06-Dec-2019 10-Oct-2019 31-Dec-2019...In the new scheme of things, the LBS has been given a bigger role, from collecting the ownership title and mutation certificate before constructing

31-Dec-2019

10-Oct-2019

06-Dec-2019

CREDAI Bengal Daily News Update | 31.12.19

WEST BENGAL NEWS

For small houses, KMC does away with ‘plan sanction’

Constructions of individual homes of less than 200 sqm on 3 cottah plots will no longer require

the building plan to be sanctioned by the civic authority in Kolkata. This will not only lead to

removal of red tape around plan sanction at local borough offices, it will do away with

harrassment and delays that people aspiring to build homes on small plots currently face. The

move is expected to particularly benefit land owners in areas like EM Bypass, Joka and Behala

that have in recent years been brought under the jurisdiction of KMC.

Announcing the decision to ease the sanction process for small houses under 2,153 sqft (200

sqm), mayor Firhad Hakim said those planning to build two/three-storey houses would no

longer have to do the rounds of borough offices and KMC HQ.

“From now on, two/three storey buildings on 3 cottah plots won’t need to get plans sanctioned.

The licensed building surveyor (LBS) will submit fees and collect the mutation certificate from

KMC to ensure there is no dispute in the land title. Thereafter, the LBS will give a declaration

that the proposed building will be constructed according to KMC Building Rules. The LBS will

also be responsible for the building’s structural stability,” the mayor said.

BLDG RULES

KMC move to save time and check harassment

At present, a plot owner has to submit the plan of the proposed house to the borough assistant

engineer through the local LBS. More often than not, the plan is held up for months with the

assistant engineer pointing to objections raised by the executive engineer who then points to the

building department at the KMC headquarters. KMC buildings department officials said delays

ranged from several months to over a year and bred corruption.

Newspaper/Online The Times of India (online)

Date December 31, 2019

“The building rules are unambiguous and the LBS is aware of it. Hence, there is no reason why

the LBS will submit a plan that does not confirm to the rules. Yet, they get held up for

prolonged periods. By doing away with the need to get the plan sanctioned, harassment and

delay will be reduced,” an official explained.

In the new scheme of things, the LBS has been given a bigger role, from collecting the

ownership title and mutation certificate before constructing the house to giving an undertaking

that the proposed house will confirm to KMC Building Rules. If any deviation or violation is

noticed during inspection by KMC, it is the LBS who will lose the licence.

At the borough level, assistant engineers have been made responsible for speedy approvals and

warned that they will be personally accountable for any delays.

Though there will be no requirement of sanctioning a plan, KMC will collect a fee to ensure

that there is no drop in revenue. At present, the sanction fee depended on the floor area ratio

that in turn was dependant on the width of the road adjoining the plot. Hakim said the fee

structure would be rationalised.

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Mayor orders demolition of encroachments on wetland

East Kolkata Wetlands under threat

Mayor Firhad Hakim’s announcement on a Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) drive to

demolish buildings that have sprung up in East Kolkata Wetlands has been welcomed by

environment activists. They, however, sought a clarification on another announcement he made

two days ago on conversion of all agricultural land in KMC area into homestead.

“In the past decade and a half, a lot of buildings have come up in EKW, a Ramsar site that is

protected under an international charter. If the KMC does demolish the illegal buildings that

have come up in the wetlands, it is a positive step against conversion of the wetland. At the

same time, we are worried about the mayor’s decision to convert all agricultural land in KMC

area into homestead. For there are large tracts of agricultural land in EKW that are an integral

part of the wetland,” said green activist Bonani Kakkar of environment action group Public. It

was the latter’s PIL at Calcutta High Court in 1992 that led to the formal regulations for

protection of EKW and its ultimate listing as a Ramsar site in 2002.

A researcher, who works in the East Kolkata Wetlands said the KMC decision was a welcome

move and pointed to the need to first remove encroachments on KMC land. “A unit is

functioning where the siphon that controls flow of waste water into the fisheries is located at

Lalkuthi. In addition, plastic recycling units have set up godowns along Basanti highway,” she

said.

