Ludhiana’s big bite
Mini townships on the outskirts of industrial town are expanding the city’s prized property pie. Only time will tell whether or not Ludhianvis will succumb to the charms of these planned habitations, writes Geetu Vaid

If there is any city that perfectly showcases the Punjabi spirit of living life ‘king size’, it is Ludhiana. With its roads choc-a-bloc with luxury cars, malls brimming with top-notch brands, industries minting moolah and plush homes exuding a luxurious lifestyle, the city seems to revel in its opulence. The realty market here has also its golden glint frame with investors’ money sustaining the upward trend of the price graph. Apart from the city’s HNIs, NRIs and well-heeled Punjabis from other cities parking their funds in the industrial hub of Punjab, there is also a sizeable number of middle class entrepreneurs, businessmen and salaried individuals who drive the growth of the realty sector in Ludhiana. The city with a population growth of around 2.63 per cent, has perpetual demand for residential, commercial and office space. As the old city areas as well as other preferred locations like Sarabha Nagar, Mall Road, BRS Nagar etc have reached a saturation point besides having exorbitant price tags, a slew of mini townships coming up on the city’s periphery are expanding the city’s property pie to accommodate more and more investors and end-users. No wonder then that the realty sector’s big “chefs” like Omaxe, Ireo, Aeren R, Vipul are all ready with ambitious plans to “dish out” delectable habitations to suit the tastes of this city.

In a city where jostling for space - on the roads, in markets, in parking lots - is a way of life, open spaces and a pollution-free environment are the USP of these townships. So vast tracts of land next to the highways are being turned into green mini cities, which will provide a good lifestyle as well as lot of fresh air. “This is proved by residential (integrated townships) projects coming up on the Jalandhar road, canal road and Hambran road”, says Chandan Singh, Executive Director, Aeren R Enterprises. The group has two major projects in Ludhiana - Fortune County and Business City are the residential and commercial projects, respectively. Fortune County is a 161-acre township project with plots, villas, hi-rise and mid-rise condominiums on offer.

Spread over 14.75 acres, the business has been designed to meet the growing demand for commercial space in Ludhiana. The development provides a balanced mix of commercial and leisure activities in a pollution-free secure environment. One of the most prestigious names in the retail business Wal-Mart has already commenced its operations in the form of its wholesale format called Best Price over a 50,000 sq ft area on a 3.5-acre plot.

The Vipul Group was among the earliest entrants in the integrated township category with its 109-acre Rs 400-crore project - Vipul World- on the Ferozepur Road. With most of the development work here already completed, the group is going to start handing out possession of plots.“Excellent location and a “break-free” land bank close to the cantonment area, are our major plus points. With cantonment area nearby, the chances of unauthorised construction are very bleak and this will enable us to maintain the open and green ambience that we have promised to our clients”, says Anoop Saxena, head, advertising and PR of the group. Saxena is also upbeat about the fact that a majority of buyers in the project are end-users which is a healthy sign as the success of the concept is directly proportional to the number of people inhabiting an integrated township.

“Selling the concept of an integrated city was very difficult in the beginning but slowly people are adjusting to it as there are benefits like vast open spaces, planned development and quality living”, he adds. However, the long time taken for these projects to take shape and the distance factor are chronic deterrents. Add to this, the fact that the developers are “outsiders” and not local players and the customer confidence enters a highly seismic zone. So, building trust before building an integrated township is of paramount importance, says Madhukar Tulsi, President, IREO.

“The perception of buyers in Tier II and III cities is slightly different from that of buyers in metros. When we started our 500-acre project in Ludhiana, it was on a unique and novel concept but buyers were initially apprehensive as in the past local players had offered grand promises but had failed to deliver. To build the trust among buyers, we carried out all the development work before the launch to enable them get an experience of what the final product would appear”. IREO’s Waterfront project is among the biggest and most ambitious projects in the region located just 15 minutes away from the city on the Sidhwan Canal road. The project constitutes high-end villas, apartments, business parks, schools and healthcare facilities. An 8-acre manmade lake is the signature feature of the township. Commercial zone, club house and retail arena are located around the lake.

