area watch: karnal
On revival course
With projects by several major developers close to completion, the realty scene in Karnal is expected to get a boost in 2014 
Bhanu P. Lohumi

The real estate market may not be in pink of health in Karnal but it seems to be recovering from the overall slowdown gradually as a large number of projects here are ready for possession. According to experts the realty market here is largely end-user driven and that is a healthy sign for the growth of real estate here.

However, it would be erroneous to conclude that the property market in Karnal remained upbeat during the past one year. There was not much sale purchase happening here, but at the same time the sluggish phase did not lead to price correction in the city as very few investors opted to exit the market by lowering their profit margins. As a result the prices have remained stable here. Rajesh, a real estate consultant from Mayur properties, says that money is blocked due to recession and liquidity is absent from the market, the problem is “sasta milta nahin hai and mehnga bikta nahin hai” (While less priced properties are not available, the costly property is not selling.)

According to Tehsildar Hari Om Atri the prices of property in residential areas in prime locations like Model Town, Kunjpura Road are ~50,000 per square yard, and in commercial these are around ~1 lakh per square yard, but the prices have not appreciated over the past one year.

Echoing Atri’s views Vir Vikram, President of the Property Dealers Association, said the the prices have not appreciated over the past 12 months, which makes it a good time for end users to buy property.

Ray of hope

A large number of upcoming projects and an impressive inventory is being seen as a positive sign for the rwalty sector here by experts.

Housing projects in 700 acres have come up both in commercial and residential segments in the town and real estate developers are building malls, multiplexes and luxury homes, taking the hitherto sleepy Karnal district of Haryana towards a new real estate sunrise.

A number of housing projects where the construction work had started two to five years ago are in the final lap and flats are ready for being handed over to customers.

Projects and pricing

Many of these new areas have withstood the downward thrust so far mainly because the price is in the affordable range and most of the buyers are end users. Sector 32 that is emerging as new hub of real estate business has so far remained insulated from the fluctuations of a volatile market. Soni Palm City, adjacent to Budhakhera village in Sector 32 A has 432 developed plots, spreadover an area of over 51 acres. The price is ~22,500 per square yard. “Eighty per cent of plots have been sold here and almost 50 per cent of the buyers here are the end users while the rest have purchased the plots for resale on premium”, says Yudhveer Singh, General Manager of the company.

New World Residency having 274 semi-furnished flats of three, four and five bedrooms and penthouses and flats located near Five Star hotel Noor Mahel is also ready for sale.

The flats on 6.5 acres cost between ~3,251 to ~4,751 per sq ft. Sales head of the company, Ruchi, said, “Though it is a slump period, 80 per cent of the flats have been sold to high end buyers most of whom are the end users”.

Parsvnath City developed at Sector 35 on Meerut road over an area of 50 acres offers 100 independent floors at the cost ranging between~37-43 lakh and plots measuring between 240-700 yards are available for ~18,000 per square yard. Sales executive Rajiv Kumar claimed that 80 per cent of the property has been sold out.

Palm Regency, the first project in Karnal where the possession of built houses was handed over in 2010, has 174 flats spread over an area of 5.3 acres in Sector 35. The developer has launched K towers in this project recently wherein 76 houses will be offered to customers in the next two years, according to Project Manager Om Prakash.

JBB Grand, in Sector 35-36 has two, three and four bedroom flats ranging between ~30 to ~65 lakh. The possessions are likely to be handed over by next year.

CHD city on NH-1, spread over an area of 162 acres is offering plots and independent floors and villas and Chief Operating Officer Ravi Saund said that all plots and floors have been sold and 200 families are already residing in the complex. The First food Court is about to come up and now the CHD city is offering single floors on European theme in a 5-acre new development.

Director and CEO of Alpha G Corp S.K. Syal said that possession of first phase developed over 141 acres has been given to the customers and work of second phase that is coming up on an area of 84 acres is in progress. “It is mainly development of plots but a commercial venture of shop cum office to facilitate the residents is also coming up in one acre”, says Syal.

Ansals self-contained 178-acre township is also ready for possession. Buyers have already moved into Narsi village Part I in 55 acres is habituated while work is in progress in Narsi village part II coming up in 26 acres.

Experts say that seven years ago, Gurgoan was what Karnal is now and believe that this town too would see a makeover with high-rises and people may move out of crowded cities like Gurgoan, Sonepat, Panipat, Kurukshetra, to settle down in a better planned town. 

