NEW DELHI: Realty players DLF, Parsvnath and Eros are among the 13 companies, which have put in a bid for the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s new northern regional office in Delhi as the regulator seeks to expand its operations in Delhi.

The market regulator is in the process of buying 30,000 sq ft or more of office space in Delhi’s Connaught Place area. It currently operates through an 8,000 sq ft office on Sansad Marg and wants to make an outright purchase of built-up office space or a plot of land.

Parsvnath has offered to sell its 1.18-acre plot on Kasturba Gandhi, which it has been trying to sell for the last two months for 600-700 crore, said sources in the know who did not want to be named. DLF wants to sell space at DLF Towers in Jasola while Eros has offered space in Eros Corporate Towers in Nehru Place, said the sources.

An email sent to Sebi did not elicit a response.

The transaction for 30,000 sq ft of space in Connaught Place is expected to happen between 150 crore and 200 crore, though a Sebi spokesperson did not confirm its budget sanctioned for the specific property.

In its budget for 2012-13, Sebi has put aside around 281 crore for the acquisition of office and residential premises. This amount includes acquisition of new office premises or plot of land in BKC for additional office space in Mumbai, setting up of five local offices at new locations, purchase of flats for senior executives at Mumbai and also the purchase of office space for a northern regional office at New Delhi.

According to the source, technical bids received by Sebi were opened on Friday and are being analysed currently. The financial bids of the shortlisted parties will be opened subsequently.

Sebi has been trying to buy a larger office in Delhi for the last two years and has gone through the bidding process twice already. In both the attempts it remained unsuccessful because the properties involved had ownership issues, improper municipal permissions and other issues.

Source:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/real-estate/news-/13-realty-companies-like-dlf-parsvnath-and-eros-bid-for-sebis-delhi-office/articleshow/13142558.cms

NEW DELHI: Country’s largest real estate player DLFis all set to start its own fire brigade beginning with Gurgaon and Chennai, making it probably the first private company to dabble into such activities.

DLF, which is credited to have established almost the entire Gurgaon — one of the first MNC hubs of the country, will set up at least three fire stations in this NCR city as also in southern city of Chennai, in the next two months.

The three stations, mainly to safegauard DLF properties, would have about 120 employees and more such stations could follow going forward.

“With the burgeoning urban population, providing secure living spaces should be a top priority. This move is in line with DLF’s philosophy that the life of our residents and those working in DLF premises are our top priority,” DLF Head (Fire Safety) S K Dheri said.

These will be the first private fire stations in India that will cater to nearby areas also, along with the three complexes of DLF, in the case of need, he said.

“These fire stations will be located in the Cyber City and DLF Phase V in Gurgaon and the IT SEZ in Chennai. These stations are expected to be operational in the next two months,” Dheri said.

DLF has procured the three hydraulic platforms — two 90 metres and one 60 metres height — from Finland, which is the first time in India that lifts of this height will be available for rescue and fire fighting operations, he claimed.

“The height of the equipment is very crucial for conducting rescue operations in a high-rise building in the eventuality of a fire outbreak. These hydraulic platforms at DLF fire stations are capable of carrying a load of 400 kg,” he said.

The company will have 25-40 people per fire station in the three locations, he added.

He, however, did not share the size of the investment that the company has made in this venture.

Elaborating on the facilities, Dheri said DLF will keep two fire tenders per station with the fire dousers having the capacity to carry 18 kilolitres of water per vehicle.

Dheri said the company already has some fire safety mechanism at its complexes that are managed by its own employees, who conduct fire safety drills and evacuation procedures among others.

“More than 150 qualified fire officers are working round the clock to ensure safety of their occupants — whether owners or tenants. Besides this, the company is maintaining all the systems and equipment at its own cost,” Dheri said.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/real-estate/news-/dlf-to-start-its-own-fire-brigade/articleshow/13119209.cms

NEW DELHI: Many high value bungalows in Delhi and Mumbai are under the government’s scanner for evasion of stamp duty. These include bungalows in Lutyens’ Delhi and other upmarket neighbourhoods in Delhi such as Golf Links and Shantiniketan, as well as sea-facing apartments in south Mumbai, which are bought by the rich and the famous.

