service affluent areas in north Delhi like Civil Lines and Model Town. North and north-west Delhi can grow naturally to Sonepat as it takes 20-25 minutes to reach there which is manageable by Delhi standards.” Another interesting project coming up is Jindal Global City Sonepat, which has been planned over 650 acres. The beautifully landscaped township, would offer a wide choice to its prospective residents who would have various options from independent villas, floors and freehold plots. Also Jindal Global Corporate Park Sonepat, a commercial project spread over 50 acres would offer office space.
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TAX TIPS
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How much money can I send to Canada? My bank says I am still a resident of India and cannot be treated as an NRI for sending the money. n
I believe that a resident can send $ 2 lakh per year to a foreign country, if it is so then can I send my money to Canada in my saving bank account under this rule? n
Can I open an NRO account for sending money through NRO account? What is my present status residence/non-residence?
— A.M. Saini A. Your queries are replied hereunder: (1) According to the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, ‘a person resident in India’ means – (i) A person residing in India for more than 182 days during the course of the preceding financial year but does not include- n
A person who has gone out of India or who stays outside India, in either case – for or on taking up employment outside India; or n
For carrying on outside India a business or vocation outside India; or n
For any other purpose, in such circumstances as would indicate his intention to stay outside India for an uncertain period. A person who has come to or stays in India, in either case, other than – n
for or on taking up employment in India; or For carrying on in India a business or vocation in India; or n
for any other purpose, in such circumstances as would indicate his intention to stay in India for an uncertain period. On the other hand ‘a person resident outside India’ means a person who is not residing in India. The facts in the query indicate that you have come to India not with an intention to stay permanently but for an uncertain period and, therefore, you should be treated as non-resident for the purposes of Foreign Exchange Management Act. 1999. In view thereof, you should be able to remit the amount for the sale proceeds of the ancestral house after payment of the due tax on the capital gain arising thereon. 2) You should be able to open a non-resident ordinary account for depositing any income arising to you in India in view of the provisions of the aforesaid Act. You would also be able to deposit the sale proceeds of the house property in the said account for onwards remittance to Canada. 3) The clause cited by you should not be applicable in your case as, in my opinion; you are not a resident of India in accordance with the provisions of law referred to herein above.
Procedure for transferring plot
Q. My mother has been allotted a 200 sq yd residential plot in the recent draw of plots at Aerocity, Mohali. Can she transfer/gift the said plot to one of her sons? If so, then what is the procedure to be followed?
— A.B.C, Chandigarh
A. Your mother can gift the plot to you provided there is no restriction in this respect in the conveyance deed executed in favour of your mother for the residential plot of 200 sq. yd allotted to her through lucky draw. Your mother will have to execute (if it is so permitted) a gift deed in your favour on which the stamp duty would be payable. The stamp duty will be leviable on the fair market value of the plot. After the registration with the sub-registrar of the area where the property is situated, you should get the mutation done in your favour with the municipal authorities. This would complete the transaction of the gift of the property in your favour. There would be no tax liability in respect of such a gift.
No deductions allowed
Q. Kindly advise on the following points:
A. No deduction is allowable under any provisions of the Act in respect of interest paid/payable on the amount borrowed for acquiring a plot of land. You would thus not be entitled to claim any deduction in respect of such interest from your income.
