The global realty 1st issue march 18 pdf for print

Tribunal to Resolve the River Mahanadi dispute

F The major rivers from Jharkhand enter Odisha and join in Brahmani, Sankh and Mahanadi rivers before entering the Bay of Bengal.

Sharing water is, after all, equally important for both states. The prominent tributaries of the Subarnarekha are Kharkai, Roro, Kanchi, Harmu Nadi, Damra, Karru, Chinguru, Karakari, Gurma, Garra, Singaduba, Kodia, Dulunga and Khaijori. The Kharkai meets the Subarnarekha at Sonari (Domuhani), a neighbourhood of Jamshedpur.

inally, the Supreme Court of India has asked the Central government to set up a tribunal within a month to resolve the long-standing dispute between Odisha and Chhattisgarh over the sharing of water from the river Mahanadi. Earlier, the Modi government had advised the Odisha to negotiate with Chhattisgarh to resolve the dispute as cases referred to tribunals takes decades for resolution. Stakes are high because both these states are ruled by different political parties.

On September 17, 2016, both the chief ministers, Naveen Patnaik and Raman Singh, had a meeting with then union water resources minister Uma Bharti along with chief secretaries of the states to solve this issue, but they had failed to bring out any solution.

In an affidavit filed last year, Modi government had opposed the constitution of the tribunal, but the court directed for a tribunal as per 4(1) of the Inter-State Water Disputes Act (1956). In its plea, Odisha government had alleged that the Chhattisgarh government was violating a 1983 treaty on Mahanadi waters by constructing unauthorised dams and barrages for the last couple of years.

For the record, about 80% of the population are dependent on agriculture and natural products. The main sources of income for the state is agriculture and natural products. The Chhattisgarh is known as the ‘Bowl of Paddy’ because the main crop is rice. There are about 600 rice mills in the state. Similarly, about 76% of the total working population is engaged with agriculture and agriculture related industries in Odisha.

As it is now an emotive issue, Raman Singh-led Chhattishgarh government may not stop construction of barrages and dams in state as polls for both the state Assembly and Lok Sabha are round the corner. As per the report, Chhattisgarh government had constructed six barrages over Mahanadi and it has plans to construct 13 more dams and barrages in future.

As the stalemate continues, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik should talk with Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das and set up team to find opportunity to construct of barrages and dams in border of both states instead of fighting with Chhattisgarh over Mahanadhi water. The major rivers from Jharkhand enter Odisha and join in Brahmani, Sankh and Mahanadi rivers before entering the Bay of Bengal.

Sharing water is, after all, equally important for both states. The prominent tributaries of the Subarnarekha are Kharkai, Roro, Kanchi, Harmu Nadi, Damra, Karru, Chinguru, Karakari, Gurma, Garra, Singaduba, Kodia, Dulunga and Khaijori. The Kharkai meets the Subarnarekha at Sonari (Domuhani), a neighbourhood of Jamshedpur.

To boost infrastructure and create jobs, this could be a big project which can create a huge employment opportunities not only for the engineering graduates but also for a large number of the work force in both the states.

Sanjeeb Kumar

Editor-In-Chief MARCH 2018| THE GLOBAL REALTY|

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THE GLOBAL

REALTY Volume: 1, Issue: 1, March, 2018 SANJEEB KUMAR Editor-in-Chief ACHYUT NATH JHA Executive Editor

INDEX

COVER STORY

WILL THE BUDGET BOLSTER UP THE INFRASTRUCTURE SECTOR?

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SHIV KUMAR CHAUHAN Sales Head HARI OM SHARMA Sr. Photo Journalist VINIT KONERU Contributors NIRMALA SINGH RANA President

Cover Story : Quotes

ANWARUL HAQUE Design Head

HERE IS HOW THE INDUSTRY REACTED TO THE UNION BUDGET OF 2018

SUMIT KUMAR Legal Advisor

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NEWS OVER 93 LAKH HOUSES CONSTRUCTED BY MODI GOVERNMENT IN OVER THREE YEARS: KOVIND

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Over 93 lakh houses have been constructed by the Narendra Modi government in the last three-and-a-half years, President Ram Nath Kovind said, outlining the government’s target to provide house to every poor and homeless by 2022.

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WILL THE BUDGET BOLSTER UP THE INFRASTRUCTURE SECTOR? With a host of investment boost to infra, the finance minister gave a lot to cheer about to the informal, semi-skilled workers in the form of creation of livelihood, affordable housing and insuring their health.

By Vinit Koneru

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he budget 2018-19 has called Infrastructure sector a ‘growth engine’ of Indian economy and has allocated a whopping Rs 5.97 lakh crore to the sector, with Urban Infrastructure, Roads and National Highways, and Civil Aviation as the area of focus. But the budget failed to appease investors on tax front, as they find some provisions of budget not encouraging for investment in real estate. “Our country needs massive investments estimated to be in excess of Rs 50 lakh crore in infrastructure to increase growth of GDP; connect and integrate the nation with a network of roads, airports, railways, ports and inland waterways and provide good quality services to our people,” the finance minister Arun Jaitley said during the budget speech.

A significant thrust has been given to transport sector and last mile connectivity in his speech. The government unveiled the largest-ever rail and road budget of Rs 1.48 lakh crore and Rs 1.21 lakh crore, respectively for fiscal 2018-19.

For realizing its’ ambitious roads and ports development schemes, the government decided to take equity route to raise more capital private investments including foreign direct investments. For rural areas development, Jaitley informed that in 2018-19, for creation of livelihood and infrastructure in rural areas, total amount to be spent by varMARCH 2018| THE GLOBAL REALTY|

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COVER STORY ious Ministries will be Rs.14.34 lakh crore, including extrabudgetary and non-budgetary resources of Rs.11.98 lakh crore. Apart from employment due to farming activities and self-employment, this expenditure will create employment of 321 crore person days, 3.17 lakh kilometers of rural roads, 51 lakh new rural houses, 1.88 crore toilets, and provide 1.75 crore new household electric connections besides boosting agricultural growth.

