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area watch: bathinda
launch pad
project watch tax tips Ground Realty vaastu wisdom
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area watch: bathinda
Bathinda township, which Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal wants to transform as the California of Punjab, has got nothing much to boast about on the property front.
The real estate trade here is practically at a standstill. The controversy over new taxes levied on colonisers and plot holders has dampened whatever fervor was left among investors here. The market is stagnant with very few buyers and the builders who already have some projects under construction are under a lot of pressure due to the increasing cost of construction material, especially of sand and gravel. The recent ban on sand mining imposed by the National Green Tribunal has further increased the woes of homebuyers as well as the builders. The once lucrative business of renting out houses here is also witnessing a slowdown. The city had seen massive demand for rental accomodation five years ago during the setting up of the Bathinda refinery project. Now as most of the refinery officials and employees have moved to their own colony near the refinery, about 25 km from the city, nearly 70 per cent of the houses that had earlier been rented out are lying vacant. The house owners have not lowered the rents due to which only houses getting rented out are the ones that provide additional facilities or are situated near a tenant’s office or an educational institution in the case of students. One can see ‘to-let’ boards outside several houses in the city, especially in the three phases of the Model Town area, where landlords had got two or three floors constructed five years ago to rent these out to the refinery employees. “That was a golden period,” says Raj Singla, a local kiryana merchant who doubled up as a property dealer specialising in the ‘to-let’ business, “Every one made money. But now, over 70 per cent of those houses are lying vacant. We all are waiting for the proposed expansion plan of the Oil Refinery for the rentals to soar once again”. Destination of the future However, the situation is not all gloomy as the mofussil township of Bhucho Mandi nearby is fast developing as a major hub of the sale/purchase business. It is situated about 15 km from Bathinda on the Bathinda-Barnala highway and is developing fast. With the opening up of the Adesh Medical University, popular eating joints McDonald, KFC, Subway and Cafe Cofee Day, the realty scene here is promising. Popular eating joint ‘Haveli’developed as a chain of heritage hotels now, is also under construction here. Besides these, the town is already famous as the marble town of the region. As many as 75 marble stores do brisk business on both sides of the road. They cater to the entire Malwa besides parts of Haryana and Rajasthan as well. “Bhucho is going to be the next big thing in real estate,” says Love Kumar, a local property dealer. “While the business is almost nil elsewhere, it is booming in this town”, he adds. He said the town is basically coming up in a stretch of 5 km from the Bhucho roundabout to the beginning of the Army cantonment. Market watchers in the area claim that the realty scene will hot up with the widening of the Barnala-Bathinda highway. “Many businessmen from from Rampura whose business is likely to be hit due to the construction of a flyover there might shift here. The highway widening and the proposed flyover have hit business in a small part of the Bhucho town also. The flyover would be constructed over the roundabout due to which the value of the land around the chowk has dipped.” “Bhucho town is, in fact, attracting more investors than Bathinda,” says another dealer Satinder Brar. Adesh University has brought a large number of students and faculty, leading to the opening of multinational eating joints like Mc Donald’s. Multinational retail outlet Best Price has also opened an outlet there. This has increased business, which will increase further with the widening of the highway. Already one can see signboards installed by farmers offering land for sale. A huge housing colony project is also coming up here, which will make the town a complete modern township with all amenities that are not available even in Bathinda. The rates along the highway are up to Rs 15,000 per sq yd and are likely to go up in the near future. “The main point is that the real estate business is alive here”, says Satinder Brar. “The proposed taxes of colonisers, plot holders and the rising rate of construction material have hit the business hard. We hope the government will find out a way to encourage the business fast”, said another property dealer, who has shifted base to Haryana due to the long slump here.