Claim deduction
I took a house building loan from the State Bank of Patiala in April, 2010, the accrued interest of which for the year 2010-11 has been debited into my account of house loan. I am living in a private rented accommodation for which I pay a rent of Rs 5,000 per month. Can I claim rebate on home loan interest under Section 24 and also claim HRA rebate under Section 10 simultaneously for the period between April 2010 and January 2011? — Kailash Verma A. You have not indicated in your query whether the house in respect of which you have taken the building loan has been purchased or the same has been constructed and is ready for possession in the financial year 2010-11. In case the house is ready for occupation in the financial year 2010-11, you should be entitled to claim the deduction for interest paid on the house building loan against income from house property. In case of interest paid/payable for the period prior to the financial year in which the property has been acquired or constructed, the same shall be allowed as deduction in equal installments in the financial year 2010-11 and for each of four immediately succeeding financial years. In the query you have also not indicated whether you are receiving house rent allowance from your employer. In case you are receiving house rent allowance, you should be able to claim the benefit of exemption of such allowance provided you are actually making payment towards the rent for occupying the residential accommodation. The exemption is allowable to the extent of the prescribed amount with regard to the area or place where such accommodation is situated and other relevant considerations. You should, thus, be able to claim both the deduction in respect of the interest paid and exemption of HRA subject to compliance to the conditions referred to above.
Will about ancestral property
Q. Please advise me at the earliest:
A. The facts in the query indicate that the ancestral land inherited by your father is a joint family property. It would be treated as a HUF property for the purposes of Income-Tax Act 1961 (The Act). Your father could have made a Will of his share in the said property and such a share could have been given to any one according to his choice. There would be a deemed partition of the HUF as on the date of your father’s death and the HUF property minus the share of your father would be held jointly by all the other members of the family. I may add that according to the amended provisions of the Hindu Succession Act 1956, daughters are part of the joint family and have equal shares in the joint family property. The challenge to the Will can be made by any of the legal heirs. However, in case the Will has been executed by your father in a state of sound mental health, it is difficult for such a person to succeed in the court of law.
Tax computation
Another property owned by me in Mohali and Chandigarh, which will not be reflected in Form 16, will give me a rental income Rs 2,73,000 and the interest will be Rs 1,64,068 and principal Rs 65,816 for home loan taken for this property. Please let me know my taxable income and its calculation.
— Ajay Aggarwal A. On the basis of the figures given in the query, the computation would work out as under (see chart) The following assumptions have been made for making the above computation as details thereof were not indicated in the query. n
The salary of Rs 4,48,017 is inclusive of HRA and exempted amount of Rs 52,392 is in accordance with the limit prescribed in Section 10(13A) of the Act read with Rule 2A of Income-tax Rules 1962. n
The amount in respect of the house property situated in Delhi was borrowed on or after April 1, 1999.
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The house property situated in Delhi could not be occupied in view of your posting in Ambala, and no benefit is being derived from such house property. You would be liable to pay income tax and education cess of Rs 4,148 on the aforesaid total income.
The writer can be contacted at sc@scvasudeva.com
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GREEN HOUSE
It is rightly said that face is the mirror of mind. This holds good for home gardens and especially the look of the entrance of a house. If the entrance and the facade of a house is not well landscaped then all other effects, including the best of architectural designs, go waste.
Whenever a garden is planned one should also take into consideration its horizontal and vertical aspects. The horizontal part being the lawn and the immediate outside area of the house and the vertical aspect means the face of the building. While there is a lot of scope for decorating the lawn area, the front face depends upon a few features like baskets, raising and training climbers and making frames to support pots etc. One has to be innovative in conceptualising a garden. Sometimes in over enthusiasm gardeners start painting pots with very bright and gaudy colours like deep blue, yellow or red and display these at prominent places. Such features distract and all other attractive features of the house take a backseat. A similar mistake is made when the beds are lined with standing bricks that are painted white or deep red. The effect of blooms in the beds is completely lost because of the bright border elements. In fact, the concept of erecting bricks as border is obsolete and should not be followed. It also hinders the maintenance of grass near the beds due to obstruction in the mowing operation. As I said, innovation and imagination is the key to be one up (see the accompanying picture). The pots in this case are also painted white but these are merging so well with the surroundings that they have actually become a part of it. The plants that you see in the pots are bougainvillea in dormancy. Imagine their glory and effect when these will come in bloom. Plantation at such places is of utmost importance as it is dependent on our climatic conditions too. In summers, when the sun shines brightly, the concrete of buildings need a softening effect. This effect is adequately provided by plants. The only need is to plan their display or training on walls (in case of climbers) in such a way that they do not disturb or hide the architectural lines of the premises. A word of caution: wherever such displays are advised, one should make sure that the placement of pots is very stable, there is a definite provision of watering these, and these pots are within easy reach and there is no dripping from the leaking pots.