Strongly emphasising that creation of job opportunities and facilitating generation of employment has been at the core of policy-making of the Government over the last three years, the Finance Minister mentioned that an independent study conducted recently has shown creation of 70 lakh formal jobs this year.

Government intends to raise Rs 5.35 lakh crore as equity from market. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will consider organizing its road assets into Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) and use innovative monetizing structures like Toll, Operate and Transfer (TOT) and Infrastructure Investment Funds (InvITs) for raising funds.

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Jaitley lauded the work being done under the government’s inter linked programs – Smart Cities, AMRUT and HRIDAY missions. He informed that 99 cities have been selected with an outlay of Rs. 2.04 lakh crore under the Smart Cities Mission.

The minister announced that his ministry will leverage India Infrastructure Finance Corporation Limited (IIFCL) to help finance infrastructure projects including investment in education and health infrastructure.

In the field of Civil Aviation, the budget laid focus on enhancing infrastructure capacity to handle a billion trips a year, which has seen a growth of 18% in passenger traffic. He further said his government will make the necessary frame work for promoting and encouraging investments in tourism, emergency medical care, and seaplane activities.

Additionally, apart from traditional infrastructure subjects, the budget also aims to establish a robust digital network. The minister announced doubling of allocation for ambitious Digital India Program to Rs.3, 073 crore.

Jaitley lauded the work being done under the government’s inter linked programs – Smart Cities, AMRUT and HRIDAY missions.

He informed that 99 cities have been selected with an outlay of Rs. 2.04 lakh crore under the Smart Cities Mission.

In the sector of Digital Infrastructure the General Budget 2018-19 announced a doubling of budget.

Rs. 10,000 crore have been provided in Budget 201819 for creation and augmentation of telecom infrastructure. The Government proposes to set up 5 lakh wifi hot spots which will provide broadband access to 5 crore rural citizens.

On the tax front, the new entrant to the infrastructure family – the real estate sector, did not receive any benefits albeit a minor relief in the form of a 5% where real estate transactions are undertaken below stamp duty value. Additionally a 10% tax has been levied on long term capital gains in excess of INR 1 lakh on sale of listed equity shares and units of MARCH 2018| THE GLOBAL REALTY|

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COVER STORY

REIT (Real Estate Investment Trusts). The experts feel the budget could have done more to the sector, to revive it from the slowdown it has suffering in the recent times.

With a host of investment boost to infra, the finance minister, while presenting the last full-fledged budget of the current NDA government, gave a lot to cheer about to the informal, semi-skilled workers – who make a huge vote-base, in the form of creation of livelihood, affordable housing and insuring their health.

The government promised to provide free medical care of up to Rs 5 lakh each to 10 crore poor families – about 50 crore beneficiaries (assuming five members per family), claiming the scheme to be the world’s largest healthcare programme.

Healthcare specialist had called the scheme a magnification of previous health insurance schemes like Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), the scheme was later renamed as Rashtriya Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (RSSY). Then last year, the National Healthcare Protection Scheme (NHPS). And called it ‘too good to be true’. However, the success of the

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scheme lies in its effective implementation.

Simultaneously, the budget also promises the lowincome group with 37 lakh affordable homes in urban and 51 lakh homes in rural areas. The minister said the government will create a dedicated affordable housing fund in collaboration with the National Housing Bank (NHB), taking another step towards realizing its dream of 'Affordable Housing for All' by 2022.

This fund will be provided from priority sector lending and fully serviced bonds authorised by the Government of India. The National Housing Bank Act is being amended to transfer its equity from the RBI to the government, he added.

But the Real Estate sector finds some sections untouched by the budget like GST rates on new homes, digitization of land records and strengthening RERA Act to boost investor confidence, which has taken a hit after demonetization and GST and resulted in slowdown in the sector past year. l

HERE IS HOW THE INDUSTRY REACTED TO THE UNION BUDGET OF 2018

NSN MURTY Partner and Leader- Smart Cities, PwC India

Government expenditure on thousands of projects initiated under Smart Cities Mission across India going has already created a large marketplace for private sector and is going to further translate into jobs at all level, better and efficient infrastructure and liveable cities for everyone MARCH 2018| THE GLOBAL REALTY| 11

COVER STORY

MANISH AGARWAL Partner and LeaderInfrastructure, PwC India

BHAIRAV DALAL Partner-Real Estate Tax, PwC India

Affordable Housing continues to get preferential treatment given the ‘Housing for all’ agenda. Creation of the Affordable Housing Fund will certainly ease the funding gap. While providing a safe harbour is a welcome move for property transactions, the margin of 5% may not serve the purpose. REIT investors would have to now factor LTCG tax while evaluating investment opportunities which would increase their return expectations.

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50 lakh crore for infrastructure is welcome is as it reaffirms continued funding of various initiatives in Roads, Railways and Urban Infrastructure.

Quantum leap in airport capacity is key requirement to keep pace with the rapid growth in aviation. Other initiatives, outside the budget, to revive private sector play in these sectors, will complement and further the impact of the budget allocations.

YADUPATI SINGHANIA Chairman and Managing Director, JK Cement

On the infrastructure front, the Finance Minister has shown remarkable restraint, and therein lies the brilliance of his announcements. India is at the cusp of an infrastructure revolution, and the budgetary support of Rs. 5.97 lakh crore for FY19 will be a big positive for the sector and supplementary industries such as cement.

The focus of the government will likely remain on effective and timely execution of existing projects, with the FM promising construction of 9,000 km highways by the end of FY19. Also, it was encouraging to see the reinforcement of the government’s commitment to the Bharatmala Project, which will be a major boost to demand in the next financial year. Besides this, the announcement of the Affordable Housing Fund was also a positive announcement, especially since it will create an impetus for the housing sector, which contributes around 65% to India’s cement demand.

