Credai Times April June 2014

April-June 2014

Complimentry copy not for sale

Building a New India credai.org

Expectations from the new Government

Welcome!

Y

outh, as we all know, is our future. To introduce them into the mainstream, be it any field, at the right time is the best step for a secure and safe tomorrow. It is with this intention that CREDAI Youth Wing organised its maiden Youth Confluence, You The Future, in Goa recently. The Youth Wing aims at preparing the next generation of leaders and torchbearers in the housing and real estate sectors. As housing sector is the biggest employer for economy after agriculture and contributes 7 per cent GDP, there is a huge opportunity for growth and expansion of the sector, especially after the nation has adopted the policy of “Housing for All by 2022”. The Youth Wing focusses on three main areas: Technology, Research and CSR activities. The Youth Confluence offered an interactive platform to young developers to discuss the critical issues faced by the realty sector and innovative approaches to meet the challenges, especially with a view to maximising the involvement and participation of the younger generation contributing in the global movement of real estate.

Sanjeev Srivastva

Vice-President, CREDAI and Editor-in-chief sanjeevsrivastva@assotechlimited.com

Srivastva is the managing director of Assotech Limited. He is B Tech (Civil Engineering) from NIT Calicut and is based out of Noida (UP).

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Editorial Consultant: Meenakshi Sharma Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India, National Secretariat, 703, Ansal Bhawan, 16, Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi 110 001.

Tel: +91.11.43126262, 43126200 Fax: +91.11.43126211 Email: meenakshi@credai.org Web: www.credai.org

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We, at CREDAI, strongly support Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi’s mission of Pucca Housing for All by 2022. As a positive step in this direction, we deliberated, discussed, learned and strategised on how to achieve this mission together at the three-day 14th NATCON organised by CREDAI in Jakarta. The idea was to introduce reforms required by the real estate sector and usher in positive changes. With a development focus, Union Budget and steps like relaxation in norms of CRR and SLR by the Reserve Bank of India, the housing sector is slated to grow. We ensured the delegations and participating member developers from across the country came together, discussed possibilities, exchanged views and learned from each other. The aim was to bring in a positive change for better future.

The realty sector is increasingly getting involved in sponsorships and fundraising for charity events, blood donations and eye camps to make its presence felt on the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) front. CREDAI has always believed in giving back to society and takes CSR seriously. The Bengal Chapter begun its partnership with the Government in helping restore public utility facilities. The Women’s Industrial Training Institute at Gariaghat, Kolkata, is run jointly by the Bengal Chapter and state government to help economically backward men and women by training them in various fields to make them financially suitable for future. Likewise, many such initiatives have been undertaken by various chapters across the country. I hope that the CREDAI Times by making the word on our good deeds spread far and wide inspire all CREDAI Chapters to take on ever new initiatives with enthusiasm and gusto.

Happy reading...

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Chairman’s message Dear friends, The year 2014 might be reaching its end but new beginnings are awaiting the country’s economy and in particular, the real estate sector. The Government’s ambitious “Housing For All By 2022” mission means a sea of opportunity for the real estate fraternity. The Union Housing and Poverty Alleviation ministry has earmarked a special component for providing rental accommodation to the homeless and migrant workers in urban areas. Under its flagship, `35,810 crore project, the ministry plans to offer them a place to stay for a stipulated period and monthly rent. Also, `6,000 crore has been proposed by the Ministry for rental housing in different types of dwellings for individuals and families. This augurs well for the real estate sector.

Lalit Kumar Jain

Chairman, CREDAI National

The 14th NATCON, organised by CREDAI in Jakarta, Indonesia, was a step towards playing the sector’s part in the Prime Minister’s plan to provide “Housing for All by 2022” and developing 100 Smart Cities. It is a basic fact that the nation’s development goals are inextricably linked to the ability of the economy to add to its housing stock. The shortage of 18.78 million units in nation’s housing stock is a result of the ambivalence of policy in 67 years since Independence. Therefore, CREDAI believes “Housing for All by 2022” means enlisting the support of the private enterprise engaged in housing and habitat. The participants at NATCON deliberated on how to achieve the goal by providing a platform to share knowledge, experience and learning practices across the cities.

The Youth Wing of CREDAI, formed with the objective to prepare the next generation of leaders, is ready to contribute in making the real estate sector the harbinger of growth in the country. The wing’s first confluence at Goa in October specifically aimed at motivating the young generation to assume leadership in an efficient manner for a better tomorrow.

While CREDAI believes the Union Budget 2014-15 has accorded housing in economic growth a priority equal to that of manufacturing, we feel the Government needs to identify and address specific bottlenecks to facilitate quick growth and development of the sector. CREDAI National is already working with various ministries to address such problems. Therefore, the 14th CREDAI Conclave, held in November 2014, was an apt stage to urge the developers to work as a collective entity to gain respect for real estate sector as an industry.

Also, the conclave emphasised on the related areas of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) particularly, Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, Skill Development and Smart Cities that need to be incorporated into our deliberations as CREDAI members have expressed enthusiasm with the policy announcements and as CREDAI wishes to engage with the larger development agenda of the nation as a part of its organisational objectives.

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Builders & Developers, Interested in making your new commercial buildings energy efficient

?

Op p ort un i t i e s to ava i l t e c h n i c a l s up p ort of top s w i s s c on s ulta n t s f or d e sig n i n g en er g y - effi c i en t c o m m er c i a l b ui l di n g s The Indo-Swiss Building Energy Efficiency Project (BEEP)1 is providing technical support to Indian builders and developers to design climate-responsive, low energy and high performance commercial buildings. BEEP invites project proposals from builders, developers, owners of large commercial projects, which are in their early design stage.

The technical assistance to the selected projects will be provided free of cost and will be borne under the BEEP project.

For applying and further information please go to the following link

http://beepindia.org/content/apply-integrated-design-charrette or Email: pmtu@beepindia.org

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The Indo-Swiss Building Energy Efficiency Project (BEEP) is a bilateral cooperation project between the Ministry of Power (MoP), Government of India and the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) of the Swiss Federation.

President’s message Dear friends, Under the guidance of Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi, the new Government at the Centre is taking the right steps to introduce reforms required by the real estate sector and is open to suggestions to bring in positive changes. With a development focus in the Union Budget and steps like relaxation in norms of CRR & SLR by the Reserve Bank of India, the housing sector will grow manifold.

Bringing affordable housing project finance and home loans up to `50 lakh under Priority Sector Lending (PSL) will give a major boost to the small and medium developers which cater to the affordable housing segment. Moreover, the Government has incorporated CREDAI’s recommendation and relaxed the FDI norms for investment in the real estate which will act as a catalyst for growth.

On behalf of CREDAI, I welcome Modiji’s embarking on the ambitious plan to provide “Housing for All by 2022” and developing 100 Smart Cities which opens a plethora of opportunities for the real estate sector. CREDAI has always been a strong advocate of affordable housing and we are sure that with a right policy framework and public approach “Homes for All” is an achievable objective towards which all our members will strive ceaselessly. CREDAI National is working with various Union Ministries like Environment & Forest, Civil Aviation, Urban Development and Housing & Poverty Alleviation to remove bottlenecks in supply side of real estate sector. CREDAI, along with all its members, is keen to contribute in the best possible way towards the Government’s objective and will support them whole-heartedly.

Against the backdrop of the mission of “Pucca Housing for all by 2022”, an agenda driven by the BJP, the theme of this year’s NATCON was ‘Homes for All’. NATCON 2014 aimed to deliberate, discuss, learn and strategise on how to achieve this mission. The major takeaway from NATCON 2014 was the importance of advanced technologies in real estate sector to optimise the cost and work smarter. It also talked about the effective use of social media marketing and alternative assets offering plethora of new opportunities in real estate sector.

On March 30 last year, CREDAI Youth Wing was formally constituted with the primary objective to prepare the next generation of leaders and

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C Shekar Reddy

President, CREDAI National

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torchbearers for CREDAI. They are prepared to draw from the vast experience of the earlier generation and use it with the keen sense of application the youth is known for. One of the objectives of CREDAI is to establish the spirit of brotherhood within the association of developers, promoters and builders and to try and ensure that they discharge their responsibilities for the greater good of the community in general.

The Youth Wing brings together the younger generation of real estate builders and developers so that they can voice the concerns of the sector. By inculcating strong values right from the start, the Youth Wing seeks to ensure the leader of tomorrow will be knowledgeable, open in their working and deliver what they say. CREDAI looks towards its Young members to strengthen the confederation at the grassroot levels.

CREDAI Youth Wing divisions have been formed at city, state and national levels. Youth Wing activities includes CSR initiatives, training, research and other specific assignment guided by National CREDAI body. CREDAI Youth Wing organised its first confluence in Goa in October 2014. Targetting specifically the next generation of confluence, You - THE FUTURE, motivated the young generation to assume leadership mantle of their business in an efficient, effective and socially engaging manner.

CREDAI now has extended its coverage to 151 cities across 23 states from 128 cities across 28 states and continues to enjoy the status of being the largest body representing housing and real estate sector, giving it a robust voice in shaping the agenda of the Government to augment housing and habitat environment of the country thus benefitting all stakeholders, particularly the citizens of the country who as customers are the ultimate beneficiaries. The participation of our member associations in various activities reflects that CREDAI chapters have been subscribing towards social initiatives and bestowing social sentiments among the end users of their products.

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contents Cover story

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Building a new India

Housing for All by 2022

The Integrated Design Way

We highlight the expectations from the Union Government for the real estate sector and hope new policies will be framed for a better tomorrow

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CREDAI’s recommendations to Union Minister for Urban Development, Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation

High energy performance buildings require an iterative design process

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Yes, Modi can!

Property gains through cost inflation index

Contemporary Indian architecture

VR Ramanujan says it is ideal for the Government of India to work in close cohesion with state governments for a better tomorrow

Tax and investment consultant Subhash Lakhotia offers advice on how to save Income Tax in real estate sector during 2014-2015

Move away from statistical methods of creating cities to one that relies on interconnected networks around which urbanism can organically evolve

inside CREDAI Chapter news

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Events 128

A JLL study on Real Estate Scenario In Gujarat

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Building a new India Sanjay Dutt briefs us on the expectations from the new Government for the real estate sector and hopes new policies will be framed for a better tomorrow

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n the last couple of years, the Indian economy has witnessed a slowdown across various sectors, resulting in the GDP growth slipping to 4.7% in 2013 from 9.7% in 2010. Such economic downdraft was largely attributed to weak governance (tight regulations), especially during the run-up to the Parliamentary elections of 2014. However, after 30 years, India now has a single party majority Government. For the past one decade, the Congressled coalition Government at the Centre often derailed from its reform agenda. But now the expectations are riding high that the newly-formed Government, armed by its development memorandum, will try and push for reforms that were so far left in the back-burner and are much needed to revitalise the economy. For instance, the Real Estate Bill, whose principles seek to make the industry more credible and transparent; tax reforms such as Goods and Service Tax (GST) and Direct Tax Code (DTC) and opening channels of FDI to more sectors now need to be passed as soon as possible.

A lot has happened in the past two months. The measures announced in the annual budget might not be enough to stir up a full-blown recovery of sales in the real estate sector but it certainly assures all

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stakeholders that the Government indeed has rolled up its sleeves and gotten down to taking corrective measures; fast tracking growth is its core agenda. For one, it has opened up defence and insurance sectors to FDI. It raised the tax exemption limit on incomes and the tax deduction limit under Section 80C to help achieve the twin objectives of encouraging households to make long-term savings and increase overall savings rate in the country. Additionally, FDI regulations in the real estate sector were relaxed and a thrust was provided to affordable housing.

Going by the Government’s dialogue, the real estate sector in India can now expect the focus to be on the expansion and development of infrastructure such as highways, roads, ports, railway lines, manufacturing hubs, dams, canals, irrigation channels etc which will lay the groundwork for developing the 100 new “smart” cities that are expected to serve as twin cities or satellite towns. This will have an impact on lead economic indicators such as interest rates, infrastructure development, capital inflows, inflation and GDP growth. According to the 2011 census, about 31% of the total Indian population of 1.2 billion lives in urban areas which is already grappling

The real estate sector in India can now expect the focus to be on the expansion and development of infrastructure such as highways, roads, ports, railway lines, manufacturing hubs, dams, canals, irrigation channels etc which will lay the groundwork for developing the 100 new “smart” cities that are expected to serve as twin cities or satellite towns. This will have an impact on lead economic indicators such as interest rates, infrastructure development, capital inflows, inflation and GDP growth

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Cybertecture Egg, proposed office building in Mumbai

with issues pertaining to overcrowding, strained infrastructure, pollution, expensive real estate etc.

From sustainability point of view, the new Government must aggressively pursue its agenda of developing new urban centres, given that mere expansion of existing ones is not yielding any desired results. To this end, the Government has made an initial allocation of `7,060 crore but its exact game plan needs to be revealed.

With the legislature and the executive getting back to the business of good governance, investments in various businesses and sectors of the economy are expected to pick up pace, all of which will bode well for the real estate sector. Internationally, India has suffered some damage to its credibility as a safe investment destination. Measures such as a previous proposal to implement the General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR) with retrospective effect, imposition of Minimum Alternative Tax (MAT) and Dividend Distribution Tax (DDT) in SEZs, flip-flops on FDI in multi-brand retail, delayed implementation of GST and DTC etc are

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From sustainability point of view, the new Government must aggressively pursue its agenda of developing new urban centres, given that mere expansion of existing ones is not yielding any desired results perceived negatively by international investors and affect capital inflows. The Government must provide comfort to such investors and ensure India is perceived as an attractive investment destination; ease of doing business often relies heavily upon enabling policies.

Such policies must be streamlined in India. To achieve its objective of speedy implementation, the Union Government must allow clearances through a singlewindow mechanism.

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So far, consumers and investors have largely been on a wait and watch mode though office leasing has increased in the first half this year which reflects an increased confidence in businesses. If the Government, through its dialogue and decisions, can point to an environment of job and wealth creation, buyers can be induced to come out and transact instead of sitting on the fence. In its manifesto, the BJP-led government had laid out managing inflation and interest rates as its top priority. The Reserve Bank of India has put a pause on increases in the interest rates but it remains to be seen how it peters down to allure consumers. Controlled inflation and reduced interest rates at an appropriate time will boost housing sales and help developers to build at lower costs and generate cash-flows. We also expect regulations for REITs to be channelled before the end of the year as the Government has already clarified on the taxation on such investments.

Miracles cannot be worked overnight but we expect that the current Government will have a meaningful impact on growth over the next couple of years. Its target of 3.6% fiscal deficit by 2015-2016 is ambitious but points to a vision of better economic parameters than currently

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persists. It is our expectation that Modi Government will look at the real estate sector from all stakeholders’ point of view including buyers and tenants whether individual or corporate, developers, lenders, investors and the state or Central governments. Any negative perception of the sector, especially of developers, will be changed as these have usually manifested themselves through over-regulation of the sector limiting its growth prospects. There are strong indications that the new Government will strike the right balance in its approach to the sector and ensure it contributes even more to the country’s economic growth and development. Prime Minister Modi’s views on improving governance whilst supporting businesses through policy reforms will have the power to fundamentally alter India’s economic course; they will inspire confidence from markets, businesses and citizens that the Government is serious about tackling deep-rooted barriers to growth. We are optimistic that he and his Government will deliver.

However, we are also pragmatic about the timeline for the desired results to manifest as most solutions will require structural and institutional changes; both in policy and in Government.

Sanjay Dutt is executive managing director, South Asia, Cushman & Wakefield

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ousing

2022 For All By

CREDAI’s recommendations to Union Minister for Urban Development, Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation

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o have significant impact in achieving the objective of Housing for All by 2022, the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI) has shared a summary of a few key recommendations to the Ministry of Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (MoHUPA). These recommendations are consistent with the ones of the three task forces set up

by MoHUPA between 2011-2013 to suggest steps to improve the supply affordable housing and rental housing.

The definition of affordable housing is the same as used by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its ECB policy for affordable housing. In order to qualify as an affordable housing project, at least, 60 per cent of the permissible FSI should be used for construction of apartments of less than 60 sq m. The recommendations are in divided into following parts: »» Policy changes that are within executive authority of Central Government. »» Policy changes that would require approval of the Parliament. »» Policy changes which currently are in the domain of the state government. »» Policy that would require time for implementation but will also have significant impetus to affordable housing.

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Part

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Policy changes within Central Government’s executive authority

1. FDI According to media reports, the UPA Government’s Cabinet approval with a lower construction limit was on the anvil but the model election code came into effect before the scheduled Cabinet meeting.

Similarly, no purpose is served by restricting minimum capital requirement on FDI to US$ 5 million which needs to be removed

Remove minimum project size requirement of 50,000 sq m and minimum capital requirement of US$ 5 million.

A key challenge for affordable housing is that domestic capital is both limited and extremely expensive. As an illustration, Institution Funds sponsored by LIC have a return expectation of 32% per annum. Both MoHUPA and various industry bodies have been in discussions with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion for reduction or elimination of minimum project size. According to media reports, the UPA Government’s Cabinet approval with a lower construction limit was on the anvil but the model election code came into effect before the scheduled Cabinet meeting. Similarly, no purpose is served by restricting minimum capital requirement on FDI to US$ 5 million which needs to be removed.

2. ECB Move approval to automatic route The current process is cumbersome and every investment requires both NHB and RBI approvals.

ECB facilities are provided by sophisticated financial institutions and are capable of completing due diligence on their own as also assessing borrowers’ ability to repay. Where required authorised dealers, acting on behalf of RBI, can require certification from architects or chartered accounting firms, depending on certification requirements. Hence, these approvals from NHB and RBI are unnecessary.

3. Interest rate Interest rate subvention to home buyers and priority sector status to construction loan for affordable housing project to reduce cost of home ownership BJP has already included the proposal for interest rate subvention with the concerned minister time and again stating this is the only way to signal increased flow of funds which would reduce the cost of affordable housing. It is widely agreed that the interest rate on housing loans and on loans for construction of housing need to be no more than 7-8%. Such reduction can be achieved by interest subvention and by granting priority sector status to the construction loan for affordable housing.

The Grand Arch’, Ireo, the first and the largest Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from a Private Equity fund dedicated to the Indian real estate sector and a fully integrated real estate development company launched ‘Ireo Uptown’ a new addition to its mega development of 800 acres in Gurgaon. Ireo Uptown is set to be the new address in the Millennium City of Gurgaon

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Post-NHB’s liberalised licensing policy, a number of new housing finance companies, with focus on funding low and moderate income households, can come into existence 4. Increased construction finance from NHB funds NHB needs to be encouraged to increase lending to developers. It has funds provided at concessional terms from development institutions such as DIFID and IFC. Disbursements are linked to project meeting green standards. NHB must set agencies that can certify projects meeting green standards and mandated to lend money for construction rather than using them as investment in treasury instrument and public sector bonds.

5. Increase NHB Increase NHB refinance to HFC focussed on financing low and moderate income household.

Post-NHB’s liberalised licensing policy, a number of new housing finance companies, with focus on funding low and moderate income households, can come into existence.

This segment of customers (due to absence of document, prior credit history) are ignored by mainstream lenders. However, only a fraction of NHB’s total fund is allocated to new housing finance companies and allocation of funds is to PSU, private sector banks and large capital HFCs.

6. Permit all HFC to access ECB funding RBI policy on ECB funding allows a few large housing finance companies to access ECB funding. There is no merit in denying new HFCs as they are more focussed in their approach to lending to low and moderate income households. ECB lenders are sophisticated institutions and should be left to the borrowers and lenders to negotiate loans. The flow of funds to these specialised HFCs will result in lowering the cost of fund to low and moderate income household.

7. Eliminate or at the minimum simplify MoEF approval 7.1 Up to 35% of the cost of affordable housing can be reduced with a more efficient and corruption-free approval process. MoEF approval is by far the biggest bottleneck in the approval process and could stretch up to 2.5 years of approval time.

7.2 MoE approvals for affordable housing projects are required for any project that has construction limit of more than 20,000 sq m and could take up to two years. The MoEF committees are getting increasingly engaged in matters other than environment issues and covering areas also covered by town planning authority resulting in duplication, confusion and delay. A recent circular of MoEF on rules governing height of buildings brought the entire approval process in Maharashtra and other locations to a standstill for two years till the rules were withdrawn. Given that requirements of MoEF are covered by pollution control board, residential buildings are low pollutant, MoEF approval should be completely eliminated. In case the Government wishes to continue with MoEF approval, then cognisance, at the very least, needs to be taken of basically non-polluting nature of housing activity and there should be an immediate increase in approval limit for projects requiring MoEF approval from 20,000 sq m to 200,000 sq m so that the MoEF committee can focus on larger projects.

MoE approvals for affordable housing projects are required for any project that has construction limit of more than 20,000 sq m and could take up to two years. The MoEF committees are getting increasingly engaged in matters other than environment issues and covering areas also covered by town planning authority resulting in duplication, confusion and delay

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On an average, 10-12 cases are cleared each month with total pendency of about 1,500 cases. In spite of additional committee, it will take years to clear backlog. As a result, majority of developers have started their construction in accordance with sanctioned plans to deliver the homes in timely manner

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7.3 Work should be allowed up to the threshold limits (20,000 sq m) irrespective of the total size of the project without prior EC. Mumbai High Court has passed many orders in this respect for SRA and redevelopment projects. The same should be applicable to all construction projects as they all fall under same MoEF category.