Why Karnal emerged as a realty hub

Domestic airport and Kalpana Chawla Medical College coming up

The town is centrally located and Equidistant from places like Chandigarh, Delhi, Patiala and Meerut (120 to 130 km)

Six laning and construction of dozens flyovers to reduce the driving time

Peaceful and clean environment due to agri institutes, spread over 2,500 acres encircling the town, preventing haphazard growth and pollution. Businessman of Panipat and Ambala prefer to live in Karnal

Noor-Mahel, the first Five star resort has come along GT road

Nagar Nigam (Municipal Corporation) status to Karnal Cultural hub of the state with no single caste majorly dominating the area

Plans to make the town a part of NCR

NBFCs vie to fund realtors 

As private equity firms and banks are adopting a cautious approach to funding real estate projects, non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) are coming forward to help cash-strapped developers with the expectation of higher returns, say experts.

Industry experts also say NBFCs are more keen on investing in residential projects than commercial units mainly because of lower risk and quicker returns.

“Currently sales are low in most of the major markets, which has impacted cash inflows. Developers who have earlier taken loans have repayment liabilities.

“Since they cannot take loans for repayment, they are now looking at NBFCs. These NBFCs are also coming forward to bail out developers to retire their loans,” Knight Frank India executive director for capital transactions group Rajeev Bairathi told PTI.

After the recent RBI directives tightening bank funding to realty sector, banks have been very conservative on lending to real estate projects. Owing to several risks such as clearance issues and lower sales, as asset bubbles, PE firms are shying away from investing in real estate projects, he said.

The rates of interest charged by NBFCs are typically around 18-19 per cent for early stage financing and 15-16 per cent for inventory financing, which is more than 12-14 per cent of bank interest. PEs on the other hand expect 25-30 per cent returns on their investments.

“NBFCs are blending caution with keenness for lending to realty projects. Higher rates of interest, availability of hard assets as collateral, and ability to trap sales proceeds or cash flows in escrow accounts are principal reasons for NBFCs’ interest in lending to real estate companies and projects,” IndoStar Capital managing director and chief executive Vimal Bhandari said.

Along with the established players such as HDFC, DHFL, LIC Housing Finance and Kotak, there are a number of new ones such as Indostar Capital Finance set up by Ashmore Group, Piramal Capital, the NBFC set-up by the Ajay Piramal Group, the NBFC floated by the Xander Group, and Edelweiss Capital, which are active in real estate lending.

“From a PE market perspective, over the past 5-7 years, most development projects have suffered huge cost and time overruns.

“This is due to issues including aggressive and unrealistic underwriting, delay in approvals, limited execution capability of most real estate developers, regulations that were purposely kept grey or selectively applied to help rent seekers and promote collusion, and finally the general economic sentiment itself,” Xander Finance chief executive Amar Merani said.

Bhandari further said funds are increasingly preferring somewhat lower return secured structures to higher return pure equity structures.

“While banks remain the primary source of capital, total lending by RBI-regulated NBFCs to developers is estimated to be around ~ 8,000 crore,” he said.

NBFCs are preferring residential projects to commercial, mainly because the risks involved in the former are much lower.

“With commercial real estate at the lowest ebb due to low offtake in the leasing market the prices of rentals are actually going south. Coupled with this the construction cost has been steadily climbing. Hence commercial real estate has become financially inviable,” realty firm Ozone Group vice president for strategy and business development, Shreekant Shastry, said.

“Further, due to huge migration to cities the demand for affordable and mid segment housing is very large. This is the segment which is very stable and generating large volumes.

Hence most of the lenders prefer mid-segment housing,” he said.

market pulse
Housing prices trip on poor demand

Housing prices in India fell 1.7 per cent during the April-June quarter due to poor demand amid subdued economic conditions and there are no signs of recovery, real estate consultancy Knight Frank said.

Housing prices in India fell 0.1 per cent in the January- June period, while they rose 5.9 per cent during the 12 months ended June, according to the Knight Frank Global House Price Index, which tracks mainstream residential prices in 53 nations, including Dubai and Hong Kong.

The index reflects the weakening condition of the Indian residential market, Knight Frank India Chief Economist & Director-Research Samantak Das said.

“While disguised price discounts in the form of 80:20, rent back, waivers on floor rise, stamp duty and registration were the flavor for almost four-six quarters, with a decline of 1.7 per cent in the latest reported quarter, price deceleration is becoming more profound. We are yet to see any green shoots of recovery in the residential market,” Das said.

Das attributed the fall in housing prices to buyers postponing purchases because of subdued economic conditions and low confidence in the market.