MR. KETAN MUSALE DOTOM Realty Managing Director

Decent budget has been allocated to boost the infrastructure & affordable housing of Rural areas in turn easing the load of metropolitan cities.MIG and HIG groups who are the major tax payers have been ignored in current budget leaving a sour taste. Upgrading their lifestyles will be challenging which would reduce the velocity of sales of homes in metropolitan cities.The scenario of 2017 has been extended to 2018 not enhancing much in Real Estate segment, carrying forward our hopes to 2019.

MR. SUNDEEP JAGASIA Shree Krishna Group Managing Director

Key positives for Affordable Housing within real estate were, one being the dedicated fund for Affordable housing to be formed under National Housing Bank and the other was the inclusion of affordable housing loans under priority sector lending. Both these measures will increase the credit availability for real estate sector. No good news for the housing industry as the much-awaited relief in GST and revision in home loan rates were left untouched. However, overall, due to focus on Housing For All 2022 and boost to rural infrastructure, the industry should prosper in the future.

ANIKET HAWARE Managing Director Haware Builders

In the run up to the democratic year, the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley at the outset highlighted that strengthening the rural economy, infrastructure, quality of education and the MSME’s Agriculture was the focus of the Budget 2018. Focus on the growth of Smart Cities, digitization, sustainability, the provision of basic utilities shows an ongoing commitment towards expansion. The budget also highlights the formation of additional construction and urban development bodies to fulfill the much needed skill gap in the built environment. The additional commitment to rural affordable housing is also a welcome addition, as is the recapitalization that allows banks to lend Rs.5 lakh crores. Affordable housing, where the real deficit exists, saw an encouraging boost with the creation of a dedicated Affordable Housing Fund by the National Housing Bank (NHB) to address the issue of funding constraints faced by all stakeholders. GST rates should have come down for real estate that would have helped middle income group from pricing point. Except tax benefit for the slab from 2.5lakhs to 5 lakhs, no announcement is made related to Housing loan, interest rate etc.

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COVER STORY

ASHISH SARIN CEO, Alpha Corp

PRADEEP JAIN Founder Chairman, Parsvnath Developers Limited

Though there was a huge emphasis on agriculture, infrastructure ,health care, social infrastructure and rural sectors but more attention was expected on real estate sector from the Budget this year.

There has been a welcome move on Affordable Housing which has been the focus area and various concessions have been announced towards setting up of an Affordable Housing Fund under the Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojna. This move will most definitely help boost the growth of ancillaries in the real estate sector. The budget definitely should have been more comforting for middle income group for being able to create more disposable income and help boost the economic growth.

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The emphasis on strengthening rural income and giving a push to affordable housing segment is a positive development. Although the real estate sector was expecting more in terms of getting industry status to the sector, the push towards "formal employment" and Infrastructure development will create a positive push for employment creation, which is the critical need of the hour.

RAKESH MAKKAR Director, Grihashakti– Fullerton India Home Finance Company

“We welcome the announcement of a dedicated affordable housing fund in the National Housing Bank. This initiative as well as the GST announcement last week on rationalisation of affordable and low-cost housing will encourage formal credit penetration into the sector. The Affordable Housing Fund will further add momentum to Government’s agenda of Housing for All by 2022 by providing easy access to formal credit.”, said Rakesh Makkar, Director, Grihashakti – Fullerton India Home Finance Company.

BHARAT DHAWAN Partner, Mazars

The budget has brought good news for homebuyers with its proposal to reduce hardships faced in realty deals. As per proposal, there would be no adjustment in case circle rate does not exceed 5 pc of sale consideration.

All small cap companies would be happy on the tax front with this Budget due to cut in corporate tax rate to 25% with turnover of up to Rs.250 crore.

However, the salaried class would not be thrilled with the token Rs 40,000 standard deduction, which replaces transport allowance and medical reimbursement. Further, senior citizens would feel incentivized to get Rs50,000 per annum exemption for medical insurance under Sec 80D from existing Rs. 30,000 per annum. Market may take a deep dive due to proposed long term capital gain tax over 1 lakh in a year @ 10% without indexing. From indirect tax perspective, considering the new law in operation for the past year, the budget has not proposed major changes in goods & Service Tax law. However, various changes have been proposed in custom duty levy which mainly leads to increase in import duty incidence. Further, cess on custom duty is replaced by Social Welfare Surcharge of 10%, the mechanics of calculation is similar to that of cess levied at present.

Finally, it has been officially declared that Government does not consider crypto-currency as legal and will take all measures against its illegal use.

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COVER STORY

SURENDRA HIRANANDANI CMD, House of Hiranandani

I would term it as a pro farmers budget with a slew of measures well directed towards improving productivity in agriculture. With the increase in MSP for crops, thrust on organic farming, doubling the expenditure allocated to food processing sector, liberalization of agricultural exports, creating state of the art facilities at food parks, push to fisheries and allied sector, measures for senior citizens, this budget truly focused on uplifting the life of the “aam aadmi”. The introduction of various schemes in these areas will certainly bridge the rural-urban divide in the future. The announcements in the areas of healthcare in particular are path breaking and will empower the poor and under privileged sections of the society. While there was no direct benefit to the real estate sector from the budget, some measures announced will positively impact the sector. The announcement of a dedicated affordable housing fund in the National Housing Bank (NHB) funded from priority sector lending shortfall and fully serviced bonds authorized by the Indian government is a welcome move and could act as a catalyst in the government's vision of “Housing for All by 2022”. The move to allow a variation of 5% between transaction value and circle rates for computation of capital gains will not impact transactions significantly in any of the metropolitan cities in India. The massive push for improvement in infrastructure, including significant capital expenditure for roads, railways and development of smaller airports will indirectly benefit the real estate sector in the long run. One of the concerns is the inability to meet the fiscal deficit in spite of surpassing the divestment target. New measures adopted for reducing the deficit might push up the yields leading to higher interest rates for both corporates and households. Investors in particular will not be pleased with Long Term Capital Gains on sale of equity and mutual fund investments. We could see some flight of capital from equity to the real estate class on the back of this move. The salaried class too stood to gain very little as the standard deduction of Rs 40,000 will provide nominal benefits to them. We had certainly anticipated more for the real estate sector which is the second largest employment generator in the economy after agriculture. It seems the entire focus of the government was on the latter while undermining the importance of real estate to the economy.