7.4 Any work initiated below 20,000 sq m or after waiting for 105 days irrespective of the quantum should not be treated as violation.

7.5 Automatic deemed approved if decisions are not given within 105 days from date of filing the application, MoEF EIA notification 2006 requires EC decisions must be made within 105 days. This was again reinforced by MoEF by stating “these stipulated timelines must be strictly adhered to” in its OM dated June 19, 2013, yet in states like Maharashtra, 70% cases are waiting for their presentation date for past 1.5 years. On an average, 10-12 cases are cleared each month with total pendency of about 1,500 cases. In spite of additional committee, it will take years to clear backlog. As a result, majority of developers have started their construction in accordance with sanctioned plans to deliver the homes in timely manner. Cases, where SEAC and SEIAA have failed to give their decision within 105 days, should be declared deemed approved and should not be considered as violations.

All coercive action on such cases should be stopped

as it is not the project proponent’s fault that they are not given timely appraisal of their proposals.

7.6 Procedural simplifications recommended include: (a) codification of all requirements for residential building in a questionnaire, (b) acceptance of approval request in writing and removing current process of requiring developers to make presentations (c) setting up a permanent secretariat for MoEF that can provide approval/ require modification on a daily basis instead of approvals being considered in monthly meetings of MoEF committee and (d) providing automatic approval based on certification of green building standards and meeting other requirements from various accrediting authorities instead of these points being validated in MoEF committee meetings.

7.7 EC appraisal of project should happen on proposed or conceptual plan. As per MoEF notification dated April 4, 2011, SEAC shall appraise the projects and activities on basis of Form 1, Form 1A, conceptual plan and EIA report (if applicable)”. There is no provision or mandate in the Act which makes it mandatory to get non-agricultural permission NA and plan sanctions before EC appraisal. Such circulars are superseding and contrary to MoEF circulars and must be immediately withdrawn.

7.8 Validity of EC for 10 years on construction projects with option of one more renewal. Today’s projects are large and with phase-wise construction often stretching beyond 10 years, especially township projects.

8. Infrastructure status for affordable housing projects Instead of continuously following up with Government for support required for affordable housing, conferring infrastructure status will ensure policy dispensation available for infrastructure projects are extended to affordable housing. Key benefits will include ability of insurance company and long-term loans providers to lend to affordable housing project, automatic approval route for ECB and IT benefits available through 80-IA and 80-IB of Income Tax Act.

9. Fiscal tax concessions 9.1 Affordable housing projects be provided the SEZ status with consequent fiscal benefits comprising exemption from excise duty and service tax, lower stamp duty on transfer of ownership to buyers and reduction of tax rate to rate prescribed for MAT. 9.2 Providing benefit under Section 35AD for real estate sector or restoring Section 80I (B) of Income Tax Act. 9.3 Increasing threshold limit to `5 lakh for deduction on interest on housing loans under section 24 (b) of IT and Wealth Tax. 9.4 Northeast suffers from highest cost of construction materials in India making affordable housing virtually impossible. This in spite of the fact that the North East Investment and Industrial Policy (NEIIP) gives significant subsidies to industries manufacturing these materials located in the region. The list of subsidies enjoyed by construction material manufacturing industries includes 100% IT and excise duty exemption, transport subsidy, manpower subsidy, power subsidy, gen-set subsidy, 30% capital subsidy, 99% VAT

Today’s projects are large and with phasewise construction often stretching beyond 10 years, especially the township projects exemption, interest subsidy on working capital and 100% reimbursement of insurance premium.

There is no mechanism in these policies which ensures thousands of crores in public expenditure incurred in these subsidies; for benefit of the region and its people, reaches intended beneficiaries or serves public purpose. In reality, a handful of industrialists are sole beneficiaries and materials produced are sold at the highest prices in India, leading to escalation of housing costs so much so that 32% of the people are already living in slums as housing is beyond their affordable reach. It is, therefore, recommended: (a) 80% benefits of subsidy enjoyed under NEIIP must be passed on in form of reduced prices of building materials to affordable housing sector; (b) grant of subsidies must be linked to a legitimate selling price.

10. Other required approvals from Central Government We need to have electronic filing of approval requirements for clearance from AAI, the Central Government Ground Water Authority and a defined time line for approval. This will speed up the approval process and electronic filing will eliminate rent seeking.

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11. Define minimum FSA FSA/ FSI varies from state to state and within a state by district. For example in Maharashtra, maximum FSA in locations outside MMRDA is 0.75 whereas in Karnataka, FSA is uniform (based on road width of access road) and varies between 2.0 and 2.75. In Odisha, there is an additional 0.25 FSA (over the norm) for affordable housing. What is important is to define a minimum FSA so that scarce land is used efficiently and is adhered to by all states.

12. Define maximum stamp duty for affordable housing Stamp duty for registration varies from state to state and the range is from a nominal fee going up to 10%. It is recommended a concept of maximum stamp duty be introduced and pegged at no more than 5%.

13. Using funds from JNURM for building shared facilities In suburban locations, there is an absence of sewage treatment pipes for transportation of fresh water and electricity cables for last mile connectivity. It would be better that sewage treatment plants are set up on a

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central basis and serve all the projects in that micro location. Apart from cost benefits, there is better compliance on the process of treatment of water.

Similarly, last mile connectivity by building common pipes or cables will lower cost of infrastructure for each project. Shared facility should be funded through JNURM funds and developers be charged access fee for usage of shared facility. JNURM funds will serve as a catalyst for setting of shared facility but total cost can be recovered through a combination of access fee and annual charges to each of the project. Such shared facility will be run on BOT basis by private sector.

14. Higher allocation of funds Higher allocation of funds from skill development fund for construction workers and allied skills.

The Government should give 100% depreciation or investment allowance if any company invests in skill development facility. We need to build an industrygovernment joint programme for training and certification of construction workers. With improved skills, both labour and industry, will benefit. Certification programme can serve as a motivator for the workers to achieve higher skill levels and obtain better opportunities. While there are a number of efforts by various developer groups and NGOs, there is a need for substantial scale up and for a common curriculum that provides consistency in training.

15. Investment in R&D for construction industry Institutions like HUDCO or IITs or developers should be encouraged for innovation. This is achieved through a process of fund allocation for such innovation and tax benefits for investment made by the developers for promoting such innovation.

Institutions like HUDCO or IITs or developers should be encouraged for innovation. This is achieved through a process of fund allocation for such innovation and tax benefits for investment made by the developers for promoting such innovation

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Part

two

Policy changes requiring Parliament approval

Real Estate Bill The Bill, pending approval of Rajya Sabha and President of India, needs to be modified to bring into its purview various government agencies responsible for providing approvals to real estate projects. This would ensure time bound clearance of approval request, an adjudication process to address difference in interpretation of bye laws, reduce ad-hoc and

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arbitrary requirements often imposed by approving authorities and reduce/eliminate systemic rent seeking behaviour. It is pertinent to point out that India ranks 194 out of 197 countries (one being the best and 197 being the worst) in ease of doing real estate business in India and the rating is a reflection of the time delays and the deeply embedded rent seeking nature of the approval process.

It is pertinent to point out that India ranks 194 out of 197 countries in ease of doing real estate business in India

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Policy changes requiring engagement and state government approval

1. Land conversion

2. Publish bye-laws

(Agriculture to non-agriculture) In Karnataka, conversion of land from agriculture to non-agriculture is by way of a simple submission to approving authorities for conversion and paying requisite fees across the counter. Rules in many states require the building plans are first approved by town planning authority and thereafter is application for NA conversion taken up. This sequential approval process results in longer approval time and in any case conversion of land to a non-agriculture has no logical link to the type of apartments being constructed.

(On website) In interest of transparency and good governance, all bye-laws need to be published on a website. Request for clarification of bye-laws interpretation must be accepted electronically and such clarification be added to FAQ section of the bye-law.

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3. Appellate authority (For appeals and conflict resolution) Since town planning approvals are decentralised at district/ sub-district level, there is wide range

Since town planning approvals are decentralised at district/ subdistrict level, there is wide range of interpretation of bye-law and no recourse to developers against interpretation of town planning unit

activity by panchayat. It is important to emphasise the building plans are in any case required to be approved by state town planning authorities and panchayats do not have any technical competency in providing these approvals. Therefore, an effective solution is that if one follows norms as laid down in notified bye-laws of area closest to panchayat and submits a building plan to panchayat, the same could be granted deemed approval.

6. Single window clearance and electronic submission of documents for approval for building permits

of interpretation of bye-law and no recourse to developers against interpretation of town planning unit. There is no recourse available for any arbitrary interpretation of bye-laws and any appeal through courts is a long-drawn process. In respect of Central Law, eg income tax or Sebi guidelines or insurance companies, there is a framework for an appeal to the tribunal or ombudsman. We need similar redressal mechanism through an appellate authority or ombudsman or a supervisory board.

4. Utility company and service provides (Acting as approval authorities) NOCs and approvals are required from utilities such as state electricity board, MTNL and BSNL etc. These are all service providers and the discussion between these institutions and the developers should be a commercial one around services and their costs. Instead, these service providers have been made approving authorities adding to both approval time lines and to rent seeking behavior.

5. Panchayat approval automatic on payment of fees While developers are willing to pay fees for approvals from panchayat and thereby support financial requirements, current approach of requiring panchayat approval to building plans and approvals for commencement of construction has resulted in delay in getting all approvals and results in systemic rent seeking

6.1 Manual process, whereby a certified architect can confirm compliance of plan to bye-laws and approvals are based on such certification. This will reduce approval cycle time. On basis of architect approval on drawings, 75% FSI construction to be allowed and upon obtaining balance permissions, project plans to be approved by respective authorities. When Government recognises proficiency of CA, doctors, lawyers, why not architects?

6.2 To provide a computer programme driven approval process. Regardless of methodology adopted, maximum approval time be defined and be within 90 days. Time for pre-plan work such as completion of government survey, partition of land, NOCs and similar administrative process must be completed with a pre-defined time.

Part

four

On basis of architect approval on drawings, 75% FSI construction to be allowed and upon obtaining balance permissions, project plans to be approved by respective authorities. When Government recognises proficiency of CA, doctors, lawyers, why not architects?

long-term Structural

The structural change that is required is to harmonise bye-laws and provide a more consistent framework across India. Harmonisation of bye-laws will result in standardisation and move the construction industry to an industrial process. The result of standardisation is improved quality, lower component cost and better training process for workers. Given large changes in technology, there is also a requirement to relook at building codes and there are opportunities to have both better design and lower cost.

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The Integrated Design Way The designs of high energy performance buildings require careful consideration of a number of aspects and an iterative design process involving both the architect and engineering design team along with the client

focus

T

o tap energy saving potential and design sustainable buildings, the need of the hour is integrated design. The energy consumed by a building is not an isolated aspect but a function of its various components, among which are climate, architectural design, building envelope (walls, roof, windows, solar shading), building usage and occupancy, equipment and lighting as well as heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems. These are all variables that affect the energy (or electricity) consumed. The design of a high energy performance building thus requires careful consideration of all these above-mentioned aspects and an iterative design process involving both the architect and engineering design teams along with the clients.

The conventional design process poses several constraints in this iterative process. The conventional process is sequential and the different consultants are involved separately. For eg, architects develop the project design based on the requirements from the clients and then pass the frozen design to the consultants for incorporating the building services.

These constraints curtail consultants’ synergic potential for providing innovative and effective energy conservation measures. The non-integrated nature of the design does not offer a framework to optimise the

energy performance of the building.

The shortcomings of the conventional design process can be overcome by following an integrated design process. Integrated design means that the client, the architect and the engineering design team start working on the project together right from the beginning, based on the brief from the client. Doing this allows to tap the largest energy saving potential with minimum effort and cost (Figure 1). This also means that energy goals should be set at the very outset.

Charrette for Integrated design Integrated design is most effective when: »» It is held at the project concept design stage »» Most of the building design team (architect, structural engineer, HVAC engineer, electrical engineer, plumbing engineer, energy consultant, landscape consultant etc.) is appointed at the project outset One of the most effective ways of following an integrated design process is to organise a design workshop with the architect and the engineering teams at the early design phase. Such a design workshop is termed a Design Charrette. The Charrette provides an opportunity to consider and harmonise all possible energy-efficiency design strategies for the project. It

What’s charrette A charrette is an intense period of design or planning activity. The word may refer to a collaborative session in which a group of designers drafts a solution to a design problem.

While the structure of a charrette varies, depending on the design problem and the individuals in the group, charrettes often take place in multiple sessions in which the group divides into sub-groups. Each sub-group then presents its work to the full group as material for further dialogue.

Such charrettes serve as a way of quickly generating a design solution while integrating the aptitudes and interests of a diverse group of people.

Energy performance Till date , 10 commercial building projects have been selected for charrette assistance for which BEEP provided technical inputs, improving their esrimated energy performance by 25 - 45%.

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Indian cities contribute 60% to the country’s GDP

Concept design

Schematic design

Design development

Construction drawings

Construction

Commissioning

Integrated design charrette • Client • Architect • Structural Engineer • HVAC Engineer • Green/Energy Consultant…..

Efforts / Costs

Energy saving potential

Figure 1: Early intervention in the building design process allows tapping the largest energy saving potential with minimum cost increase

develops consensus among the project participants by allowing them to participate in the decision making process early in the design and reduce conflicts in the later stages.

BEEP Integrated Design Charrette Recently, the Charrette concept has been experimented as a part of The Indo-Swiss Building Energy Efficiency Project (BEEP) to design high energy performance commercial buildings. The BEEP Charrettes are designed to address the specific requirements for designing energy efficient in India such as the need for technical knowhow and experience, time constraints, the professional segmentation in the design process etc.

BEEP has put together a team consisting of senior Swiss and Indian architects and engineers to conduct the BEEP Design Charrettes. So far, charrettes have been conducted for 10 commercial buildings. This included government offices, IT offices, retail office buildings and hospitals. Energy savings in the range of 25-45% have been estimated in comparison to the pre-charrette designs, with minimal cost increase or the cost being offset by the energy saved.

BEEP Charrette Process Preparation before the charrette is important for a successful charrette. This involves: Collecting relevant information about the project- the climate, building function, occupancy and usage pattern, type of equipment, energy supply to the building etc.

Estimating the energy performance of the building based on this information. To do this, the BEEP team carries out various analyses (climate analysis, sun path,

Project: Public Office Building, Rajasthan (Climate: Composite) Strict deadlines Charrette is French for “cart” or “chariot”. In the École des BeauxArts in Paris in the 19th century, it was not unusual for student architects to continue working furiously in teams at the end of the allotted term, up until a deadline, when a charrette would be wheeled among the students to pick up their work for review while they, each working furiously to apply the finishing touches, were said to be working en charrette, in the cart. Émile Zola depicted such a scene of feverish activity, a nuit de charrette or charrette night, in L’Œuvre, his fictionalised account of his friendship with Paul Cézanne

Energy demand reduction: Better building envelope to reduce heat gains into the building

Addition of roof insulation

Efficient energy usage Efficient HVAC system

Efficient central water cooled chiller instead of air cooled VRV system

Renewable energy

120 kWp rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) system to meet part of the energy demand

Other low-energy consuming climate control strategies

Passive downdraft evaporative cooling (PDEC) in the nonconditioned corridors to maintain thermal comfort

Addition of wall insulation Effective solar protection of windows and double glazed unit using clear glass instead of single glazing

SIMULATED ENERGY SAVING POTENTIAL: 40%

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ST RATE GI E S

Shallow floor plate

% of window area Window shading Glazing performance

% of window area Building materials and construction Thermally open structure (No false ceiling etc.)

NATURAL VENTILATION

THERMAL MASS

EXTERNAL HEAT GAIN MANAGEMENT THROUGH BUILDING ENVELOPE Wall and roof insulation

High performance and efficient chillers etc.

Innovative technologies like radiant slab, chilled beams

1. Reduce Energy Demand: (a) ArtificialLighting

COST ANALYSIS OF COMBINED STRATEGIES

Window dimension

Window dimension PASSIVE STRATEGIES

Building massing and orientation

DAYLIGHT OPTIMISATION

EFFICIENT HEATING VENTILATION & AIR CONDITIONING (HVAC)

1. Reduce Energy Demand: (b) HVAC

Efficient equipment and use

Efficient artificial lighting

INTERNAL HEAT GAINS MANAGEMENT

ACTIVE STRATEGIES

Free cooling

ARTIFICIAL LIGHTING MANAGEMENT

Occupancy sensors

2. Use Energy Efficiently

3. Use Renewable Sources: To meet reduced energy demand

Figure 2: Strategies for energy efficient buildings are all interconnected and have 3 objectives- (1) Reduce energy demand; (2) Use energy efficiently; and (3) Use renewable energy sources

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Commercial building sector consumes 8% of total electricity in India

The BEEP design charrettes are conducted over four days by the BEEP team involving intensive discussions and working sessions with the building design team

Energy consumption (in commercial buildings) The commercial building sector consumes about 8% of the total electricity generated in India and this is growing at 11%–12% annually. It is expected that the commercial stock will annually increase by 3%–5%. According to the study on building energy benchmarking conducted by ECO III project, the average energy performance index (EPI) for commercial buildings will be ~70 kWh/ m2/year.

cost assessment) as well as dynamic energy simulation.

This gives an idea of the possible strategies for energy savings. During the charrette iterations of these strategies are discussed and analysed. The BEEP design charrettes are conducted over four days by the BEEP team involving intensive discussions and working sessions with the building design team. The builder / client also participates in some of the sessions - their presence is particularly essential in key decision making sessions. Each day of the charrette has its particular objective: »» Day 1: Develop a common understanding of the project n Set the energy goals n List possible strategies or revisions »» Day 2: Discuss the feasibility of possible strategies listed on Day 1 n Work separately in architectural and engineering

Let’s be energy efficient In 2001, the EC Act was introduced by the Government of India to emphasise the national priority on energy efficiency in all sectors. Under the provisions of the EC Act, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) was established in 2002. The BEE is mandated to reduce the energy intensity of the Indian economy by actively working with stakeholders to accelerate the adoption of energy efficiency measures.

Concept behind ECBC For mainstreaming the energy efficiency in the building sector, the BEE has introduced ECBC in May 2007. This is applicable to both new buildings and those undergoing renovation. The ECBC is applicable to buildings or building complexes with the connected load of 100 kW or greater or contract demand of 120 kVA or greater.

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ECBC compliance rate will touch 65% in 2017

focus

The Indo-Swiss Building Energy Efficiency Project (BEEP) is a joint project between Ministry of Power, Government of India and the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), of the Swiss Confederation, aimed at increasing energy efficiency in new buildings in India and promote Energy Conservation and Building Code (ECBC) compliance in new commercial buildings.

The Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) is the implementing agency on behalf of the MoP while the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) is the implementing agency on behalf of the FDFA. One of the key objectives of BEEP is to help Indian builders and developers in adopting new processes, tools and technologies for designing energyefficient buildings. BEEP aims to promote the integrated design concept among builders and developers and to avail Swiss technical knowhow to design energyefficient commercial buildings.

design teams to work on the application of the strategies. The two teams interact periodically for clarifications n Integration of shortlisted strategies into proposed design cases »» Day 3: BEEP team analyses the energy performance and cost implications of the proposed design cases. »» Day 4: Decision on strategies or revisions to be incorporated in the design In the charrette, all possible energy efficiency design strategies and their cost implications are analysed (Figure 2). These strategies are not mutually exclusive - all of them are interconnected and changing one influences the other. Examples: One may decide to providing shading devices on the windows. Doing this will decrease the heat gain into the building through the windows but at the same time will

Building orientation and solar protection Daylight optimisation through shallow floor plates and configuration of working spaces Thermal inertia

Efficient energy usage Efficient HVAC system

Efficiency of axial fan at cooling tower Lower pressure losses in hydronic circuits Energy efficient chillers Free cooling and night cooling

Renewable energy

Rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) system to meet part of the energy demand

SIMULATED ENERGY SAVING POTENTIAL: 35%

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The objectives of these strategies are three-fold: »» Objective 1: Reduce energy demand »» Objective 2: Use energy more efficiently to

Project: IT park, Madhya Pradesh (Climate: Composite) Energy demand reduction Passive strategies

also decrease daylighting in the building.

Some strategies complement each other. For e.g. providing natural ventilation at night (also known as night cooling) will dissipate the heat from the building space.

An accessible thermal mass (exposed walls and ceilings) augments this process by allowing heat loss from the building structure during the night. This further helps in reducing cooling requirement during the day.

provide comfort »» Objective 3: Use renewable sources to meet the reduced energy demand

Mainstreaming Integrated Design Buildings are the highest consumers of energy in India after industries. Coupled with the fact that the building stock in India is projected to be tripled by 2050, it is indisputable that energy conservation in buildings is the need of the hour. Buildings need to be high performance, energy efficient and comfortable and Integrated Design is the easiest and most effective way to do so. The BEEP charrette is an effort to promote integrated design as the norm.

Just as the aesthetic image of the building is accorded an important position in the decision making process, the ‘energy’ image also needs to be given equal, if not more, importance. One hopes that the builder-developer community will incorporate the integrated design process within their design ethic.

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Yes, Modi can!