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launch pad Realty major Shri Infratech recently announced the launch of Cricket County — a residential township project — that will be developed in association with Sporting Edge, a venture founded by former Australian Cricket Captain Steve Waugh. The township project will have villas, value homes, retirement homes, offices, shopping facilities and a unique Arts Village with recreational amenities and other social infrastructure. The venture with Sporting Edge will provide access to sports training not only in cricket but also swimming, tennis and other sports by well known sporting icons and institutions to nurture sports talent in the city. Speaking on the occasionSteve Waugh, Founder Sporting Edge said, “Cricket County will have sporting facilities which will provide a healthy lifestyle. Sporting Edge is proud to be on board for this exciting new venture.” Pratham apartments in Bawal Real estate developer Vipul Limited recently launched Pratham Apartments in Bawal. As first residential gated community in Bawal, this project is being developed to bring refined living to the people of Bawal in Haryana. The project which will be spread over an area of 9.6 acres will have 1, 2 & 3 BHK units. In the first phase 231 apartments are being released. The project is located on the Delhi-Mumbai Freight corridor on National Highway- 8. Speaking on the occasion Punit Beriwala, Managing Director, Vipul Limited, said, “Bawal is the core industrial hub of Haryana which houses various multinationals and auto ancillary companies. The region has high potential to generate employment opportunities that will lead to fresh housing demand. Considering the tremendous prospects of the region, we have launched our first project to offer modern day housing solutions with an array of facilities to the people”. Value Mall in Amritsar Omaxe Limited will be launching Omaxe Value Mall in Amritsar soon. The mall will house top international and national brands to market their factory outlet products. The concept of having factory-outlet stores under one roof is relatively new to India and this will be the first such mall in Punjab. Gold Cinema, which is a pioneer in value-for-money multiplex experience, has signed for a four-screen multiplex in the new mall. The fitout of Multiplex has started and will be completed by January 2014. Located on the strategic Airport Road in Amritsar, Omaxe Value Mall is expected to commence operations in the next six months. Godrej Properties adds a new project in NCR Godrej Properties Limited (GPL), the real estate development arm of the Godrej Group, has entered into a development agreement with M/s Oasis Buildhome Pvt. Ltd. to develop a 13.76 acre property situated on Northern Periphery Road (NPR) in Sector 88A/89A, Gurgaon. The project will be developed as a premium residential group housing project and is expected to offer 1.2 million sq. ft. of saleable area. The company is currently developing two residential projects in Gurgaon — Godrej Frontier and Godrej Summit — and has recently added a new project in Okhla, New Delhi where it plans to do a premium residential development. Giving details of the new project Pirojsha Godrej, Managing Director & CEO, Godrej Properties said, “ NCR is an important growth market for us and this is the second new project we’ve entered in NCR in FY14.” Ascent Arcade in Ghaziabad Ascent Buildtech, recently launched its first ever Commercial Project “Ascent Arcade” at Ghaziabad. Situated at NH-24, the project will be the first -of -its -kind commercial project in the area, catering to the population living in the vicinity of NH-24 near Wave City. Spread over 1.5 lakh sq ft, the saleable area of the entire project would be 98,000 sq ft. Encompassing a total of 5 floors, including upper and lower ground floors, the first three floors will consist of retail outlets and the top two floors will be available for office spaces. The total number of units available in the project will be 163, including shops and offices. The offices and shops are available at a basic sale price of Rs 6500 per sq feet. With construction work being flagged off at the site after the Bhoomi Pujan, the project will be offered for possession in 1.5 years. — Based on information provided by the developers
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project watch Plots at TDI City II in Mohali Taneja Developers & Infrastructures Ltd. (TDI), has introduced residential plots 192 sq. yd. size in TDI City-II, Sector 110, 111, on Landran Banur Road, Mohali. A part of approximately 200-acre TDI City II, the new residential plots are priced at Rs 20,000 per sq. yd. According to company spokesperson these plots can be booked by paying only 20 per cent at the time of booking. The company is also offering a No EMI/ No interest for 12 months payment scheme. The tentative EDC for the plot is Rs 1,650 per sq. yd.
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How can I prove ownership without a registry? S. C. Vasudeva email your queries to realestate@tribunemail.com ...
a) I have its General Power of Attorney, and have paid instalments from 1996 to 2004 in my name to HUDA. I got a No Dues Certificate for this flat from HUDA on June 6, 2004. Does it entitle its ownership to me as I don’t have its registry in order to avail of cost-indexed consideration amount? b) I have paid all the instalments by way of DD to HUDA, and I don’t have a bank record to prove it. Though I have been filing my Income Tax returns since 1996, no withdrawl has been shown for making the payment of instalment of the flat. Can the IT department ask for the source of funds for the purchase of this flat during 1996 to 2004 while taking LTCG into consideration in case of scrutiny? —
Ravi kant sharma A. Your query does not indicate whether HUDA has recognised you as an allottee of the flat and that the allotment has also been transferred in your name. Presuming that HUDA has recognised you as the allottee of the flat, it would be possible for you to claim the ownership of the flat. This would enable you to get the benefit of cost inflation index in respect of the instalments paid by you. The Assessing Officer while framing the assessment would definitely seek the information with regard to the source of investment made by you for making payment of instalments so as to come to a conclusion that the investment towards the acquisition of flat has been made from a disclosed source. In case he is not satisfied with the explanation offered by you about the nature and source of the investment, the value of the investment so made may be deemed to be income of the financial year in which such investments were made. It may be added that in view of the fact that the instalments were paid during the period 1996 to 2004 the Assessing Officer may not be able to reopen the assessment for the said years as these have become time barred. However, you should be able to produce evidence as to the total cost of the flat so as to claim deduction thereof from the sale price of the flat for the purpose of computing the amount of long-term capital gain.