Omaxe also has a 36-acre mini township project on the Pakhowal Road with varied options, including high rise condominiums with large tracks of open and green space and Royal View homes (G+3 villa floors) in various sizes, to suit the need of the burgeoning middle class and upper middle class in the city. “Royal View Homes have received overwhelming response and almost all of the residential units have been sold out. The construction of these projects is in full swing and possession of phase-I is starting very soon,” informed the official spokesperson of Omaxe.

Price of world class living

Apart from catering to yearning of city residents for open spaces, these cities also satiate the thirst for an international living standard, says Tulsi. Exclusive neighbourhoods with parks, greens and recreational areas for children, connected by jogging tracks and tree-lined avenues, sports facilities, club houses apart from malls and commercial centres are some of the features promised by most of these developers. “The market has more of a demand for plots and villas vs. independent floors or multi-storeyed flats. The reason for this is that there is more demand for plots because when people move out of the city towards suburban or quality development, they want to live in lateral developments rather than vertical ones. Plus, there is a mindset of the people of the city that owning land is a better way/style of living

(the bigger the plot the better…subject to affordability)”, adds Singh of Aeren R group. The prices are also very competitive, says Saxena. In Vipul project, apartments on 250 sq yd area can be had for Rs 45 to 60 lakh and a 500 sq yd villa will cost over a crore, while in Omaxe project, residential units from two to five bedroom ultra-luxury apartments and penthouses in 1,050, 1,800, 2,200, 2,700, 3,200, 4,150, and 6,900 sq ft area come with a price tag ranging from Rs 28 lakh to Rs 1.50 crore. An IREO’s Waterfront residential options on offer are 3-6 bedroom luxury villas, 200-1,000 sq yds plots and 2-3 bedroom independent floors. Ticket size for these villas ranges from Rs 1-4 crore and for independent floors starting price is Rs 26 lakh onwards.

Ground reality

The past six months have not been particularly buoyant for the real estate sector in the state as prices have remained stagnant with certain pockets even showing a sliding trend, but Ludhiana has by and large bucked the trend as prices have maintained an even keel even though a major upward thrust has been missing. Consultants operating in the city predict that this trend will continue in the first half of the next year so it is a good time to invest for those with holding power. 

Now, Leela is the costliest hotel in Mumbai

Mumbai: As corporates and institutions increasingly move from the choked southern areas to northward, primarily to the Andheri-Goregaon belt, hotels in the airport area have overtaken the wide pricing gap that existed till recently with their southern counterparts. Leading the pack is the luxury Leela Hotel, charging nothing less than Rs 20,000 for a room if one were to go for a current booking, leaving the iconic Taj in the southern tip of the city behind that charges Rs 18,000 on an average per room. "The Leela had been sold out every day last month and the average room tariff has reached the pre-2008 crisis level. While a current booking will cost a guest Rs 20,000, our average revenue per room stood at Rs 9,805 for November, while the average room rate stood at Rs 9,856, which is 24.2 per cent higher than last year," Leela general manager Bishwajit Chakraborty said. Against this, the current booking rates at the Taj for a sea-facing room (for tomorrow) that too on the Palace wing, as it is sold out for today, is Rs 1,8107 (including taxes), while it will cost a still lower Rs 14,972 for a sea-facing, break-fast inclusive room (tomorrow) at the Oberoi-run Trident at Nariman Point. When contacted, both the Taj as well as Trident reservations said they were sold out for the day and could consider only for tomorrow. The Leela Mumbai, which will be celebrating its silver jubilee soon has 392 rooms, making it the largest property from the 91-year-old-promoter Captain CP Krishnan Nair's hospitality venture. The Leela has six other properties - New Delhi (260 rooms), Gurgaon (322), Bangalore (357), Goa (206), Kovalam (182),and Udaipur (80 rooms). Out of these, the Leela only manages the Gurgaon and Kovalam hotels, while the one in Goa is a resort.

Chakraborty said, the average rate for the southern hotels in the city were only Rs 6,900, while the northern ones it stood at Rs 7,500 and for Leela it was at a premium Rs 8,500 per room. — PTI

real talk
No let up in demand for quality projects

The ATS Group is one of the fast emerging realty groups in the region and has already developed over 12 million sq ft of space in several state-of-the-art residential projects in NCR and is expanding its footprint in the northern region. With his keen understanding of the customer’s needs, the MD and co-founder of the group, Getamber Anand, is responsible for setting a benchmark for high-quality international standard construction, on-time delivery and transparency for real estate projects. In an interview with Real Estate, Anand, who is also vice-president of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Association of India (CREDAI), talks about the current scenario in the sector and the future plans of his group. Excerpts:

Is the Indian realty sector facing another slowdown?