V R Ramanujan says it is ideal of the Centre to work in close cohesion with state governments for a better tomorrow

G

ujarat model of development - can it be replicated on an all-India basis? This is the most frequent topic in discussion at all levels, be it intelligentsia, common public or businessmen. Let’s delve deep into the topic in a scientific manner taking ground realities into consideration. For a debate on any topic to be driven to a clear conclusion, ground realities have to be given the centrestage and this is a sincere attempt in that direction.

However, there are certain dynamics that are to be kept in mind before coming to any conclusion. The resources with the Centre are certainly multiple times more than what any state can have. The Union Budget stands at a whopping `5,55,322 crore for 2013-14 and is expected

that the proposed plan spending for the fiscal year higher by about `90,790 crore or 19 per cent over the revised estimates for 2013- 14. The large pool of talented administrative minds is an asset. At the same time, there many areas that demands huge budget allocation like defence, PSUs, Railways, building infrastructure etc. What is expected of a PM is infinitesimal to what a CM of a state does? However, leadership skeleton remains the same at all levels. it does wonders for sure. Also, the commitment of the leadership at the helm can’t find a substitute in any.

The mission will reach the end successfully if a right formula is in place. Strategy is the key if one takes into account several factors like socio, economic and others. It shall be imperative that a customised Gujarat model of development will surely light up a grand future for our nation as a whole. It is because of the fact that India is a very diversified nation on many counts.

That’s why, an exact copy cat model might not be as relevant as a customised model will be.

Strategy is the key if one takes into account several factors like socio, economic and others.

It shall be imperative that a customised Gujarat model of development will surely light up a grand future for our nation as a whole. It is because of the fact that India is a very diversified nation on many counts

Vibrant Gujarat Different states stand at different stages of development and with varying geographical features and challenges.

Hence, every state

80.1%

Literacy Rate

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Development expenditure (amount in `crore) 35,953

2008-09

40,418

48,280

2009-10

2010-11

needs to be supported in handling its top priorities.

For instance, capital construction in Andhra Pradesh, creation of employment in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, rural empowerment in Telangana, Metro connectivity in Maharashtra, development of ports in coastal states, farm insurance to farmers in agro-based states, tourism development in potential states, social security in Kashmir and the like. This way, the public can feel relieved with the positive waves of Modi sarkar. His leadership and vision matter a lot for India and he is the gift of God at the right time. Yes, he can move India forward on the development front and the vibes are being very positive. His constructive development is matchless and that stands to his support in moving forward.

Looking at the background, Gujarat as a state is financially sound and uniform on several fronts but is not so with many other states. So, to develop India as a whole, customisation of Government priorities to the needs and aspirations of the respective states is pivotal. That’s why decentralisation of power and empowering of panchayats has been vocal from long time and indeed there is substantial stuff in the proposition. Because men at the ground know better about what they need. It is with his understanding of ground level realities, Modi was able to create a Vibrant Gujarat during his tenure as the state’s chief minister. The victory in the recent general elections is mainly due to massive support of his development works in Gujarat. The powerful Modi wave was the voice of the people for such development to happen all over India. Taking this to an analytical end, what Modi has done in Gujarat can be replicated at

12.8%

52,924

Agricultural Growth

69,539

2011-12

Financially sound Gujarat as a state is financially sound and uniform on several fronts but is not so with many other states.

So, to develop India as a whole, customisation of Government priorities to the needs and aspirations of the respective states is pivotal

Annual footfall of

19.81 million of tourists in 2010-11

2012-13

76,679

2013-14

an all India level too provided the ifs and buts are diligently taken care of. However, it is not going to be a cakewalk to deal with the development of a diverse nation as India is. However, there are certain dynamics that are to be kept in mind before coming to any conclusion. The resources with the Centre are certainly multiple times more than what any state can have.

The large pool of talented administrative minds is an asset. At the same time, there many areas that demand huge budget allocation like defence, PSUs, railways, building infrastructure etc.

What is expected of a PM is infinitesimal to what a CM of a state does. However, leadership skeleton remains the same at all levels. it does wonders for sure. also, the commitment of the leadership at the helm can’t find a substitute in

60,000

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any. The mission will reach the end successfully if a right formula is in place. Strategy is the key.

One factor that drives home a lot of optimism are the additional resources available with the Centre for developing states apart from the resources of the respective state. In a federal structure like ours, states have to depend on the Centre for many things like approvals and clearances etc. If the Centre and the states move in cohesion to overcome the challenges without giving scope to politics, it will be sure that we will experience Golden Age. What a state like Gujarat can do with its limited resources can be done by the Centre in all the states.

It is worth recalling the words of Mr Narendra Modi where he shared his views as Gujarat chief minister in the conclave of CMs that the support from the Centre is negative.

That’s why the willingness of the Centre is the seed for the overall development of our nation. Sometimes, what is right from state’s point of view will be wrong from Union’s point of view and vice versa. Hence, the tussle exists between the Centre and the states which has to be dealt with shrewd statesmanship.

is decentralisation important?

It shall be observed that due to diversity, the regional parties have been playing a dominant role not only in administration of the state but also on national and

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What a state like Gujarat can do with its limited resources can be done by the Centre in all the states One may feel surprised about Jayalalithaa rejecting the direction of PM to adopt Hindi as an official means of communication despite it being our national language with its mention in the Constitution.

Here, the root cause is of state dynamics. Whoever might be the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, he/ she will have responded in a similar fashion due to the sensitivities of people of Tamil Nadu, particularly their affinity to their mother tongue

international issues that have direct bearing on the interests of our nation as a whole. Also, a programme or a scheme that gets huge success in one state might not be relevant in every other state and slight mismanagement on regional front might be blown out of proportion creating chaos and bad will for the Central Government. Hence, decentralisation of administration is very much suggestible which gives the states enough independence to decide on which course of development they would like to embarrass.

One may feel surprised about Jayalalithaa rejecting the direction of PM to adopt Hindi as an official means of communication despite it being our national language with its mention in the Constitution. Here, the root cause is of state dynamics. Whoever might be the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, he/ she will have responded in a similar fashion due to the sensitivities of people of Tamil Nadu, particularly their affinity to their mother tongue.

They are so inclined to the pride of Tamil Nadu that they don’t accept any other language.

Another aspect to consider is the huge North-South divide in the aspirations and lifestyle of people and the policy of equitable development can alone bridge the divide which has been growing more undesirably.

Development is one of the key considerations of the public but not the only one. There were instances where development plans were opposed as in the case of farmers’ agitation to land acquisition for private development, Narmada Bachao Andolan etc. It is sensitivities and emotions that play a dominant role in the administration of the state or a nation. India, since its Independence, has never witnessed a civil war sort of movement mainly due to the fact that there exists a multi-party system due to which people change their strides when get disgusted with the policies of ruling party.

Hence, the opposition parties play a significant role in Indian politics. Actually, the opposition parties need to be proactive in highlighting what all constructive deeds that shall be taken forward. They shall extend constructive support with the right team spirit in making progress happen, just as in USA when all join hands post-elections for the development of their nation.

time to deliver Why we have been analysing all this is because the Modi sarkar has come into power on development plan which infused people to believe that achche din anewale hain.

The expectations of the people are huge on all fronts. If not delivered and properly handled, it may turn out to be a bubble of hope. Time is now to deliver.

The most critical thing is that the common public has been so much vexed with misrule of the previous Government, particularly of the uncontrolled inflation that they are no longer ready to bear any burden either in terms of increase in taxes or increase in prices of basic goods and services or to forego any of the existing

State of Economy While Gujarat accounts for 4.99% of India’s population, its share in the country’s GDP for the year 2011-12 [at constant (2004-05) prices] is 7.61%. Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) at factor cost at current prices in 2011-12 has been estimated at `6,11,767 crore registering a growth of 15.3% over the previous year. GSDP at factor cost at constant (2004-05) prices, in 2011-12 has been estimated at `3,98,884 crore showing an increase of 8.5% during the year. The share of primary, secondary and tertiary sectors is 21.8%, 36.1% and 42.1% respectively to the total GSDP in 2011-12. Gujarat has also registered an increase of 13.8% in the Per Capita Income for 2011-12, which has been estimated at `89,668 as against `78,802 in 201011, at current prices.

concessions. In this scenario, how can the Government move forward as all its actions depend on finance?

It is reported that already a whopping 42 per cent of total budget was spent by the UPA Government in advance, leaving the current Government in severe budgetary crunch.

It needs no wisdom to agree that the first and foremost priority for Modi sarkar will be to match finances to its actions. There shall be a huge deficit as it has been understood for multiple reasons. Never since Independence were we able to make a surplus budget.

A day when we make this happen would demonstrate the might of our leadership.

In reality, the real problem of our nation is in the rampant culture of being unproductive, inefficient, lack of commitment, lack of time sense, unprofessional outlook and poor emphasis on ethics. This all act as a root cause in increasing the cost of doing any task.

One should not wonder that there were instances where voters have to be lured with attractive gifts worth a few hundreds and also thousands to make them cast their vote which is, in fact, everyone’s basic right as a citizen. If the inspiration behind such a noble responsibility has to be a mean thing, where does our nation go? Yet we all have plenty of reasons to thank God and many other noble citizens who have been tirelessly working to keep India as it is today despite many odds. To make better of things, there should be a clear scheme to encourage contributors to nation building particularly the jawans (soldiers) and kisans (farmers). Our nation owes a lot which words can’t describe. Hats off to India’s second prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri who voiced from his heart: Jai Jawan Jai Kisan. Undoubted, the peasants and soldiers have to be given their due share.

One should not wonder that there were instances where voters have to be lured with attractive gifts worth a few hundreds and thousands to make them cast their vote which is, in fact, everyone’s basic right as a citizen.

If the inspiration behind such a noble responsibility has to be a mean thing, where does our nation go? Yet we all have plenty many reasons to thank God and many other noble citizens who have been tirelessly working to keep our India as it is today despite many odds.

To make better of things, there should be a clear scheme to encourage contributors to nation building particularly the jawans (soldiers) and kisans (farmers). Our nation owes a lot which words can’t describe. Hats off to India’s second PM Lal Bahadur Shastri who voiced from his heart: Jai Jawan Jai Kisan

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development-oriented approach There is a report stating that approximately 20 per cent of Indian youth are unemployed. Let’s think this way. We have to engage more and more people to R&D because it is this small percentage of R&D minds that create jobs for the rest of the country.

If we can encourage the top 10 per cent creative youth to work on R&D front, such equivalent percentage of underemployed will get fully employed and many new jobs too could be created making employment for all possible

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On all other fronts of development too, time is ripe for now to focus on ‘out of the box thinking ‘ and give way for ‘Indovation’ which means innovation to the current contexts of India. Let’s taste a few examples. There is a report stating that approximately 20 per cent of Indian youth are unemployed. Let’s think this way. We have to engage more and more people to R&D because it is this small percentage of R&D minds that create jobs for the rest of the country. If we can encourage the top 10 per cent creative youth to work on R&D front, such equivalent percentage of underemployed will get fully employed and many new jobs too could be created making employment for all possible.

Even if all the unemployed are streamlined to green jobs in making our India clean, green and sustainable, it will stand out historical. It was done in a similar fashion in USA when Barack Obama occupied the office of the US president for the first time, taking the country’s economy out of crisis.

Why can’t we plant fruit giving trees everywhere instead of sparing huge budget for Food Security Bill? Why can’t we train every youth in military for a minimum of two years after attaining the age of

majority? Such training will make youth to inculcate leadership and patriotic spirits. If all our youth are truly patriotic, the nation of our dream will be built in no time than anyone can dream.

Wish that it began at the top with a dynamic , visionary and workaholic PM leading the nation who is known for his development-oriented approach and broadminded outlook. May his mantra of ‘speed, size and skills’ catch the imagination of all in building India as superpower on all fronts. All that my heart cherishes is this: Yes, Modi can. Because time is now and we no longer can afford to let it go underutilised.

11th Five Year Plan During the 11th Plan, despite the effects of the global economic meltdown, Gujarat achieved an average annual rate of 9.51%. The size of the 11th Plan was envisaged at `1,11,111 crore. However, the final size of the 11th Plan reached `1,28,500 crore.

While making allocations, we gave priority to the Social Sectors, keeping in mind the overall objective of improving the Human Development Index of the State, for which an allocation of `53830 crore (i.e.

42% of the Plan) was made in the Eleventh Plan. The state achieved nearly 98% of the 11th Plan outlay.

RNI No. DELENG/2013/53365

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Building a new india credai.org

Expectations from the new Government

view

India needs a government which travels many miles ahead of its expectation in order to regain its lost position of being Indian is a global pride way Each one of us can imagine that getting into power is tough but to keep delivering from time to time and fulfill all the expectations of public is more of a tight rope walk demanding a clear balance amid many priorities. One can be in the race only by maintaining the ideal balance in ensuring the public feels delight with the performance of the Government.

India of today needs a Government which travels many miles ahead of its expectation in order to region its lost position of being Indian is a global pride way. The way forward has many challenges and toughest of all is to take hard decision at the right time. The positive force that influences and inspires the Government to swing into execution mode is the expectations of the public which is just like a sword hanging on your head.

The noble leaders who stand for people are seldom and needless to say about leaders who take up corrective actions. In democratic countries, no Government can afford to go aggressive with strict corrective measures even if they are essential as their popularity will be at stake. But India at current juncture needs strict corrections and constructive plans keeping the future in view.

challengeS ahead Imagine Delhi without the Metro system and you will realise the plight of citizens all over India. Drinking water is still a big challenge in many parts of India indicating the Government needs to deliver a lot in building world class infrastructure for the future generations to feel proud about. How does this happen? It is not actually what the Government does today but it is all about what the Government envisions about our India to be down the line say after two or three decades and executes such plan today with commit and without falling flat to the challenges that happen midway.

Active involvement of people is essential to make big plans really take the necessary shape as the Government has announced many like building 100

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view

Financing the plan We in Gujarat, have been able to make substantial Plan investments to catalyse a high rate of growth and development.

This strong financial foundation rests on good management, and fiscal discipline.

During the last four years, the state government has brought down the Fiscal Deficit from 3.54% of GSDP to 2.57% of GSDP in 2013-14 (BE). Public Debt as a percentage of GSDP has been brought down, and is being utilised for developmental and infrastructure investments, as may be seen from the strong economic growth and tax revenues. This astute fiscal management has enabled us to set an ambitious growth target in Annual Plan 2013-14 as well.

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Smart Cities, Home To All by 2022 etc, making air travel affordable, quality education and healthcare etc. A detailed strategy document outlining how it is going to achieve every of its promise will be more appreciable.

A specific website for making such things open to public and also to seek suggestions and ideas would be a brilliant idea..

In general, no Government in a democratic system can have courage to do the deep trodden corrections as one or the other section of the society might feel the pain resulting in losing support base. But for India to move forward needs course corrections on several fronts and the Government needs to be aggressive and have constructive plans, keeping the future in view.

It will be a tough path to travel and unless travelled, we, as a nation, remain staggering with the same age-old problems.

view

In a democratic country like India, consensus is very unlikely on any macro front. The Government should find a mechanism to take along with it all other political parties because it saves a lot of productive time in defending the negative criticism of every policy.

Hence, there is a need for a ‘code of conduct’ for all political parties.

Else will give way for unproductive politics. It is easier comparatively to win the the public by criticising others in a big way but it is of no use to the nation development. Constructive criticism would give out solutions. This culture has to be developed by all.

The agenda On the other hand, the people of the nation should be well informed about why the motive behind every decision of the Government unless it is confidential. The role of media too is very big in achieving the needed development in the set time frame. It has to play a very proactive role in bringing out the unrecognised problems of the public on one side and share positive messages to the public about the good actions of the Government.

The noteworthy observation of the Government is to hint that money hard decisions which many not relish will have to be taken to keep our economy back an growth trajectory. This speaks high about the

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preparedness to go beyond appeasement policies and programmes. If one can go deeper into the strength behind such bold pronouncements, it will be surely the commitment of the leadership which has the advantage of stable mandate. This will not have been possible in case of any coalition Government.

Let’s analyse this scenario. AAP, that came to power in Delhi, was swayed completely by the immediate expectations of the public whereas the Modi sarkar at the Centre is with a clear focus on long term issues which would surely be good for the nation and the NDA political fortunes as well. However, it is necessary for NDA to strategies for the forthcoming assembly elections in different states.

In a federal structure like India, the Central Government plays a dominant role in the overall administration and the role of respective of state governments too can’t be undermined. It is the respective Governments in the state that have a direct grasp of the expectations of their people and the needs of the public. Hence, it is ideal of the Centre to work in close cohesion with the state governments.

The Gujarat model of development has something universal and a few aspects specific to the state. Those which all can be replicated have to be implemented for overall development of the country. In this way, the fruits of Gujarat model of development will reach all.

Ramanujan is a well-known creative think tank and an innovative strategist practising in the area of ‘Building World Class organisations on the pillars of ethics and innovation’. He is a leadership coach, CEO guide and a versatile writer apart from being a motivational speaker

A study by JLL on

Real Estate Scenario In gujarat

51 Gujarat

contents

One of the fastest growing states in India

60 Ahmedabad

The seventh largest metropolis of India is a pharmaceutical and textile hub of Gujarat

72 Vadodara

The third largest city in Gujarat is located southeast of Ahmedabad and has a population of 1.6 million

80 Surat

With a population of 4.46 million, Surat is the second largest city in Gujarat and known for textile and diamond industries

90 Rajkot

Fourth largest city in Gujarat, Rajkot is the 35th largest urban agglomeration in India and world’s 22nd fastest-growing city

U r b a n Development in

Gujarat

from roots

to wings

Gujarat

is a state at the western part of India with an area of 196,204 sq km and a 1,600 km coastline, which is almost one-third of India’s coastline.

Established as state on May 1, 1960, it is the 10th largest state with a population of around 60 million (2011). It has 26 districts and Gandhinagar as capital. It is one of the fastest growing states in India with the four major cities: Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot fuelling the growth.

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U r b a n Development in

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Strategic location

T

he location of Gujarat has played a major part in its growth and development. The state has been a major trade destination since the ancient times, due to its strategic location. Located on the west coast of India, Gujarat is the gateway to the rich northern and central parts of India and also connects major ports of the United

Kingdon, Australia, Middle-East and East Asian economies.

Gujarat has leveraged its long coastline by building several minor and major ports which have attracted many port based industries. Apart from the ports, Gujarat also has excellent connectivity with the other parts of India by road, rail and air.

Gujarat Dashboard

AREA 1,96,000 sq km (6.2% of India)

CAPITAL Gandhinagar

POPULATION 60.4 million

LITERACY 78.03%

SEX RATIO 919

GSDP (2011-12) `39,88,840

URBANISATION 37.4%

Source: CMIE and Census of India

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U r b a n Development in

Gujarat

A leader in India Gujarat is a leader among the states of India – both on economic and social parameters Economic Indicators »» The growth rate of agriculture in terms of growth

rate of NSDP is highest in Gujarat which is 11.5% between 1999-2000 and 2008-2009 at 1999-2000 prices. »» Gujarat contributes about 11% of the GDP by industries of India in 2011-12 which is second highest in India after Maharashtra (15%). »» Gujarat is the fourth highest per capita income among the Indian states (barring the UTs). There is also significant growth in per capita income for Gujarat which grew at a rate of 18.79% between 2009 and 2012, the second highest in India. »» It is among the top five states of India with highest GSDP. Though Gujarat is placed at fifth position, the average growth of GSDP in Gujarat in between 2004 -2012 is 10.13% which is second among the above mentioned states. »» The state is also a favourite investment destination in India. Between 1991 and 2013, the value of proposed investment in Gujarat is `127,018 million (12.32% of the national figure), which is second highest in India.

Social Indicators »» Apart from economy, Gujarat is also a socially

forward state with positive human development indicators. »» Gujarat is an urbanised state where 42.58% of the

Human Development Indicators (as per Census of India 2011)

Literacy Rate

Selected Human Development Indicators: Gujarat vs.

India

IMR

Gujarat is attracting population from other states of India as well as from other countries of the world

population of the state lives in urban areas (sixth highest in the country). »» The rate of growth of urban population in the last two decades (1991-2011) for Gujarat is 11.15%, which is fourth highest in the Country. »» Gujarat is also a state which is continuously attracting population from others states of India as well as from other countries of the world. The state has attracted around 0.7 million migrants, the third highest number of migrants among all the states in India.

Gujarat India Human Devlopment Indicators 79.31

74.4

41

44

66.8 years

66.1 years

Birth Rate (per 1,000)

21.3

21.8

Death Rate (per 1,000)

6.7

7.1

120.3

116.0

Life Expectancy

Gross Enrollment Ratio (6-10 years)

India

(as per Census of India 2011)

Source: Planning Commission, CSO, MICI

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U r b a n Development in

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A thriving economy

T

he economic growth indicators of Gujarat have been impressive with an achievement of an average annual growth rate of 10.4 % in the last five years. Gujarat contributes to 11% of the industrial production of the country and has also mobilised the highest share (12.7%) of the investments through lEMs in the country.

decadal agricultural growth rate of 10.97%. »» Industrial products include cement and petrol. Reliance

Industries operates the oil refinery at Jamnagar which is the world’s largest grass-roots refinery. »» As per RBI report, in year 2006-07, 26% out of total bank finance in India was in Gujarat.