Over 69 per cent of the countries tracked by the index recorded positive price growth in the year to September. All but three of the 17 countries where house prices fell in the year to September were in Europe.

“Dubai, China and Hong Kong recorded the largest annual rise in mainstream prices, increasing by 28.5 per cent, 21.6 per cent and 16.1 per cent, respectively,” it added. India ranks 19th, as per the latest country data.

The Knight Frank Global House Price Index rose by 4.6 per cent over the 12 months ended September. The index now stands 4 per cent above its previous peak in Q2 of 2008.

“Due to the dissipation of risks related to the global worries coming down, markets in the US, UK, Middle East, Dubai, China and Hong Kong have started rising.

“Comparatively, India is still affected by local factors of political and economic uncertainty. Only after these become clearer post-2014 will we see a resurgence in the Indian property market relative to the various other markets in the world,” said Mudassir Zaidi, National Director - Residential Agency, Knight Frank India. — PTI 

credai conclave
Focus should be on affordable housing

CREDAI organised a two-day conclave on ‘Housing the game changer leading to double-digit GDP growth’ in Delhi last week. Affordable housing was the main focus of the conclave. Participant at the conclave agreed that though in the there has been a lot of progress on the affordable housing front in the past five years, a lot more needs to be done to give a boost to this segment of housing.

Vikram Jain, Lead, low-income housing practice at Monitor Deloitte, a management consulting firm, said there was a huge demand for low-income housing. “There is a demand for 15 million homes and the demand for these homes comes from buyers with an income of ~10,000-25,000 per month,” he said.

The solution to the demand for affordable housing is to build homes with clear title, provide water and electricity, said Jain. “The idea is to build small flats of 229 sq. ft. flat in space, with no wastage of space, costing around ~8 lakh,” he said.

Lalit Kumar Jain, Chairman, CREDAI, ruled that the real estate sector had got step motherly treatment from the government. “The real estate sector’s contribution to GDP is 6.2% and it employs over 1 crore people. Yet, the sector has been ignored by the government,” Jain said.

“The infrastructure sector gets 10-year moratorium but if we don’t pay our loan within 90 days, it goes into default. We try to do our work with transparency then why are we shunned by the government,” he added.

Taking note of the problems being faced by the sector Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and planning, Secretary, All India Congress Committee, Rajiv Shukla, and BJP President Rajnath Singh, asked developers to send a detailed report on the problems ailing the sector.

BJP President, asked real estate developers to send a list of its demands to the party, so that they can be included in the BJP’s Lok Sabha election manifesto. “We will try and do our best for the sector,” he said.

Union Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Dr Giriji Vyas, assured real estate developers that the real estate regulatory Bill will be suitably modified if necessary. Speaking at the conclave Vyas said the industry should not have any fears about the real estate regulatory Bill. In what could be a relief for the real estate sector, Dr. Vyas agreed that the government will do a rethink on multiple taxation of the real estate sector. “We will think about relaxing Floor Space Index (FSI) norms as well and on relaxing loan facility to the sector,” she said.

Home decor
Celebrate with new trends
Sandeep Arora

Christmas and New Year is that time of the year when home décor gets prime attention. The joy of decorating one's own abode is a universally happy occasion. And, the good news is that the market dynamics have vastly changed in the interior home décor space from consumer perception to plethora of possibilities, design and technology, home décor has gained significance. Fuelled by the increasing desire to create living spaces that reveal one's individuality, young homeowners willing to invest time, energy and resource in design, emergence of international brands and niche markets have all contributed to this transformation. Here are some key elements that are working out this transformation in home décor around you.

Love for art

Walls are a great place to start decorating. The immediate impact it creates can light up any room. The growing acceptance of wallpapers is a prodigious way to begin. The variety of themes on offer from patterns, solid colours, floral or nature-infused design is abundant. They are also easy to put-up and are inexpensive in comparison to painting a wall. Wallpaper gives you the flexibility to mix n match with existing furniture and décor as well as an inexpensive proposition when it comes to changing for a new one. Being water resistant, it is easy to wash off for any dirt stains and will serve you well till you want another. Paintings, wall-hangings, picture portrait collages are some of the other options available which can meet both your love for art and home décor.

Specialisation

Interior designing will see more prominence as specialist. With the industry emerging focused practices will see growth as well. Homeowners are also moving from a multi-pronged approach towards home design to a dedicated channel of designers and architects who create an umbrella for a comprehensive solution.