It is true that the realty sector is at present grappling with challenges like rising interest rates, higher input costs, particularly cement, and shortage of labour. However, with the macro situation of urban India still facing a shortage of 27 million houses, the long-term outlook for the industry continues to be robust. The developers need to consider requirements of the customers and get the location, price and delivery of their projects right. With the discerning players, demand will not be an issue in the near future.

What are the factors behind low sales volumes in the festival season?

Owing to market dynamics, we witnessed moderate activity this season, not as robust as it was last year. Land cost has gone up this year, construction cost is up by 15-20 per cent, interest rates are also skyrocketing. Hence, developers were not in a position to offer too many discounts or promotional offerings to boost sales. However, though the market sentiments are not very positive at the moment, I do perceive continued demand for value-for-money quality projects.

Is it the right time to invest in real estate or not?

For an end consumer, the right time depends on the individual's economic situation and this demand is fairly inelastic to short-term market fluctuations. In other words, there is never an inopportune time to buy real estate for self-occupation. However, the macro investment climate may have an impact on the investment activity in this asset class.

How far will the real estate regulation Bill succeed in bringing about transparency in the sector? Are there any loopholes which the builders' lobby would like to plug before the Act takes a final shape?

Though I will welcome any effort to bring in accountability and transparency in the industry, the Bill in its present form has certain provisions that are impractical. Also, clauses of imprisonment are not acceptable to any developer. We are legitimate, respectful businesses and have been working towards making the industry more organised and transparent. With the objective of bringing in clarity and speed in systems and processes for the benefit of all stakeholders, the CREDAI introduced a one-point agenda, ‘Mission Transparency’ earlier this year. We deserve to be treated with the same level of respect and acceptability like that accorded to other industries.

Which key areas of growth, other than Delhi-NCR, do you see in the northern region and why?

Metros are gradually getting saturated and tier-II and smaller towns are gaining importance. Cities like Chandigarh and Dehradun are witnessing a lot of activity in organised real estate. Smaller towns like Mohali, Ludhiana, Dera Bassi, and Amritsar in Punjab, Bhiwadi in Haryana and Alwar in Rajasthan are also witnessing growth.

As a builder how do you make your projects stand out in a competitive environment?

Our core strength has been offering quality residential projects at affordable rates. Our biggest strength lies in the fact that we undertake construction ourselves and have built in-house capabilities which gives us direct control over quality and costs.

What are your future plans?

We have recently forayed into Gurgaon by acquiring two licensed land parcels in the city - approximately 12.2 acres in Sector 109, and 10.5 acres in Sector 104, Gurgaon, to give shape to our residential projects. We expect to deliver about 10 million sq ft space in Gurgaon over the next five years.

We will also deliver our grand ATS Golf Meadows project in Dera Bassi over the next couple of years together with our on-going developments in Noida and Indirapuram. — As told to Geetu Vaid 

Woman entrepreneur awarded
Pradeep Sharma

Ritu Singal, a successful entrepreneur and Managing Director of Raglan Group, who pioneered the concept of affordable housing in Chandigarh’s periphery, has added another feather to her cap. She was recently awarded the “Women Entrepreneur of the Year-2011 Award” by ET Now, a TV channel, in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) category in recognition of her achievement and extraordinary courage in steering her business from the brink in a short span of four years.

In fact, it was a dream come true for Ritu when she received the prize from NR Narayana Murthy, Chairman Emeritus, Infosys Technologies, in Mumbai recently.

Eminent jury comprising Sam Pitroda, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Public Information, Infrastructure and Innovations, Prasoon Joshi, Executive Chairman, McCann World Group India, Akhil Gupta, Deputy Group CEO and MD, Bharti Enterprises, D K Jain, Chairman and President, Luxor Group, Gita Piramal, Chairman, BP Ergo Limited, Shivinder Mohan Singh, MD, Fortis Healthcare India, and BS Nagesh, vice-chairman, Shoppers Stop, zeroed in on Ritu from thousands of entries from all over the country.