In such transactions, buyers of these luxury homes – which include many leading businessmen – acquire shares of the seller’s shell company, which owns the property, instead of transferring the property in their name by paying stamp duty, the usual practice followed for buying homes.

This way, while the seller evades paying capital gains tax, the buyer pays only 0.25% taxes on the share transfer instead of the 6-8% stamp (registration) duty. In big deals running up to 150-300 crores, the tax evasion could be as high as 15-30 crore.

Vijay Dev, principal secretary-revenue of Delhi, said the state government is setting up a financial services cell to monitor such transactions. “This cell will scrutinise all transactions involving financial instruments and matters pertaining to companies trading in properties and share market, with the aim to maximise revenue realisation… Transactions bordering on stamp duty evasion will also come under the purview of this new cell,” he said.

Sources said that a recent deal, executed in a similar manner, came under flak from a Delhi court, and ever since, the state government has stepped up its vigil and has been monitoring big deals in the capital.

While at least half a dozen big bungalow deals happened last year in the Lutyens’ Bungalow Zone and Golf Links areas, the registrar’s office in Delhi, when contacted by ET, said they have no record of any property transaction in LBZ in the past two years.

This happened because the buyer did not need to register the property in his name; it continues to be registered in the name of the company he acquired.

A finance ministry official, who did not wish to be named, said such transactions would come under the anti-avoidance mechanism that the government is trying to bring through the introduction of General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR). The implementation of GAAR has been postponed by a year, but once it is in place, such deals will be considered as tax evasion.

Source:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/real-estate/news-/stamp-duty-evasion-mumbai-delhi-realty-deals-under-government-scanner/articleshow/13088867.cms

NEW DELHI: The residential market in India witnessed stagnant demand for most of 2011, after an initial spurt in the first few months of the year.

A recent report by Global Property Consultants CBRE South Asia, India Residential Market View – 2011 states that while the residential markets across NCR and Mumbai witnessed steady escalation in prices during the revival period from 2009 to first half of 2011 (as high as 40-50% in certain micro-markets), the latter half of the year brought in stagnation in overall prices.

Numerous repo-rate revisions by RBI, which led to upward revision of mortgage rates, tighter control on teaser rates earlier being offered by financial institutions to reduce EMI burden in the initial years of a loan tenure, and inflationary pressures impacted end user as well as investor sentiment by the end of 2011.

This coupled with supply pile-up lead to downward pressures on capital values across various micro-markets in these leading hubs. While the year 2012 started on a positive note with the central bank reducing repo rates by 50 basis points for the first time in several months (after increasing it 13 times in the last 2 years), the impact on demand rejuvenation might be limited.

“During 2011, we witnessed initial buoyancy in the real estate market as investor and developer sentiment improved, riding on the high residential demand wave. However with repeated interest rate hikes, rising prices and prevailing economic conditions, the market saw a dip in sales towards the middle of the year,” said Anshuman Magazine, Chairman & Managing Director, CBRE South Asia Pvt Ltd.

This led to a supply pile-up in the key markets of NCR (National Capital Region), Mumbai and Bangalore, leading to capital values remaining flat across various micro-markets in these three leading hubs.

“While the recent rate cut by the RBI has helped generate positive sentiments in the market, stagnancy in demand will continue in the short to medium term unless there is an overall improvement in the economic scenario,” Mr Magazine added The NCR market witnessed considerable appreciation in capital values in the first half of the year, with premium markets witnessing steady demand from expatriates, high net worth individuals (HNIs) and executives from multinationals and Indian companies.

Source:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/real-estate/news-/demand-in-residential-market-to-remain-stagnant/articleshow/13092800.cms