In a study carried out in 2017, altogether 329 units, including godowns stocking marble and

granite, auto service and two-wheeler stockyard, were found between Pragati Maidan fire

station and Bantala lock gate. Most of them are sitated in KMC area.

Legal activist Subhas Datta, whose petition before the National Green Tribunal has led to the

setting up of a task force under the chairmanship of state chief secretary to identify lacunae and

implement the law, said no action had yet been taken despite the filing of 357 FIRs by East

Kolkata Wetlands Management Authority (EKWMA) against encroachment.

“Both East Kolkata Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Act, 2006 and Wetland

(Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017, is unambiguous about not allowing any land

conversion in EKW. What the law further states is that if there is a violation, the person

responsible will not only be penalised, the land will be restored to the original state. That is

what is required if we are to save EKW,” said Datta.

Newspaper/Online The Times of India (online)

Date December 31, 2019

He estimates the number of encroachments in the Ramsar site in excess of 25,000. While most

of them is in areas under Sonarpur Municipality and Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation, the

encroachment is also high in KMC area.

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OTHER NEWS

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Newspaper/Online The Times of India (online)

Date December 31, 2019

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Newspaper/Online The Millennium Post (online)

Date December 31, 2019

Indian Bank to revise MCLR from January 3

The revised MCLR would be 7.90 per cent as against the existing 7.95 per cent for

overnight tenors.

Indian Bank on Monday said it would revise lending rates on marginal cost of funds from

January 3.

"The bank has revised the marginal cost of funds-based lending rate with effect from January 3,

2020," the city- based bank said in a Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) filing.

Accordingly, the revised MCLR would be 7.90 per cent as against the existing 7.95 per cent for

overnight tenors. For tenors of one month, the lending rates would be revised to 8.05 per cent

from the current 8 per cent.

Lending rates for tenors of three months would be revised to 8.15 per cent from the current 8.20

per cent. For six months tenor, the lending rates would be fixed at 8.20 per cent from January 3

as against 8.25 per cent.

Lending rates for tenors of one year would be revised to 8.30 per cent from the current 8.35 per

cent, the bank said.

The bank shares ended at Rs 104.50 per share on the BSE.

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Newspaper/Online ET Realty (online)

Date December 30, 2019

Link https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/fiscal-support-government-policies-to-drive-realty-sector-up-by-6-6-in-2020-fitch/73030027

Fiscal support, government policies to drive realty sector up by

6.6% in 2020: Fitch

Long-term growth, on the other hand, will mainly be driven by country's massive

population, which requires continued investments into residential building construction

sector, the statement said.

Fitch Solutions on Monday said it expects the country's residential and non-residential buildings

sector to expand by 6.6 per cent, in real terms, next year, driven by fiscal support and a

continued focus on the provision of affordable housing in urban areas.

"Short-term expansion of India's building sector will be driven by a mixture of fiscal support

and government policies supporting the housing market, as well as heightened activity within

the logistics, retail and industrial buildings sectors," it said in a statement.

Long-term growth, on the other hand, will mainly be driven by country's massive population,

which requires continued investments into residential building construction sector, the statement

said.

Instances of stalled housing projects have been on the rise over the course of 2019, due to a

credit crunch sparked by a series of defaults by non-bank financial companies, resulting in a

decreased access to funding for both developers and homebuyers.

In response, the government "approved a Rs 10,000 crore package in November 2019 aimed to

aid stalled housing projects, with an additional Rs 15,000 crore to be contributed by state-run

financial institutions."

With funds more readily available, it expects a portion of stalled housing projects to resume

construction, and this will feed into its forecasts for India's buildings sector growth in the short

term.

Opportunities in the construction of affordable housing units will remain strong over the coming

years, driven by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban)

initiative.