Sectorwise distribution of GSDP (2011-12) »» Major agricultural produce of the state includes

cotton, groundnuts (peanuts), dates, sugarcane, milk and milk products. Gujarat records highest

As per RBI report, in year 2006–07, 26% out of total bank finance in India was in Gujarat Gujarat’s share in India

Source: CMIE

Source: CMIE and Economic Survey 2011-12

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U r b a n Development in

Gujarat

The industrial hub of India The state of Gujarat is one of the highly industrialised states in India with its reputation of being highly investor-friendly. The state has a proven track record of attracting high volumes of investment becoming the most favoured investment destination in India.

Manufacturing sector in Gujarat contributes to 27.6% of GSDP in Gujarat with a CAGR of 23% in last two years. In 2012-13, the government announced its attention to attain the target of 32% contribution by manufacturing sector in GSDP by 2017.

Industrial presence Gujarat has emerged as the most preferred investment destination by its sound economic policies and proactive governance. The Vibrant Gujarat Summit has acted as an effective catalyst in the journey of growth of industry in Gujarat. The 6th edition of Vibrant Gujarat in 2013 saw 17,719 investment intentions were signed.

Infrastructure and urban development The impressive growth of Gujarat rests on strong foundations, which is its robust infrastructure. The government had started investing in developing it couple of decades back. Urban development in Gujarat is triggered by rapid infrastructure and industrial

The manufacturing sector in Gujarat contributes to 27.6% of GSDP in Gujarat The industrial hub of India

Total no. of factories are 15,576 (4th) highest in India providing employment to 11,59,239 persons (third highest in India)

257 industrial clusters

83 product clusters

60 SEZs

Investment Regions like DMIC, SIR, PCPIR, GIFT

Highest share of 16.91% of fixed capital in India.

The net value added by factory sector is `894,480 million in 2010-11(P)

Source: Socio-economic review: Gujarat, 2012-13

Gujarat: Infrastructure and Urban Development

Industrial presence

Road length: 77,265 km (NH: 3,262 km). Ranked eighth in India Railway: 5,271 km with 588 km of DFC. Ranked third in India 16 domestic and one international airport 1 major and 41 minor ports. Second highest in India (259 million tonnes in ‘11-12) Installed electricity capacity ‘11-12: 13,566 MW. Second highest in India Integrated State Gas Grid of 2,200 km

State Wide WAN Implemented Source: JLL

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U r b a n Development in

Gujarat Rail & road network

Gujarat has an extensive network of national and state highways which connects all the urban centres of the state with each other and with other states of India

development all over the state.

As pointed above, apart from the basic infrastructure like road, rail and electricity, state wide gas and telecom network also fuelled urban growth and development in the state.

Rail and road network Gujarat has an extensive network of national and state highways, which connects all the urban centres of the state with each other and with other states of India. Similarly, the urban and rural areas of the state are wellconnected by the Western Railway which also connects Gujarat with other parts of the country.

Ports and airports Gujarat has 41 ports which offers numerous opportunities for port based industries. These industries, in turn, have triggered urban growth and development around them.

Source: JLL

As per Deutsche Bank Research, “Gujarat offers the most favourable outlook for the growth of demand for infrastructure projects�.

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U r b a n Development in

Policies for different sectors in Gujarat

Profile of major urban areas of Gujarat

Per Income% of% of SEC A PerCapita Capita (INR) Income SEC A & B

Cities

Population

DDP (2006-07)

Ahmedabad

57,23,000

401,089

63,000

27%

Surat

45,93,000

333,324

57,000

27%

Rajkot

20,42,000

153,505

49,000

31%

Vadodara

18,81,000

192,053

89,000

31%

Bhavnagar

10,76,300

133,035

61,000

19%

Jamnagar

10,43,000

118931

52,000

16%

at current price (` in million)

Solar power Gujarat has been a leader in solar power generation and contributes 2/3rd of the 900 MW of photovoltaics in the country. The state has commissioned Asia’s biggest solar park at Charanka village in Patan district. The park is already generating 2 MW solar power out of its total planned capacity of 500 MW. The state has also a plan to initiative room top solar power generation scheme in several urban areas of Gujarat.

Initiatives are also being taken to generate solar power by putting solar panels on the Narmada canal branches.

Policies Apart from the infrastructure, urban development in the state of Gujarat is also boosted by amenable policy frameworks for different sectors.

Present state of urbanisation Gujarat is one of the most urbanised states of India with 42.58% share of urban population, much higher the national average of 31.16%.

As per National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) report, ‘Migration in India’, Gujarat has the highest rate of

Gujarat

Mineral Policy

IT Policy Solar Power Policy (1st state in India to formulate) Agro Industrial Policy Wind Power Policy (1st state in India to formulate) Industrial Policy

Gujarat has been a leader in solar power generation and contributes 2/3rd of the 900 MW of photovoltaics in the country.

The State has commissioned Asia’s biggest solar park at Charanka village in Patan district. The park is already generating 2 MW solar power out of its total planned capacity of 500 MW

Tourism Policy

Civil Aviation Policy

Road Policy

Port Policy

Housing & Slum Policies Policies for Hospital & Hotels

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U r b a n Development in

Gujarat

urbanisation among all other states in the country.

The report has found that 6.5% of all urban households in Gujarat are of migrants from within the state, which is the highest in the country.

At present, there are eight municipal corporations and 159 municipalities in Gujarat.

About half of the state’s urban population lives in seven urban areas of the state namely, Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar and Junagadh.

Major initiatives taken for urban development Several initiatives are being taken by the state government of Gujarat for the development of urban areas and to improve the quality of living.

As per “India Human Development Report 2011� published by Planning Commission of India, the Human Development Index value of Gujarat has increased from 0.466 in 1999-2000 to 0.527 in 2007-08; a gain of 13 % over the period. In income, health and education sectors, it has gained 15%, 13% and 13%, respectively over the period 1999-2000 to 2007-08.

The state government has given the highest priority to development of social sectors which have direct impact on Human Development Index by allocating 40.26 % of the total outlay to social sectors for the year 2012-13 during the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17).

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Initiatives for Urban Development Nirmal Gujarat Initiatives to provide high standards of hygiene and cleaniness, considering various sources of waste generation.

The Human Development Index value of Gujarat has increased from 0.466 in 19992000 to 0.527 in 2007-08; a gain of 13 % over the period. In income, health and education sectors, it has gained 15 %, 13 % and 13 %, respectively over the period 1999-2000 to 2007-08.

The state government has given the highest priority to development of social sectors which have direct impact on Human Development by allocating 40.26 % of the total outlay to social sectors for the year 2012-13

BRTS An integrated public transit system to cater the pressure on public transportation.

CNG Initiatives Initiatives aretaken to convert all buses and auto rickshaws into CNG vehicles to create a clean environment.

Sabarmati River Front Initiatives to improve the quality of life of the city.

Integrated Gas Grid State-wide integrated gas grid for gas transmission.

Urban Renewal Initiatives to produce quality green space for the cities.

U r b a n Development in

Gujarat

Future outlook Gujarat is going strength to strength, courtesy to its robust infrastructure, industrial stronghold and investor friendly and flexible policies. The state is continuously pushing for infrastructure and urban developments – both from physical and social perspective Ongoing/proposed initiatives in Gujarat: Physical and social infrastructure Solid Waste Management »» Door to door collection of solid waste. »» State govt. is taking initiatives to

facilitate PPP model for waste management.

formulated by the state govy. to generate new housing stock and redevelop dilapidated jousing stock for the lower income group. »» Work has already started in different locations of the state.

Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar Metro (MEGA) »» Initiatives are taken to develop Metro Rail Transit System (MRTS) connecting the cities of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar to improve the connectivity between the cities. »» The routes are identified and the work is about to take off.

Slum Redevelopment and Rehabilitation »» The sate government has formulated the Slum Redevelopment and Rehabilitation Policy with an aim to make Gujarat slum free in five years. »» Emphasis is given on PPP and work has already started all over the state.

Affordable Housing »» Affordable housing policy has been

Others »» Regional rail system for Ahmedabad.

»» Canal-based mass transit corridor

for Surat. »» Dahej Urban Pipeline Project (DUPL). »» Gujarat International Finance Tect city

(GIFT), and others.

We will discuss four major cities of Gujarat over the next few pages...

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U r b a n Development in

Gujarat

ahmedabad

U r b a n Development in

Gujarat

Ahmedabad The seventh largest metropolis of India is a pharmaceutical and textile hub of Gujarat. As per the census of India 2011, it has a population of about 5.5 million

Ahmedabad ranks Ahmedabad ranks first among top cities for doing small business in India according to Ernst & Young (E&Y) & Franchise India, 2010

High Investment Between 1988 and 2007, Ahmedabad has attracted an investment of `153,990 million or US$ 3,755.8 million

Advantages of Ahmedabad

Growth Growth in pharmaceutical, engieering and chemical industries, automobile and logistics sector

BRTS Ahmedabad has one of the best mass transit system in India as BRTS which was awarded national award for “Best Mass Transit Rapid System Project - 2009” by the Government of India Economist Ahmedabad is rated by the Economist as 19th in the world, in terms of economic strength. It is also among the most competitive cities in the country.

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U r b a n Development in

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Louis Kahn Plaza, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad Sabarmati Ashram

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VASTRAPUR LAKE, AHMEDABAD GUFRAN KHAN

U r b a n Development in

Gujarat

Science city

Sabarmati Riverfront

Geeta Mandir Bus Terminal

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U r b a n Development in

Gujarat

Infrastructure initiatives There are many infrastructure initiatives at city level to fuel the growth further Ahmedabad – Urban Infrastructure – Sabarmati Riverfront Development

Reclaimed area: 500 acres 23 km of riverfront Seven new public gardens Public promenades East & west river drive Residential & commercial

Sabarmati Riverfront This development project is an initiative by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation to reclaim and develop the banks of Sabarmati River. It is being developed by the Sabarmati River Front Development Corporation Limited (SRFDCL). At present, 10.4 km stretch of walkway along the river is open for public use which was inaugurated on 15 August 2012. It is one of the best riverfront developments in the country.

Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) In order to provide faster, reliable, eco-friendly and advanced public transportation, a Bus Rapid Transit System

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(BRTS) is in operation in Ahmedabad. Due to this system, there is significant shift from privatised modes towards BRT system. The BRTS has been christened as Ahmedabad Janmarg Limited.

The project was initiated in 2006 and the first phase was started in 2009. At present, Ahmedabad Janmarg Ltd has 67 km operational route (under phase 1 & 2) with 136 (35 AC buses) buses and about 0.13 million average passengers per day. Another 19 km corridor is under construction (under phase 2 and 3).

Ahmedabad Janmarg Ltd has won many accolades for the implementation of sustainable BRTS operation, including national Award for “Best Mass Transit Rapid System Project 2009” from Government of India among others.

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Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS)

International Sustainable Transport Award - 2010

Education

Healthcare

Ahmedabad hosts some of the leading educational institutes of India: »» Indian Institute of Management (IIM) »» National Institute of Design (NID) »» Nirma Education and Research Foundation (NERF) »» National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) »» Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP) »» Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (MICA) »» Centre for Environment Planning & Technology (CEPT) »» Gujarat National Law University (GNLU) »» Applications Centre of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) »» Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) training centres Apart from the above institutes, there are 10 management colleges with 1,265 seats; nine MCA colleges with 450 seats; 45 ITIs offering industrial training programs with over 3,500 seats and seven polytechnic colleges with over 2,000 seats, and also 74 colleges including engineering, medical, arts, science and law colleges.1

Ahmedabad district has 43 primary healthcare centres, nine community healthcare centres, 18 Government, eight municipal and six government aided hospitals.2 Ahmedabad hosts some of the best private hospitals in the State such as Apollo Hospital, Sterling Hospital, Krishna Heart Centre and Gujarat Cancer Society which have the facility and the expertise to provide the best health services. It is a chosen destination among neighbouring states for healthcare speciality services.

Ahmedabad hosts some of the best private hospitals in the State such as Apollo Hospital, Sterling Hospital, Krishna Heart Centre and Gujarat Cancer Society which have the facility and the expertise to provide the best health services.

It is a chosen destination among neighbouring states for healthcare speciality services.

Gujarat International Financial Tech City (GIFT City) Gujarat International Finance Tec-City or GIFT is an under-construction central business district to be built on 886 acres of land. It will have a Central Finance Business District (CFBD) which will subsequently be expanded and surrounded by institutional areas, knowledge parks and integrated townships. To develop and implement the Project, Government of Gujarat through its undertaking Gujarat Urban Development Company Limited and Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) have established a Joint Venture Company, “Gujarat International Finance Tec-City Company Limited” (GIFTCL).

Gujarat International Financial Tech City (GIFT City) »» India’s biggest skyscraper »» 5.76 million sq m »» 17 highrise (80 storeys)

commercial buildings »» Employment to 400,000 people »» Complex to house 50,000 residents »» Artificial Island »» Integrated Mass Transit »» Dedicated Expressway »» Residential Township »» Dedicated Power Supply Source: GIFTCL

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Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar Metro The Government of Gujarat (GoG) through Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board (GIDB) intends to develop Metro Rail Transit System (MRTS) connecting the cities of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar to improve the mobility and connectivity between the cities.

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GIDB had engaged Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) for the purpose of preparation of the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for MRTS for Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar. Based on the techno-economic feasibility carried out by DMRC, it has been suggested that the MRTS be developed in two phases. The proposed mass transit system is named Metrolink Express for Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad (MEGA).

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Real estate Growth of the city

Growth of Ahmedabad City

The city is expanding along the major transportation corridors, namely, Ahmedabad-Sanand, Ahmedabad-Kalol, Ahmedabad-Dahegam, Ahmedabad-Mehemdabad and Ahmedabad-Bareja.

The construction of the 76 km long, 200 ft wide Sardar Patel Ring Road has resulted in better connectivity of Bopal, Ghuma, Shela, Rancharda, Vadsar, Khatraj among other areas with the rest of the city. The western part of city is observing rapid growth. The growth in western side of city has gone beyond SP Ring Road. The development in eastern side of city is up to and along SP Ring Road. In the north, Motera, Chandkheda, Sugad and Adalaj are growing areas. In the south, Aslali, Narol and Lamba areas have started growing recently.

The commercial development has developed largely

along the main roads such as Ashram Road and CG Road.

Later, the commercial development with hand in hand of retail development started spreading towards fringe areas, such as Satellite Road and SG Highway.

Residential real estate sector

The eastern central part of the city comprises the walled city area and has traditional type of settlement. This part of the city is congested development with narrow roads. Typically, LIG and MIG houses are located on this side of the city.

Recently, the area along SP Ring Road, eastern suburb, in eastern side started developing as residential area.

Western part (CBD) of the city started developing as residential areas for the middle and higher middleincome groups. These were dominated by bungalow type developments, many of which have been redeveloped now

The city is expanding along transportation corridors: AhmedabadSanand, Ahmedabad-Kalol, AhmedabadDahegam, AhmedabadMehemdabad and Ahmedabad-Bareja

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as low-rise residential apartments with exceptions to some highrise as well. The major residential areas in the western part of the city are Navrangpura, Paldi, Usmanpura, Gulbai Tekra, Ambawadi among others.

The area between SG Highway and SP Ring Road and Western SBD, is developed as prime residential area.

Typology in this area is a mix of bungalows and apartments.

Few of the highest ticket size apartments are in this area.

The area beyond SP Ring Road and Western Suburb have upcoming townships. This is an emerging market for residential development. This micro market also has the industrial area of Santej, Khatrej etc.

The north of Ahmedabad (northern suburb) has seen upsurge in last three to five years time with Chandkheda and Motera taking lead in residential development. A 600 acre township by Adani group “Shantigram� located near Vaishnodevi Circle has the maximum supply in this region.

The southern suburb is nascent market with houses in lower ticket size category. The capital rate for residential apartments ranges between `1,800-7,500 per sq ft.

Prominent developers present in Ahmedabad are Adani Group, Safal Construction Private Limited, Bakeri, Godrej, Goyal & Co., Siddhi Developers, JP Iscon group, Pacifica Companies, Purohit Construction Ltd., NCPL Developers, Platinum Spaces, Suramya Flower

Zone

Micro-markets included

North

Northern Suburb

East

Eastern Central and Eastern Suburb

West

CBD, Western SBD and Western Suburb

South

Southern Suburb

Corp., Anmol Infra, Deep Builders & Developer, Pacifica Companies, Shaligram Group, Bhumi Corp., IRIS Infra. Etc. The residential development of the city is bifurcated into four zones, wherein micro-markets (as mentioned earlier) of the city are clubbed together as follows: Majority of the upcoming residential supply at Ahmedabad are concentrated towards the western part followed by south, east and north zones.

units from the 5 township developments in the city.

Around 47% of the total inventory is concentrated in the western Ahmedabad, while the east, north and south has concentration of 17%, 17% and 19% respectively.

Absorption Few of the highest ticket size apartments are in this area. The area beyond SP Ring Road and Western Suburb have upcoming townships. This is an emerging market for residential development

Absorption of residential units is observed from each zone with maximum being absorbed in the eastern zone.

Following figure shows the bifurcation of the number of units within each zone along with number of units sold and unsold. The capital value for residential units in Ahmedabad ranges between `3,000-7,500 per sq ft. The value is highest in CBD area, followed by Western SBD. The value is lowest in eastern and southern suburbs.

Distribution of residential inventory, Ahmedabad

Zone wise bifurcation of residential units (absorption)

Supply Majority of the upcoming residential supply at Ahmedabad are concentrated towards the western part followed by south, east and north zones.

A total inventory of approx. 84,000 units is observed in all the zones. This inventory includes approx. 15,000 Source: JLL, 2013

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Commercial real estate scenario

Gujarat

Supply trend for commercial space (Cumulative & New addition)

The city of Ahmedabad has approximately 7.42 million sq ft of operational commercial space with 1.25 million sq ft under construction and various stages of planning. Good quality office buildings are concentrated in west zone around SG Highway and Prahladnagar area. An analysis of the same has been done to know the stock and supply. The distribution of commercial space as per areas / localities in the city is depicted in the graphs below:

Distribution of Commercial Space in Ahmedabad

Source: JLL, 2012

The capital rate for commercial spaces ranges between `3,500-7,500 per sq. ft., while the rental varies from `30 -50 per sq. ft.

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Hospitality sector scenario The hospitality market of Ahmedabad is driven by Business travelers. Around 85% of the tourists are business travelers followed by 12% for leisure and 3% for history/architecture tourism.3 The city has mix of budget and star category hotels. The prominent hotels in the city are Taj Gateway Ummed, Fortune Landmark, Ramada, The Pride, Le Meridien, Courtyard by Marriott, Aloft, Novotel etc. City’s existing supply has majority of hotels concentrated on SG Highway and Central Ahmedabad.

The city has maximum hotels in the midscale category where in the Average Room Rate (ARR) is in the range of INR 3,000 to INR 5,000.

There have been marginal movements in the average room rates for the city hotels; ARR increased slightly from 4,347 in 2009-10 to 4,450 in 2010-11; however, the entry of new hotels in the market resulted in a minor correction in the rates in 2011 to 4,271. There has been a consistent increase in the occupancy levels in the said period; from 50% in 2009-10 to 58% in 2010-11.

Category distribution of existing hotels

3: Mott Macdonald report on “20 years Perspective Plan for development of Sustainable Tourism in Gujarat” for Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of Gujarat

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Industries Focus sectors in industry: Ahmedabad

»» Textiles and apparel cluster

including chemicals & dyes »» Drugs and pharmaceuticals »» Agro and food processing »» Automobiles, engineering and

electronics »» Biotechnology »» Information Technology

A

hmedabad is one of the industrially developed districts in the state of Gujarat having large, micro, small and medium scale industries of various types. A large number of industries related to textiles, chemicals, machinery, metal products, pharmaceutical, engineering, plastics, electrical appliances, electronics, passenger cars etc. are located in the district. A well-developed infrastructure, prudent industrial policy of the state government and a peaceful industrial atmosphere has been the vital factors which have contributed to the industrial growth in the district.

There are 12 main industrial estates, 12 special economic zones, and 10 industrial parks/ developers in Ahmedabad district. The state government, under new industrial policy, identified certain areas of backward areas of district in for its development by providing attractive incentives to the investors.4 Ahmedabad district accounts for 21.5% of factories and employs 18% of workers in the state. Over14% of the total investments in all stock exchanges in India and

60% of the total industrial productivity is contributed by the district. There are about 422 medium and large scale industries and 23,734 small scale industries present in Ahmedabad dstrict.5 Several business conglomerates such as Adani Group, Reliance Industries, Nirma Group of Industries, Arvind Mills, Claris Life Sciences, Cadilla Pharmaceuticals, Shell, Vadilal Industries Ltd, Rasna, Bosch Rexroth (Germany), Stork and Rollepaal (Netherland) are present in the district.

The presence of Ahmedabad Textile Industry’s Research Association (ATIRA), the largest association for textile research and allied industries in India, has helped the district in becoming a thriving textile centre.

According to Industrial Entrepreneurial Memorandum (IEM) filed from 1988 to 2007, Ahmedabad has attracted an investment of `153,990 million (US$ 3,755.8 million) in industries such as petrochemicals and refinery, engineering, chemicals and drugs and pharmaceuticals.