Accessories

Accessory shopping has become very convenient and competitive as well. Lamps, rugs, mirrors, book shelves accentuate the environment at home. Variety of funky shapes, designs and colour are on offer. They are functional, decorative, effective items which subtly merge with any home décor design that is in vogue.

Thematic

Nature inspired eco-friendly products are very fashionable. Also, minimalism is emerging as a prominent trend over ostentatious grandiose designs across furniture, upholstery and other wooden fixtures and cabinets. Clean space and fine lines are guiding the minimalist décor. A little splash of colour added to a generally monochromatic space can add zing to the room; like graphite wallpapers with solid prints, printed cushions, traditional artifacts burst of colour. Figurines in bronze, crystal and semi-precious stones, too, add a dash of heritage and cultural symbolism along with modernity.

As exposure to the world around you increases, so will your taste. The biggest hit this season can be mutated neutral décor with a splash of splash of neon colours, but the future of home décor is actually about you and what you want. It is time for diversity, cultural amalgamation and fine living, your way.

The writer is CEO, EVOK

Green house
A touch of gold
Amarjeet Singh Baath

The winter bounty of blooms in your home garden is not complete without the golden spread of marigolds. Marigold is a popular easy growing flower which is admired for its dominating colours brightening the garden during dull winter months. Though this flower is available throughout the year, it needs extra care during the winter months.

Marigolds form excellent flower beds and impressive pot plants. Its loose flowers are used extensively as religious offering, in floral designs and decoration at social functions. It’s for this reason that marigold occupies largest area under production of flowers in the country.

There are two types of marigold flowers — one referred to as African Marigold (gainda) has big flowers of around 2-2¾" diameter in yellow, orange and golden colours. The other is called French Marigold (gaindi) and it has small-size flowers of one inch diameter. This bears scarlet and chocolate colours in addition to the yellow, orange and golden hues.

The height of the plant varies in dwarf varieties between 8"-10" and in tall types up to 36 inches.

If looked after well the plants become bushy, thus making an impressive and colourful flower bed when planted in an ascending order of height in the same or different colours.

In addition to open pollinate varieties of marigold many F1 hybrids have also been developed for uniformity of flower size and colour. These are the ones that you are most likely to get in different nurseries and are used extensively for potted plants and for flower beds.

In north India, seedlings especially are raised in June-July for production of flowers during the festival season of Dasehra and Diwali. In fact, most of the varieties starts blooming after six weeks of plantation and continue flowering till the onset of severe cold. The seedlings are also raised in September-October for their garden glory in winters, which lasts till March. The production of flowers slows down during the winter months, but picks up as the weather warms up.

Precautions

Like any other long-duration flowering plant marigold needs to be fertilised at least at two-week interval with 200 ppm of NPK 20:20:20

Marigold flowers, especially during winter months, get infested with thrips which effect the normal opening of flower buds. The effected buds get distorted appearance at their full opening. Prolific spray of Chlorpyrifos 2 ml per liter is suggested.

Growing Tips

nPinching the terminal buds is necessary to make the plant bushy.

nFaded flowers must be plucked to maintain continues vigor in the plant for extending blooming period upto 60 days.

nIt is interesting that all varieties of marigold can be propagated easily from cuttings, which can be helpful in maintaining plants all through the year.

nThe flower beds planted with dwarf marigold varieties make impressive display with the background with blue or red varieties of salvia.

CP world’s 7th costliest office market

Connaught Place in Delhi has slipped two notches to become the world’s seventh costliest office destination due to slowdown in the realty market and fall in rupee’s exchange rate, property consultant CBRE said.

Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) is at the 15th position, while Nariman Point stood at 32nd. Their ranking too have fallen from previous report released in June.

London Central (West End) overtook Hong Kong (Central) as the world’s most expensive prime office market.

“India continued to feature in the list of the world’s most expensive office markets, with New Delhi (Connaught Place – CBD) ranking at the 7th position,” CBRE said in report.

Occupancy cost of Delhi’s Connaught Place stood at $156.65 per sq ft per annum.

CBRE Prime Office Occupancy Costs survey provides data on office rents and occupancy costs as of September 2013. In the previous report, Connaught Place was ranked 5th, Mumbai’s BKC was at 11th and Nariman Point 26th.

Commenting on the report, CBRE South Asia Chairman and Managing Director Anshuman Magazine said: “Despite the prevailing uncertainty in the global economy, occupancy costs continue to remain high across key global markets, due to limited supply of prime office space”.

In India, the drop in rankings is reflective of the slower Indian real estate market coupled with rupee depreciation,” he added.