How can I calculate the value of an old plot? If a person builds a house on plot purchased 18 years ago and has no documentary proof of expenditure of it, then how can he calculate its value for LTCG calculation? Can he himself put its value or there is any other system approved by law to calculate its value 18 years ago? Please clarify. —
Harish A. Your queries are replied hereunder: * The indexed cost by taking into account the cost inflation index for the financial year 1990-91 and 2013-14 would work out at Rs 92,868. On this basis, the long-term capital gain would work out at Rs 35,07,132. The tax payable thereon would be @ 20 per cent plus education cess @ 3 per cent. The tax on capital gain cannot be saved if the investment of capital gains is made in the acquisition of a plot of land only. *
It will be better to get the actual cost of the house property certified from an approved valuer so as to compute the indexed cost and thereafter compute the capital gain arising on the sale of such a house property.
Is cost incurred for making house habitable exempted from tax? A. The Mumbai Tribunal, in the case of Saleem Fazelbohoy vs CIT 9 SOT 601, held that investment in a residential house would not only include the cost of purchase of a house, but also include the cost incurred for making the house habitable. It was also held that the expenditure incurred on flooring, woodwork, sanitary work, electrification of the house, etc. would be considered for the purpose of making the house habitable. Further, in the case of Sonia Gulati vs ITO 115 Taxman 232 (Magazine), it was held that even the architect fee would be considered for this purpose. Thus, in your case if the items
purchased by you/ expenditure incurred falls under the said categories, then it would be eligible for exemption.
Can I claim rebate for under-construction house? Q. My father and I have taken a joint home loan for an under-construction property, which we jointly own. Its completion will take another two-and-a-half years. We have opted for the downpayment plan under which the bank has disbursed the entire loan. The equated monthly instalments (EMIs) are going from my account. Will I get tax exemption under Section 80C and Section 24(b) for the principal and interest repayment, considering the house is still under construction and, thus, not self-occupied? —
Ranjit A. As per Section 80C of the Income-tax Act 1961 (The Act), deduction for the principal amount of loan is available if the loan is taken for the purpose of purchase or construction of a residential house property, the income from the same is chargeable to tax under the head “income from house property” or would have been so chargeable if it was self occupied. Since the house is under construction, the deduction under Section 80C of the Act shall not be available till the time construction is completed. Further, as per the explanation to Section 24(b) of the Act, where the property has been acquired or constructed with borrowed capital, the interest payable on such capital borrowed for the period prior to the previous year in which the property has been acquired or constructed, shall be allowed as deduction in five installments starting from the year in which the construction is completed. Accordingly, the interest paid during the under-construction period shall be allowed in five instalments starting from the year in which the construction
is completed.
Is the builder’s demand for service tax justified? —
B.B. Sharma A. The construction service has been declared as a taxable service under clause (b) of Section 66E of the Finance Act 1994. The construction of a complex, building, civil structure or a part thereof, including a complex or building intended for sale to a buyer, wholly or partly, is a declared service except where the entire consideration is received after issuance of completion certificate by a competent authority. It is evident from the query that you have purchased a flat in a complex and that flats are under construction. It is also stated by you that and you have paid 95 per cent of the basic price. Thus it is not a case where the entire consideration is paid to the builder after the completion certificate is received from the competent authority. The builder in this case is liable to pay service tax on the 20 per cent of the gross amount charged in case the covered area of the unit is less than 2000 sq.ft. and the amount charged for the unit is less than Rs 1 crore. In case even if one of the above conditions is not satisfied, the service tax is payable on 30 per cent of the gross amount charged. For example if the covered area is say 1800 sq.ft. and the price charged Rs 80 lakh, service tax will be payable by the builder on 20 per cent of Rs 80 lakh i.e. on Rs 20 lakh @ 12.36 per cent. The builder therefore, can demand the payment of the service tax on the above basis from the buyers.