Industrial Dashboard

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vadodara

U r b a n Development in

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Vadodara The third largest city in the state of Gujarat is located south east of Ahmedabad on the banks of River Vishwamitri with a population of 1.6 million. It lies between Ahmedabad and Surat

Strategic Location: Vadodara is known as Gateway to the Golden Corridor as all the rail and road arteries that link New Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad also connect Vadodara, including the Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC)

From 2003 to 2007, Vadodara has attracted an investment of `144,140 million (US$ 3.43 billion)

Advantages of vadodara

Hub of petrochemical, pharmaceutical, biotechnology and chemical industries

Proposed BRTS, DMIC, IT Park, Knowledge Township, Technology Park etc will play major role in city’s economy as well as infrastructure

Vadodara is rated as one of the most competitive cities in India todayx

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Laxmi Vilas Palace Vadodara city

L&T Knowledge city

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Infrastructure initiatives City Bus Service

Major educational and healthcare facilities

Vadodara has a city bus service owned by VTCOS for an easy public transportation. It has taken a lot of two wheeler traffic off the road and helped the people in easy safe and cheap transport service. Recently, a world-class bus terminal was inaugurated in Vadodara by the then Gujarat chief minister Mr Narendra Modi.

Education Vadodara has Maharaja Sayajirao University (MS University) which is well known for its quality of education. It also has well-renowned institutions include Indian Institute of Materials Management and National Fire Academy.

A total of 33 industrial training institutes in Vadodara offer facilities to train the workforce at shop-floor level, which is a major requirement for all industries. Three engineering colleges offer courses in all branches of engineering, and nine polytechnic colleges offers diploma courses in electrical, mechanical and plastic engineering.6

Healthcare Vadodara has 15 key specialised hospitals for systematic healthcare. Major super-specialty cardiac hospitals include Bankers Heart Institute and Baroda Heart Institute & Research Centre.

The district has 76 primary health centres, 16 community health centres, 21 government general hospitals and one mobile comprehensive unit.7

Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) A Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) is proposed to enhance existing public transport system of Vadodara. It will have a

New bus terminal and city bus service

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Maharaja Sayajirao University

Bankers Heart Institute

network of 60 km, covering 14 focal points across the city.

According to a report prepared by the Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT) University, the transport system will cover central city areas through a northsouth-east-west corridor.

In the first phase, there will be around 80 stations — a station after every 500 m — on a 34 km stretch of the BRTS corridor. The remaining stretch of 26 km will be developed in the second phase.

Nodes to Induce Specific Growth (NISG) As per the city development plan of Vadodara, VUDA has identified Nodes to Induce Specific Growth (NISG), mentioned as below: »» Industries, education research in the field of IT, IT-enabled services; »» Industries, education research in the field of high end engineering technology, bio-technology and pharmacy; »» Medical tourism, health facilities, medical education; »» Knowledge based economic growth

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Real estate Growth of the city

Evolution and growth

Vadodara, as most of the older cities, has developed itself in a concentric fashion. In the recent years, the development force has been towards west.

The development is pronounced along the transport corridors along the western and the eastern directions. The prominent corridors are Chakli Circle – Old Padra Road, Vasna Road, Gotri Road, Vaghodia Road and Ajwa Road. The development on the north and south side is restricted due to presence of an industrial area.

The growth along the corridors in the western direction (Chakli Circle – Old Padra Road, Vasna Road and Gotri Road) predominantly caters to the middle income category while the growth along the corridors on the eastern direction (Vaghodia Road and Ajwa Road) predominantly caters to the lower income segment. The higher income segment is catered by areas like Alkapuri, Race Course Road, Akota etc.

The CBD is a congested area containing the traditional Source: JLL

New malls/ organised retail areas have come up in Sarabhai Mill area and Nattu Bhai Circle which are upcoming retail destinations

/ established wholesale and retail markets like Mangalwari Bazaar in Fatehgunj, institutional buildings like MS University and also recreational space like Sayaji Garden.

The present city is spread in a concentric manner around these earlier developments.

New malls/ organised retail areas have come up in Sarabhai Mill area and Nattu Bhai Circle which are an upcoming retail destinations.

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Residential Real Estate Sector Residential development in Vadodara is predominantly horizontal development. Apartments can be observed in prime areas but these are in small numbers though an upward trend is observed in apartment type housing in the last three to four years.

Prime residential areas in the city are Alkapuri, Race Course Road, Old Padra Road, Jetalpur, Akota and Fatehganj. The emerging / developing residential areas in the city are Karelibaug, Manjalpur, Vasna, Bhayli, Gotri Road, Ellora Park and Sama.

The capital rate for residential apartments ranges between `2,100-6,500 per sq. ft.

Prominent developers present in Vadodara are Nand Developers, Ram Associates, Bakeri, Amrapali Developers, Sarthi Developers, Shreeji Associates, Shivam Group, Alchemy Real Estate, Shalibhadra Developers, JP Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd., Ratnakar, Brookfield, Pacifica Developers etc. The maximum development is seen in the area of Gotri-Sevasi Road and Bhayali Vasna Road.

The western and southern part of the city is experiencing maximum residential growth. On the other

Prime residential areas are Alkapuri, Race Course Road and Old Padra Road Supply and Absorption of Vadodara (Apartments)

hand, growth in the eastern and northern outskirts of the city is lower. From the current stock, it is understood that the maximum demand is of 3 BHK units - of about 63% with an average size of 1,950 sq ft followed by 2 BHK units - of about 29% - with an average size of 1,360 sq ft.

Prominent developers include Nand Developers, Ram Associates, Bakeri, Amrapali Developers, Sarthi Developers, Shreeji Associates, Shivam Group, Alchemy Real Estate, Shalibhadra Developers, JP Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd., Ratnakar, Brookfield, Pacifica Developers etc.

The maximum development is seen in the area of GotriSevasi Road and Bhayali Vasna Road.

The western and southern part of the city is experiencing maximum residential growth

Commercial Real Estate Sector

Commercial sector in Vadodara is generally offices of financial institutions, academic institutes and branch offices of different enterprises. There are few existing commercial complexes and pipeline supply of the same is also limited as of date. The capital rate for commercial spaces ranges between `2,500-5,000 per sq ft.

Retail Real Estate Scenario

The retail real estate in Vadodara can be broadly divided in to two categories - traditional/ established markets and emerging retail areas.

The emerging retail areas in Vadodara are principally located on the western side of the railway line. R C Dutt Road, Race Course Road and Old Padra Road have emerged as the prime retail areas of the city.

Majority of national and international brands operational in the city are primarily located on these roads. Organised retail is coming up at Nattubhai Circle and Genda Circle. The predominant typology of retail developments observed in these emerging areas is commercial complexes with retail on the lower ground and upper ground floors and office spaces, especially on the upper floors.

The capital rate for retail spaces ranges between `8,000-12,000 per sq ft for high street retail.

Composition of Residential Apartments, Vadodara

The capital rate for commercial spaces ranges between `2,500-5,000 per sq. ft.

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Industries

V

adodara has been driven by industrial developments, especially in the sectors like engineering machine tools, cotton textiles, glass, pharmaceutical, large chemical, petrochemical and fertiliser industries. Several private as well as public sector units such as Gujarat Alkalis and Chemicals limited (GACL), Gujarat State Fertilisers Chemicals Ltd. (GSFC), Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Limited (IPCL) and Apollo Tyres Limited have their presence in Vadodara.

The city also has gradually growing importance in the knowledge and service based industries like IT/ITeS and biotechnology.

The geographical location of Vadodara presents it with a number of opportunities in the agro / food processing industry considering that Vadodara district is the largest producers of pulses in the state of Gujarat with nearly 15% of the state’s total production.

Vadodara has 13 industrial estates, three SEZs

Vadodara’s geographical location presents it with a number of opportunities in agro / food processing industry considering the district is the largest producers of pulses in the state of Gujarat with nearly 15% of the state’s total production

and four industrial parks. There are over 18,000 SSI units in Vadodara, the maximum being in the repairing and servicing industry (5,713 units). Other key small scale industries include textiles, metal works, chemicals, equipments, rubber products and food products. 8 Investments in key industry segments such as chemicals, boilers and steam generating equipment and glass showed a major increase in the past decade.

Other industry segments showing growth in investments include sugar, vegetable oils, fermentation industries & transportation.

Several business conglomerates such as Alembic Group, Apollo Tyres, Bombardier, Gujarat State Fertilisers & Chemicals Ltd. (GSFC), Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals Limited (GACL), Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Indian Petrochemical Corporation Limited, CG Glass Limited, JCT Electronics Limited, Alstom, IC Textiles Ltd. are present in the district.

Focus sectors in industry

»» »» »» »»

Petrochemicals Chemicals Agro and Food Processing Pharmaceuticals

Major Industries Present

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SURAT

Gujarat

U r b a n Development in

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Surat With a population of 4.46 million (according to census 2011), Surat is the second largest city in Gujarat and is known for textile and diamond industries. It is an important railway junction in the Western Railway division on Ahmedabad-Mumbai route. The city is an important educational hub in the region with a number of educational institutions

Annual Survey According to The Janaagraha Annual Survey of India’s City Systems (ASICS), Surat is ranked #1 position in the list of best cities to live in India

Contribution During 2006-07, Surat contributed a maximum of 11.5% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to the state as compared to any other district of India

Advantages of surat

Growth in diamond, textile and chemical industries. Surat accounts for 42% and 70% of the total rough diamond cutting and polishing of the world and India respectively

Proposed BRTS, DMIC, High speed rail corridor outer ring road etc. will play major role in city’s economiy as well as infrastructure

Income The everage annual household income of Surat is `0.46 million which is the highest in the country

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Gujarat Swaminarayan Gurukul

Majura Gate

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International Business CentRE, PipLODloD

SVNIT Campus

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Infrastructure initiatives Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) Surat BRTS is under implementation in Surat. It has been operational partly since January 26, 2014. Based on a detailed assessment, it is recommended to develop BRTS of around 29.7 km in phase I and 58 km in phase 2. At present, a 10 km corridor between Udhna and Sachin is operational with 19 bus stations.

11 Community

Surat to provide best treatment facilities

Education

Surat has many medical, nursing, ayurvedic and physiotherapy colleges. At present, there are 81 higher education institutes9 in Surat district, which ranges from ITI, engineering colleges, medical colleges, MCA colleges to management colleges. Other well-known institutes include Indian Diamond Institute and Man Made Textile Research Association (MANTRA).

Health

Surat has a presence of specialised hospitals to provide a comprehensive range of tertiary and secondary care

Surat has a presence of specialised hospitals to provide a comprehensive range of tertiary and secondary care services backed by state-of- theart technology and trained clinicians

Surat BRTS (SITILINK)

Major educational & Healthcare Institutes in Surat

50 Primary health centers

89 private hospitals

Surat has many medical, nursing, ayurvedic and physiotherapy colleges services backed by state-of-the-art technology and trained clinicians.

There are 11 community and 50 primary health centers present in the district. A total of 89 private hospitals are operational in Surat City.10 The city has some specialised hospitals for the treatment of life threatening diseases such as cancer and tuberculosis. Lions Cancer Detection Centre Trust at Surat has been providing specialised treatment to cancer patients since 1968. There are three TB hospitals in Surat to provide best treatment facilities.

Metro Rail Project

Indian Diamond Institute

Lions Cancer Detection Centre Trust

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three TB hospitals

Surat Municipal Corporation has envisaged the need of metro rail with four segments: 40 km of Dumas to NH 8 via canal which passes through six zones, Sachin to Sayan parallel to railway line, Kamraj to Dumas along Tapi river and on the outer Ring Road.

U r b a n Development in

Outer Ring Road

Gujarat

90 m wide Outer Ring Road for Surat

There is a plan for a 66-km Outer Ring Road on the periphery of the city which is spread over 326 sq km area.

29 km of new roads will be built under this project. Upon completion, the new road will provide a bypass to industries at Hazira, link residential and commercial localities of Surat and Navsari and also handle heavy traffic meant for Hazira.

The construction for the project is yet to begin.

River Front Project

SMC is planning to develop the Surat river front project at a budget of `440 million. The project will come up on 54 hectares of land on a three km-long stretch of Tapi river bank. The Tapi Riverfront Development will have walkway development, food plaza, cycle track, walking track, festival ground for public festivals, green garden and mini floral park.

Tourism Proposal – Mega Theme Park Surat is already gearing up for the major tourism project

by Atlanta, a Mumbai-based infrastructure and real estate firm. The `95,000 million, mega theme park, proposed to be set up in 3,500 acres of area at Suvali in Surat, is set to be Asia’s largest, and will be in line with the world-renowned theme parks of Sentossa in Singapore and Genting in Malaysia and Disney World. The project, when operational,

Source: SUDA

Surat is gearing up for a major tourism project by a real estate firm

Tapi Riverfront Development Project is expected will increase the domestic as well as foreign tourist flow to the city exponentially. It will put Surat on the global tourism map and this is expected to attract more ancillary investments into the region. The process of land acquisition is underway for the project.

Others

Surat has a computerised water distribution system and a computerised drainage system with a sewage treatment plant to transform waste into energy. It has one of the best water treatment plants in India. Every part of Surat has underground drainage and street lights. PNG (Piped Natural Gas) entered Surat in the early 90s and most of the areas are covered under PNG. CNG entered Surat in the early ‘90s, and as of the end of 2005 more than 95% of auto rickshaws and public buses run on CNG as an efficient and less polluting fuel.

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Real Estate Growth of the City Today, Surat is one of the major industrial city contributing major shares of output, especially in diamond and textiles sectors. This region is one of the leading city-regions in the country that has attracted massive investments of which substantial proportion is under implementation.

The Ring Road is a major economic corridor in the city, with the textile market abutting it. The Ghod Dod Road, Dumas road and Parle Point areas have grown as a high street market area. The eastern side of the city, across Tapi River is developing at a fast pace, with new commercial, residential and retail development.

The southern part of the city houses the industrial complexes of Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) at Sachin and Diamond Nagar.

Residential Real Estate Sector

Surat is distinctly divided in to two parts by River Tapi.

The eastern part of city is large in area and has traditional settlements which comprise railway station, old city and

textile and diamond industries. The western side of river is smaller in comparison with new developments. The established residential areas of the city are Adajan, Ghod Dod Road, Dumus Road, Varacha and Udhna Road.

Trend

The real estate market of the city has witnessed considerable activity in the past few years. Bungalows and row houses are seen in up market areas like City Light area, and other well developed residential pockets like Parle Point and Ghod Dod Road. Most of these bungalows are located within societies.

The southern part of the city houses the industrial complexes of Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) at Sachin and Diamond Nagar

Major Growth Directions of Surat

Source: JLL

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Typology of Hotels in Surat

Source: JLL, 2012

Prime residential areas in the city are Athwa Lines, Ghod Dod Road, Dumas Road and Adajan. The emerging/ developing residential areas in the city are Dumas Road, Vesu, Puna-Kumbharia, Ved Gam and Bhathar.

The capital rate for residential apartments ranges between `4,000-8,000 per sq ft.

The upcoming secondary business district is the Piplod-Dumas Road area.

The commercial presence is expanding to this corridor

Commercial Real Estate Sector

Surat is known for its two main industries viz. textiles and diamond processing industry. The Central Business District (CBD) is the Ring Road where there is a concentration of commercial establishments. It houses the textile market of the city, along with tenants from the BFSI sector, business professional and corporate groups. Varacha Road can be considered another CBD with many commercial and retail establishments along it. The diamond cutting and polishing takes place around the Varachha area and houses manufacturers and traders.

There is also a cluster of coaching centres and small educational / training institutes and a cluster of clinics and medical diagnosis centres.

The upcoming secondary business district is the Piplod-Dumas Road area. With urbanisation of the city, the commercial presence is expanding to this corridor. Adajan, across River Tapi, is also emerging as a commercial hub with new commercial developments coming up. This area is expected to develop further when the proposed new bridge is complete connecting the Pal Hajira Road to Dumas Road.

The retail real estate market is largely unorganised and is spread across the city. The type of retail development is mixed with small retail shops on the ground floor and residential and/ or commercial space on the upper floors.

However, for the last two-three years, the scenario has changed with the addition of some large format organised shopping malls

The capital rate for commercial spaces ranges between `4,500-8,000 per sq ft.

Offices in the city mostly cater to BFSI, consultants, coaching centres, doctor’s clinics/ dispensaries etc. No major IT/ ITeS organisation has presence in the city currently.

Retail Real Estate Sector

The retail real estate market is largely unorganised and is spread across the city. The type of retail development is mixed with small retail shops on the ground floor and residential and/ or commercial space on the upper floors.

However, for the last two-three years, the scenario has changed with the addition of some large format organised shopping malls in the city.

Wholesale markets and high street retail areas dominate the retail development in the old city and the

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Majority of the traditional markets are located in Old City and its surrounding areas like Textile Market, Begumpura, Mahidarpura and Delhi Gate surrounding areas. Majority of the traditional / established markets in the city are located in the old city and its surrounding areas, the prominent being Textile Market, Begumpura, Mahidarpura, and Delhi Gate.

The capital rate for retail spaces ranges between `9,000-25,000 per sq. ft.

Hospitality Sector

Surat is one of the most important trade centres of western India. The hospitality market of Surat is driven

by business travellers. Around 90% of the tourists are business travellers and an equal distribution of 5% each for leisure and religious travellers11. Business travellers mainly comprises of hotel guests from textile industry, diamond industry, Hazira Port and oil and gas refineries who visit the city usually during the weekdays. This results in a higher occupancy in the hotels during the weekdays than the weekends.

Most of the hotels are in the unbranded category and normally run by local hoteliers. The hotels in the branded category are Taj Gateway, Ginger, TGB etc.

The city has maximum hotels in the low scale category where Average Room Rate (ARR) is less than `2,000.

There are around 2,200 keys currently operational in the city. The average occupancy observed in the hotels is approximately 70%. Not much of supply is expected in the city in near future; besides Hyatt Regency’s 225 keys by 2015 near the airport.

11: Mott Macdonald report on “20 years Perspective Plan for development of Sustainable Tourism in Gujarat� for Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of Gujarat

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Industries

T

he economy of Surat consists of textile manufacturing, trade, diamond cutting and polishing industries, intricate zari works, chemical industries and the petrochemical and natural gas based industries. Surat accounts for 70% of the nation’s total rough diamond cutting and polishing. Textile is another sector, where Surat plays a pivotal role, and accounts for 40% of the nation’s total

Surat accounts for 70% of the nation’s total rough diamond cutting and polishing

Several major processing facilities/ manufacturing centres of ONGC, Reliance Petrochemicals, Larsen & Toubro, Essar Steel, KRIBHCO, ABG Shipyard, and Torrent Power

man-made fabric production and 12% of the nation’s total fabric production.

Several major processing facilities/ manufacturing centres of ONGC, Reliance Petrochemicals, Larsen & Toubro, Essar Steel, KRIBHCO, ABG Shipyard, and Torrent Power are located in the region. Hazira Industrial area and port is situated in the western side of the city within Surat Metropolitan Region. The establishment of large industrial giants in the Hazira Industrial Complex has changed the industrial scenario in the region.

There are 605 medium and large scale industries and over 41,300 small scale industries (SSI) functioning in Surat district. Maximum numbers of SSI units (24,000 Units) are related to textile industry in the district followed by repairing and service industry with more than 11,000 units.12

Focus Sectors in Industry

Major Industries Present

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Gujarat Rajkot

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rajkot Introduction The fourth largest city in the state of Gujarat after Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara, Rajkot is the 35th largest urban agglomeration in India with a population more than 1.28 million as of 2012. Rajkot is also the 22nd-fastest-growing city in the world

Strategic location Rajkot is locketed in the middle of the southwestern part of Gujarat which is called Saurashtra. It is important node which is connecting the important port cities of Jamnagar, Pipavav, Porbandar etc with Ahmedabad and rest of the country.

Urban governance One of the first mcities in India to introduce private sector participation (PSP) through service contracts in sold waste collection and transportation.

Advantages of Rajkot

Growth in engineering and electronics, textiles and auto ancillary industries.

Proposed BRTS, highways, port linkages etc will play major role in city’s economy as well as infrastructure.

Rajkot is rated by the as one of the fastest growing urban areas of the world (City Mayors’ Statistics)

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Crystel Mall

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Gujarat

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Gujarat

Rajkot Temple

Kotecha Circle, Kalawad ROAD

atmiya institute of technology & science

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Infrastructure Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) To provide mass transportation facility to citizens of Rajkot, planning for 63.50 km BRTS corridors was done which includes Blue corridor (29.00 km), Red corridor (18.00 km) and Green corridor(16.50 km). The Blue corridor was planned in three phases. »» On 150 ft Ring Road from Gondal Circle to Jamnagar Road - 10.70 km »» From Jamnagar Road Circle to Green Land Circle 9.14 km »» Green Land Circle to Gondal Road Circle - 9.16 km Blue Corridor Phase – 1 on 150 ft Ring Road is completed. After successful trial runs, on October 1, 2012, BRTS bus service opened for citizens of Rajkot with 11 buses.

Rajkot Municipal Corporation has restored city bus services with Public Private Partnership in 2007 Healthcare Rajkot has 50 primary healthcare centers, 13 community healthcare centers, three civil hospitals and 12 government hospitals.14 Major hospitals in Rajkot are N M Virani Wockhardt Hospital, Civil Hospital, GT Seth Eye Hospital, KT Children Hospital and RZ Women Hospital which has radiology department, physiotherapy department, surgery department and laboratory.