Fortnightly alert
Buds on deciduous plants like peach, plum etc have started showing colour. Before they sprout or start showing active growth, it is better to take measure against aphids that appear at this stage and cause leaf curling. The extent of damage extends to the fruiting and the fruits either drop prematurely or are rendered shapeless. Spray systemic insecticide like rogor or metasystox, dissolved at one milliliter to a litre of water once now and once after the fruit sets. Remember there is a thin line between no fruit and full fruit in fruit-bearing plants.
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LAUNCH PAD
AIPL Ambuja Housing and Urban Infrastructure Ltd will be launching a township in Gobindgarh-Khanna. DreamCity, Gobindgarh-Khanna, an 88-acre of self-sufficient integrated township on NH-I will have luxury villas, independent floors, bazaar and a luxury club. AIPL Ambuja Housing and Urban Infrastructure Limited, Advance India Projects Limited (AIPL) and AIPL CapitaMalls, who have joined hands to build one of the largest real estate group in the country, intend to invest Rs 2,000 crore in Punjab.
With a vision “to provide high quality housing as well as commercial solutions to meet the needs of the contemporary lifestyle”, the group is starting its operations in Punjab, the first venture being an integrated township in the holy city of Amritsar, and in the steel hub of the country, in the middle of the twin city Gobindgarh and Khanna, under the brand name “DreamCity”. Dream City, Amritsar is an integrated township spread over an area of almost 148 acres , including 22 acres of commercial area.
Belgravia
Central Park in Gurgaon will now also offer a select group of customers ‘Belgravia Celebrity Duplex’ apartments. These four-side open apartments, costing Rs 7,000 per sq ft, will provide a breathtaking view of the central 20-acre garden. Each duplex will have a splash pool or terrace garden, 10ft high ceiling, independent staff and utility rooms, floor-to-ceiling windows, Italian flooring, a state- of-the-art modular kitchen, wine cellar and other lifestyle facilities. The launch of the project has been slated for April 2011. The Belgravia apartments have been conceived, designed and landscaped by some of the world’s best consultants like HOK from Singapore, RKA from India, and Green Architects and PIA from Thailand. The interiors of the 3/4 bedroom apartments match international standards and are styled to create an ambience of sophisticated luxury. The development boasts of the latest in variable refrigerant volume (VRV) air-conditioning systems, world-class bathroom fitting and fixtures, modular kitchen with cabinets and the best in kitchen gadgetry, including premium brand refrigerator, gas burners, microwave, dish washer and continuous flow UV filtration systems. The entire complex will be Wi-Fi enabled.
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REAL TALK
With over a decade of experience and 14 completed commercial projects under its belt, the RG Group, is all set to take a big leap in 2011. Rajesh Goyal, Managing Director of the group, shares his views on the realty sector in the country and his group’s future plans in an interview. Excerpts:
The real estate sector was in revival mode in 2010, what was your group’s performance in this scenario? “The year 2010 was very excitingfor us as we entered the residential segment by launching two projects. The first project, RG Residency in Noida, was launched in November 2009, and the second one, RG Luxury Homes (Greater Noida), in March 2010. Now as the construction of these two projects has started, we are gearing up for two other projects that are slated to be launched in March and September, respectively. The outlay of these two projects combined would be Rs 1400 crore”. There is an expectation of price correction in the residential sector in the first half of 2011, what are your views on this? There were a few areas where there was a substantial rise in prices last year, like Delhi and Gurgaon. I expect a price correction here, but in areas where the price hike was not much there will not be a
correction. A large number of new residential projects have given a lot of choice to homebuyers, what should be the main selection criteria for buyers in this competitive market? The buyer should see the overall master plan of the projects and should look into the space provided for common areas on the ground floor, specifications of the common area and the apartment. Furthermore, the buyers should always look into the past record of the builder. What special features you are offering in your new project to attract more buyers? We’ve introduced the unique “Landscape Podium Concept” in Noida and Greater Noida, which is above 10 ft. from the ground level, to provide a clean, green and vehicular movement free area for the occupants of the building. We are using less than 15% of ground coverage, thus providing more than 85% of the open area on ground floor for the common activities of the occupants. These are the main features at the master planning level and at micro level, we are providing all facilitates like cupboard in each bedroom, wood-flooring in master bedroom, and spacious modular kitchen with RO. Thus, we are providing fully furnished apartments. What is the overall sentiment in the commercial sector in the region? Is this the right time for investment in real estate, which areas and segments would you consider as the best investment options? The overall sentiment in the commercial sector has improved in the last three months. Yes, this is the right time for investment in the real estate sector. Investor should invest in an area where price hike was not more than 10-15% during the past one year.