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SAROJINI AHUJA VP Sales & Marketing, Transcon Developers

PANKAJ BAJAJ President, CREDAI NCR,

Budget 2018-19 has some incremental announcements for the real estate sector. The Finance Minister has amended section 43 CA and allowed for market transactions to happen upto 5% below the circle rate without deeming the deficit to be the income in the hands of the seller and the buyer. While we welcome the move it would have been better to do away with this provision entirely as the in many places the market prices are way below the circle rates . The budget announced the Affordable Housing Fund under NHB which will further catalyse investments in this sector. However, the big benefit to housing would accrue from middle class having more disposable incomes in their hands. Stndard deduction has been increased. Senior citizens have been given tax breaks all this will increase the EMI bearing capacity of the middle class and improve the demand for housing.

Finally, the imposition of LTCG on equity and equity funds will also improve the relative attractiveness of real estate as an asset class. Otherwise, for the last one year financial instruments were suckking up all the investments from the middle class

This year's Union Budget was focused largely towards the fulfillment of government’s dream of ‘Housing for All 2022’ and allocation of fund for affordable housing was a boost yet lacks clarity.However, we were expecting a revision in GST rates so as to pass on the additional benefit to the home buyers, which was missing in this budget

MANOJ PALIWAL Chief Marketing Officer, Omkar Realtors and Developers Pvt Ltd

Understanding the government major focus on affordable housing to achieve the target of housing for all, the budget was largely inclined towards the same. Rural infrastructure push will surely boost added housing in these areas resulting in employment generation. Further, the introduction of a long-term capital gain tax of 10% on shares is a step towards creating a bit of level playing field these two assets classes i.e Real Estate and Stock market. This move is positive for Real Estate.

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ANUJ PURI, Chairman, ANAROCK Property Consultants

All eyes were on the Finance Minister as he delivered his fifth full Union Budget – the last one before the general elections in 2019. As expected, the budget turned out to be populist and sounded excessively cautious while the need of the hour was to provide a positive boost to the economy, which is reeling under the pressure of structural changes and policy reforms.

The Budget did not offer any substantial incentives to individual taxpayers, with slabs remaining constant. A change in the standard tax deduction in lieu of transport and medical expenses, which now stands at INR 40,000, was the only gift to the salaried class. There was no change in tax savings on home loans, nor were the 80C limits raised. While this put paid to any hopes for significantly increased home buying appetite, there were some notable announcements with positive implications for the real estate sector: The continued push for affordable housing: As many as 51 lakh houses in rural areas are to be built in 2018-19. Also, a dedicated Affordable Housing Fund was announced in this Budget. These are the right moves towards achieving the vision of Housing for all by 2022.

The Budget addressed the anomaly under Section 43 CA to tax real estate transactions at their real value rather than the value arrived at by applying artificially higher circle rates. As per new announcement, if the circle rate does not exceed 5% of transaction value, no adjustment is required towards the capital gains on a real estate transaction. It will help in terms of some extra savings if there is parity between the market rates and the ready-reckoner rates. Cities which are not under

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the heavy influence of real estate investors and where prices are rational may benefit from this announcement.

Improvement in regional air connectivity: The regional air connectivity scheme to connect 56 unserved airports is a good news for business growth and office space demand in smaller cities, with a natural spinoff demand for housing on the back of job generation.

Curbing cryptocurrencies: The Government is landing down heavily on cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. There was conjecture that cryptocurrencies would find their way into Indian real estate, as it has in developed countries, effectively becoming the 'new black money' in the sector. With the Government committed to taking all necessary steps to eliminate the use of cryptocurrencies in India, people who were looking at them as a get-rich-quick route will have to look at traditional asset classes and investment routes again.

Increase in taxpayers: With the massive crackdown on black money, the taxpayer base has increased significantly. This is, at least indirectly, good news for the real estate sector as seeking home loans is now going to be easy for a larger set of individuals.

Allocation of INR 1 lakh crore to update education infrastructure over the next four years may result in the development of new education institutes. In addition, if the Government emphasizes more on a definitive student housing policy, a new avenue will open up for the real estate sector.

The allocation of INR 5.97 lakh crore on infrastructure spending is a welcome move, though we need a massive push to ensure that the country’s infrastructure meets global standards.

In a nutshell, while there were not many takeaways for the individual taxpayers, the Budget also did not seem to favour any particular sector. With fiscal deficit slipping to around 3.5% of GDP in 2017-18, the Government seems to be on the right path of taking charge of things and ensuring that the fiscal deficit target of 3.3% of GDP for 2018-19 is achieved.

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COVER STORY

KUSHAGR ANSAL President, CREDAI Haryana

The budget has brought relief to the health, education and agriculture sector; however, overall expectations of the realty sector were high which have not been met. In a move to boost the affordable housing demand, the government has announced to establish a dedicated Affordable Housing Fund (AHF) in National Housing Bank which is positive for real estate sector. There has been allocation of funds for infrastructure development which includes construction of road networks and setting up of urban and rural clusters. Affordable housing has been given a fair share. This would kickstart the real estate in Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities along with new mushrooming areas in major cities as well. Increased investments and number of airports may boost Aerotropolis projects. This is likely to impact commercial as well as a residential sector in the country. Much to our disappointment, Industry status and single window clearance system could have been the biggest game-changing reforms for real estate sector which were not even mentioned in the budget.

AMARJIT BAKSHI Managing Director, Central Park

After laying the foundation for a more robust and organized real estate sector, we anticipated the government to further reinvigorate the industry by way of lowering the GST rates, allowing single window clearance and affording an industry status to the real estate sector. These changes would have contributed positively to hasten the recovery of the industry which is today one of the largest employer and contributor to country’s GDP. Having said that, the Government’s continued focus on affordable housing with an establishment of a dedicated fund will further propel the realization of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) which aims to bring more people under the ambit of inclusion. Greater focus on developing the infrastructure layout by way of increased budget allocation for highways, acceleration of rural roads construction is a welcome move as it will drive greater socio- economic development around these regions.”