Ritu’s success as an entrepreneur is all the more creditable in the sense that she had no business experience when her husband died in 2007 leaving behind a huge loan he had taken for his textile unit in Baddi. Taking the huge personal loss in her stride, she took the Raglan Group comprising Raglan Infrastructure Limited, a real estate company, and the Winner Nippon Electronics Limited, manufacturers of artificial leather and PP non-woven fabric, out of the red to rub shoulders with leaders in the industry.

It was her indomitable will combined with remarkable management skills that put her group on the industrial map of the region.

guest column
Trend of buying a second home rising

Sanyam Dudeja, COO, Punjab, Taneja Developers and Infrastructure Ltd

The trend of buying a second home and investing in real estate has increased over the years. People buying a property for investment purpose have seen a significant appreciation in the past few years.

This trend is of buying a second home and investment in real estate is likely to continue. People with college-going children have started considering the advantages of buying a second home for their child. This option, they realise, is better than paying a rent for an apartment/flat for 3-4 years.

There are many factors that motivate people to buy a second home.

The way people look at their home has changed over the years. In the past, a home was considered a place you buy, raise your family and the place to retire. Now, they treat their homes as an opportunity to make money. Hence, this trend is increasing.

Also, there are many lucrative mortgage options available to buy a second home thus making the decision-taking ability easier and quicker.

In the light of current scenario, the market will continue to show an upward trend in real estate investing. Also, more people with resources will be looking at buying a second home so that they can enjoy their life after retirement.

tax tips
S. C. Vasudeva
Sale of farm land
Money can be used for buying a house

Q. My father is a retired government officer and owns some 
agricultural land within the municipal limits. At present, the land is cultivated by my uncles, who are also using the income arising from agricultural operations. Now, my father intends to sell this land and invest the money either in the construction of first floor of a single-storey house owned by him or to buy a new residential house. My queries are:

Can he sell his purely agricultural land to invest in either the construction or purchase of a residential house? If yes, then will he be liable to pay tax on the sale of agricultural land?

What can be done to reduce the tax liability?

How should the funds be managed before buying/constructing the residential house?

If the tax is to be paid, then on which IT Form should the Return be filed?

— Rajender

A. Your queries are replied hereunder. The reply is based on the presumption that the agricultural land owned by your father was acquired more than three years before the date of sale

The amount of gain arising on sale of agricultural land shall be treated as a long-term capital gain.

The amount realised on the sale of agricultural land can be utilised for the construction or purchase of a residential house. The amount of tax payable on capital gain would not be payable in case the net consideration realised on the sale of the agricultural land is utilised towards the purchase of such residential house one year before the date of such sale or within a period of two years after the date of sale or utilised in the construction of a residential house within a period of three years after the date of sale of the agricultural land.

There will be no tax liability in respect of income tax on capital gain if the amount of net consideration is utilised as mentioned above.

In case the net consideration realised on the sale of the agricultural land is not utilised for purchase or construction of a residential house before the due date of filing the IT Return as applicable to your father, the unutilised amount should be deposited with a bank under 'capital gains scheme account' before the due date of filing the Return as aforesaid. The amount so deposited can be utilised for the purchase or construction of the residential house within the period as specified herein above.

I presume that his income apart from capital gain would be in the nature of pension and interest. In such a case the applicable form would be ITR-2.

Indexation benefit

Q. I have been allotted a plot and paid Rs 4,06,000 by taking a loan on 25-3-2004. I paid interest of Rs 25,617 in 2004-05, Rs 19,808 in 2005-06, Rs 17,100 in 2006-07, and Rs 7,700 in2007-08. I sold the plot in September 2011 for Rs 20 lakh. Please let me know how much tax I have to pay and how I can save it.

— Devinder

A. The amount of interest paid in respect of amount borrowed for the purpose of acquiring a plot will be treated as part of the actual cost of plot. This is in accordance with the decision of the Delhi High Court in the case of Vashisht Bhargava vs. ITO (99 ITR 148).

It may, however, be difficult to argue that the amount of interest paid represent the cost of improvement to the plot. Therefore, it may not be possible to get the indexation benefit in respect of the amount of interest paid by you on the borrowed amount. The total indexed cost of the plot would work out at Rs 6,88,359. As the plot has been held by you for a period of more than three years, the capital gain arising on the sale of the plot would be in the nature of long-term capital gain. The amount of long-term capital gain arising on the sale of the plot after taking into account the indexed cost and interest of Rs 70,225 would work out at Rs 12,41,416. Tax on such long-term capital gain @ 20% plus 3% education cess thereon would work out at Rs 2,55,732.