CBRE tracks occupancy costs for prime office space in 126 markets across world. Of the top 50 ‘most expensive’ markets, 20 are in Asia Pacific, 19 are in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and 11 are in Americas.

The Central Business District (CBD) of Connaught Place and its surrounding areas continue to remain a priority destination for corporate occupiers, owing to its central location and ease of connectivity.

Over the last few months, Connaught Place has witnessed an increase in enquiries, although transaction closures and absorption rates have remained low.

London’s West End’s overall occupancy costs of $259.36 per sq ft per year topped the most expensive office list. — PTI

Realtors laud RBI move

Real estate developers and property consultants have hailed RBI’s decision to not raise the key policy rates, saying that the bold move by the apex bank would infuse positive sentiments in the property market.

RBI surprised the markets earlier this week by leaving key policy rates unchanged, notwithstanding persistent high inflationary pressure. Developers hoped that RBI would soon be able to cut policy rates as inflation is expected to ease.

Jones Lang LaSalle India Chairman and Country Head, Anuj Puri, termed RBI’s decision as good news for the realty sector at the end of the year.

“It is positive for the real estate sector as there was anticipation of increase in the interest rates, which would have been damaging for the sentiments of buyers,” Puri added.

Parsvnath Developers Chairman Pradeep Jain said the RBI has “acted wisely” by keeping the key rates unchanged.

“Though there was pressure to raise the rates due to the recent rise in WPI inflation, still the apex bank managed to handle it and held the rates at 7.75 per cent. This will give a positive signal in the market.” Jain said he expected RBI to cut the key rates if inflation number comes down.

CREDAI-NCR President Anil Sharma said the RBI has “sweetly surprised” both the experts and industry players with its bold decision.

“We, at CREDAI-NCR, could not have asked for more given the high retail inflation of more than 11 per cent. The bold move by the RBI has infused positive sentiments in not only real estate sector but also other sectors of economy,” Sharma, who is CMD of Amrapali Group, said.

The consistent efforts of the RBI have already stabilised rupee against dollar, besides providing short term liquidity support to push growth simultaneously, he added.

“Experts are already expecting inflation to ease following arrival of winter crop in the wake of normal monsoon. Though the real estate developers’ community will have to wait little longer to see interest rates dipping, but given the right intentions of the RBI, we are confident of flawless run of growth thereafter,” Sharma said.

SARE Homes Executive Director David Walker welcomed the RBI’s step and hoped that the incoming data in the next months would support a moderation in the rate of inflation which could then lead to lower interest rates.

Commenting on the credit policy, CREDAI National President Lalit Kumar Jain said the RBI’s status quo on policy rates will have a positive effect on the realty sector by bringing in more stability on home loan interest rates. — PTI

tax tips
Do I have to pay capital gain tax?
S. C. Vasudeva

Q.I sold my ancestral land measuring around three acres for a sum of about Rs 25,00,000 in August 2013. The said land is agricultural land and falls within the municipality limit and its sale proceeds come under the long-term capital gain. If the entire sale proceed of Rs 25,00,000 is invested in the purchase of a residential plot and construction of house on it within the specified time limit of two-three years from the date of sale, then will I have to pay capital-gain tax? I already own one self-occupied residential house and the new plot/house will be a self-occupied for family purposes, and it will be near the earlier house. I am a salaried person and my salary for the current is about Rs 2,85,000. Advise regarding the capital gain tax liability, if any in this case. — Naresh Kumar

A.Section 54F of the Act requires that in case the net consideration on the transfer of a long-term capital asset other than a residential house is utilised towards purchase/construction of a residential house, the capital gain arising on such transfer would be exempt from tax if the purchase/construction of a residential house is made within the specified period. The net consideration for the purposes of above Section means the full value of the consideration received or accruing as a result of the transfer of the capital asset as reduced by any expenditure incurred wholly and exclusively in connection with such transfer.

The utilisation of Rs  25,00,000 towards the purchase of residential plot and construction of the house within the specified period would definitely entitle you to claim the exemption from the chargeability of the capital-gain tax. The ownership of another self -occupied residential house should not disentitle you to claim such exemption, in view of the amendment of Section 54F of the Act by Finance Act 2000 effective from April 1, 2001. 