Newspaper/Online ET Realty (online)

Date December 30, 2019

Link https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/allied-industries/indian-bank-to-revise-mclr-from-january-3/73032835

Introduced back in 2015, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana aims to provide affordable housing to

all urban poor by 2022, targeting more than 4,000 towns handpicked by the government.

To provide financial support to homebuyers, various complementary schemes, such as the

credit-linked subsidy scheme, were introduced alongside Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

"Though PMAY(U) is expected to boost growth of the residential buildings sector, we believe

the government is unlikely to achieve its goal within the stated time frame due to the continued

growth of India's urban population, which creates a greater demand for affordable housing, as

well as delays in land acquisition and construction," it said.

It further said that the "PMAY(U)-related construction is expected to carry on beyond 2022,

contributing to growth of the residential buildings sector in the short to medium term".

On a separate note, there exists a considerable amount of unsold housing inventory, mostly

medium to high-end luxury units in urban areas that will limit the growth potential of the high-

end residential buildings sector, it noted.

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NCLT initiates insolvency proceedings against Efferent Real

Estates

The buyer through his advocate Piyush Singh of PSP Legal pleaded that he booked a

commercial food court worth Rs 31 lakh in Project Centre Point ID, Gurugram in 2016.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has initiated corporate insolvency resolution

process against Delhi-based Efferent Real Estates under Section 7 of the Insolvency and

Bankruptcy Code 2016.

The court has appointed Gaurav Katiyar as the interim resolution professional (IRP) for the

case.

The buyer through his advocate Piyush Singh of PSP Legal pleaded that he booked a

commercial food court worth Rs 31 lakh in Project Centre Point ID, Gurugram in 2016. The

project was to be completed by December 2017. "In case the construction does not complete in

six months, the builder will refund the complete amount paid plus 175% of the total value of the

unit," the buyer said in its plea.

Efferent Real Estates refunded Rs 4.35 lakh but balance is yet to be refunded while the project

has not been constructed as well.

The builder was proceeded as 'ex-parte' in October 2019 by the court.

The court has ordered a stay on all ongoing/pending suits or proceedings against Efferent Real

Estates. It has also prohibited the company from transferring, encumbering or disposing of its

assets. Any foreclosure of company's assets or recovery of any property by an owner or lessor

where such property is occupied by or in the possession of the company has also been

prohibited.

It further ordered the builder that the supply of essential goods like supply of water, electricity

to the buyer should not be terminated or suspended.

The ex-management of the company has been directed to provide all documents in their

possession and furnish every information within a period of one week from the admission of the

petition to the IRP.

Newspaper/Online ET Realty (online)

Date December 30, 2019

Link https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/regulatory/nclt-initiates-insolvency-proceedings-against-efferent-real-estates/73032568

Residents of unauthorised colonies being given property rights:

DDA

Under PM UDAY Yojna, the residents of the unauthorised colonies are being given

property rights over their properties in these colonies, DDA said in a tweet.

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on Sunday said that under Prime Minister Uday

Yojna, the residents of unauthorized colonies are being given authorised ownership of their

properties.

In a tweet, the DDA said, "For years the residents of unauthorised colonies did not have

property rights. It was difficult to buy or sell properties in these unauthorised colonies. It was

also impossible to take loans from banks. Under PM UDAY Yojna, the residents of the

unauthorised colonies are being given property rights over their properties in these colonies."

"Under this scheme, all residents of unauthorised colonies will get authorised owenership of

their house or flat," the DDA said in another tweet.

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Newspaper/Online ET Realty (online)

Date December 30, 2019

Link https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/residential/residents-of-unauthorised-colonies-being-given-property-rights-dda/73023829

Apartment Act yet to be implemented in Rajasthan

The Act, despite getting a nod from President Ram Nath Kovind in July, is yet to come in

force. Though rules of the act have been framed, the draft waits for final legal opinion.

Implementation of the Apartment Ownership Act, which ensures land rights of flat owners, is

moving at a snail’s pace in the state.

The Act, despite getting a nod from President Ram Nath Kovind in July, is yet to come in force.

