02 Feb 2023

Macrotech Developers Limited, that sell their real estate projects under the brand name Lodha has announced it hopes to reduce its net debt by over 40% to roughly Rs 5,000 crore by the end of current calendar year. They hope to do so with the aid of extra cash flow from robust home sales experienced in 2022. For the company, the fiscal year of 2022-23 started off with voluminous sales bookings and cash flows which led to a reduction in debt of Rs 753 crore in the December quarter to Rs 8,042 crore.Read more

31 Jan 2023

Greater Chennai Corporation has urged locals to pay their property taxes by the end of March to avoid a 2% penalty. More than 7 lakh persons have paid their property taxes since the general revision took effect in 2022 while almost 6 lakhs are yet to pay according to a statement from the civic body which asked the remaining taxpayers to do so. Even though a sizable portion of residents pays their property taxes online, the civic body's tax collectors continue to visit homes to collect roughly 50% of the levy.Read more

30 Jan 2023

Blackstone Group is reportedly in talks to sell around half of its stake in India's largest real estate investment trust, Embassy Office Parks, to private equity firm Bain Capital. The deal, which is still in the preliminary stage, could be worth up to $480 million, based on Monday's closing price of the Embassy REIT on the stock exchange in Mumbai. The transaction is expected to be executed through block deals on Indian stock exchanges in the coming weeks, though a timeline and pricing have not been finalized.Read more

27 Jan 2023

A new high-street commercial project called SKA Arcadia has just been unveiled at Wave City in Ghaziabad by the NCR-based real estate developer SKA Group. The project will span across 7860 square meters, and have over 2.5 lakh square feet of retail space with establishments such as high-street stores, society stores, food courts, restaurants, and a banquet hall. The company is set to invest Rs 125 crores in the project. It is anticipated to be finished by December 2025. It received RERA approval December 2022.Read more

26 Jan 2023

CapitaLand India Trust (CLINT) has agreed to pay Rs 1,226 crore to purchase a 1 million square foot IT park situated in Bengaluru’s outer ring road. In order to purchase the IT park, CLINT has engaged into a forward purchase agreement. The project consists of two buildings with a combined net leasable area of about 1.5 million square feet. To handle the project's design, development and leasing the landowners have appointed CapitaLand Services (India) Pvt Ltd. CLINT will invest in the project's construction using internal resources and debt during the building phase.Read more

25 Jan 2023

The Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) held an auction last Friday for a 7.4acre plot at BL Saha Road in Kolkata. The bid was to create a residential housing project on the plot via a 99-year lease agreement with authorities. The highest bid came from Mumbai based Godrej Properties Ltd, who offered to pay a sum of Rs 230 crores. If approved by the state cabinet, this will be the company’s fourth residential development in the city. It has previously developed a large project in Sodepur and Alipore. It currently has an on-going multi-phase residential project near Joka.Read more

25 Jan 2023

According to a study released by Knight Frank, the Indian cities of Mumbai and Bengaluru have recorded the fastest growth in office property rentals in the entire Asia Pacific region this year. With a 11 percent and 7 percent increase in the fourth quarter of 2022, rentals are expected to be buoyant and grow in a similar trajectory even in the 2023. While rental rates increased in Mumbai and Bengaluru, rentals in the National Capital Region remained steady without any significant rise in yields. NCR recorded the highest occupancy cost as almost $79 per square foot, followed by Mumbai at $71 per square foot and Bengaluru at $37 per square foot.Read more

25 Jan 2023

The government is said to be reviewing a proposal put forth by banks in the country which demands that sale of immoveable property mortgaged to lenders for recovery of bad loans via auction be made exempt from tax deducted at source (TDS). The current laws require sellers to pay 1 percent of the value of properties exceeding Rs 50 lacs towards TDS when sold. It also allows for the loan defaulter to claim benefits of up to 1percent of this sales value. Therefore, the banks recommend that an exception be made with such sales to ensure there is no financial loss for lenders and loan defaulters are made to pay.Read more

24 Jan 2023

According to recent reports, Mt. K Kapital has raised over Rs 350 crore through the initial close of its residential development fund from anchor investors such as State Bank of India, Famy Care, Rustomjee Group, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals. The fund is a category II alternative investment fund registered with the Securities & Exchange Board of India. The fund aims to invest in 8-10 projects in the Mumbai region, with a focus on redevelopment projects.Read more

24 Jan 2023

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has begun permitting investment managers of investment vehicles such as REITs and InvITs to hold unitholder meetings via video conferencing and other audio-visual methods, provided they follow the regulator-mandated protocol while holding these sessions. Among other criteria, the investment managers of InvITs or managers of REITs should keep the recorded transcripts of the meetings conducted through VC or OAVM in their safekeeping and provide the meeting transcripts as soon as feasible after the meetings are over on their respective websites. The facility of remote e-voting must be made available among other things before the meeting's scheduled date.Read more