You can save the said amount of tax by investing the amount of Rs 20 lakh in the purchase or construction of a residential house. The purchase of a residential house will have to be made within two years after the date of sale of the plot and the construction of a residential house within three years after the date of sale of the plot. So much of the amount which has not been utilised for the purchase or construction of the residential house up to the due date of the filing of the tax return for the assessment year 2012-13, is required to be deposited in a bank account under the capital gain scheme by the aforesaid date. The amount so deposited can be utilised for the purchase or construction of a residential house. You can also save the tax by investing the amount of capital gain in the acquisition of tax- saving bonds. These bonds have to be purchased within six months of the date of sale of the plot.

Investment in shares won’t save tax

Q. Kindly advise me on the following issues:

I had earned capital gain on the sale of a residential house and invested the same in the purchase of equity shares of blue chip companies. Is the capital gain so invested exempt from tax?

I had purchased a plot for the construction of a residential house which I constructed about four years back. The house had been let out to a company. I intend selling the same. Will the gain arising thereon will be taxed as a long-term capital gain.

— Vikas

A. Your queries are replied hereunder:

n The investment in shares would not enable you to save the leviability of the capital gains tax arising on the sale of a residential house.

n The gain arising on the sale of residential house which has been let out would be treated as a long-term capital gain. It would be taxable @ 20% plus 3% education cess thereon. 

Check the status of agri land

Q. My mother (89 years) had sold an agricultural plot in HP in the financial year 2009-2010 for over Rs 10 lakh. The sale proceed, however, was kept at home for her medical expenses. But the money remained unutilized as she expired the next year (financial year 2010-2011).The amount is still lying at home and I have not disclosed it as I intend to make my minor grand daughter as its sole beneficiary. What should I do in this regard?

— Ashok

A. It would be advisable to file the IT Return in respect of the capital gain arising on the sale of the agricultural plot. You can do so as the Return for financial year 2009-10 can be filed up to March 31, 2012. The amount of tax due, if any, on such capital gain should be paid before the said date along with the interest due under Section 234A, 234B and 234C of the Act. It may3 be added that an agricultural land is not considered to be a capital asset provided the same is situated outside the municipal limits or situated outside such distance of the municipal limits as has been notified by the government. You may therefore, verify whether the agricultural land owned by your mother was covered within the definition of the term 'capital asset' so as to attract the levy of income-tax on the capital gain arising on the sale of such land. You will be required to file the Return of income in case the agricultural land was situated within the municipal limits or within such distance situated outside the municipal limits as has been notified by the government.

Tax-saving bonds

Q. Thanks for your advice on my previous query that LTCG can be saved by purchasing tax-saving bonds. Now I want to know:

Maximum amount which can be invested, rate of interest, whether interest is taxable or not, whether interest is payable yearly or at maturity.

Whether to pay LTCG on the balance after deducting the amount purchased on the bonds is in order.

— Sukhdeep Singh

A. Your queries are replied hereunder:

A sum of Rs 50 lakh can be invested in a financial year towards the purchase of bonds for saving tax payable in respect of long-term capital gain arising on the sale of the plot.

The present rate of interest payable by the two institutions is 6% per annum.

The interest so receivable is taxable.

The amount of interest is normally payable on yearly basis.

In case the bonds purchased are less than the amount of capital gain so arising, the amount of capital gain chargeable to tax would be computed in the same proportion as amount invested in bonds bears to the whole of the capital gain. For example, in case a sum of Rs 50,000 is invested out of the total capital gain of Rs 60,000, exemption would be allowable to the extent of Rs 50,000. The balance amount of Rs 10,000 would be taxable. 

Ground Realty
ARCHITECTURAL TOUCH
Howsoever fine a plan you may prepare for your house, doubts remain about its functionality until an architect examines it and puts his stamp on it
Jagvir Goyal

Architecture is an art of designing and constructing buildings. Over the centuries, unique works of architecture have been termed as the works of art. Whenever archeological excavations reveal certain buildings, the architectural features of the buildings play a vital part in identifying the civilisation to which the buildings belonged.