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At home with new trends Jagvir Goyal Making use of the services of an architect has become imperative these days while constructing a house. The architects have their peculiar mindset and prepare the plans and elevations accordingly. And to stay in the race as there is tough competition in this sector also, they remain in touch with the latest trends, keep an eye on the West and suggest building plans correspondingly. In line with an architect's presentation, each house builder, too, has a desire to adopt the latest and trendy materials for the construction of his house, provided his budget permits. He doesn't want his house to be known as old style and unfashionable. However, the modern trends demand more precautions to be taken during the construction and maintenance of house for trouble-free living. Let's have a look at these: Big sized window panes Another common trend is to provide large-sized window panes in the house. These, no doubt, look beautiful. The area of window panes exceeds even 100 sq ft where the room sizes are large. The provision of intermediate wooden members in the window chowkhat is avoided to keep the size of window panes as big as possible. Precautions: Certain precautions need to be taken while using large-sized window panes. Firstly, the glass used in window panes should have adequate thickness. The thickness of glass increases with the increase in size of window panes. Secondly, toughened glass should be preferred for large-sized windows. Glass can't be altered or modified after its toughening. Therefore, its exact sizes should be noted at site as per actual. Toughening process of glass takes time. Therefore, action for its procurement should be taken in advance so that the size measurement is noted and glass cut to exact sizes is sent for toughening. Trend 2 Windows with low sill levels Large sized windows with low sill levels are provided in the houses these days. Earlier the sill level of windows for rooms was kept around 3 ft above floor level. These days, the sill level is kept just 6 to 9 inch above floor level. Precautions: There is no harm in using windows with low sill levels for rooms. However, it must be noted that the sun shades and projections provided above the windows can be projected only up to a certain width and strict bylaws govern the extent of these projections. Under such circumstances, the bottom member of the window frame is subjected to rains. In most cases, fixed glass panes are provided in the central portion of windows. In case proper silicon filling is not done during the fixing of glass, rain water enters the rooms through this joint. The situation gets aggravated when wooden flooring is provided in the rooms and the rain water damages wooden tiles. It should, therefore, be ensured that after the fixing of glass panes, silicon filling is done thoroughly. The silicon fill should be tested against entry of water by pouring water along the silicon fill. The silicon filling should be redone after a few years. Trend 3 Split AC provision Precautions: While installing split ACs in the house, the most important precaution to take is to avoid water leakage from AC drain pipe. The plumber should provide drain pipes in the walls at the initial stage of construction of the house and should connect them to a nearby flow trap. Later, while installing the indoor units, the joint of pipe from the AC should be connected to the discharge pipe carefully and faultlessly. Often, leakage from this joint damages the wall paint or wall paper badly. In addition, the mouth of the conduits provided in the walls for running gas pipes should be sealed well at the roof level so that no rain water may enter these conduits and flow down to the rooms. Trend 4 While the doors to various rooms in the house have a width of 3.5 ft to 3.0 ft, the main entry to the house is kept as 5.0 ft wide or more. Double doors are, therefore, provided for this main entry and these doors carry a special design, involving more labour and work than the other doors. The doors are made to look attractive and in the process, sometimes, proper locking arrangement is sacrificed. Precautions: There is no harm in keeping the main entry of extra width and making the main door more attractive than others. However, proper locking arrangement for the main entry should be ensured. In double doors, though we can provide locks from highly trusted companies and the ones operated with ultra keys, yet these can't keep the door shutters firm and unwavering. If someone tries to push these shutters in, these sway a little unless the tower bolts provided inside have been bolted in position for one shutter. Otherwise, the door shutters should be designed to have a lock rail which may be provided with an attractive sliding bolt. These days, door designs don't choose a lock rail. In case of main door, its provision should be made for safety against burglary. Trend 5 The present trend is to choose wooden laminate flooring in one or two rooms of the house. Mostly, it is chosen for the master bedroom. Some people prefer to provide it in the drawing room also. A wooden strip called profile is provided in the doorways so that the laminated tiles don't come up at a later stage. Precautions: While providing wooden laminate flooring, a perfectly level base should be created in concrete to receive the wooden tile topping and to have a perfectly level finish as the wooden laminate tiles are just 9 to 10 mm thick. The floor base should be laid well in advance so that it has no moisture at the time of laying of wooden topping. A very important point to be kept in view is to decide the size of the door shutter for the room as it should have little lesser depth than other doors of the house to accommodate the thickness of the profile fixed in the doorway. Otherwise, you may have to remove the door shutter and cut it by a few mm at the bottom. — This column is published fortnightly
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Tips for a peaceful abode madan gupta spatu vaastu@tribunemail.com Q. We have purchased a 14-marla plot on the outskirts of Mohali. Please enlighten us about simple practicable Vaastu principles that can bring in peace.
