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| REAL ESTATE |
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Dream turns nightmare
Keeping in view the prevailing global meltdown, developers might have to wait for a great deal of time to sell shops. One of these malls, scheduled to be operational by December-end, has leased out only 18 of its 101 showrooms on three floors. The other fares slightly better – it has sold 50 per cent of its showroom area. Construction of two other malls had also begun but work has been abandoned at the plinth level itself. Two other promoters are also were weighing the prospects of undertaking construction in view of the global crisis. Too much, too soon? THE City Centre in Civil Lines — expected to be commissioned first of all – had to lease out most of its showroom space as no buyers came by. City Mall near the thermal station is spread over 3.15 lakh sqft and would have a 102-room luxury hotel over an area of 12,000 sqft. Eight elevators and an equal number of high-speed escalators have been provided. It would also have an anchor store and a
hypermarket. The town already has five cinema halls, most of which rarely saw full house. The two nearly-ready malls will also be home to four multiplexes each, to be operated by leading professional companies. Work on these malls began during the economic boom. Even land on which they stand was purchased at exorbitant rates. Pearls Best City Walk had purchased the 21,780 sq.yards piece of land near the railway station at a whopping Rs 184 crore in last December. One year later, the company has reportedly slowed down work, although it still claims the mall will be operational in 2010. A number of other shopping marts dot the town, the hub of activity in the Malwa belt. Residents of the area near the Thermal Station and Civil Lines fear loss of privacy due to construction of two multi-storey malls in these posh residential areas. Naturally, once operational, these malls would bring with them increased vehicular traffic. The Pearls and Best Group already run sprawling malls in Delhi and Noida and their Bathinda project will span over one lakh sqft. The group’s housing project is also in the pipeline in Ludhiana. Best Group managing director H.S. Arora says City Walk would become the identity of Bathinda. “The town now holds a prominent place on the country’s investment map, is well connected and centrally located in the Malwa region. Retailers understand the value of their presence here and we are flooded with proposals from reputed international brands for opening retail outlets in City Walk. We are scanning the offers for an optimum brand mix,” he says.
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Hope Floats Eagerly awaited, the plan proposed for the urban development of the capital city of Uttarakhand till 2025, would 'officially' take away nearly 5,000 hectares of agricultural land for urbanisation. Of the total 11,700 hectares of registered agriculture land in the valley, only 7,650 hectares would remain under the plough. Practically, most agriculture land is already under urbanisation in villages in and around Dehradun and a large number of residential colonies have come up across the length and breadth of the serene valley, once known for its basmati rice and litchi. "There is no way to stop urbanisation. As it is, agricultural land in these villages was being converted into urban land and the practice would go on," says Uttarakhand chief town planner B.B. Rattan. “A total of 2,200 hectares of agricultural land, which is already urbanised and on which basmati once grew, would be converted.” Chief minister B.C. Khanduri had said that as per the proposed plan, a total of 14,639 hectares would be developed in and around the city by 2025 for its projected 15.3 lakh population. This has gladdened buyers, realtors and builders alike. The latter that availability of large chunks of land would help bring down prices. “We are hopeful that land and housing prices that skyrocketed after the state’s formation in 2000 would come down and stabilise," says Girdhar Sharma, who works with a company dealing in housing loans. Land prices spiraled upon formation of the state fuelled by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) decision to further restrict purchase of agricultural land by outsiders from 500 square yards to 250. Most financers from outside the state had withdrawn, creating a slump in the industry. Builders are upbeat now and hope that availability of land legally would instill confidence in the real estate industry and fuel activity. "We are hopeful that the master plan would bring investors as well as buyers to Dehradun," said Inder Singh, a real estate developer.
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GROUND REALTY
Don’t mix colours WHILE choosing painting materials, always choose readymade shades over those made on order. Made up shades may show inconsistency and result in patches. These days, thousands of colours are available. Avoid mixing shades to produce a colour of your choice even if your painter assures you of providing uniform colour. It is simply humanly impossible. There is every chance that you will end up with different shades on walls of the same room. LAST few episodes focused on exterior and interior paint choices, their durability, cost factor and precautions to be taken before starting new painting work and sets of best and economical combinations. Before discussing painting or polishing of woodwork in the coming weeks, some more tips to make the painting work a complete job are discussed here. For interiors, among plastic emulsions, Supreme 3-in 1-emulsion (ICI Dulux), Velvet Touch, Royale luxury emulsion (Asian), Luxol Silk (Berger) and All Escape (Nerolac) come under the best category. Royale Luxury emulsion is extra premium emulsion paint and costs around Rs 290 a litre while the next premium emulsion of the same company costs Rs 165 per litre. Among acrylic washable distempers (also called oil-bound distempers), Tractor (Asian), Bison (Berger) and Nerolac Acrylic (Nerolac) are good. Best synthetic enamels are Apcolite premium (Asian), Luxol high gloss synthetic (Berger), ICI Dulux gloss (ICI) and Nerolac Synthetic (Nerolac). For dry distemper, Golden Champion and Goldy brands of Amritsar
are suitable.