What is your group’s USP?
“Let’s simplify owning a home”, wherein even a layman can understand the pricing and covered area calculations. We are the only company in Delhi/NCR whose sale price is on built-up area basis and not on super area basis.
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Farm land commercialisation
The soaring prices of agricultural land in the vicinity of big and burgeoning cities have made many a small and marginal farmer sell his land in order to make a quick buck. This has resulted in shrinking land holdings. The increasing city population and horizontal expansion of cities are threatening to disturb the ecological balance in the region posing a serious threat to the economy of this agrarian state. The ‘green lungs’ of cities – community parks – are being choked and village ponds are overflowing with sullage. As money rules the roost today, commercial gains are outweighing agricultural profits. A contract farm-land which fetches Rs 25,000-30,000 per acre can get a farmer over a lakh if sold out for a marriage palace or a cold storage. Of late, there has also been a paradigm shift in farmers’ priorities considering high farm inputs and low yields. Labour-intensive farm cultivation is giving way to agri-businesses like dairy-farming, poultry, and organic farming. Thanks to the spread of knowledge and awareness among the rural populace, modern farmer prefers to sell his chunk of land to send his son or daughter abroad for higher studies.
However, not all farmers are shifting away from farming by selling their land. Some smart ones have, in fact, multiplied their land holdings by selling land in the prime locations to purchase cheaper ones at other locations. Farmers, who had sold their land for Rs 25 lakh an acre a decade ago, are today owners of 20-22 acres somewhere else in the state, and are making good money from farming, while some others have changed their fortune by entering into some commercial agriculture venture. Sourab Mahajan, in charge of Remax, Punjab, an international property brokerage firm, believes that the lack of big industries and low agriculture yield have pushed up land prices in Punjab. City outskirts are being ‘taken over’ by developers and colonisers. Many farmers close to city areas are selling off their lands at high profits and setting up their own businesses. As a result land prices are shooting up,” says Amritsar-based Mahajan. Echoing his views Jalandhar-based builder and coloniser Anil Chopra says, “Though I am not in favour of converting agriculture land for commercial purposes, farmers who had sold their land to us in 1996 have multiplied their property elsewhere in Punjab. They are a much happier lot today than the time when they had sold us the land for building the township.” Chopra suggests that the only way to stop city outskirts from becoming concrete jungles is to switch from horizontal to vertical growth. He opines that the government should give subsidies to colonisers to encourage multi-storey residential projects as “vertical growth is the only way to meet the demands of rising population and of massive urbanisation”. Farmers should not be ‘tempted’ to sell off their prime agricultural land for higher profits. According to agro-economist Sardool Singh Athwal, commercialisation of agricultural land is a ‘dangerous’ trend which will have a negative impact on our culture. “Small and marginal farmers are good for our economy, but they should be able to market their produce properly and should not be forced to sell off their land,” he says, and warns that “a day will come when farming will go in the hands of only big farmers, which is not a good sign.” Athwal, however, maintains that rising land prices serve as a good social security for a farmer. “Today, a farmer’s son/daughter is in a position to get good education and brighten his family’s future,” he adds. Kulwinder Singh Hundal of Wariyana in Jalandhar is a living example of how a marginal farmer can make it big with the help of ‘commercial’ farming. In 2007 he constructed a cold storage with an investment of Rs 4 crore on two-and-a-half acres of the six acres owned by him. “This cold storage has changed our lives. Normally, two-and-half acres can give only close to Rs 70,000 a year. But this store is giving me a profit ranging from Rs 14-16 lakh a year,” he says proudly, and adds, “if you plan well and know how to get government subsidies, you can get high returns.” Hundal suggested that small farmers can go for net farming, grow vegetables and make crop storage sheds by making use of government subsidies. “Lakhs of tonnes of wheat rots in the open today because FCI godowns and other government bodies do not have the capacity to store all of it. Our farmers can lease out their sheds to the government and make good profit,” he concluded. So, while it remains debatable how good the commercialisation of agricultural land is, but this much is sure that the fruits of development must percolate to the rural masses, who toil day in and day out for a better lifestyle.