Though rules of the act have been framed, the draft waits for final legal opinion.

An official at the urban development and housing (UDH) department said, “The rules of the Act

are being framed. Once it receives administration and legal approval, suggestions and

objections will be invited before implementation. It would take at least a month’s time.”

UDH minister Shanti Dhariwal had earlier directed officials to frame the rules by November 15

and implement it by end-November.

Once implemented, it will give land rights to flat owners over the land on which an apartment is

constructed. The Act is need of the hour as it is mandatory for the developer to issue sub-lease

to purchasers claiming their right on the land on which the apartment is constructed.

Currently, apartment owners in multi-storey buildings do not have land rights. Sources said

according to the Act, every person to whom any apartment is allotted, sold or transferred by the

promoter, will be entitled to exclusive ownership and possession of the property.

The Rajasthan Apartment Ownership Act was passed in the state assembly on April 8, 2015. An

official informed TOI that on April 24, the Act was sent to the central government for approval.

The Centre directed the government to remove clauses 6, 11 (1) & (2) from the draft to avoid

conflict with the Centre’s Real Estate Bill.

“The governor in February 2018 sent the Act to the state government for re-examination. The

amended Act was passed in March in the assembly. The Act, which was sent to the President in

April 2018, was given final approval in July,” said the official.

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Newspaper/Online ET Realty (online)

Date December 30, 2019

Link https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/regulatory/apartment-act-yet-to-be-implemented-in-rajasthan/73023788

Jaipur civic staff work extra for urban development tax

The state government is currently running an amnesty scheme. According to this if

someone deposits tax, then 100% penalty and 50% of the UD tax pending before the

period of 2007-2012 will be waived.

The officials of Jaipur Municipal Corporation’s (JMC) revenue department worked even during

the weekend to collect the urban development tax (UD Tax) as the year comes to an end.

The state government is currently running an amnesty scheme. According to this if someone

deposits tax, then 100% penalty and 50% of the UD tax pending before the period of 2007-2012

will be waived. The last date for the scheme is December 31.

According to the revenue officials, till December 29 they had collected more than Rs 42 crore.

They hope to collect more than Rs 60 crore by the end of this financial year. A few weeks ago,

the JMC officials had worked on weekends to resolve the complaints on Sampark Portal.

JMC revenue commissioner, Naveen Bhardhwaj, said that last year the amount collected was

just Rs 25 crore. “We are positive about collecting UD tax because of the constant raids being

conducted. We have sealed more than 300 properties till now and collected an amount of more

than Rs 42 crore. Many owners deposit the tax immediately after their properties are sealed,”

said Naveen.

Despite the officials claiming it to be successful more than Rs 600 crore still needs to be

collected. Out of the total, more than Rs 300 crore needs to be collected from the state

government buildings.

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Newspaper/Online ET Realty (online)

Date December 30, 2019

Link https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/regulatory/jaipur-civic-staff-work-extra-for-urban-development-tax/73028304

Kolhapur: Fines on tax dues for newly added properties to be

waived

Recently, the property tax department officials found 98 properties that were constructed

earlier, but their owners did not register the properties with the department — thus

evading tax.

The Kolhapur Municipal Corporation (KMC) has decided not to recover property tax fines from

owners of properties that are newly registered.

Recently, the property tax department officials found 98 properties that were constructed

earlier, but their owners did not register the properties with the department — thus evading tax.

Also, some properties with additional constructions were found, but the taxes in these cases

were paid as per earlier assessments.

A senior KMC official, requesting anonymity, said, “The decision is to not charge the fine

amount (which is around 24% per year) for properties that were constructed and in use for

several years, but whose owners did not register with the department. If calculated along with

the fine, the taxes for each of these 98 properties would run into lakhs. The owners are reluctant

to pay such big amounts. Therefore, we have decided to waive the fine and the property owners

have to pay only the principal amount of the property tax dues, the bills for which will be sent

to the owners soon.”