Rail Network

It is proposed to provide port linkage through railway line between Dahisara to Maliya-Samakhyali-Palanpur.

The distance is about 37 km and cost of the rail project is estimated to be `1480 million (US$ 35 million).

Infrastructure projects

Education Saurashtra University is a major university in Rajkot which was established in 1967. Apart from it, there are five engineering colleges in the district offering courses in computers, electronics and communication, instrumentation and control, mechanical, IT, and electrical engineering.13 Various Industrial Training Institutes provide training in areas like electronics, instrument, wielding, carpentry and Wood working, oil engine and tractor repairing and others.

Major Educational and Healthcare Facilities in Rajkot

Saurashtra University

N M Virani Wockhardt Hospital

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NHAI along with a private developer West Gujarat Expressway Ltd. has proposed to construct Rajkot Bypass and Gondal-Jetpur Road.

Port projects

»» Development of container handling facilities at

Navlakhi port on Sui Creek for feeder container vessel. »» Development of liquid terminal at Navlakhi port to import LPG to fulfil the demand of north Indian market.

Others

Rajkot Municipal Corporation has restored city bus services with Public Private Partnership in 2007. RMC and a private company are providing around 80 CNG buses in 15 to 20 routes in city and suburbs. Rajkot is one of the first cities in India to introduce private sector participation (PSP) through service contracts in solid waste collection and transportation.

U r b a n Development in

Real estate

Gujarat

Major Growth Directions of Rajkot

Residential Real Estate Sector Kalavad Road, Jamnagar Road and 150 ft Ring Road are the upcoming destination for residential development.

Amongst these micro markets, Ring Road and Kalavad Road has seen maximum variation in the lowest and highest rate per sq ft. Rajkot experiences residential apartments in the range of as low as `1,600 per sq ft to as high as `9,500 per sq ft which is even higher than Ahmedabad (the most vibrant market of Gujarat) due to quality product which includes centralised air conditioning, flooring and fixtures.

The average rate of Rajkot has been stable in the past two years, but with the inclusion of high end residential apartments the average rate has experienced an upsurge in the current year.

It is observed that maximum absorption is in the category ranging from `1,500 to 2,000 per sq ft.

Supply

Source: JLL

The maximum supply is seen on the Kalavad Road followed

by Ring Road between Kalavad Road and Jamnagar Road.

Commercial and Retail Real Estate Sectors

The major commercial areas of Rajkot are Yagnik Road, Kalawad Road and Race Course Road

The major commercial areas of Rajkot are Yagnik Road, Kalawad Road and Race Course Road. The outright sale price of commercial spaces varies between `3,500-6,500 per sq ft.

The major retail areas of Rajkot are Yagnik Road & Kalawad Road, with the Ring Road is also emerging as a retail area. The outright sale price of retail spaces varies between `10,000-14,000 per sq ft.

Source: JLL, 2013

Residential Supply Distribution

Source: JLL, 2013

Residential Composition

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Industries

T

he occupational pattern in Rajkot is primarily based on manufacturing and service sector.

About 34% of the workers are engaged in manufacturing activities. It has more than 30,000 large and small industrial units producing diesel engines, electric motors, plastic, printed cotton and silk clothes etc. In this sector, diesel engine is the leading business with around 105 manufacturing units operational in the district. The city produces almost 65% of the nation’s total diesel engines.

Other major industries include ball bearing, machine tools, food technology, plastic technology etc. The city is also famous for its water pump industry.

The district also has various manufacturing units for industrial equipments, lathe machines, metallurgical industries, electronics, engineering and auto ancillary sector.

Small and medium industries are dominated by foundries, engineering and automobile works, textile related units gold and silver jewellery, handicrafts, spices, medicines, and wall clocks.

Manufacturing activities are concentrated in two main industrial estates – Aji and Bhaktinagar in the past, Rajkot concentrated around the establishment of cloth mills. The current trend of industrial growth is towards engineering and auto ancillary sectors. There are 73 medium scale / large scale industrial units in Rajkot.15 Majority of the

The current trend of industrial growth is towards engineering and auto ancillary sectors. There are 73 medium scale industrial units in Rajkot Major Players in Industrial Sector, Rajkot

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Focus Sectors in Industry

industries are concentrated in Rajkot, Morbi and Kotda Sanghani talukas of the district.

There are over 30,463 small scale industries operating in Rajkot district in the areas such as Some of the main industries include machinery, textiles, food products, glass and ceramics, and metal products.16

U r b a n Development in

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Future outlook

A

s per the India Urbanisation econometric Model

by Mckinsey Global Institute, five states of India are likely to be more than 50% urbanised by 2030, and Gujarat is one of them. The same model suggests that by 2030, Gujarat will have an urban population of 48 million which will be nearly 66% of the total population of the state.

At city level also, a strong growth is observed.

The following table shows the population projection of Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot up to 2031.

Changing Urban Scenario of Gujarat (2011-2031)

Population Projection for Ahmedabad, Surat & Vadodara

The above table suggests that by 2031, 2 of the top 20 cities of Gujarat will have a population of more than five million (Ahmedabad and Surat – both will have a population of more than 10 million. Again, another two cities of Gujarat will have a population of more than 2.5 million (Vadodara and Rajkot) which was only one at 2011.6 cities of the state will have the population of more than 0. 5 million which was four in 2011.

Apart from the urban population growth, the spatial pattern urbanisation will also change drastically. At present, the urban growth in Gujarat is in poly nodal manner with scattered urban centres. But, with the growth of urban population, it will change into a linear growth by 2030.

Cities

Population (in Million)

2021

2031

Ahmedabad

6,357,693

8,809,123

12,205,788

Surat

4,591,246

7,997,910

13,932,287

Vadodara

1,822,221

2,319,084

2,951,426

Rajkot

1,003,015

1,390,640

2,029,620

Source: JLL Projection

The project suggests than both Ahmedabad and Surat will have a population of more than 10 million within 2030, and also Surat may surpass Ahmedabad at current growth rate.

Not only the above four cities, the urbanisation scenario of whole Gujarat will drastically change with rapid urbanisation. An analysis of the top 20 cities of Gujarat is carried out to find out the changing dynamics of the urban areas of the state by 2030.

Apart from the urban population growth, the spatial pattern urbanisation will also change drastically. At present, the urban growth in Gujarat is in poly nodal manner with scattered urban centers.

But, with the growth of urban population, it will change into a linear growth by 2030

Jaipur Kanpur

Nagpur

2021

2031

above 5

1

2

2

2.5 to 5.0

1

0

2

0.5 to 2.5

4

4

6

less than 0.5

14

14

10 Source: JLL Projection

Population 2011

No. of Cities 2011

Vadodara

With rapid growth of the state and the urban areas, there will be a need of infrastructure in terms of housing, transportation, energy, civic amenities, entertainment facilities and many more, which will cater this huge population.

Given the track record of Gujarat as a favourite investment destination, it is certain that huge investment will be done on the sectors mentioned above by both public and private sectors. With such investment, the economy will also grow to a significant extent. Participation of the private players is also expected in sectors like housing, industry, energy, transportation etc. More emphasis will be on the issues of affordable housing, renewable energy, public transport, sustainable development etc., which will shape the future growth of the state. Overall, it is expected that Gujarat will continue to grow along with the its urban areas and will remain as a powerhouse of India, and is also expected to establish itself in the world as a preferred destination for investment.

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advice

For FY 2014-15, the net capital gain tax payable by an assessee in respect of long-term capital gains is calculated on the basis of CII

Property gains through

cost inflation index Tax and investment consultant Subhash Lakhotia offers advice on how to save Income Tax in real estate during 2014-2015

advice

I

t is possible to save substantial amount of income tax on your long-term capital gains arising out of selling your immovable property if you take advantage of the Cost Inflation Index (CII) concept which, however, is applicable only in respect of long-term capital gains.

Only when you hold your property for more than 36 months and then if you sell it, the profit so derived is known as long-term capital gain which you can save by resorting to the theme of CII. The long-term capital gains for all types of assets including long-term property gains for all assesses would be computed in the following manner: 1. Cost of acquisition of the asset, movable or immovable, is to be multiplied by the CII of that year in which the asset is transferred, and the resulting figure divided by the CII for the year in which the asset was acquired. If, however, the asset was purchased before April 1, 1981, the CII for the purpose of acquisition is to be taken as the one on April 1, 1981.

Any cost incurred on the improvement of an asset is to be similarly adjusted with the help of the CII ie by multiplying the cost of improvement by the CII of the year in which the asset is transferred, and be divided by the cost inflation index for the year in which the improvement to the asset was done

Residential Development - Delivery Financial Year

2. Any cost incurred on the improvement of an asset is to be similarly adjusted with the help of the CII ie by multiplying the cost of improvement by the CII of the year in which the asset is transferred, and be divided by the cost inflation index for the year in which the improvement to the asset was done.

For the financial year 2014-2015 relevant to AY 20152016, the net capital gain tax payable by an assessee in respect of long-term capital gains is calculated on the basis of the above CII. It may also be remembered that the benefit of CII is not available for short-term capital gains or losses. Thus, selling property (land, house, flat, etc.) within a period of less than three years from the date of its purchase is treated as a short-term capital gain or loss in respect of gain from property. Thus, the above CII will be of no use to a person deriving either a short-term capital gain or loss. So, too, the benefit of the cost inflation index is not available to non-resident Indians.

Apart from the adjustments arising from CII, various expenses incurred on improvements to the asset and on transfer of the asset. For example, stamp duty, legal fees payment of brokerage etc are deductible from the full value of the sale consideration. It is the net resultant figure which will be treated as a long-term capital gain or loss chargeable to Income Tax in terms of Section 112 of the Income Tax Act. For AY 2015-2016, the tax on long-term capital gains payable is 20% . Thus, tax payment in respect of long-term capital gains is much lower than what has been prescribed by the Income Tax Act, if we take into account the impact of CII. This is explained by the following illustrations :

Cost Inflation

Financial Year Index

Cost Inflation Index

1981-1982

100

1997-1998

331

1982-1983

109

1998-1999

351

1983-1984

116

1999-2000

389

1984-1985

125

2000-2001

406

1985-1986

133

2001-2002

426

1986-1987

140

2002-2003

447

1987-1988

150

2003-2004

463

Illustration No.1

1988-1989

161

2004-2005

480

1989-1990

172

2005-2006

497

1990-1991

182

2006-2007

519

1991-1992

199

2007-2008

551

1992-1993

223

2008-2009

582

1993-1994

244

2009-2010

632

1994-1995

259

2010-2011

711

1995-1996

281

2011-2012

785

1996-1997

305

2012-2013

852

2013-2014

939

2014-2015

1024

Shyam purchased property for `10,00,000 in 1981. He sold it in 2014-2015 for `38,00,000. The long-term capital gain would be calculated as under : Cost of acquisition for the purpose of capital gains = {Cost of acquisition x Cost inflation index of the year of transfer} á {Cost of inflation Index of the year in which purchased} = {10,00,000 X1024/ 100= `1,02,40,000} In this case, the selling price is lower than the cost of acquisition as computed with reference to CII [`1,02,40,000] Hence , there will be no capital gains tax payable.

Rather, there will be a long-term capital loss to the tune of `64,40,000 which can be carried forward for adjustment against Shyam’s total long-term capital gains.

Aimed at increasing energy efficiency in new buildings in India and promote Energy Conservation and Building Code (ECBC) compliance in new commercial buildings.

Illustration No.2 Anurag purchased a flat for `20 lakh during 1991-92 and

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advice

Illustration No.3 Selling Property within a period of less than three years from the date of purchases is treated as a shortterm capital gain or loss in respect of gain from property

For AY 2015-2016, the tax on longterm capital gains payable is 20%.

Thus, tax payment in respect of longterm capital gains is much lower than what has been prescribed by the Income Tax Act, if we take into account the impact of CII

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Tax payment in respect of long-term capital gains is much lower than what has been prescribed by the Income Tax Act, if we take into account the impact of CII sold it for `1,40,00,000 lakh on 01-07-2014. Normally, the capital gains should have been `1,20,00,000 lakh but in view of adjustments on account of CII, capital gains calculated as under : »» 20,00,000 x 1024/199 = `1,02,91,457 »» CII for 1991-92 = 199 »» Thus, in this case, the long-term capital gains would be calculated as under : »» Sale Price = `1,40,00,000 »» Less : Adjusted cost price taking into = `1,02,91,457 »» Account the impact of CII »» Long-term capital gains = `37,08,543

Neelam purchased a piece of land during 1989-90 for `6 lakh. She sold it for `40 lakh in 2014-2015 (AY: 20152016). Normally, the capital gains would have been `36 lakh but in view of CII, the capital gains would be calculated in the following manner: »» 6,00,000 X 1024 (cost inflation index for 2014-2015) »» 172 (Cost inflation index for 1989-90) »» = `35,72,093 »» The long-term capital gains as a result of cost inflation index adjustment would be as under : »» Sale Price = `40,00,000 »» Less : Adjusted cost price as per = `35,72,053 »» Cost Inflation Index »» Long-term capital gain = `4,27,907

Illustration No.4 Pranab Kumar purchased property on February 1, 2014 and sold the same on June 15, 2014. The cost price was `22 lakh and the sale price `26 lakh, thus the profit was `4 lakh. As this is a short-term capital gain, the benefit of cost inflation index is not available and Mr Kumar is liable to pay tax at the normal rate.

As shown by the above calculations and illustrations, in most cases the assessee will benefit to a very large extent as a result of cost inflation index.

advice

In search for a language of contemporary

Indian architecture The idea is to move away from statistical methods of creating cities to one that relies on multi-dimensional interconnected networks around which urbanism can organically evolve, says Manit Rastogi 104

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he practice of Indian architecture is probably in the worst state of crisis today. There is a lot of discussion within the profession on foreign architects - WTO, reciprocity agreements, company structures and unlimited liability (Pvt Ltd, LLP being illegal under the Architects Act), professional indemnity, intellectual property, fee structures, the role of the Council of Architecture under MHRD or MoUD, education, the growing disconnect between practice and academia, capacity building, examination for licensing, certificate of practice, continuing professional development etc. Although all these issues need to be addressed urgently for the profession, there is a larger issue - what really is contemporary Indian architecture?

What is Brand India when it comes to architecture? Is there a need to develop a discourse, a global discourse, on Indian architecture? And if yes, then what is it that Indian architects are specially good at? In my opinion, what we are (or were) good at for long is creating architecture that is not only highly sustainable but is adaptive, affordable, imageable, livable, socially and culturally responsive, and above all, built with limited resources.

In a world on the brink of environmental collapse, this is a highly valuable skill and this is where we must focus all our issues related to the profession and education. The real question is how can we take what we were good at and create a model for future based on the present; where finance, globalisation and pre-conceived image-ability currently take centre-stage.

Traditional Indian architecture in today’s paradigm has been green as interventions have always been built within a localised context – usually in response to not having access to abundant resources of water and energy.

This attitude towards green building has inherently been different from the Western model which is equipmentcentric, responding to a completely different climatic condition. Post the oil boom in the 60s, with availability of cheap energy, there was an evolution of equipmentcentric, hermetically sealed glass buildings, disconnected from the environment.

Today, this problem has been compounded by green rating systems which by and large tend to have lower environmental standards, presumably as a means of trying to address a larger audience. Although they aim to provide better environment, the methodology adopted by these systems is generally equipment-centric, restricted and highly prescriptive, leading to higher costs of construction. This results in limited application owing to the prescribed narrow definition of human comfort level.

Today, developments across India are designed with a layer of sustainability or “green” superimposed

The aim should be to reclaim the derelict, the forgotten, the recyclable and the toxic by involving all stakeholders on. However, there should be a conscious attempt to step away from this system and incorporate passive approaches to design, right from conceptual and planning stages. Optimisation of all services is a pre-requisite to responsible architecture today. Unlike other nations, local resources, materials and methods of construction are easily available. The most effective approach is to build with local materials that responds to climatic requirements of the region while remaining economically viable.

The idea of sustainability should move on from buildings to our cities. An assortment of problems like migration, traffic, pollution, water, electricity, sewage, public health, safety, governance and global warming issues are prevalent in our cities. There is a hidden opportunity within our organically evolved cities- one of establishing a green and sustainable network as an alternative source of engagement, for the common man. The aim should be to reclaim the derelict, the forgotten, the recyclable and the toxic by involving all stake holders; thereby collapsing the boundaries of decades of non-systemic thinking which have generated unsustainable urban growth.

For example, the nullah project is a proposal for the rehabilitation and rejuvenation of the 350 km of contiguous natural drains into freshwater streams with walking and cycling tracks throughout Delhi. Similarly, in 500 acre township we completed for Bengal Ambuja in Siliguri, the Master Plan is based around an interconnected water network that sustainably harvests 3,000 mm of rainfall a year without the use of storm water drains. The idea is to move away from statistical methods of creating cities to one that relies on multi-dimensional interconnected networks around which urbanism can organically evolve.

At Morphogenesis, we have become architectural activists in an attempt to affect change in our architecture and cities. We believe the new urban blueprint needs to be derived from the opportunity that lies within. The approach needs to be systemic. Architecturally, we celebrate identity and diversity versus visual homogeneity. We think of our buildings and cities as bazaars, places of human interaction along with being places of human habitation. It is this all-inclusive nature of design with a unique focus on passive and low energy architecture that we believe in as being the new emergent Indian architecture.

The author is co-founder of Morphogenesis

The idea of sustainability should now move on from buildings to our cities as well. An assortment of problems of migration, traffic, pollution, water, electricity, sewage, public health, safety, governance and global warming issues are prevalent in most of our cities.

There is a hidden opportunity that lies within our organically evolved cities- one of establishing a green and sustainable network as an alternative source of engagement with the city, for the common man

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chapter news

national delhi ncr pune chhattisgarh madhya pradesh

CREDAI- Maharashtra successfully conducts 3rd MAHACON 2014 in Goa

With an intent to update builders on various aspects of construction and technology, CREDAI Maharashtra conducted its third in the series of MAHACON 2014 (Maharashtra Convention). The 3rd MAHACON took place on September 13-14 at Raddison Blu, Goa. Union Minister of State for Tourism, Shripad Naik, was the chief guest for the inaugural session. With the success of first two conventions held at Goa and Lavasa, this two-day convention viz.

3rd MAHACON 2014 was attended by 350 developers from 33 member city associations. It was a grand success and all CREDAI-Maharashtra members benefitted through this knowledge gaining and sharing sessions of the current happenings of the realty sector.

Naik, in his inaugural speech, said, “The way realty sector is a huge contributor to the country’s GDP so is the tourism sector. To reap high

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benefits, tourism and infrastructure development should go hand in hand”.

Anant Rajegaonkar, president; Shantilal Kataria, vice president and Rajiv Parikh, chairman, organising committee, CREDAI Maharashtra were present during the convention.

Satish Magar, vice president, CREDAI National, spoke on the topic, Vision of Builders, wherein he stressed on the importance of adopting new technologies in the realty sector. He stated the need of proper planning in the process of documentation and indirect cost which can ultimately lead to better realty business.

Dipesh Shah, vice president, Gujarat International Finance Tech City, chose an unmarked topic about smart cities to share his views. He said, “Most of the time, a smart city is perceived to be one which is technology-enriched and contributes to change in lifestyle but the truth is that smart city is beyond the

concept of technology. Smart city is a city which is smart in aspects of economy, mobility, infrastructure technology and environment”. Sushil Mantri emphasised on the need for shift of realty business from family management approach to a professional level. He stressed on the importance of adopting new technologies in the realty sector.

Management specialists Abhijeet Pradhan and Mudra Wedhikar spoke on the importance of project management in the construction sector and its significant share in efficient functioning of realty business.

The second day witnessed an interesting session from Dr Shrikhar Pardeshi, IGR of Maharashtra, where he briefed the members with significance of e-registration. Important tips on accounting practices and taxes were shared by CA VA Jain. To boost personality development, a lecture was devoted on human behavioural changes for realty business and branding, the lecture was delivered by Manish Gupta.

Social media expert Kiruba Shankar shared his experience and guidelines on innovative online real estate marketing tactics. The two-day event received great response and concluded with felicitation of the speakers and organising committee. Rajiv Parikh, Girish Raibage from Kolhapur and Anuj Bhandari from Pune and the organising committee members took lots of efforts to make the convention a grand success.

KPMG in India KPMG in India, a professional services firm, is the Indian member firm of KPMG International and was established in September 1993. Our professionals leverage the global network of firms, providing detailed knowledge of local laws, regulations, markets and competition. KPMG in India provide services to over 4,500 international and national clients, in India. KPMG has offices across India in Delhi, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Bangalore, Kochi, Hyderabad and Kolkata. The Indian firm has access to more than 8,000 Indian and expatriate professionals, many of whom are internationally trained. We strive to provide rapid, performance-based, industry-focussed and technology-enabled services, which reflect a shared knowledge of global and local industries and our experience of the Indian business environment.

KPMG International KPMG International is a global network of professional firms providing Audit, Tax and Advisory services. KPMG member firms operate in 155 countries and have 155,000 people working in member firms around the world.

Our Audit practice endeavours to provide robust and risk based audit services that address member firms' clients' strategic priorities and business processes.