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TUSHAD DUBASH Director, Duville Estates

Budget 2018-19 focus on infrastructure and the Smart Cities initiative is a positive move for the real estate sector and Pune in specific. The Smart Cities Mission is an ambition to develop 100 cities across India that would also harness the Information Communication Technology (ICT) capabilities. Pune comes under the governments Smart City initiative and the allocation of Rs. 2.04 lakh crore towards the listed 99 Smart Cities will serve well for Pune’s real estate market.

Pune’s real estate is one is the lesser impacted markets in comparison to the other key cities and have proved to be one of the more resilient markets in the country.

Unlike other metros where buyers have demonstrated a strong preference for ready-to-move in apartments, in Pune there has been a steady skew to in terms of interest in under-construction projects. It is important to note that strong Real Estate have had a steady momentum in terms of inventory off-take and that the excellent infrastructural connectivity has definitely lent a positive slant to sustaining the current momentum especially in some of Pune’s micro-geographies which have withstood the onslaught of a decline in prices due to the impact of de-monetization, RERA and GST. Combining Pune’s growing infrastructure along with the sustained demand will boost Pune’s real estate market further. Infrastructure is a growth driver for the country and the budgets focus on infrastructure and connectivity will have an impact on not only the real estate sector but the economy on the whole.

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SARJAN SHAH MD, Group Satellite

FAIZAL E KOTTIKOLLON Founder and Chairman, KEF Holdings

Faizal E Kottikollon, Founder and Chairman of the UAE-based diversified conglomerate, KEF Holdings, which has operations worth USD150 million currently underway in India, said: “It is heartening to see the Indian Government adopt sturdier measures to benefit all sections of the population – especially small and medium-sized businesses, farmers, and much of the country’s population in need of better health, housing, education and general infra-

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Disappointing budget from the perspective of private sector involvement in creating mass housing stock that will make homeownership a reality for all Indians. Budget has unfortunately ignored the stressed and vilified real estate sector that is in desperate need of Government support through specific targeted tax breaks that help make building affordable homes in India viable.

NAGARAJU ROUTHU CEO of Hero Realty

We must appreciate the fact that the government is very serious on the mission of housing for all and in the same light we have seen some extremely positive announcements in the budget today. The setting up of a separate fund for affordable housing is a welcome move as it will enable an efficient supply of housing projects in the country. The government move of the 5% deviation from circle rates to remove hardship is not enough as in many cases; the actual deviation of circle rates to prevailing market is as high as 30%

PRASHANT SOLOMON Managing Director, Chintels India and Hon. Treasurer, CREDAI NCR and Convenor of CREDAI National

The budget has several incentives for the rural sector, women etc but I would have liked the benefits of tax reduction to be wide spread with more income tax rebates for middle and salaried classes in order to increase disposable income and boost spending power that will help the economy and our sector grow in the long run.

Though there are no major incentives for the growth of real estate industry the reintroduction of LTCG will help in growth of other investment avenues. Concessions in the budget towards the affordable housing sector and the setting up of an Affordable Housing Fund under the Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojna, will help the realty sector ancillaries grow. Though most of the recommendations that we had made on behalf of the real estate industry have not been addressed, the move towards no adjustment to be made in a case where the circle rate value does not exceed 5% of the consideration is a welcome move.

DEEPAK KAPOOR President, CREDAI Western UP

“The Union Budget 2019 has focused on some key issues which is somewhat positive for real estate sector. In some major declarations made in the budget regarding infrastructure development, it is clear that government is keen to give a boost to urban housing segment. Increased investment and number of airports will lead to several aerotropolis projects, like development of office buildings, shopping malls, hotels, entertainment complexes, manufacturing, assembly, logistics and warehousing facilities around the airports. This is likely to impact residential as well as commercial sector.

The reintroduction of standard deduction after many years of Rs. 40,000 a year is a welcome move by the government. This may really enthuse taxpayers. Reduced corporate tax by 25 percent extended to companies, with a turnover of Rs 250 crores to benefit small, micro and medium enterprises will give relief to builder fraternity. Many issues related to health, education and agriculture have been addressed which is good. But his budget may not really encourage homebuyers.

The biggest disappointment was that the real estate did not get the infrastructure status which was the long pending demand of this sector.

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NEWS AROUND

Google Station goes beyond railways to smart cities

After getting millions of Indians online, with its RailTel WiFi project — Google has announced its partnership with Larsen & Toubro, to bring 150 Google Station hotspots to Pune, as part of Pune Smart City Development Corpora-

tion Limited’s Smart City project. After successfully benefiting 7.7 million user at over 270 Railway Station through its RailTel Wi-Fi project, Google for first time is deploying Google Station outside of the railways. Potentially, 3 million Punekars can now get online within seconds, to message friends, pay bills, shop online, watch music videos — and do millions of other things — at locations all around the city. Public Wi-Fi alone, does not make a city “smart” and therefore with reliable Internet connectivity across multiple central locations, people can now use their smartphones to make the most out of Pune’s other smart city services, which includes improved tracking of public buses, opportunities for digital learning, and participation in digital governance. Google hotspots will be available at public places like gardens, hospitals and police stations, helping people get access to free Wi-Fi.

Bharti Realty to invest Rs 3,500 crore on two projects in Delhi-NCR Bharti Enterprises’ real estate firm Bharti Realty plans to invest about Rs 3,500 crore to develop one commercial and a housing project in DelhiNCR, a top company official said. The company sees big shift in demand towards organised real estate developers post introduction of new real estate law RERA and GST, Bharti Realty MD and CEO S K Sayal said. Bharti Realty currently has around 15 completed projects, having 5 million sq ft of fully leased Grade-A commercial space, in Delhi-NCR and some other cities, while 1 million sq ft of office building is nearing completion in Gurgaon. “We have bagged a project from Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) to develop a commercial property which will have about 2.5 million sq ft of leasable area, mostly retail,” Sayal told

PTI. The company will soon start development of this 23 acre of land parcel and targets to complete it in next four years, he added. Asked about the project cost, Sayal said this retail real estate project, one of the biggest in Delhi-NCR, will be developed with an investment of about Rs 1,500 crore. In January last year, DIAL — which operates the aerodrome in the national capital — had given the contract to Bharti Realty to develop an area of nearly 2 lakh sq metres of retail space near the airport here. This contract, decided through bidding process, involved an upfront payment of Rs 315 crore as well as license fee equivalent to 20 per cent of revenue with minimum guaranteed payments, GMR had said last year. DIAL is a subsidiary of GMR Infrastructure.