The financial year will end in the next three months, and the property tax department is

struggling to recover the dues. According to the officials, at present, only 60% of the tax has

been recovered. Recovering the remaining dues will be challenging.

The officials said that the owners of 98 properties are demanding that they be allowed to pay the

tax dues for the current year, and the dues for the earlier years be waived. “We do not have such

a policy. We have to recover the dues for the properties for which the completion certificates

were issued. If the demand is heeded, we will have to give up a large amount of revenue,” said

the official.

The official said that waiving fines will only be limited to these 98 properties. For properties

which were registered and owners have not paid the dues for past few years, another scheme —

of 50% waiver in the fine amount, if the dues are paid in single instalment — may be floated

ahead of closure of the financial year.

Newspaper/Online ET Realty (online)

Date December 30, 2019

Link https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/regulatory/kolhapur-fines-on-tax-dues-for-newly-added-properties-to-be-wiaved/73023812

Kozhikode: Revised commercial property tax collection process to

be completed soon

The officials of revenue section have commenced the rectification of detected errors in the

numbering of buildings to levy revised tax before March 2020.

Kozhikode city corporation authorities have completed issuing building numbers to commercial

buildings, establishments and houses for the introduction of revised property tax with

retrospective effect from 2016, April 1. The officials of revenue section have commenced the

rectification of detected errors in the numbering of buildings to levy revised tax before March

2020.

More than 55 officials of revenue section have carried out the work of issuing new building

numbers to the building owners which comes under the purview of the revised tax rate.

The officials have also carried out the cross verification of self-assessment tax forms submitted

by the building owners for the tabulation of revised property tax and to make data entry of it on

the software developed for tax collection. The building owners submitted the self-assessment

tax forms furnishing details of name, location, survey number of the land, village office and

post office number along with the details of last remitted property tax.

According to the corporation officials, a council meeting held on August 20, 2019 had taken the

decision to impose revised tax with retrospective effect from April 1, 2016 to ease burden of

pending arrears from the shoulders of tax payers.

The corporation is introducing tax revision after a gap of more than two and half decades and

the last tax revision in the corporation limit was done in 1993. Residential buildings having an

area up to 2,000sq ft and constructed before 2016 were exempted from revised tax rate. While

the revised tax rate is applicable to all types of new building constructions carried out after

2016.

An official with the revenue section said that officials have commenced site visits to recheck

inclusion of all types of buildings comes under the purview of revised tax rate to make its entry

in the databank to avoid revenue loss. “We will complete all the official process involved in

revised tax collection in another month,” said the official adding that they have also started

rectification of anomalies detected in the self-assessment tax forms submitted by the building

owners.

Newspaper/Online ET Realty (online)

Date December 30, 2019

Link https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/regulatory/kozhikode-revised-commercial-property-tax-collection-process-to-be-completed-soon/73023845

Noida authority to auction 100 acres land

Officials said that modalities were being discussed and plots in the two sectors would be

put up for auction latest by March next year.

The Noida Authority is set to put plots in two more sectors in the city up for auction for

industrial use. It has managed to acquire around 100 acres of land in sectors 151 and 158.

Officials said that modalities were being discussed and plots in the two sectors would be put up

for auction latest by March next year. “We are in the final stages of the process. Plots will be

ready for handover to interested players by March 15 and we shall be over with the auction

process by March-end,” said NK Singh, OSD and officer-in-charge of the industries

department.

In first week of December, the Authority CEO held a series of meetings with the town and

planning department officials to finalise the layout of the sectors. SC Gaur, the Authority’s

chief architect and planner, said: “The sectors are situated off the Noida-Greater Noida

expressway. Aqua line metro corridor also runs almost parallel to the sectors.”

For these two sectors, land has been acquired from farmers and people staying in Gulawali,

Aurangabad, Amitpur and Kambuxpur villages.

Before carving out the two sectors, Noida Authority had auctioned 160 to 170 plots in sectors

155, 156 and 157.