Starting right
Always insist on two coats as a single coat may soon wear off, warranting repainting. It may also fail to camouflage putty repair. Ultimately, it may prove costlier. If old paint has been thoroughly removed, all fears of a film or flakes will vanish. Apply second coat only when the first one fully dries up. No standard time for drying of first coat can be specified as different paints have different drying times. Provide full air circulation in the rooms to hasten up drying.
The base
TO best prepare a surface for painting, clean it well of all loose material, dirt and dust. When dry, rub with 180 no. sandpaper, followed by a coat of primer. When the primer coat dries up -- say in six to eight hours -- use manufacturer’s putty to fill up any small holes or cracks in plaster. You could also use white cement and sand mixed in 1:3 ratio or POP. When the putty dries up, again rub with 180 no. sandpaper and apply another coat of thin primer. On drying, rub with 320 no. sandpaper. The wall is now ready for painting. Whenever using putty, don’t apply oil-based putty directly on plaster. It should be applied after the primer coat. If POP is used for surface preparation, it can be applied directly on plaster. Use putty for small depressions and POP for large depressions. Allow putty or POP to dry for four to five hours before doing further work. Repainting: If you have painted your house and it has not to your liking and you want to repaint, first remove all old paint thoroughly. Scrape off the white wash and distemper with sandpaper. Leave no loose material on the walls -- don't save labour here. Ensure that the oil bound distempers are so sanded that there is no shine on the walls. Thereafter, look for any cracks or dampness. Repair all cracks with putty and plug source of dampness. Leave the putty to dry. Now the old surface is ready for new paint.
The method
PAINTING can be done with brushes, rollers or sprays. If using rollers, always paint the ceiling border or wall border with a two-inch brush. For painting ceilings with a roller, use an extension handle and your job will become easier. For a large wall or ceiling areas, use a nine-inch roller. To remove excess paint from the roller, roll it in the paint tray and not along the edge of the tin. Never be in a hurry while using the roller, it is a slow process and requires patience.
Silky Smooth
POP Punning is becoming popular these days as it prepares an ultra smooth surface to receive final finish. Some of its cost gets recovered as POP walls need lesser paint. It costs about Rs 5 a sqft though workers may ask for as much as Rs 15 a sqft! Make sure that the plaster is completely dry before POP punning is done otherwise it will come off. Lots of POP is wasted during work. POP that drops on the floor should not be reused. The price: Rates vary for POP cornice and border. Decorative domes may cost as high as Rs 35,000 each! For good quality POP, choose from JK, ACC, Laxmi etc, available around Rs 4 a kg. Though local POP is available for just Rs 1.50 a kg, it contains a lot of dust and has less adhesion. If possible, buy branded POP. These days, readymade POP cornices and borders are also available in the market and these look as good as in-situ work. All the mess that gets created during POP work on ceiling due to its frequent droppings on floors also gets avoided. Cost of readymade POP cornices and borders also comes out to be the same.
Snowy White
ALWAYS keep the ceiling white. Neither does it go out of fashion, nor will it bore you. A white ceiling makes the room look bigger and cooler. If you are getting a false ceiling, keep it completely white. Don’t use those red and golden colours on POP cornices and borders. Among other options, stenciling of ceiling and walls is gaining in popularity. For doing it, a stenciling pattern is first made and then filled with color. After the painting of the base color, a sponge or comb is used to give desired wall texture. Nowadays, three-dimensional interiors are being offered by some companies in India. For about Rs 850 a room, you can get natural looking and glowing stars, moon and sky on your ceiling! Next fortnight: Painting of woodwork. (This column appears fortnightly) The writer is deputy chief
engineer, civil, PSEB. He can be reached at www.jagvirgoyal.com
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TAX TIPS
No tax to pay
Q. I have two houses. One is let out but the other remained vacant the preceding year. The market value of both is more than Rs 15 lakh, which is also the maximum amount on which wealth-tax is not payable. Will both houses be covered for the purposes of levy of wealth tax? — R.S. Ahuja A. According to the provisions of the Wealth tax Act 1957, if a residential house property has been let out for 300 days in a year, wealth tax thereon is not leviable. Therefore, in cases one of the houses has been let out for 300 days or more, the same would not be exigible to wealth tax. Incase the house is the only house you own other than one which has been let out, the said house will be exempt from wealth tax as section 5 of the above Act provides for the exemption of one house or a plot of land of five hundred square meters or less belonging to an individual or
HUF.