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REALTY BYTES
First finalise your property, then choose your lender
A common mistake that many people make is to take a pre-approved loan before finalizing the property to be purchased. You don’t need to take a pre-approved loan to know how much you are eligible for. Besides, imagine falling in love with a property and then discovering that the lender you chose will not fund that property due to some legal/document issues. You are better off finalising the property first and then applying for a home loan. Banks are known to reserve the best deals for immediate disbursement cases as there are targets to be achieved. Go window-shopping, then bargain and then bargain some more Not only from the perspective of interest rates, but also the eligibility amount it is advisable that you go around and play one provider against another. A home loan is a large purchase decision; 0.2 per cent knocked off your interest rate over a 20-year home loan can typically save you Rs 50,000! Apart from the interest rates, also look out for various fees and charges — processing fees, pre-payment charges, legal fees, valuation fees and other hidden costs. So haggling is worth the trouble. Summon up all your bargaining powers and let banks compete for your business. Teaser rates may be good but understand them before you sign The SBI scheme (popularly called the 8 per cent scheme) is a very good scheme but surely costs much more than 8% except in the first year. The success of this scheme has made other banks also offer “teaser rate schemes a low initial rate but a higher rate after the first couple of years. Please evaluate the impact on overall cost of such rate changes over the entire loan tenure (typically 20 years). Fixed or Floating — be vigilant In some cases, a “fixed rate loan” may remain fixed only for a certain period of time, as the bank may have the right to arbitrarily change even the so called ‘fixed rate’. Likewise, if you choose a floating rate loan, check if the rates of your chosen lender have actually floated down in the years when interest rates were dropping. There are a lot of not-so-transparent banks in the market who float the rate up when the industry rates are going up but fail to float the rate down when the industry rates go down. To know whether the bank you are talking to offers ‘transparent floating rates’, ask for the bank’s track record — especially in the falling interest rate regime of 2009 or of 2002-2003. Past behaviour is a fair indicator of how the bank will behave in future — whether it will pass on the benefit to you if and when the interest rates start moving down.
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REALTY BYTES
People in India will have to shell out more money to buy a house this year due to increasing input costs and huge demand and supply gap, a report has said. “About 70 per cent of the home seekers are pretty convinced that they will have to shell more money to buy a house in 2011, as compared to last few years,” Track2Realty, a real estate market tracker, said in its repor recently.
The survey was conducted in 10 major Indian cities including Delhi, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata, Chenai and Allahabad. A majority of the brokers and property agents said the property prices would remain bullish in 2011 mainly on account of “huge demand and supply gap and ever increasing input cost”. The report also said that those planning to sell houses this year would get higher returns. About 72 per cent believe that if they missed the chance to buy a house now, “they may not be able to buy it ever”, it added.