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Newspaper/Online ET Realty (online)

Date December 30, 2019

Link https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/noida-authority-to-auction-100-acres-land/73030589

Goa housing board to auction 100 plots, apartments before March

25

Shirodkar told TOI that those interested in plots and flats could approach the IT kiosk

outside the deputy collector’s office for online applications.

Goa Housing Board (GHB) has decided to e-auction 100 plots and apartments across the state

before Gudi Padwa on March 25.

Board chairman Subhash Shirodkar convened a board meeting on Friday to discuss various

issues related to the development of new plots and construction of apartments.

Shirodkar told TOI that those interested in plots and flats could approach the IT kiosk outside

the deputy collector’s office for online applications. The criteria for the bidder had been

finalised and would be sent to the government for approval, Shirodkar said. “We are expecting

the government approval within a month for the criteria,” he added.

Bidders would need to produce their 15-year residence certificate, along with their income

certificate, among other things, the GHB chairman said.

Shirodkar added that another decision taken at the meeting was to appoint a consultant for the

preparation of a financial and construction plan for over four areas which include Colvale,

Assolna, Curca and Margao. The consultant would be asked to submit a report, he said.

The entire process of appointing the consultant and submitting the report would take at least two

months, he said.

The PMAY (Urban) Mission launched on June 2015 intends to provide housing for all in urban

areas by 2022.

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Newspaper/Online ET Realty (online)

Date December 30, 2019

Link https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/residential/goa-housing-board-to-auction-100-plots-apartments-before-march-25/73030639

Nashik: Drone survey of villages in Rahata taluka completed

A total of 4,570 villages across Nashik division will be surveyed using the technology,

Milind Chavan, deputy director of Land Records, Nashik Division, said.

The land records department has completed the drone-based survey of 123 villages in

the Rahata taluka of Ahmednagar district in Nashik division, as a part of the mapping of

gaothan areas to present the right for dwelling on the gram panchayat land.

A total of 4,570 villages across Nashik division will be surveyed using the technology, Milind

Chavan, deputy director of Land Records, Nashik Division, said.

What is drone-based survey of gaothan area?

The British had surveyed each and every measure of land in the country, based on which, the

land records department came into existence and a system to charge tax was established. But

they left out the areas of villages where people resided, and termed them as gaothan areas.

While people live in villages, the exact land measurement of the houses and the ownership is

not defined, and the land still belongs to the district collector. In order to give the title to the

citizens, the land has to be measured. The process of conventionally measuring will take more

than six months. The drone-based survey on the other hand takes a picture from the skies and

using digital technology completes the survey in five days flat.

Do people accept the demarcations given by you?

The land records department does not demarcate the property. We reach out to the villagers and

convince them on the group survey of property and seek their cooperation. Once decided, the

government offices are asked to mark boundaries of their properties in the village — hospitals,

roads, public wells etc. — with lime powder. Then the villagers are told to so and they do it

amicably, even in the open lands.

After marking is done, drone is placed at station zero for land measurement in that villages and

is pulled up in the air. AFter that it takes several pictures of the village from various locations

and then the properties are identified and numbered.

How many villages are to be drone-surveyed?

There are 4570 villages that have to be surveyed in Nashik division comprising Nashik, Dhule,

Jalgaon, Nandurbar and Ahmednagar districts. Of these, we have completed 123 villages in

Newspaper/Online ET Realty (online)

Date December 30, 2019

Link https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/infrastructure/nashik-drone-survey-of-villages-in-rahata-taluka-completed/73023880

Rahata taluka. Work in the entire Rahata taluka has completed and the process of presenting the

awards after calling for objections is being carried out.

What is amicable sub-division of land in a family?

Most farmers have common land and the names of all the family members are added to create

rights of everybody on the property. At times, people want their land to be divided and create

sub-divisions or pot-hissa on the same.

Conventionally, when farmers present their request and land surveyor goes to the spot, those

opposing the applicant create a scene. Therefore, the government has come up with a solution to

the problem of getting land divided in their names when everybody is in good mood. For this

technology is put to use.