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CREDAI Bengal Realty Awards 2014 In a maiden venture to recognise the potential in the Bengal real estate sector, CREDAI Bengal Realty Awards 2014 were organised in association with The Telegraph and knowledge partner, CRISIL. The CREDAI Bengal Realty Awards showcased for the first time in eastern India, the leading real estate players and acknowledged the best for their contribution to real estate development in Bengal, especially Kolkata. Hosted by CREDAI Bengal, the award ceremony held on March 21 at The Hyatt Regency, Kolkata, was a star-studded affair with the biggest names from real estate sector in India rubbing shoulders and acknowledging the leaders of the year from the fraternity.

An esteemed jury of well-known industry leaders in real estate space

with names like Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors South Asia managing director Sachin Sandhir; National Institute of Construction Management and Research director general Dr Mangesh G Korgaonker; Sir JJ College of Architecture principal Rajiv Mishra; Capstone Consultants founder and senior engineer Rahul Agarwal; CRISIL president Sachin Nigam and CRISIL director Anurag Jhanwar independently voted to nominate the winners in each category.

CREDAI Bengal president Harsh Vardhan Patodia said, “CREDAI Bengal Realty Awards strives to boost the morale of realtors around the state by providing them an organised platform to attain respect and recognition. CRISIL has been

Nomination Categories at CREDAI Bengal Realty Awards 2014

Winners

Best budget housing project (1 lakh sq ft to 4 lakh sq ft)

Srijan Midlands by Srijan Realty

Best budget housing project (4 lakh sq ft to 10 lakh sq ft)

Siddha Town Rajarhat by SiddhaGroup

Best mid-segment housing project (1 lakh sq ft to 4 lakh sq ft)

Ujaas – The Condoville by Ambuja Neotia Group

Best mid-segment housing project (4 lakh sq ft to 10 lakh sq ft)

Diamond City South by Alcove Realty

Best luxury housing project (minimum 50,000 sq ft and above)

Upohaar The Condoville by Ambuja Neotia Group

Best boutique housing project (50,000 sq ft to 1 lakh sq ft) PS Primiera by PS Group

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Best commercial project - Group 1 (50,0000 sq ft to 1.5 lakh sq ft)

Camac Square by P.S. Group

Best commercial project - Group 2 (above 1.5 lakh sq ft)

Infinity IT Lagoon by Infinity Group

Best commercial project outside North and South 24 Parganas (minimum 50,000 sq ft)

City Centre Silliguri by Ambuja Neotia Group

Best designed retail space

Sentrum Mall by Bengal Shristi

Best brochure

Rainforest by Mounthill Realty

Best upcoming residential project (only under-construction or to-be-launched)

Godrej Platinum by Godrej Properties

Best upcoming commercial project (only under-construction or to-be-launched)

The Unimark Asian by Unimark Group

Best green project (only under-construction or to-belaunched residential/commercial projects)

Biowonder by Pasari Group

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appointed as the knowledge partner to uphold total transparency and credibility in the process. The awards should initiate a healthy competition among real estate developers while raising awareness among consumers and set a new benchmark for them to refer to before buying a property.”

The timing of the awards coincided with the celebration of 25 years of CREDAI Bengal. It was pertinent to note that it was under the banner of CREDAI Bengal that the real estate developers had emerged as a fraternity to work for a common set of objectives and now presented a united voice for healthy development of the sector, thus benefitting all stakeholders. As a fitting gesture to celebrate the silver jubilee, the Realty Awards will continue to recognise the achievements of member developers in the sector and honouring those whose creations have been par excellence in respect to the defined categories of achievements.

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Change of guard at CREDAI Chennai At the installation function of CREDAI Chennai, Ajit Chordia of Khivraj Tech Park took over the reigns of the august body of builders. WS Habib of RWD Pvt Ltd was elected as secretary. The office bearers will hold a two year term (2014-2016).

In his acceptance speech, Chordia said, “In our industry with the constant changes that surround it, we need to learn, unlearn and relearn. We need to take parallels from

other industries and their experiences.

My focus would be to ensure that the members of CREDAI Chennai maintain their leadership by adopting best in technology effective marketing solutions, incorporate sustainable development practices, take care of the communities by measurable CSR

activities and in the process ensure high level of customer satisfaction”.

Addressing the gathering, CREDAI National president C Shekar Reddy, the chief guest at the colourful function, congratulated Chordia and his team and goaded them to further raise the bar and set high benchmarks.

Nearly 10,000 prospective home buyers throng CREDAI Realty Expo at Park Plaza, Marathahalli CREDAI Realty Expo, which had 49 developers and six financial institutions participating, was inaugurated by Mr KK Malpani, founder-president, CREDAI Bengaluru and Mr Ashwini Mehra, deputy managing director, State Bank of India. Others present were Mr R Nagaraj, president, CREDAI Karnataka; Mr Suresh Hari, secretary, CREDAI Bengaluru and Mr Anil Nayak, CEO, CREDAI Bengaluru.

Nearly 10,000 prospective home buyers thronged CREDAI Realty Expo held at Hotel Park Plaza, Marathahalli, on August 23-24 in Bengaluru.

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Speaking on the occasion, Mr R Nagaraj, President, CREDAI Karnataka, said, “The cost of construction has now gone up by 30-40%. Cement prices are also high.

But we are keeping the prices same only at this expo. After September there is a possibility of an increase in apartment prices. It is overwhelming to see the kind of support we have seen from people in this expo.”

Pointing out at the positive response from prospective homebuyers, Mr Nayak said, “Our strategy of taking our realty exhibitions in

different parts of city has been very successful. We are in region of Marthahalli-Sarjapur Road once again and we are happy to have this response of more than 9000 prospective home buyers .”

Mr Suresh Hari, secretary, CREDAI Bengaluru, said, “Realty Expo of CREDAI has been looked at with great respect by the home buyers as it consists of only CREDAI members and well-reputed developers. This large number of visiting home buyers shows that the market has good strength and Bengaluru realty market is in demand”.

The exhibition had some of the top names in the real estate industry participating and providing consumers with some great choice along with the list of the projects of the participating developers being provided by CREDAI with elaborate details.

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14th NATCON – August 6 -8, 2014 Jakarta, Indonesia

To deliberate, discuss, learn and strategise on how to achieve the mission of Homes For All, the 14th NATCON was organised by CREDAI and held in Jakarta, Indonesia from August 6 to 8, 2014 at Hotel Ritz Carlton. The NATCON 2014 adopted the theme of Homes for All. The theme echoes the policy announcement by the NDA Government of Housing with basic services to all by 2022.

The conference was attended by 856 delegates from all across India. Karnataka topped the list with 115 delegates, followed by NCR with 104 and CREDAI Maharashtra with 83. Lalit Kumar Jain, chairman CREDAI along with Getamber Anand, president elect, CREDAI; Pradeep Jain, ex-chairman, CREDAI appreciated and complimented Sushil Mantri, vice president & chairman of NATCON 2014 organising committee and team for organising the NATCON 2014, with the largest number of delegates attending the conference in the presence of eminent national and international personalities like vice chairman for finance, banking and investment - Jakarta Chamber of Commerce and Industry Irwan Hutasoit, Manish, deputy chief of mission, Embassy of India and other eminent speakers from all over the world.

The event commenced with Indonesian national anthem, followed by a welcome speech by Sushil Mantri, vice president, CREDAI. In his welcome address, Sushil welcomed the chief guest Manish, deputy chief of mission, Indian Embassy to Indonesia and Irwan Hutasoit, vice president, Jakarta Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He stated that NATCON is a great platform to make meaningful difference in the real estate sector through sharing of knowledge, experiences and best learning practices across the cities.

Such a constructive communication is at the core of future success and advancement of real estate sector.

While talking about the NDA government’s ambitious plan, Housing For All by 2022, Sushil said, “Pledge to provide home to every Indian

families with basic services represent US$ 150 billion opportunity to realty sector. The new government seeks to infuse momentum to this economy by removing many bottlenecks and creating appropriate environment with good governance structure.

After a gap of 10 years, the Union Government Budget has finally taken measures to attract investment into housing by liberalising FDI regime and by removing hurdles which will act as a catalyst in the positive and upward growth of the Indian realty sector.

He hoped that significant procedures like tax reforms, land reforms, administrative reforms, reduction in home loan interest rates would remain on the top of the agenda for some time to come.

He further added that Jakarta is expected to be sixth fastest construction market in the world with estimated growth rate of 7.4% over 2014-2020, promising a good place for Indian real estate developers to invest in. He closed by appreciated the work done by CREDAI National team and CREDAI Karnataka team.

CREDAI chairman Lalit Jain began his speech by highlighting CREDAI’s efforts to make difference to Indian real estate. He expressed satisfaction with the recent actions of RBI to reduce home loans by allowing HFI’s to borrow abroad at cheaper rates. The chairman stressed that businesses are getting more complex

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day by day. He said factors like increase in inflation, interest rates souring high, customers not ready to compromise with the services and demand for cost-effective houses have made the survival for the real estate developers tough given that policy environment has not been responsive of late.

However, the environment is now slated to change. He said that it needs to be recognised that 65% of GDP comes from urban India and in advanced countries it goes up to 90%.

He urged that in order to play an important role in shaping up future of urbanisation and contribute to PM’s vision, we all need to take a collective effort. If CREDAI takes an initiative to underscore that cities prepare a vision plan and a blue print for development and execution plan based on their strengths, then this ambitious dream can be achieved. This, in turn, will lift the stature and respect of real estate sector in the country.

CREDAI president C Shekar Reddy, during his inaugural speech at 14th NATCON, said “New Government under the Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi is taking right steps to introduce reforms required by the industry. They are also open for the suggestions to bring in the positive changes.

With a development plan focussing on union budget and steps like relaxation in norms of Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) and Statutory Liquidity Ratio (SLR) by RBI, the housing sector is expected to grow in near future. Bringing affordable housing project finance and home loans up to `50 lakh under Priority Sector Lending (PSL) will give a major boost to the small and medium developers. Moreover, the Government has incorporated CREDAI’s recommendation and relaxed the FDI norms for investment in the real estate which will act as a catalyst for growth.

The president further said that PM’s ambitious plan to provide housing for all by 2022 and developing 100 smart cities, has opened a plethora of opportunities for the real estate sector. CREDAI has always been a strong advocate of affordable housing and we are sure that with a right policy framework and public approach ‘Homes for All’ is an achievable objective. CREDAI National is also working with various Ministries such as Environment & Forest, Civil

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Aviation, Urban Development and Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation to remove bottlenecks on supply side of real estate sector. CREDAI along with all its members is keen to contribute in the best possible way towards the government objective and will support them whole-heartedly.

Vice chairman (finance, banking and investment), Jakarta Chamber of Commerce and Industry Irwan Hutasoit thanked CREDAI for hosting their national conference in Jakarta.

In his speech, he talked about the business prospects available in Indonesia for Indian developers. In elaborating the same, he said that the construction industry in Indonesia, especially Jakarta is growing rapidly and we warmly welcome Indian developers to invest here.

Talking about Indonesia’s current economy and business prospects, Hutasoit said, ”This year there is a bit slow down of around 5.5% in the construction market due to parliamentary elections in April and Presidential elections in July. The Government is taking concrete steps to stabilise economy. It is expected that by 2015 the economy will pick up pace due to new Government policies and there will be an increase in the infrastructure investment.”

He added that with the increase in the living standard, the purchase power of the Indonesian household has increased, leading to investment in property and land. Hence, there are great opportunities available in Indonesian real estate sector. Manish, Deputy Chief of Mission Embassy of India, in his speech stressed upon “Housing for all by 2022”. He said, “Affordable housing for all is still a distant dream for large section of our society and we all have to work as a collective entity to achieve this. He also appreciated and congratulated CREDAI for its effort and advocacy, because of which it has become a national agenda for the newly elected government.

Unleashing/ leveraging the power of digital and social media marketing to capture/home buyer mindshare Panellists: »» Namrata Balwani, CEO, Media2win »» Anjali Hegde, CEO, Reprise India »» Kiruba Shankar, CEO, Business

Blogging »» Ganesh Vasudevan, CEO,

Indiaproperty.com

Moderator: »» Rohit Raj Modi, director, Ashiyana

Homes Pvt. Ltd. Panellists during the first session discussed about the power of digital and social media marketing to capture customer purchase behaviour. Talking about social media marketing, Namrata Balwani, CEO, Media2win, said social media is a new wave in the world of marketing which can’t be over looked or ignored in today’s world. The advent of social media has opened a new avenue of marketing for corporations. The traditional “word-of-mouth” publicity has been replaced by the “word-ofweb”, as consumers are increasingly referring to social media sites before

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making a purchase, hence, greatly influencing buying behaviour.

She added that with the integration of technology in businesses, marketing business has changed. It is a highly effective medium in reaching out vast audiences, dispense information and take feedback on real time basis.

Therefore, it the time for real estate sector to adopt this new age of social and digital marketing to reach its target audiences.

Talking about digital media, Anjali Hegde, CEO, Reprise India said that digital media is not the future, it is the present. It plays an important role in not just reaching the target audiences but also helps in creating trust among customers and brand building. She also said that if digital media is used in a right direction and manner, it can also help in re-targeting, re-marketing and re-selling of the product or services.

According to a recent study conducted

by Google, digital media plays an important role in real estate sector, especially when customers want to buy a property, do investment or take feedback about a product. It plays a vital role in influencing consumer purchase behaviour. There are about eight million researches on Google

regarding property purchase, this year it has increased three times as compared to the last three year data.

She quoted, “Real estate market is all set to boom and by 2017 it will be double its size.” She highlighted, how digital medium can help in influencing the purchase behaviour of the customers. According to a Google report, about 1/4th of consumers choose internet as their first preference to buy a product. About 25% of the customers wants real estate players on internet, they want to interact and share feedback about the products and services offered by them. Today, around 53% of real estate transactions are influenced by internet. This reflects that internet or digital medium has the ability to drive $43 billion worth real estate business in India. She also highlighted the key findings of one of the recent industry survey on “How digital media is influencing the purchase in tier 1, tier 2 and tier 3 cities of the country”. According to the survey, 57% purchase is influenced by digital media in tier 1 and about 48% is influenced in tier 2. There is about 350% increase in real estate queries in tier 2. This clearly shows how effective is digital media today.

Kiruba Shankar, CEO, Business Blogging, talked about “importance of building and sustaining a brand on social media”. He said there are infinite brands present on social

media, who push their advertisements on customers, which sometime become irritating and annoying, rather than this, brands should interact with the customers. This helps not just encouraging purchase but also helps in building trust factor among the customers. He also stressed upon the fact that brands should invest time and efforts in creating their own properties on social media or digital media rather than keep spending money on third party services.

He further said that in real estate business, developers should not think about immediate sale but make long-term investment. It may not lead to immediate purchase but will help in winning the loyalty and trust of the customers in a longer run. He also highlighted one of the key point that brands should not worry about negativity or bad reviews of the customers. In fact brand should utilise this medium to interact with the customers and turn the negative image into a positive one. Such transformation can only happen when corporates or leaders themselves participate in the strategy building and execution.

Ganesh Vasudevan, CEO, Indiaproperty.com, talked about the importance of online media in the real estate sector. He said, “New age India is consuming digital in a big way. Today, online media has become as important as traditional media because a vast majority of consumers are present on social domain. Hence, the presence of brands on online media has become an essential part of any brand’s communication strategy” He highlighted the three imperatives of marketing a brand online. He said online perception management and brand building should go hand-in-hand. Brands should create opportunities to engage customers as this helps in brand building. He also emphasised that digital media has to be an integral part of brand communication plan as it has wide reach than the traditional media. Also, brands should continuously enhance customer experiences by providing experiential services to its customers as it is cost effective and give real time experience to the customers.

Second session »» Effective construction technologies to fast track projects &

reduce labour dependence- case studies

Panellists: »» Simon Edge, CEO Tunnel Form Construction, Business

Director at Dema Formworks »» Warwick Colefax, Mortarless Pvt Ltd, Australia and

Ameya Kate, Buildtech

Moderator: »» K Shriram, MD, Enclave Infrastructure Limited

Advancement in technology has helped businesses by making it faster and cost-effective. The realty industry too is waking up to the benefits offered by technology and is looking

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at it as one of the solutions to tackle the labour crisis in the market. Simon Edge, CEO Tunnel Form Construction, business director at Dema Formworks, educated the audience about advanced tunnel form technology and its benefits to the realty sector. Tunnel form is a system that allows casting of walls and slabs in one operation on a daily cycle.

The technology is highly systematic, sustainable and recyclable, quality concrete finishing, times saving, low labor requirement and repetitive.

Talking about smart ways of construction, Warwick Colefax, Mortarless Pty Ltd, Australia and Ameya Kate, Buildtech, acquainted the audience with ground-breaking mortarless technology. It is an exciting new innovation in concrete block construction. It offers the possibility of substantial savings in construction time and labor costs, and greatly reduces the waste associated with mixing mortar on-site. Construction of walls using mortarless blocks is far quicker than construction of walls using traditional mortared blocks.

Furthermore, there is little of the usual on-site mess (sand, cement bags, mortar droppings, etc.) and the blocks can be laid wet or dry.

Panellists urged the audience that the adoption of such advanced

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technologies in the real estate sector can help in completing the projects at a faster rate and reduce the dependence on labour.

Third Session »» Working smart and optimising cost

Panellists: »» Getamber Anand, CMD, ATS

Infrastructure Ltd. »» Satish Magar, CMD, Magarpatta

Township Development & Construction »» Harsh Vardhan Patodia, CMD, Unimark Group »» Major Sanjeev Yadav, Vice President, United Technologies Company »» Nimish Gupta, MD, Qonqests Technical Solutions

Moderator: »» Sushil Mantri, CMD, Mantri

Developers Pvt. Ltd. In the wake of current market challenges, cost saving is critical to the success of any company. Panellists in this session talked about the smarter ways of working to optimize the cost in the real estate. Sushil Mantri, CMD, Mantri Developers Pvt Ltd, stressed on controlling the indirect cost involved in delays, wastage of materials and approvals. He emphasised on the need

to work in a systematic and strategic way to optimize the cost. He suggested that periodic review of the projects should be done by the developers on a regular basis so that indirect cost involved can be controlled at the initial stages itself.

Getamber Anand, CMD, ATS Infrastructure Ltd, advised the developers that they should visit the sites on a regular basis as this helps in controlling the waste materials and labour. He also taught the audience few smarter ideas to optimise the cost. He suggested that sewerage work and storm water should be done first at the site of construction as this helps in saving time and money. He also said that the provision for underground electricity should be done at the time of construction. He further stressed on introduction of gas pressure welding. It is an excellent way to save steal wastage on-site. Panellists in this session suggested, while evaluating the direct cost for the project, developers should lay equal emphasis on optimising indirect cost.

Fourth session »» Entrepreneurship mantras to create long term enterprise

and brand value

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Panellists: »» Irfan Razack, Managing Director,

Prestige Group »» Rajesh Mehra, Director Marketing, Jaquar »» Vivek Talwar CMD, NITCO »» Inder Jaisinghani, CMD, Polycab »» Brotin Banerjee, Managing Director & CEO at Tata Housing Development Company »» Charles Wright, Global Coach, Wolff OlinsFifth Session – Affordable housing opportunity – gaining first mover advantage for this foresight

Moderator: »» Rohit Gera, Managing Director,

Gera Developments Pvt. Ltd. In this session, panellist talked about the entrepreneurship mantras required to create long term enterprise and brand value. A successful entrepreneur is the one who is passionate about the business, who knows how to make use of the opportunity, focused in its approach and is ready to take challenges. They also highlighted the fact, it is easy to form an enterprise but it is more difficult to survive and sustain its position in the market. Therefore, enterprises should have a larger vision and long-term growth and investment plan.

Panellists said that market is very dynamic today, it is difficult for enterprises to sustain. It is advisable for them to keep themselves updated with time and keep evolving. The panellists also emphasised that our business strategies and approach should revolve around customers. They should be the centre of our business if we want to sustain in the market. In order to achieve success and long term growth enterprises should be committed to their goals, their customers and innovate in approach.

Fifth session »» Affordable housing opportunity –

gaining first mover advantage from the foresight

Panellists: »» Pravin Malkani, Managing Director, Patel Realty India

Limited »» K. Kranti Kiran Reddy, Executive Director, Janapriya

Engineers Syndicate Pvt. Ltd. »» Somy Thomas, Executive Director, Consultancy,

Valuation and Advisory Services, Cushman & Wakefield »» Dhaval Monani, Founder and CEO, First Home Realty

Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

Moderator: »» T. Chitty Babu, Chairman & CEO, Akshaya Pvt. Ltd.

Panellists in this session discussed about the major challenges and opportunities available in affordable housing segment. They discussed that the key challenges in implementing affordable housing projects from the developer’s perspective are the availability of land and the cost factors on approvals and finance. Easy availability of cheap land in urban areas is a big challenge. With rapid urbanisation, there is a huge pressure on limited land resources driving up costs. Adding to the worry is also the construction and labour costs which add up to the overall costs of the project pushing up the cost for the consumer. The vulnerabilities are limited to the delivery system for housing materials, services and finance. The sector, however, is deeply affected by infrastructure deficit – roads, electricity supply, drinking water and sanitation. According to the panellists, the Government should take active steps in providing credible infrastructure and redefine context based price to encourage affordable housing. Government bodies should consider single window clearance mechanism for the purpose of further simplifying the approval processes for low cost affordable housing along with reconsideration of the taxation policies.