Stamp duty & gross income

Q.I intend to purchase a plot for constructing a house. I have been advised that I have to spend about Rs 50,000 towards stamp duty and registration charges for the registration of plot in my favour. Is the above amount deductible from my gross total income which would be about ~2,50,000 in the year ended March 31, 2014. 
— Raj Kumar

A.Any expenditure incurred in the nature of stamp duty and registration charges in connection with the purchase of the plot is deductible from your gross total income under Section 80C of the Income-Tax Act, 1961 (The Act). However, the deduction would be limited to Rs 1,00,000 being the specified amount under the aforesaid Section. The amount so specified includes various other amounts deductible under the aforesaid Section such as Provident Fund contribution, payment of life insurance premiums, payment of tuition fee of children etc.

Rental income is not a business activity

Q.We are receiving income from godown rent in firm (having four partners). We are paying 30 per cent tax on income taken from a government agency. How we can change this firm into co-owners or any way to reduce the tax as we are paying tax on firm's basis we have no other income in this firm. — Anil Kumar

A.The Partnership Act 1932, defines partnership as a relation between the partners who have agreed to share the profits of business carried on by all or any one of them acting for all. The basic test for the existence of a partnership is the carrying on of business. Since no business is being carried on by the firm, it can be assessed as an association of person by tax authorities. I would suggest that immediate steps should be taken to dissolve the partnership and by virtue of the dissolution deed the partners can be given one fourth of the property in lieu of their share in the partnership. The partners would thus become joint owners. I may add that this would attract the provisions of Section 45(4) of the Act and the firm shall be liable to pay capital-gain tax with reference to the fair value of the godown as on the date of such transfer to the partners

Do I need to pay service tax to the builder?

Q.I booked a 3 BHK flat of 1530 sq ft area in Maya Garden City in July 2011 for Rs 40.50 lakh. About 48 per cent payment has been made and for balance, loan has been sanctioned. Builder has raised demand of service tax whereas the construction of my flat has not started till now. Please guide if this is in order. If yes, then intimate the amount of service tax along with the rate of service tax. Can part payment be made? Intimate rate and amount. — Rajneesh Sharma

A.Construction of a residential complex or a part thereof is covered within the term 'taxable service' and therefore, service tax is payable by the builder in respect of construction of a new residential complex or part thereof. The builder can recover such tax from the buyers of the flat and usually the builders do recover the amount of service tax from buyers of the flats. As per notification No. 26/2012-ST (dated 20.6.2012) as amended vide notification No. 9/2013-ST (dated 8.5.2013) service tax is payable in such a case on 25 per cent or 30 per cent of the gross amount charged depending upon the carpet area and the amount charged for residential unit. The description of the said notification is as follows:

Service tax is therefore payable in your case @12 per cent plus 3 per cent of education cess thereon on 25 per cent of the gross amount payable by you in respect of the flat.

Tax on sale of land allotted in lieu of acquired land

Q.We were allotted a part of agricultural land in Rajasthan as some of our land in Himachal had come under dam water. Now we have sold that land. Are there any tax liabilities on the sale of such agricultural land, and if any, what per cent of the sale amount will be payable as tax. — Narender Kumar

A.The following steps would be essential to ascertain the amount of capital gain arising on the sale of agricultural land allotted to you by the Government in Rajasthan in lieu of the land owned in Himachal Pradesh.

* It will have to be ascertained whether the agricultural land now owned by you is covered within the definition of the term 'capital asset' as tax is chargeable on the profit arising on transfer of a capital asset. The agricultural land situated in India is covered within the category of the term 'capital asset':

(i) if the same is situated in any area within the jurisdiction of municipality (whether known as municipal corporation, notified area committee, town area committee, town committee or by any other name) or cantonment board which has a population of not less than 10,000 according to the last preceding census of which the relevant figures have been published before the first day of the previous year; or

(ii) In any area within the distance measured aerially:

* within two kilometers, from the local limits of any municipality, municipal corporation, notified area committee, town area committee, town committee or by any other name and which has a population of more than 10,000 but not exceeding one lakh; or

* within six kilometers, from the local limits of any municipality, municipal corporation, notified area committee, town area committee, town committee or by any other name and which has a population of more than one lakh but not exceeding 10 lakh; or

* within eight kilometers, from the local limits of any municipality, municipal corporation, notified area committee, town area committee, town committee or by any other name and which has a population of more than 10 lakh.

The term population in the above paragraphs has the same meaning as specified in paragraph (i) above.

* In case the agricultural land owned by you is not covered within the term capital asset, the capital gain arising on the sale of such a land would not be taxable. However, in case the same is situated within the municipality etc. or within the specified distance from the municipality etc., such land would be covered in the term 'capital asset' and any gain arising on sale thereof would be taxable.