Howsoever fine plan you may prepare for your house, doubts remain about its full functionality until an architect examines it from his angle and puts his stamp on it. It is, therefore, essential for you to get the services of an architect for preparing a house plan as per your requirements and to your full satisfaction. This is the first step towards converting your dream house into reality.

While dealing with an architect, however, you must keep certain points in mind, as explained below:

Check the credentials: Architects specialise in different kinds of buildings. Some are specialists in designing institutes, some in commercial buildings and others in residential buildings. Choose an architect who is a specialist in designing houses. Prefer an architect operating in your area. Such an architect shall be well conversant with the prevailing bylaws of the area where you want to build your house. Plans prepared by him shall be easily approved by the local authority. Moreover, he can regularly visit the site during the construction of your house. An architect stationed outside may not work on your house with the same mobility.

Provide information: The first thing for you to do while asking the architect to prepare a plan of your house is to tell the exact plot dimensions to him. Next, the directions i.e. whether the plot is East, West, North or South facing. The authority with whom the plot is registered, whether houses have been built on the plots to the left, right and back of your plot should also be told besides any other information desired by the architect.

Tell your requirements: Tell your requirements to the architect. Your requirements should include whether you want a single storey or double or triple storey house; whether you want it to be a duplex or with independent floors etc; how many bedrooms you need at the ground floor, how many at first floor; whether the bathrooms are to be large or medium or small in size and so on. Then there are requirements like positioning of the bedrooms or living room or kitchen. Whether the stairs to the first floor are to be from within the lobby or independently from the outside or both; whether ‘puja’ room and store are required or not; whether you’ll like to rent out the upper floors or not. All these requirements should be thoughtfully jotted down and told to the architect.

Tell your budget: The cost of construction of a house depends on the materials and specifications chosen by you. A house can be constructed @ Rs 1,200 per sq ft of plinth area or the rate may go up to even Rs 2,500 per sq ft when top bracket specifications and materials are chosen. Tell your budget to the architect. An architect knows about the latest items and materials and he can suggest the best materials to suit your budget.

Sanction of plans: Certain architects accept the responsibility of getting the house plan approved from the local authority while the others may not. Most of the architects agree to provide the plans as per local bylaws but leave it to the house builder to submit the plans along with requisite fee to the local authority for sanctioning. This point should be made clear in advance whether this job of getting the plans sanctioned shall be done by the architect or not.

Payment terms: Next, make the payment terms clear. The architects charge a fee either as a percentage of the total cost of the house or on per square foot basis. The architect’s fee varies from city to city and every architect has his own fee terms. Percentage wise, architects normally charge 1.5% to 3% of the cost of the building. So if your house’s cost estimate is Rs 40 lakh, architect’s fee may be somewhere between Rs 60,000 and Rs 1.2 lakh. Further, strike a clear payment schedule with the architect. He may ask for some amount as down payment and rest to be paid at different stages of work. If the terms are made clear in the beginning, there hardly remains any chance of any dispute with your architect.

Drawings: Ask the architect about the number of drawings he will provide. You may be thinking of 10 or 15 drawings. A good architect will, however, tell you that the drawings required shall be much more in number. Every aspect has to be covered. Apart from the floor- wise plans, elevation and sections, the drawings to be provided include those of slab, beam and column reinforcement, other RCC components, basement, water supply system, sanitary, drainage, kitchen details, toilet details, cupboard details, terrace, electrical conduit drawing, electrical installations, staircase, lobby, railings, paving details and so on.

Detailing: Make it clear between you and the architect that he will provide detailing of each and every minor aspect. Many joints, doors, windows, openings and inserts need detailing. Certain niches and shelves, false ceiling, POP work need detailing. There may be openings in RCC work that need special or diagonal reinforcement around them. All these details are provided by the architect who employs qualified engineers to do structural design.

Visits: A good architect pays regular visits to the sites of the projects undertaken by him. However, talk about it while finalising the terms with him. Certain decisions need to be taken at the spot by the architect. Sometimes, the work gets stuck up as some minor detail is missing in the drawing. At such times, the architect may have to make an emergency visit to the site. Overall number of visits may be countless. On crucial work days when concreting items are in progress, architects provide site engineers to check the shuttering, steel reinforcement and concrete quality control.