Madhya Pradesh to provide housing for homeless families Madhya Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel said that the government will provide a plot or a house to every homeless family in the state. “A campaign is being launched in the state from today to provide a plot (or house) to every entitled homeless family,” Patel said during the state-level Republic Day function at Lal Parade Ground here. “In the rural areas, there is a target of constructing 15 lakh houses under the Prime Minister Awas Yojana by next year, while in the urban areas, 10 lakh houses would be constructed by 2022,” she said. On the occasion, Patel listed the achievements of the government and said the state has been clocking a double-digit growth rate since the past one decade. Talking about basic amenities, she informed that all the urban bodies in the state have become open defecation free (ODF) while water supply schemes are being implemented in 5,000 villages of the state.

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Plot, Property Management System launched in Haryana

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has inaugurated the new online ‘Plot and Property Management System’ of Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) at Panchkula. Khattar also handed over documents of online purchase of plots, transfer permission and mortgage permission to three individuals on the spot, an official release said here. He said the new system was enabled with various

user- friendly features, wherein an allottee could avail different services provided by Estates Offices online. Khattar said about 3.25 lakh people were connected with HSVP and they had to make frequent visits to offices. However, with the implementation of the new online Plot and Property Management System, people could now submit online applications for various services, the chief minister said. The objective of this system was to ensure quick, hassle-free and transparent services eliminating the need to visit the estate office concerned during the submission of the application, he added. Khattar said in the first phase, various services were covered for residential and commercial properties. These included transfer permissions like transfer permission letter (Allottee), transfer permission letter (GPA), transfer permission letter (Family), transfer permission letter (Death), transfer permission letter (Will) and transfer permission letter (Court Decree), he said. The new timeline for these services would be four days instead of the existing 18 days, the chief minister added.

Over 93 lakh houses constructed by Modi government in over three years: Kovind Over 93 lakh houses have been constructed by the Narendra Modi government in the last three-and-a-half years, President Ram Nath Kovind said, outlining the government’s target to provide house to every poor and homeless by 2022. In his maiden address to the joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament, he said the government has a “sensitive approach” towards providing housing with availability of water-electricity-toilet facility to all the people. “Over the last three and a half years, more than 93 lakh houses have been constructed by the government in rural and urban areas. “With a sensitive approach towards providing housing with availability of water-electricity-toilet facility to all, my Government is targeting to provide a house to every poor and homeless household by the year 2022,” he said. The housing and urban affairs ministry was implementing the ‘Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban)’ to provide houses to all poor in urban areas by 2022, while rural development ministry was running ‘Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin)’ scheme for the rural areas.

Rs 10,500 crore investment committed for GIFT City: Ajay Pandey, CEO An investment of Rs 10,500 crore has been committed for Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) city, the country’s first operational smart city and International Financial Services Centre, Ajay Pandey, MD and Group CEO, GIFT City said. GIFT City has been included in the Centre’s Smart City Mission Statement and Guidelines as Model City in Greenfield category for development of 100 smart cities in the country.

IFSC Banking transactions have crossed USD 8 million, he said. “By 2025, we are expected to create one million jobs, which includes half a million direct jobs and half a million indirect jobs,” he told reporters here. The average daily trading volume of IFSC Exchanges has increased to USD 250 million from USD 30 million, he said adding IFSC Exchanges have crossed cumulative trading turnover of USD 10 billion till date. Pandey said the business transactions at Gujarat International Finance TecCity (GIFT City) has crossed USD 2 billion mark and is likely to grow manifold in the near term.

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Private equity in real estate to touch $100 billion: JLL India

India’s largest real estate services firm, JLL said that Private Equity in real estate is estimated to rise taking the cumulative investments to US$ 100 billion by 2026. The next 10

years will attract a high amount of PE for the sector owing to some strong growth points. The estimated growth for PE in real estate will be at 10% CAGR with Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities being the prime beneficiaries of the same. In the past 12 years (2006 – 2017) India has seen investments of US$ 42 Billion. Given the renewal of the sector with new policy changes bringing in transparency, maturity of the markets aside from the expected growth in the sector on the whole. The next 10 years (2017 – 2026) is expected to see investments to the tune of US$ 58 Billion. Private equity inflows in for the last 3 years (2014 – 2017) in Office and IT / ITES for 2014-2017 YTD have risen by 150% where there is a strong attraction towards Office sector. Though residential sector remained the highest invested sector, the rise in the same period was a mere 5% of total investment flows in pure equity.

NGT issues notice to MoEF over Signature City Project in Kanpur The National Green Tribunal has issued notice to the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) to show cause why it has not considered a plea challenging the construction of Signature City Project in Kanpur. bench headed by acting NGT Chairperson Justice U D Salvi rapped the MoEF for not hearing the petitioner in the case and directed it to file reply in this regard by January 24. “Issue notice to the Ministry of Environment and Forests as to why they have not dealt with the said application if not already dealt with,” the bench said.

The tribunal had last year in November disposed of the plea filed by journalist Ashwini Yadav seeking a stay on Signature City Project as the Kanpur Development Authority has not obtained the ‘no objection certificate’ from the state environment department. The order had come after the lawyer for the MoEF had assured

the bench that that they would deal with the application for obtaining the environmental clearance as expeditiously as possible, not later than four weeks.