* It would be essential to ascertain the cost of the agricultural land owned by you in Himachal Pradesh (being the land originally owned) for the purpose of computing the amount of capital gain. In case the agricultural land in Himachal Pradesh was owned prior to 1.4.1981, the fair market value as on 1.4.1981 will have to be ascertained. The cost or fair market value as the case may be, will be indexed to the date of the sale on the basis of the cost inflation index notified by the Government of India. The value so determined shall be deducted from the sale price of the agricultural land. The balance so arrived at would be the amount of long-term capital gain which would be taxable @20 per cent plus education cess of 3 per cent thereon

Description Percentage %

Construction of a complex, building, civil structure or a part thereof, intended for a sale to a buyer, wholly or partly except where entire consideration is received after issuance of completion certificate by the competent authority,

a) for residential unit satisfying both the following conditions, namely:

(i) the carpet area of the unit is less than 2000 square feet; and

(ii) the amount charged for the unit is less than Rs 1 crore;                   25%

b) for the other than the (a) above.                                                  30%

email your queries to realestate@tribunemail.com

vaastu wisdom
Madan Gupta Spatu

Q.We have taken a portion in a mall in Chandigarh for setting up a food court. Kindly suggest the layout as per Vaastu. —Raminder Singh

A.The restaurant should preferably be in the south-west of the building and the kitchen within it, should be in the south-east

The installation of air-conditioning plant should be preferably in south-east

Generator, transformer and other electrical installations should also be in the south-east part

Toilet blocks should be in the north-west

Landscaping and fountains or artificial water falls can be constructed in north-east direction, or in the northern or eastern part of the entire site

The central part of the building should have enough lighting from the top (skylight). The person manning the bills or cash counter must face north or east .

Q.I am a lawyer having office in my home. Any tip to enhance the practice? — A.K. Mittal

A.The ideal location of the office in the house should be in the south or west part for better focus and concentration. The entrance door to the office should be on the south side for maximum business activity. The windows should preferably be in the north and east side for best quality of day light. You should face the entrance and behind your chair there must be a solid wall not a window or a partition.

Q.Since I have shifted to a new premises, my income of the beauty parlour has gone down considerably. Kindly suggest some concrete measures. — Shashi Bawa

A.The entrance of the beauty parlour/unisex salon should be preferably in west or south direction. Spa and aroma therapy areas are best to have in north, east or north-east. Mirrors should be fixed on the northern or eastern walls.

The perfect locations for the pantry are south-east and north-west zones. Store all your cosmetics and beauty treatment products in western direction. Always play a soothing and refreshing music.

Keep a sanctified Shri Yantra in the space provided for worship and pray facing north or east. Don’t light dhoop or aggarbatti, instead use a room freshner.

loan zone
Credit record should be clean
S.C. Dhall

Q.I have applied for home loan in IndusInd Bank, they have said that my loan has been sanctioned and the CIBIL report is clear. However, I had one credit card default of lesser amount and the bank has come to know about this from some sources and they are now objecting for the same. They have taken the processing fee of Rs 10,000, if the loan gets rejected then will they repay my money? How do I approach them, in case if they put the condition to pay the credit card payment, I will do, but will they consider and provide me the loan. How do I go about this?— Alok Kumar

A.If you have a credit card default and your name is listed as a defaulter, you may not be able to get a home loan. Also, even if you repay the credit card debt, your name will be in the defaulter's list for at least seven years.

Getting loan for resale property

Q. I am planning to buy a resale property in Panchkula in a few months. I've been told by an acquaintance that it is very hard to get a home loan on a resale property as compared to that for a new purchase. How does a bank evaluate loan eligibility for such a buy? — Vir Abimanyu

A.You can get a home loan to buy a resale property and the age and valuation of the building will have a bearing on loan eligibility. Certain banks have restrictions based on the age of the property when the loan matures. Most banks give a maximum of 80 per cent of the property value as home loan. Also, banks get the property valued independently and the loan amount is based on this value. Often, the valuation as determined by the bank is significantly lower than the actual cost and, so, your effective down payment goes up.

Reality bites

Tata Housing wins 16 national and international awards in 2013

Tata Housing Development Co. Ltd., that has over 70 million sq ft under various stages of development, has won 16 national and international awards in 2013. The company closed this year on a high with Residential Developer of the year — West at the Estate World awards 2013 earlier this week. The list of awards this year ranges across various categories like Mixed Use development Marketing, Architecture and others at the internationally acclaimed Asia Pacific Awards to Best Developer of the year west, Best Promising Upcoming Projects, Golden Peacock Quality Awards at various awards on the national level.