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How Can Fin Homes managed to beat the slump

There is a lot of pain and it will take the next six to eight quarters for this pain to subside.

For the next two years, our growth rate would moderate, says Girish Kousgi, MD & CEO, Can

Fin Homes. Excerpts from an interview with ETNOW.

In the last 10 years, Can Fin Homes has given over 29 times returns to its shareholders.

What would you say have been the key achievements and what could have aided this kind

of growth because the way stock price moves is also a reflection of what you are doing at

the back end in the company?

The Can Fin strategy is to grow a good profitable book and keep it healthy. To get this right, the

company did a lot of good things. Even today, we focus largely on home. Our non-home

component is hardly 6%. So 94% is home including top up of 5% which is nothing but home

loans. We largely operate in an affordable space. The kind of properties we fund is residential

and commercial. We do not really go for high value properties. Our average ticket is Rs 18 lakh.

We choose geographies very well.

Three-four things helped this company to do well in the last 10 years. One, to get the profile

right. 70% of our portfolio comprise of salaried and 30% are self employed. Everyone knows

the salaried behave better than the self employed and therefore we are focussed on salaried.

Two, geography. We largely focus on geographies where we can get salaried customers and

there are certain markets outside the salaried segment which are predominantly self-employed.

We go by good repayment credit culture.

Third, we are focussed on low ticket size. We do not want to get into high value deals. High

value, which is more than Rs 50 lakh, is hardly 4% in our entire portfolio and that too would be

mostly from the salaried segment.

Today, when we fund the self-employed, we give loans based on proper assessments and not on

surrogate income. All these things helped. Of course, we also price differently in different

markets to maintain profitability and have been able to manage costs.

The kind of distress that the economy is seeing, especially in the real estate sector is across

categories. Even the affordable segment has come to a total standstill because of not just

weak economic scenario but also joblessness. Do you really think you will be able to

replicate these kind of growth numbers going forward?

Let me talk about the affordable and the non-affordable segments. In the affordable segment,

the demand is still very strong. Within affordable segment, developer-led projects have slowed

Newspaper/Online ET Realty (online)

Date December 30, 2019

Link https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/allied-industries/how-can-fin-homes-managed-to-beat-the-slump/73028924

down. But there is a large non-developer space because we cater to tier II, III and IV kind of

cities. We depend more on self construction, composite loans and readymade property as a

disperses purchase or a resale.

In this segment, the demand is quite strong. If you talk about industry as a whole, there is a lot

of pain and it will take the next six to eight quarters for this pain to subside and get back to pre-

IL&FS or maybe pre-Dewan Housing kind of situation. Having said this, the government has

taken a lot of initiative, RBI is taking a lot of initiatives to try and revive this industry, but it

will take some time.

What happened was that credit stopped flowing to some of the big developers and to most of

the HFCs. Now because of this HFCs are not able to lend. How will we overcome this? We also

have certain challenges but that is much smaller. We do not see any challenge at least for the

next six to eight quarters for us to maintain a growth rate above the industry growth rate.

You are looking at a Rs 40,000-crore loan book size by FY22. Are you still on track? Do

you see growth continuing at this rate?

For the next two years, our growth rate would moderate. I do not think we would be growing at

the same pace, given the market situation. Industry is expected to grow in the range of 10-11%,

we would grow far higher than industry growth rate.

And it is specific geographies when it comes to the housing pockets that you are looking at

where you see better growth than others?

I would not want to compare but yes we are doing well in the geographies where we are present

barring one or two. As I told you, we choose geographies very carefully, for example, you take

any big city, within that city which pocket we need to operate. It gets into that minute detail.

Largely, south has been good for us and north as is west.

Would there be a bigger push on the north now because you are also looking to expand

your network of 200 branches by March? Where are you in that process? How much

more are you looking at pushing the network going forward?

We will keep growing, we will keep expanding branches in the years to come. By March we

will have 200 branches. As I told you, largely we prefer salaried or lower risk self-employed

markets.