— Purnima Q.
While making the site plan, our architect is not conforming to the norms of Vaastu in laying down the drainage system. Kindly guide. —
Ramesh Singh A. The drainage pipelines of the bathroom and the kitchen should flow in the east or north directions. These outlets should not be constructed in the southern direction under any circumstances. The pipes of the toilets and bathrooms should be diverted to the west or the north-west, and gutter in the building can be in any direction except south. Drainage pipes coming from upper storeys should not be in the south-west corners. The junction of underground pipes also should not be on the entrance. Q.
Ours is a big company, and it is going to start a regional office in the tricity. How should we set up various departments in the building? —
P.K. Saini A. The seats for managers, executives, and directors must be located in the south, west, and south-western direction of the office premises. It is beneficial to set the accounts department in south-eastern direction. The reception area should be in the north-eastern direction of the office. If employees sit facing the north or east, it would enhance efficiency. The central portion of the office must be kept open/vacant. A rectangular desk for the chief or head is always good. Storeroom should be in the northwest and southeast location. It is suggested to place the sales and marketing divisions in northwest. Placement of some idols or images of gods and goddesses in the right location of mirrors will bring you improved financial gains. Setting a water fountain in the northeast of the office premises brings prosperity. Fish aquarium with one black and nine gold fish in northeast of the office premises is advisable. Inaugurate the office on auspicious muhurat to have stability, growth and less hurdles.
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The Universal Infrastructures group that is constructing Taj Towers project in Pearl City in Sector 104, Mohali, recently unveiled its actual flat for the customers. The project will have 4 BHK premium apartments of 2100 sq ft area. The cost of these apartments will be Rs 70 lakh and possession will be handed over in 2015. While showcasing the actual flat, company spokesperson said that the customers of their project will not have to pay any hidden charges and along with that they will get the highest usable area of 1985 sq ft in a 2100 sq ft flat. The project is approved by India Bulls & ICICI Bank for any loan requirements.
Q. I want to sell my flat in September, 2013. I had purchased it from an HUDA allottee in 1996 on GPA. I paid the monthly instalments and paid off the entire amount of Rs 4,03,500 to HUDA in June, 2004. I have the following queries in this regard before selling off this flat:
Q. I had purchased few marlas of land in a village near Mohali-Ropar Road adjoining Mohali for Rs 18,000 in April 1990. Now I want to sell it for Rs 36,00,000. Please help me in calculating LTCG on it and tax thereon. Can I purchase another plot or land from this LTCG to save tax?
Q. I am buying a flat, which will not have almirahs, furniture, fans, light bulbs and so on. I will have to bear the expenses of arranging these. Will this be considered as “cost incurred for making house habitable”? I understand that long-term capital gains (LTCG) can be used to purchase these items. Can I claim exemption on my spending? Which items can’t be claimed under LTCG exemption? —
K.K. Arora
Q. I had booked a 3-BHK flat in Maya Garden City, Zirakpur in Novemeber, 2011 and have already paid an advance amount to the tune of 95 per cent of BSP. The flat is under preliminary stage of construction and may take at least one year for completion/possession. However, for the past six months the builder is pressing hard to pay service tax and has recently imposed an interest @ 20 per cent p.a. Please clarify whether service tax at this stage is admissible and if yes then at what rate?
Trend 1
Window ACs have been the choice of most of the people since last decade. The trend has changed now. Not withstanding the higher cost, more and more people are opting for provision of split ACs in their houses. Here again, the main reason behind split AC choice is to avoid slots for window ACs in the walls or the windows. 
Big sized main doors
Wooden laminate flooring
A. Ensure that your house gets maximum bright light from the main doorway. Keep the corners bright. Building your house and rooms in oval, circular or triangle shapes is strictly not advisable, howsoever beautiful it may look. Construct your bedroom in a direction where wind flows from south to west. The dining hall must never get exposed to the entrance door of the house. Growing of plants like cactus in your house destroys wealth and invites cancer like ailments, especially to the female members of house. The toilet seat must be kept facing north and south. Set your house furniture in circular, square, or octagon settings. Windows must open outwards. Growing high trees such as banyan, thorny, and pipal is not good