Strategic investors can invest up to 25% in REITs and InvI Ts: SEBI To make REITs and InvITs more attractive, markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has allowed strategic investors like registered NBFCs and international multilateral financial institutions to invest up to 25 per cent of the total offer size of such trusts. “The strategic investor(s) shall, either jointly or severally, invest not less than 5 per cent and not more than 25 per cent of the total offer size,” Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said in a circular. The units subscribed by strategic investors, pursuant to the unit subscription agreement, will be locked-in for 180 days from the date of listing in the public issue. Further, Sebi has put in place operational modalities required for the participation by the strategic investors in (Real Estate Investment Trusts) and InvITs (Infrastructure Investment Trusts). Under the rules, the manager on behalf of the InvIT/REIT, will have to enter into a binding unit subscription agreement with the strategic investor, which propose to invest in the public issue of such trusts.

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Yadav then filed another plea in the tribunal seeking execution of the NGT’s November order.

The plea, filed through advocate Prashant Shukla, alleged that construction wall of the project was touching the wall of the adjacent Allen Forest Zoo putting the lives of fauna to risk. “Signature City Project’s construction site is adjacent to the zoo. A lot of dust particles of cement, sand, soil, and other chemical particles is generated at the construction sites. Due to which it has become the cause of the illness of the animals, birds and

creatures there. These dust particles are hazardous for the health of animals, birds, and creatures in the zoo. “These dust particles are adversely affecting the breathing system of the birds there. When the amount of Particulate Matter increases in the atmosphere it causes diseases in human beings as well.

These animals and birds are prone to these diseases due to the air pollution and Particulate Matter generated there in construction site,” the plea said. KDA’s Signature City Project is being constructed in Vikas Nagar in Kanpur district. It is a project for the construction of luxury hotels, flats and commercial purposes. The entire Signature City, including, the hotels is being constructed on 68,174 sq mt land which has been made available to KDA by UP State Road Transport Corporation on the basis of an MoU signed between the two parties. The commercial complex, based on theme of a shopping mall, will have a restaurant and a food court. Besides 350 shops, the complex will also have two auditoria and conference rooms while the nine-floored hotel will have 150 rooms, the plea added.

Jaiprakash Associates Q3 net loss narrows to Rs 148 crore

Crisis-hit Jaiprakash Associates’ standalone net loss narrowed to Rs 148.10 crore in the third quarter of current fiscal on lower finance cost and other expenses. Its net loss stood at Rs 1,095.02 crore in the year-ago period, the debt-laden company said in a regulatory filing. Total income (income from operations and other income) declined to Rs 1,139.21 crore during October-December period of this fiscal from Rs 1,648.87 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. Jaiprakash Associates’ total expenses fell to Rs 1,276.16 crore from Rs 2,770.93 crore during the period under review. Finance cost came down to Rs 208.42 crore from Rs 904.74 crore. Jaiprakash Associates, the flagship firm of the Jaypee Group, is into cement, construction, hospitality, power and real estate businesses. The company has divested its assets, including cement plants, to reduce debt.

RERA is regulation, not strangulation: Vice president

Seeking to allay fears among builders over the Real Estate Regulatory Act (RERA), Vice president M Venkaiah Naidu said “it is a regulation and not strangulation.” Speaking at the 27th All India Builders’ Convention of Builders’ Association of India, he said some fly-by-night operators were misusing the confidence reposed in them by consumers, bringing a bad name to the entire industry. “I must assure you that Real Estate Regulation is for promotion and not for strangulation for the development of the country….,” he said. Asserting that everyone has started welcoming RERA, he said initially there would be some problems, which would be overcome in due course of time and the system would be simplified. He pointed out that several income tax concessions,rebates and relaxations have been given to boost the housing sector.

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Emaar India conducts health camp for site labourers

Property developer Emaar India has conducted a day-long free Health Care Check-up Camp for its site labourers employed at ‘The Palm Hills’ project in Sector 77 on the Na-

tional Highway-8 (NH-8) in new Gurugram region. The social welfare initiative was conducted by Emaar India’s CSR arm ‘EMaar Community of Aware and Responsible Employees’ (EMCARE) in association with Max India Foundation, to promote its philosophy of ‘Welfare for All’. More than 150 construction workers from The Palm Hills project – along with women labourers & their children – underwent health checkups by a team of specialized doctors from Max Hospital, Gurugram. General health examinations for height, weight, Body Mass Index (BMI), eyesight, blood pressure, blood sugar, joints & bones strength, nutrition & vitamins level, etc were held, along with free distribution of medicines to these site workers. The doctors also conducted health awareness sessions highlighting the importance of sanitation, hygiene, timely diagnosis and preventive measures to be adopted for a healthy life.

SEBI to auction 11 properties of Pancard to recover Rs 7000 crore Looking to recover over Rs 7,000 crore of investors’ money, markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has lined up as many as 11 properties of Pancard Clubs and its late CMD for an online auction next month at a total reserve price of Rs 253 crore. This is in addition to 11 properties of the company that were auctioned in December as well as on January 10 and their combined reserve price was Rs 552 crore. In a notice, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) said that SBI Capital Markets will auction 10 properties of Pancard Clubs and one property of its late CMD, Sudhir Moravekar on February 14 at a reserve price of Rs 253 crore. The properties listed for sale include a four star hotel, land parcels and office space in Goa, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and West Bengal. The company had failed to comply with SEBI’s direction in February 2016 ordering it to refund to investors over Rs 7,000 crore, raised through illegal collective investment schemes (CIS).

Pancard Clubs had mobilised Rs 7,035 crore from 51,55,516 investors from 2002-03 to 2013-14 through its various holiday schemes.

India to auction ‘enemy’ properties worth Rs 1 lakh crore Over 9,400 ‘enemy’ properties, worth more than Rs 1 lakh crore, are set to be auctioned with the home ministry starting the process of identifying all such estates, officials said.

The properties were left behind by people who took citizenship of Pakistan and China. The move came after the amendment of the 49-year-old Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Act which ensured that the heirs of those who migrated to Pakistan and China during Partition and afterwards will have no claim over the properties left behind in India.