Labour gangs: Gangs of workers of all kind often remain in contact with the architects to find work. Plumbers, carpenters, electricians, POP work groups, labour contractors, painters, earth suppliers for filling etc can be easily suggested and provided by the architect. Discuss all these aspects with the architect while finalising the deal and cherish a good relation with him throughout the currency of your house’s construction.

(This column appears fortnightly) 

living with vaastu
Avoid spiral staircases
Madan Gupta Spatu

Stairs are used to connect different levels in the same building. In a house with more than one level, the staircase will be used everyday a number of times. Hence, the staircase should be comfortably designed for the users.

Most houses consist of multiple floors and require structures to bridge the vertical distance between them. Normally, the medium used is staircase available in a plethora of shapes (such as round, straight, etc) and materials (concrete, wooden, etc). However, before choosing any character, size or direction, you should make sure that the blueprint of your stairway conforms with vaastu for staircase.

Staircase is usually accessed from the dining room. It should be in the south-west, south or west part of the house. Stairs in the north-east direction are considered to be a source of illness.

The slope, the first flight should be from east to west or north to south. The staircase should always turn clockwise when turning to the next step. Square or rectangular stairs that bend at the right angles are considered good while risers should not be too high or too steep. Such kind of stairs drain out positive energy from the house.

There should be no staircase just outside the main door of the room because it is being said that such defect keeps away good luck.

There should be odd number of risers in a staircase such as 15, 17, 19 etc. Make the number of stairs odd. It should not end with zero. The number of risers should be such odd numbers that when divided by 3, the remainder is always 2.

Paint staircase in light colours. Avoid red and black colours.

Repair broken stairs immediately otherwise it may cause accidents or mental tension due to clashes. The circular or spiral staircase should be avoided. Rot iron must not be used.

The space under the staircases should not be used for any purpose. No toilet, kitchen, bathroom or pooja room should be made in the space under the staircases. It causes health problems. The area can certainly be used for storage, though.

Direct stairs outside the room can make your home accident-prone and brings bad luck.

Do not use common staircase for going upstairs and to the basement as well.

Keeping doors at beginning and end of the staircase is considered auspicious. Care should be taken to ensure that the stairs do not touch the eastern or northern walls. If a linear staircase is designed either inside or outside the house, it should begin from east to west or north to south. Afterwards, it may take any direction. Staircase should be built in a way that the stairs are not directly visible to the guests. It is considered inauspicious.

Remedies: If the staircase could not be constructed as per Vaastu norms, fill rain water in a small silver vessel, cover it with its lid and bury it under the stairs during construction. Or place seven types of cereals (satnaja-comprising wheat, rice, black grams, maize, bajra, barley, jawar) in an earthen pot and one pitcher filled with water on the top of your constructed house. This remedy is panacea for all sorts of Vaastu defects as per Lal Kitab.

The writer is a Chandigarh-based Vaastu consultant. Readers can send their suggestions/queries at realestate@tribunemail.com 

IndiaProperty.com to focus on Tier-II, III towns

The IndiaProperty.com, a real estate portal of Consim Info, an Internet business group, has announced that it would consolidate its position in the online market for new properties in India by increasing its focus on growing property market in Tier II & III cities across regions. Indiaproperty.com has launched a special, separate segment listing more than 800 properties and 50 new residential projects in smaller but fast-growing cities across regions, such as Nasik, Jaipur, Mysore, Vijayawada, Madurai, Vishakapatnam, Trichy, Coimbatore, among others.

According to a report by CRISIL Research, cities like Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Coimbatore, Indore, Jaipur, Lucknow, Surat, Vadodara, Vishakapatnam, among others, are expected to add more than 354 million sq.ft of residential development over the next three years. Large builders like DLF, Unitech, Parsvnath, Omaxe, Ansals and Emaar MGF have already diversified into these cities with an eye on future growth.

Announcing the launch, Ganesh Vasudevan, VP and Business Head, Indiaproperty.com, said, “Small towns and cities are experiencing rapid economic growth in real estate which could be attributed to improvement in infrastructure, rising employment opportunities and improved quality of life. Investors and developers have been shifting their focus to smaller cities and towns and these emerging cities are likely to lead the transformation of the Indian real estate sector moving forward. As the big cities and metros become saturated and land and realty prices become too high to touch for the large majority, smaller cities will experience a housing boom to target new segments of customers.”— TNS