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The panellists also highlighted the options on financing have also increased, leading to positive and upward potential in the affordable housing segment. They also discussed, with the changing marketing dynamics and prices going up, developers should thing out-of-the-box ideas to meet the challenge of affordable housing. Panellists believed the issue can be addressed by integration of technology as this helps in reducing the indirect cost and generate volumes. To improve the affordability of housing for the urban poor, both supply and demand side measures are required. On the supply side, cheaper land, innovative construction technologies, 100 per cent loan papers, small formats and smaller houses could help.

Sixth Session »» New asset classes emerging in India

Panellists: »» Col A Sridharan, VSM, managing director, Covai Property

Centre (India) Pvt Ltd »» Ankur Gupta, joint managing director, Ashiana Housing »» Jyoti Prakash Gadia, managing director, Resurgent

India Ltd.

Moderator: »» Anshul Jain, CEO, DTZ India

Panellists in this session talked about the emerging asset classes in the Indian real estate sector. They said that the Indian real estate and construction industry, which is an integral part of the Indian economy, is passing through challenging times. Traditional methodologies have been put to test, providing an exciting phase for developers to evaluate new growth channels. The sector has growing potential on the back of rapid urbanisation, positive demographics and increasing income. New opportunities have also evolved in the sector over the past few years, providing an impetus to developers to expand their portfolio.

Development of these asset classes, such as affordable housing, senior living, entertainment real estate and transit oriented real estate development is gaining momentum in almost all urban centres of the country. These concepts

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have added a new dimension to the sector and they are expected to spur growth, and attract the attention of developers and investors. The need is to harness in an efficient manner.

Anshul Jain, CEO, DTZ India, stated that by 2030, median age in India will continue to be 10 years lower compared to the US and China, resulting in significant increase in employable population.

This indicates +33% growth between 2015- 2050. He said that five plus years population to exceed 10% of total population by 2040 which means people will live longer on account of improved healthcare. The changing demographics demands emergence of new ownership and serving models, promising new opportunities to the Indian real estate sector.

He said that India is going to be one of the youngest nations in the world with a median age of 28 by 2020 and being looked as the future stock of skilled talent. It indicates, by 2020, Indian college population would be 142 million, offering great opportunity to tap the untapped youth housing. He added that vacation homes is going to be the next big thing in Indian real estate sector. He said that vacation home market is growing at the rate of 9.7% worldwide and 14% in the US. It constitutes 13% of total residential sales in the US and 25% of the population has a second home

globally, indicated promising returns to the developers and investors.

Talking about the emerging new assets in real estate sector, Col A Sridharan, VSM, managing director, Covai Property Centre (India) Pvt Ltd, said, “The niche real estate concept of ‘senior living’, catering to the medical, security and recreational needs of senior citizens has caught the fancy of both the developers and property buyers. In view of its growing popularity, developers have been focussing on it for the last five to seven years. Besides, the growing population of senior citizens, there are several demand drivers for this real estate segment. The growing interest of home buyers for integrated townships is giving further boost to the concept of senior living as real estate companies are now developing exclusive enclaves for elderly people within in their integrated township projects. The continuous innovations and improvement in the concept of senior living with high quality needbased retirement homes is pushing up the demand for this segment.”

While summarising the session, the panellists agreed that there is are promising opportunities available for developers in the new asset classes. Therefore, it is the time to explore it and make worthy use of it. The session ended with an open forum discussion.

Agriculture

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CREDAI Maharashtra Study Tour to Dubai

In order to get updated about modern technical innovations globally, Credai Maharashtra recently organised an international study tour to Dubai for all its members for the first time. CREDAI Pune Metro director general Dr DK Abhyankar, CREDAI Maharashtra vice presidents Rajiv Parikh and Pramod Khairnar Patil and Study Tour Committee chairman Girish Raibage organised the tour between February 15 and 21.

More than 180 Credai members across Maharashtra attended the tour wherein the members visited modern technology-based and world-class innovational architectural structures like Burj Khalifa, the tallest manmade structure in the world and Falconcity of Wonders project, Dubai’s ongoing mega project in real estate. In this Dubai tour, CREDAI members also had an interaction session with HE Sultan Butti Bin Mejren, director general of land department along with their officers.

Apart from this, CREDAI members visited projects like RAK Ceramics Factory, Nakheel Projects, Hircon Factory at Marina Beach developed by Hiranandani Group, Damac Akoya Golf City, Lagoon, Schon Properties, EMAAR projects and Sobha Meydan Projects etc. At Falconcity of Dubai, a seminar was held in which a special briefing to the dignitaries of Falconcity project was given by Dr Abhyankar and Raibage. About Falconcity, Dr Abhyankar said, “This project is a testament to the advances made in the field of architecture and will inspire a whole new level of creativity and innovation standards.

We look forward to possible future visits and stay abreast of its ongoing developments.” He also expressed praise for the excellence in infrastructure planning, especially with

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regard to the sewage treatment plant and power station on-site. Further, HE Salem Almoosa, chairman and CEO of Falconcity of Wonders, said, “We are pleased to have hosted the delegates. This was a marvellous opportunity for them to learn about the project, particularly about one of its most anticipated elements –

The Taj Arabia – inspired by the Taj Mahal. We look forward to having them visit again and be a part of our ambitious project.” Alharith Almoosa, deputy CEO, Falconcity of Wonders, presented a memento of appreciation to Dr Abhyankar as a symbol of collaboration and mutual vision, commemorating the visit.

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New office for Credai Maharashtra CREDAI National president C Shekar Reddy, president Satish Magar and CREDAI National vice president inaugurated the new office of CREDAI-Maharashtra in the presence of president Anant Rajegaonkar, CREDAI-Maharashtra founder president Ramkumar Rathi, past presidents Rajindersing Jabinda, Santdas Chawla and Jitendra Thakkar, vice presidents Shantilal Kataria, Rajeev Parekh, Prashant Sarode, Pramod Khairnar Patil, honrary secretary Kishor Pate, honorary joint secretary Sunil Bhaybang and CREDAI Maharashtra honorary treasurer Anuj Bhandari along with nearly 129 members representing 27 member city associations of Maharashtra. The new office is located at Rajgir Chamber, Office No. 54, 6th gloor, Shahid Bhagatsing Road, Fort, Mumbai.

This is a major achievement and a historical event for the members of CREDAI-Maharashtra and also a matter of great pride. Shantilal Kataria briefed about the thought

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process in buying this office at Mumbai for CREDAI Maharashtra.

He expressed his sincere thanks to all the past presidents and all city associations for their financial support particularly CREDAI Pune Metro and CREDAI Nashik. Ramkumar Rathi, Jitendra Thakkar, Satish Magar, Vijay Mirchandani, C Shekar Reddy and Anant Rajegaonkar expressed their pleasure and congratulated the whole team.

KNOWLEDGE SHARING INTERACTIVE WORKSHOP After the inauguration, a knowledge sharing interactive workshop was held at Hotel Intercontinental Marine Drive that was attended by around 120 members. Kataria welcomed MLA and founder chairman of Lodha Group Mangalprabhat Lodha and Nirmal Lifestyle CMD Dharmesh Jain and gave a brief introduction of the speakers. Lodha shared his experiences on facing the challenges and opportunities in the construction sector, the major contributor of GDP/

wealth and creator of employment. He regretted that in spite of its role in the development of Indian economy, the sector is not yet recognised as an industry and proactive policies are not framed by the Government.

Meanwhile, Jain opined that there is no slowdown in the industry but it is the sentiments of the developers which need to be changed as they are the bottlenecks than the market. As a matter of fact , the slowdown provides an opportunity to think about cost reduction, proper planning with regards to material and manpower. “The boom makes us financially rich but mentally lazy,” he said, adding, “We directly connect with the emotions of the masses by providing their dream houses and by providing shelter. We should be pride of our business as it involves a creative/ innovative ideas unlike manufacturing sector which generally becomes monotonous. He further advised that we should be firm, honest in our business.”

Magar explained about the overall market scenario of the real estate sector and noted that the growth of CREDAI Maharashtra with the number of city associations reaching 42 but strongly recommended for implementation of proper systems to be followed by all the associations and required third party audit. Rajegaonkar expressed his sincere thanks to Lodha, Jain, Reddy and Magar for sparing their valuable time to address the members and sharing their views and rich experiences. He noted the suggestions made by Magar and assured the same shall soon be implemented. The workshop was coordinated by Dr DK Abhyankar.

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national delhi ncr pune chhattisgarh madhya pradesh

Plant more trees, maintain balance between man and nature As we all know, natural resources have been exploited to a large extent in order to satisfy human wants.

And to save these natural resources, CREDAI Uttarakhand organised a “Tree Plantation Programme”.

CREDAI Uttarakhand was registered in Haridwar, Uttarakhand in October 2013 and commenced work in January 2014. A few activities were initiated by CREDAI Uttarakhand between January and March 2014.

CREDAI Uttarakhand was registered with seven members and the number has gone up to nine now. CREDAI Uttarakhand’s main centre of attention is “preservation of natural resources”.

Exploitation of natural resources and environmental hazards: Over the last few hundred years, human development has been rapid. We have developed and adopted new ways of living -- built skyscrapers, manufactured innumerable vehicles and electronics appliances and so on. These adaptations and changes have contributed in making our lifestyle better in many ways but we have ignored the cost we have had to pay for all this. In this partial development, we have been unable

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to see that we have been contributing towards destruction too as we never thought of giving back responsibly what we have taken from Mother Nature. This irresponsible attitude of just consuming the resources without trying to replenish them has contributed to destruction and this destruction has certainly surpassed all other benefits of our partial development.

What we can see around us now is the aftereffects of all our irresponsible acts and attitude, be it the floods, drought or other natural calamity. All these are the results of our irresponsible contribution towards destruction.

Plant A Tree: It’s time we take steps to turn ourselves from irresponsible individuals to responsible humans. Though we can’t replenish all or can’t be a great producer of what we have consumed till now but what we can surely do is to conserve what we are still left with and try to replenish whatever we can. All it needs is strong persistence and a little contribution by all. CREDAI Uttarakhand, with these objects in mind, has made tree planting into a

statewide project. Hence, CREDAI Uttarakhand organised a tree plantation programme on March 10 at Bahadrabad in Haridwar with the help of CREDAI Uttarakhand president OP Agarwal, secretary SK Gupta, treasurer Sanjeev Kapoor and members Manoj Tiwari, Pradeep Agarwal and Ranjana Tiwari along with office coordinator Dishank Sardana.

Aggarwal apprised members that they have to save the natural resources before its too late. “All individuals need to take proper care while utilising the resources available. They might seem to be aplenty but the fact is that it is depleting rapidly. If we don’t pay attention to them now, it will not take much time to run out of these resources and our future generation will have nothing to use. He also suggested his wealth of knowledge about tree plantation with us.

CREDAI Uttarakhand secretary Gupta apprised members that trees are valuable gifts of Nature and the purpose of tree plantation is to save endangered environment and to beautify life.

“They are known as man’s best friends and benefit us in various ways. Trees absorb carbon dioxide and give us oxygen without which no living being can live. Trees give us shade, medicine, food, fruits, furniture, fuel etc. They also keep the weather cool and cause rainfall. They also bind soil and thus prevent erosion. Trees are a part and parcel of our life. It is our duty to plant more trees and take care of them to maintain balance between man and nature. To make the country economically developed and to save the globe from green house effect, we should plant trees on a large scale,” he said. The plantation programme was coordinated by Dishank Sardana.

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national delhi ncr pune chhattisgarh madhya pradesh

CREDAI Eastcon 2014

CREDAI EASTCON 2014 was held for the first time in Kolkata on March 21 and 22 at The Hyatt Regency. It was jointly hosted by the CREDAI chapters of West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha. EASTCON 2014 helped in identifying opportunities in eastern India and acted as a breeding ground of thoughts and interaction leading to an atmosphere of innovation and ideas through the best minds of the Indian real estate sector.

This maiden convention brought in all seven eastern chapters of CREDAI together on a common platform, thereby bringing more cohesion and a sense of greater unity among the regional eastern zone players seeking the holistic growth of the real estate developers.

EASTCON 2014 was inaugurated by chief guest ministerin-charge, Urban Development and Municipal Affairs, Government of West Bengal Firhad Hakim through an audio-visual link as he had to be away for an urgent election meeting. The guests of honour were West Bengal government’s urban development principal secretary Debasish Sen and housing and transport department principal secretary Alapan

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Bandopadhyay. The inaugural lamp was lit by the guests of honour along with CREDAI chairman Lalit Kumar Jain, CREDAI National president C Shekar Reddy, president elect Getamber Anand, CREDAI Bengal president Harsh Vardhan Patodia, CREDAI Bihar president Narendra Kumar, CREDAI Odisha president Dilip Kumar Patro, CREDAI Jharkhand president Kumud Kumar Jha and CREDAI Chhattisgarh president Anand Singhania. Also present were senior CREDAI National, CREDAI Bengal and other Eastern chapters’ members.

Patodia’s welcome address summed up CREDAI’s bid to work in tandem with the government’s vision of building sustainable, equitable and inclusive green cities towards which he stated that EASTCON’s endeavour would be to invite all stakeholders and their collective vision, knowledge, experience, expertise, suggestions and vision to make it happen. He spoke of the accelerating growth of urbanisation and the challenges it brought forth and how a platform like EASTCON would help address some of these challenges.

The knowledge partners and tax knowledge partners of the event, Jones Lang LaSalle India and KPMG

respectively, released the research reports, Progression of the East – Growth Potential and Urban Development Regeneration of East India by JLL India and Decoding the Realty Challenge by KPMG. EASTCON’s sponsors were RR Kabel & RR Parkon and TEMCO. The kit sponsors were Oriplast. A large number of delegates from all the eastern region chapters participated in the conference with the largest turnout of delegates from Bengal and Odisha.

EASTCON also coincided with CREDAI Bengal’s 25 years and on this occasion a Coffee Table Book, Good to Great, was unveiled which chronicled CREDAI Bengal’s journey over the past 25 years. The book is also an ode to the spirit of the city of Kolkata and etches its unique character and flavours within its pages. The launch ceremony of CREDAI Asansol and CREDAI Jamshedpur also took place during EASTCON 2014.

EASTCON also witnessed the felicitation of the past chairmen and presidents of CREDAI namely Kumar Gera, Rajni Ajmera, Santosh Rungta and Ramani Sastri and it was truly inspiring to hear from the doyens of industry sharing experiences. The session was moderated by Pradeep Sureka.

Over the next two days, animated deliberations on topics pertinent to the understanding and interest of the larger real estate and infrastructure making sector took place. The inaugural session, Bracing for the Times Ahead – Issues of Growth and Challenges for Real Estate was moderated by Ambuja Neotia Group chairman Harshavardhan Neotia and had the finest names in the industry including JLL chairman and country head Anuj Puri, CREDAI chairman and Kumar Urban Development Limited CMD Lalit Kumar Jain, CREDAI president C Shekar Reddy, CREDAI president elect Geetambar Anand and Prestige Estates Projects Limited CMD Irfan Razack, CMD who discussed the present scenario and potential of real estate in eastern India.

Ad guru with Genesis Films Prahlad Kakar, HDFC Red CEO Sohel IS and 99acres.com business head Vineet K Singh shared their insights on real estate branding and how the science of branding be effectively used in real estate. The session was moderated by Mirchandani Group chairman and CREDAI honorary joint secretary Vijay Mirchandani. The session on real estate taxation was moderated by Merlin Group MD and CREDAI Bengal vice president Sushil Mohta. Participants included Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan managing partner V Lakshmikumaran, KPMG’s Global International Corporate Tax partner Jayesh Kariya, Risk Consulting, KPMG’s associate director Ashutosh Kapoor and KPMG’s associate director, tax & regulatory services, indirect tax practice Rajarshi Dasgupta who discussed the issue of taxation and its effects on the stakeholders.

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national delhi ncr pune chhattisgarh madhya pradesh

CREDAI Hyderabad Property Show concludes with Hyderabad realty on a high note More than 60,000 visitors turned out for the CREDAI mega property show at HITEX, Madhapur. Visitors responded enthusiastically over the weekend by making a beeline for CREDAI Hyderabad Property Show 2014 that achieved a landmark this year and saw a host of VIPs and dignitaries visiting the event. The valedictory function day saw chief guest Cabinet Minister for Irrigation, Marketing & Legislative Affairs Harish Rao along with guest of honour deputy speaker in Telangana Legislative Assembly M Padma Devender Reddy, MLA E Ravinder Reddy in the presence of CREDAI senior leadership team comprising of CREDAI National president C Shekar Reddy, CREDAI Hyderabad president N Jaiveer Reddy, CREDAI Hyderabad general secretary S Ram Reddy and a large number of developers, stakeholders and industry members.

The high point of the event were the announcements made by Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao while inaugurating the property show to boost real estate sector in the state like withdrawal of NALA (non-agricultural tax) and VAT for real estate sector, rationalised the seigniorage fee to `3 per sq ft of built-up area. He also announced the payment of impact fee at one time, a burden on developers, to be in installments. The real estate sector requires around 40 NOCs which is a major source for corruption and delays.

He declared the state of Telangana will be a ‘zero tolerance zone for corruption’ and all NOCs will be removed and he will personally take up the case with the prime minister regarding the simplification of NOC from the Ministry of Civil Aviation. He announced to introduce a world-class single window system for approval for real estate sector shortly.

Welcoming the guests for the valedictory function, CREDAI Hyderabad general secretary S Ram Reddy affirmed, “This is the best CREDAI property show. The

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CM has instilled a lot of confidence in Brand Hyderabad which has encouraged more and more people to visit the property show this year. With this show, we were able to create a synergised approach for building a better and congenial environment to promote the growth of real estate sector and we can look forward to a bright future in the state. We would like to thank all CREDAI members in putting up this successful show. ” Adding to this, Reddy said, “We have received a tremendous response during this show. We got positive feedback from consumers and developers. People turned out in large numbers, shedding doubts about the future of real estate sector in the state and inquired for their dream homes from more than 350 plus properties on display by 150 developers. The show provided an opportunity to the developers from all over the state including consultants, vendors, financial institutions to come on a common platform and explore business opportunities. After the measures announced by the chief minister for the real estate sector and for developing Hyderabad, we are likely to see up to 40% in the property prices in the next six to eight months.”

To this, Reddy added, “This property show marks a new landmark for the real estate sector in Telangana as it started on the right note with

the pro-industry policies announced by the CM, setting the tone for the show. He has ensured ease in doing business in Telangana, assuring the removal of unwanted NOC, single window approval, removal of VAT and NALA tax as well as other initiatives to develop the infrastructure. We can safely say the state has set an example before the whole country on how progressive and pro-industry government can ignite enthusiasm among the masses and trigger a business revolution. We are overwhelmed with the fantastic response to the property show.”

Cabinet Minister for Irrigation, Marketing & Legislative Affairs Harish Rao, said, “Telangana government is committed to implement the announcements made by the CM. The state welcomes all communities to Hyderabad. The government assures 365 days of power and water in Hyderabad and Telangana in next two years. A lot of investors are coming forward to invest in Hyderabad and we will issue GO on rationalised seigniorage fee to `3 per sq ft of built-up area in the next few days. We expect developers to ensure quality construction with proper planning. We have all the resources in Telangana.

The CREDAI Hyderabad property show is a great event allowing people to choose the best property available in the city.”

forthcoming events

What?

When?

Where?

Indian Ceramics 2015 January 21-23, 2015 Gujarat University Exhibition Hall, Ahmedabad Indian Ceramics is one of the main ceramics industry related trade events in India. Organised at the Gujarat University Exhibition Centre in Ahmedabad, the show brings to all participants the unique opportunity to interact with each other and discuss upon the prevailing market developments and innovations. Thousands of attendees, hailing from over 30 different nations, are likely yo attend the show, including noted product manufacturers, suppliers and technicians. High quality trade networking and business building opportunities are put forward to all trade visitors too.

What?

When?

Where?

Construction and Real Estate Fair Gummersbach 2015 January 31-February 1, 2015 Halle 32, Gummersbach, Germany Construction and Real Estate Fair Gummersbach 2015 will be provide an excellent opportunity for the real estate developers, engineers, construction professionals to share business ideas and opportunities mainly in the segment of construction of real estate to reach the business high level.

Construction and Real Estate Fair Gummersbach 2015 is one of biggest show on real estate sector.

Profile of exhibits includes Real estate agents, distributors, architects, Developers, planners, project developers, prefabricated house, Construction, financiers, insurers, Local housing associations, housing association, urban planner, massive house producer, House, property management, local decision makers and municipalities. Visitor includes real estate developers, representatives of numerous insurance agencies, construction professionals, engineers and students, banks and various financial services, agents and media.

What?

When?

Where?

Mexico GRI 2015 January 27-28, 2015 St Regis, Mexico City The Mexico GRI, organised by the Global Real Estate Institute, will cover areas like Mexico’s international image, what should investors see beyond the headlines, Capital market strategies for real estate in Mexico, ready for the big time, Domestic investment impact, will Mexican pension funds become major investors in real estate.

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