— PTI
No major impact of rate hike
Real estate developers and consultants said the RBI’s decision to hike policy rates by 25 basis points will affect the sentiment of the property market, but they do not foresee any major impact on housing demand and prices. “The hike in repo and reverse repo rates by 25 basis points will have a sentimental impact on demand, but it may not slowdown the demand in its actuality,” Jones Lang LaSalle India Chairman and Country Head Anuj Puri said. Home buyers might delay their decision to own property, which would prolong the completion of the transaction, Puri pointed out. On housing prices, Puri said it would remain stable in the metro cities. Commenting on the RBI’s policy, DLF Group Executive Director Rajeev Talwar said: “The growth of economy is strong, so we don’t expect any negative impact on the property demand and prices”. Talwar said he did not forsee any rise in interest rates. Parsvnath Developer Chairman Pradeep Jain said there could be a short-term impact because of rate hikes but would not have major affect on demand, which is directly related to growth in the economy which is firm. “As far as rate hike impact on real estate sector is concerned, I see a short-term impact initially which is a normal and routine phenomenon. In fact since March 2010, rates have been increased six times but it has not impacted the demand and growth in the sector significantly,” Jain said. Assotech Managing Director Sanjeev Srivastava said: “It was expected. This will hurt the sentiments of the property market, but will not have any major impact on demand as housing prices are competitive in many markets including Noida.” Talwar of DLF noted that the government needs to do much more on the supply side to contain inflation. “The more you try to curb demand and not increase housing supply, the prices would rise in long term”.
— PTI
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When in the mid 1980s, there was no space left for real estate development in South Delhi, the property prices were skyrocketing and were way beyond the ‘affordable’ range, Gurgaon was born. That was the time when builders as well real estate consultants diverted their attention towards Gurgaon, and the results are there fo everyone to see.
GREEN HOUSE
The soaring prices of agricultural land in the vicinity of big and burgeoning cities have made many a small and marginal farmer sell his land in order to make a quick buck. This has resulted in shrinking land holdings. The increasing city population and horizontal expansion of cities are threatening to disturb the ecological balance in the region posing a serious threat to the economy of this agrarian state.
Q. I am senior citizen. I got my Canadian PR in June 2009. I came back to India on September 15, 2009 after receiving permanent residence card for Canada, and have not gone back since then. I sold my house recently and want to deposit the money in my bank account in Canada after paying the long-term capital gains tax. I have a PAN card and have been filing my income tax returns regularly. My queries are:
A has constructed a house by availing housing loan from a public sector bank. He has availed rebate on income tax on the accrued interest from his taxable income till the previous year. He has recently been allotted another plot of land in Urban Area and physical possession of the same has since been obtained by depositing 25% of the total cost of the plot. Please let me know whether rebate on Income Tax on interest on six yearly instalments to be paid towards the remaining 75% of the cost of plot is deductible from his taxable income of the current and the next five financial years? His first house is self-occupied and no rental income is being earned on that.
— Suman
Q. I am a government employee working in the Education Department. I want to take some advice on tax rebate. My question is:
We are two brothers and two sisters. All are married. My father (who died recently) had ancestral land in a village in Haryana. This land was inherited by him from his father my grandfather. This land was allotted to my grandfather in lieu of the property left behind in Pakistan at the time of Partition. Please advise if my could make a Will debarring daughters of the property or in case will is there can daughters challenge it in a court of law.
— Rekha Rani
Q. I am a salaried person currently posted in Ambala. My salary for FY 2010-11 will be Rs 4,48,017. I will be claiming HRA exemption for Rs 52,392 for the rent paid by me in Ambala and will be investing Rs 68,527 in LIC/PF. I own a flat in Delhi which is lying vacant. I had taken a loan for purchasing this flat, and am paying the installments for it. I will be claiming rebate on the interest (Rs 1,22,392) and principal (Rs 30,980) paid to the bank against the home loan. These amounts will be reflected in Form 16 issued by my employer.