What is the outlook on fundraising plans? I understand that there was a Rs 1,000 crore

rights issue, a QIP. What is the timeline? Are there any further fundraising plans?

We have planned to raise about Rs 1000 crore odd. We are trying to time it appropriately. We

are hopeful we will do it before the end of this financial year.

Talking about the outlook in the real estate sector, the general gloom and doom in the

economy, the government has taken certain steps. What more do you think is required?

The government is doing enough to revive the industry in the last three to four months but more

should be in store. If we have to get back to those levels which was there two years back, a little

bit more is required and I am sure the government is planning for that.

Any expectations from the Budget?

I would put it this way; industry would expect some kind of revival package for the developers

and some kind of scheme where flow of credit happens to the smaller HFCs because while we

talk about a few companies doing well in this market, most of the HFCs are not doing well

because of fund constraint. So I think one, on the credit flow and second in terms of some kind

of stimulus package to the developers probably would help.

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Ramco Cement, GIC Housing, NHB, others to list CPs worth Rs

8,215 crore

Till date, 50 issuers have done 182 issuances of commercial papers and have successfully

listed CPs of Rs 70,210 crore on the BSE.

As many as 12 companies have filed applications with the BSE to list their commercial papers

on the bourse for a total issue size of Rs 8,215 crore, the exchange said on Monday.

The firms that have made applications are SBI Cards and Payment Services Ltd, Birla Group

Holdings Pvt Ltd, National Housing Bank, Aditya Birla Capital Ltd, Larsen & Toubro Ltd, SBI

Cards and Payment Services Ltd, BASF India Ltd, The Ramco Cements Ltd, Aarti Industries

Ltd, HT Media Ltd, GIC Housing Finance Ltd and Himadri Speciality Chemical Ltd.

After the process, the effective date for listing of commercial papers (CPs) at the BSE is

December 31, the BSE said in a release.

"Till date, 50 issuers have done 182 issuances of commercial papers and have successfully

listed CPs of Rs 70,210 crore on the BSE. The weighted average yield of these issuances is 6.42

per cent with an average tenor of 161 days," it added.

A CP is an unsecured money market instrument issued in the form of promissory notes that

enables highly rated corporate borrowers to diversify their sources of short-term borrowings and

provides an additional instrument to investors.

Such instruments can be issued for maturities between a minimum of 7 days and a maximum of

one year from the date of issue.

CPs are usually issued at a discount from face value and reflect prevailing market interest rates.

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Newspaper/Online ET Realty (online)

Date December 31, 2019

Link https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/ramco-cement-gic-housing-nhb-to-list-commercial-papers-worth-rs-8215-crore/73039194

Residential property prices in Germany jump amid cheap ECB

money

Prices for owner-occupied dwellings in Germany's seven largest metropolises rose by 9%

year on year from July through September, the Federal Statistics Office said.

German property prices jumped in the third quarter as record-low borrowing costs and housing

shortages continued to push up demand for apartments in urban areas, data showed on Monday.

Prices for owner-occupied dwellings in Germany's seven largest metropolises rose by 9% year

on year from July through September, the Federal Statistics Office said.

Prices for single-family and two-family houses in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich,

Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Duesseldorf were up 7.5% year on year in the third quarter.

Among the factors pushing up residential property prices are the European Central Bank's ultra-

low interest rates, capacity constraints and bottlenecks in the construction sector as well as an

influx of people to cities, a spokeswoman for the Federal Statistics Office said.

Officials from Germany's central bank, the Bundesbank, have repeatedly warned that real estate

prices in cities may be 15% to 30% overvalued, hinting that a property bubble may be

developing, a potential risk for financial stability.

The federal government has made billions of euros for social housing available, but the outflow

of earmarked funds has been slowed down by planning bottlenecks at local authorities and

capacity constraints in the construction sector.

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Newspaper/Online ET Realty (online)

Date December 30, 2019

Link https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/residential/residential-property-prices-in-germany-jump-amid-cheap-ecb-money/73033334