Listen to the assessing officer
Q. I am the owner of an over 500 square meters plot in the heart of the city valued over Rs 15 lakh. The wealth tax return was filed on the basis of a valuer’s report. The assessing officer has, however, suggested that the matter be sent to the valuation officer. Is it possible to ignore the valuation report of the registered valuer and refer the matter to the department’s valuation officer? — A.K. Sharma In accordance with the provisions of Wealth Tax Act, 1957, the value of the assets includible in wealth for the purpose of the levy of Wealth Tax is to be determined in accordance with section 7 read with Schedule III to the said Act. Schedule III does not prescribe any method of valuation in respect of the urban land. In the residuary clause of schedule III, it has, however, been provided that value of any asset — other than cash — which is not covered by Rules 3 to 19, shall be estimated to be the price which, in the opinion of the assessing officer, would fetch if sold in the open market on the valuation date. The said Act also provides where valuation of any asset is referred by the assessing officer to a valuation officer, the value of the asset shall be that which is determined by the valuation officer referred to by the assessing officer. In view of the above provisions, the assessing officer determines the value of an asset for which specific provisions of schedule III are not applicable. Section 16A of the aforesaid Act provides that where assessing officer is of the opinion that the value determined by the registered valuer is less than the fair market value, he may refer the matter relating to such valuation to the valuation officer. In my opinion, therefore, the assessing officer can refer the case to the valuation officer if he is not satisfied with the valuation made by the registered valuer.
Rental income & arrears taxable
— Adarsh A. Section 25B of the Act provides that in case the tax payer has let out a property to a tenant and has received any amount by way of arrears of rent from the said property which has not been charged to income tax in any of the previous year, the amount so received shall be deemed to be the income chargeable under the head “income from house property”. The same would be taxable in the year in which it is received. I presume that the income now received by you had not been declared in the years for which the same was due. I may further add that the amount of arrears received would become taxable in the hand of the recipient even if he were not the owner of the house in the year in which the same is received. Q. I am an Indian citizen but have been working overseas for some years. Presently, I am employed in Australia. I have inherited a house in India, which is let out. Please let me know if I have any tax liability in respect of the rent so received in India. I understand that the income earned in Australia is not taxable in India. Is that correct? — Rajinder Kumar A.
The answer to your queries is as under: n The income earned in India in respect of the rent received from a house property is taxable in India. Presuming that you are not a senior citizen, in your case the maximum amount not chargeable to tax for assessment year 2009-10 is Rs 1.5 lakh. Therefore, in case the net income from property exceeds the above amount, you will be liable to file the income tax return and pay tax thereon. The net income from property would be computed in the following manner: Gross rent received = X Less house tax paid = Y X – Y= A Less 30% of A, say B A – B = C (taxable income from house property) The income earned in Australia would not be taxable in India.
Max deduction Rs 1 lakh
Q. I bought a house sometime back and took a loan for its acquisition and claiming deduction in respect of the interest paid on the amount borrowed as well as for the installments towards repayment of loan. I intend buying another house and propose to take a loan. This property would be let out to an embassy on the basis of an arrangement made with such an embassy. Will I be able to claim the deduction for the interest as well as the installments towards the repayment of the loan? — A.K. Gupta A. You would be entitled to claim the deduction for the interest payable on the new loan from the income under house property. You can also claim the deduction under section 80C of the Income Tax Act 1961 (the Act) for the amount paid toward the repayment of the loan. I may add that the deduction under section 80C of the Act is limited to Rs 1 lakh, which covers other specified investments/contributions made including the amount of repayment of loan borrowed for the construction of a residential house during the year. This column appears weekly. The writer can be contacted at sc@scvasudeva.com
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NOT very long ago, Bathinda residents beamed at the mention of its four malls under construction. The buildings stood witness to the winds of change – a stagnating town in the Malwa belt was coming of age. Now, as two of these near completion, fears are whether there will be any buyers for shops spread over a total of four lakh sqft. 
Initial reports indicate lack of enthusiasm among big brands to hire showrooms in these malls. Most of the modernisation of the town and arrival of private players was attributed to the coming up of L.N. Mittal’s refinery project.
THE recently-announced master plan for Dehradun city has spread cheer in the valley. With many more areas set aside for urban housing under the plan, residents are hopeful that their dream house would soon turn into reality.
NEVER skip primer coats. They are vital for better adhesion of paint to the walls, reduce the absorption capacity of walls and a better output of final coat is achieved. These also smoothen the surface, preparing it for painting. For repair of cracks, use putty supplied by the paint manufacturer or a 1:3 mi of white cement sand mix. Apply another primer coat if a major crack-filling job has been done.
Q. I had let out a residential property to a person who did not pay rent. The matter was taken to court and it took almost five years to get the house vacated. The tenant, who had occupied the property on the basis of the court order, paid arrears of about Rs 2 lakh this year. Am I liable to pay tax on such arrears?