Speaking on the achievement, Rajeeb Dash, Head Marketing, Tata Housing, said, “These awards are the testimony of our constant attempt to offer projects that demonstrate excellence at a conceptual, development and delivery level, while offering the consumer a ‘value-for-money’ deal.”

Award for Skyview Corporate Park

The India office of Hines, an international real estate firm, has received a MIPIM Asia award for its Skyview Corporate Park in Gurgaon. Hines won a bronze award in the ‘Office and Business Development’ category, and was the first and only winner from India in this category. This award was presented to Hines India at a ceremony held in Hong Kong on November 5. This is the second prestigious honor for this property, having previously won at the ‘International Property Awards 2013’ in Malaysia.

Skyview Corporate Park is a multi-phase project being developed on a 21-acre site that is located on the National Highway (NH-8). Hines partnered with the landowner, Shyam Telecom (one of India’s largest telecom players), to develop the 1.88 million-square-foot Grade A campus-style development. The project is strategically located at the junction of the National Highway-8, the Northern Periphery Road and the Southern Periphery Road, with a proposed metro station within walking distance and an upcoming Regional Bus Terminal in close proximity.

The master plan and design of the Skyview Corporate Park buildings have been created by Roger Soto, president/director of design for Odell Associates and former director of design for HOK’s Houston office. The buildings will be among the first constructed in India that meet a true international standard for Class A design and construction quality, and they will be LEED® Gold rated.

New business networking platform for consultants

RealtoExpress, an IT solution company for Real Estate Consultancy Businesses has recently rolled out an innovative product ‘Close My Deal’ (CMD). This web-based networking platform is an online portal that provides business and networking solutions for the real estate consultants. Primarily designed to tackle and take away the pain points of consultants and help them make quality business contacts. CMD is a facilitating tool that will aid in quick and efficient networking for consultants and further help them do their business in real time. With 1000+ preloaded projects/ buildings / societies data CMD will help in posting property or requirement quicker therefore making the search for consultants more speedy and accurate.

Some of the key features of the product include building and expanding professional and business network; browse properties and requirements to get quick responses from associate’s network; share company’s update in real-time; auto-credibility of properties and requirements based on likes and dislikes.

Speaking on the occasion Maninder Kaur, Product Head said, “Currently consultants share their inventories and requirements through group mailing which is not searchable and leads to duplicity. CMD is an answer to all this and much more.”

LMW joins hands with Sobha Developers for apartment project

Textile machinery major Lakshmi Machine Works (LMW) has forayed into the real estate sector by joining hands with realty major Sobha Developers.

The two companies have also jointly launched a unique residential project in Coimbatore.

The 4.76 acre development offers 236 units of 1, 2 and 3 BHK configurations, ranging from 800 to 1,700 sq feet, priced between Rs 45 lakh to Rs one crore, P Ramakrishnan, deputy managing director, Sobha Developers, told PTI.

He said the project targets middle income to higher strata segment.

The project 'Elan' is designed in such a way that 20 per cent of its units would accommodate BHK, 50 per cent in 2 BHK and the balance in 3 BHK, the works for which would begin soon and are expected to be completed by 2016, he added.

Asked about the stake of both the companies in the joint venture, Ramakrishnan said Sobha, which is foraying into the apartment segment, will have 70 per cent stake and LMW will have the remaining 30 per cent.

The latter provided the land and made an investment of Rs 165 crore.

On its foray into the housing sector, R Rajendran, Director, Finance, LMW said it has acquired two companies and wanted to utilise urban surplus land it has for housing projects as the demand for houses was increasing in and around the city.

Possession at Indore Greens

Emaar MGF, has started handing over possessions of plots at its Indore Greens project. Indore Green is a flagship project of Emaar MGF, a joint venture between Emaar and its Indian counterpart MGF. Speaking on the occasion, Ajay Nambiar, Chief Service Officer, Emaar MGF said, “Walking an extra mile towards customer satisfaction, we have issued Intent of Possession (IOP) even for plots that are not currently due for possession. This way, we have become the first developer in Indore to offer possession before due date.” Indore Greens, an integrated township spread over 200 acres in Indore, is the first project on Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) to get the completion certificate. Adjacent to DMIC, it lies between the Jain Temple and Bijasan Temple and is 2 km from Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Airport of the commercial capital of Madhya Pradesh.

— Based on information provided by the developers