At a recent meeting, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh was informed that the survey of 6,289 enemy properties has been completed and that of the remaining 2,991 properties which are vested with the custodian will be completed, a home ministry official told PTI. Singh directed that those properties which are free from encumbrance should be disposed of quickly for monetisation. The estimated value of these 9,400 properties is around Rs 1 lakh crore and when they are sold off, it would be a huge windfall for the government, another official said.

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Ex-JLL India executive launches ANB Capital Advisors

Shobhit Agarwal, ex-Managing Director – Capital Markets & International Director of JLL Property Consultants (India) has launched ANB Capital Advisors Pvt. Ltd. The firm, headquartered in Mumbai, will focus exclusively on various asset classes of real estate. Agarwal heads a team of highly experienced real estate investment banking advisors with average 18–20 years of experience in structuring and executing both simple and complex transactions. Already actively involved in several big-ticket deals, ANB Capital Advisors undertakes transactions under the ambit

of investment banking business in the real estate industry. The key focus is on capital markets, corporate finance, hotels & hospitality, land, and warehousing and logistics across India. The Firm works with developers, landowners, capital providers including private equity funds, banks, insurance companies and financial institutions. “To give a perspective, India still has a shortage of 18 million homes that requires USD 330 billion of construction funding. The existing gross bank credit to the sector is less than USD 55 billion. If we consider the larger sector beyond residential, the capital infusion requirements are virtually limitless,” he added. Commenting on the prevailing funding scenario in the Indian real estate sector, Agarwal says, “Quality office assets available at attractive valuations currently attract the majority of equity investments. Residential will continue to look for financing options till equity investors focus more on this sector.

In the GST era, there is also a lot of interest in warehousing and logistics. 2017 saw more than USD 4.2 billion of investments flowing into real estate, missing 2016 investments by a whisker.

2018 will be equally good – and if REITs launch this year, we can certainly surpass the 2016 numbers with room to spare.”

Bharti Realty already has 2-3 properties in commercial hub ‘Aerocity’ near Delhi airport.

Asked about residential business, Sayal said the company had tied up with Eros Group to enter into housing sector. “We entered into a joint venture with Eros to develop a housing project on 52 acre land at Surajkund in Haryana. We have got all government approvals to develop this project,” he said, adding the construction work would begin soon. This project, comprising 2,300 units and 5 million sq ft development, would be completed over the next seven years with a cost of around Rs 2,000 crore, Sayal said. The housing project at Surajkund will be vertical smart city where apartment price will be in the range of Rs 1.25 crore to Rs 4 crore. The two projects would require a total investment of about Rs 3,500 crore and the same would be funded through internal accruals and bank loans.

SBI to raise Rs 20,000 crore for affordable housing, infrastructure State Bank of India (SBI) said its board has given nod to raise Rs 20,000 crore for financing affordable housing and infrastructure projects through long- term bonds. “The executive committee of the Central Board in its meeting held today has inter alia approved, the proposal for issuance of long term bonds of Rs 20,000 crore for financing of infrastructure and affordable housing in domestic and overseas market in FY 2017-18 and FY 2018-19,” the country’s largest bank said in a BSE filing. The bank did not specify whether the borrowing would be in rupee denomination or foreign currency. Earlier, SBI had announced plans to raise up to USD 2 billion by issuing bonds in the US dollar or other convertible currency to fund overseas expansion. It had said that the fund-raising would take place through a public offer and/or private placement of senior unsecured notes in US dollar or any other convertible currency during 2017-18 and 2018-19.

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Marriott International to open 20 hotels in India this year

American hospitality group Marriott International is opening 20 hotels in India this year and the first of these was inaugurated today in the city. ‘Renaissance Ahmedabad Hotel’, which has 155 rooms, was inaugurated here. The world’s largest hotel chain is planning to open seven more hotels in Gujarat in the next three years, Marriott International vice-president (South

Asia) Neeraj Govil told reporters at the opening of the new property. “This year, we are opening 20 hotels in India and this ‘Renaissance’ (in Ahmedabad) is the first one. “Probably by the end of this year, another hotel – Courtyard by Marriott – will come up on the Sindhu Bhavan Road here. We are planning to open seven hotels in Gujarat in the next three years,” Govil said. At present, Marriott International, having over 6,000 hotels across the world, operates 98 properties in the country under 15 different brands, including ‘Renaissance’, he added.

While Govil is bullish about the growth potential in India and Gujarat, he feels the GST range of 18 per cent and 28 per cent (depending on room tariffs) should come down. “Tax rates in most of the markets we compete with such as Thailand or Singapore, are in the range of 4 to 10 per cent. The highest is in Australia, that is 18 per cent. We have put forward our demand (before the government) about reduction in GST rates through various industry bodies.”

56% Smart Cities Prone to floods : Report As much as 56 per cent of smart cities are prone to floods which are responsible for 77 per cent of all disasters in India, a report said. The report, based on disaster data between 2000 and 2017, observed that India has a mean of 11 flood events per district over the last 18 years. Following floods, other disaster share was cyclone (22 per cent), extreme temperature (11 per cent), landslides (seven per cent) and earthquakes (four per cent). Drought, however, was only one per cent of all disasters. “Ninety-eight per cent of India’s 642 districts have received at least one flood event,” stated the joint report ‘Decoding the Monsoon Floods’

by NGO SEEDS and Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) based in the University of Louvain

School of Public Health, Brussels.

It said that floods affect over 15 million people every year. Of 15.6 million people affected by floods in India in 2017, over 316,185 were people with disabilities. “More than 2,200 cities and towns in India are located in districts which have witnessed at least 11 floods in the last 18 years,” the report said. Further signifying the scale of infrastructure that needs to be secured against the future risks, the findings said that 56 per cent of India’s planned smart cities fall in districts reporting a high number of flood events. Since 2000, India has faced 215 flooding events both from floods and cyclones.

This accounts for 77 per cent of all disaster events.

Nerolac Paints’ net profit up marginally at Rs 125.15 crore in Q3 Kansai Nerolac Paints reported a marginal increase in its net profit at Rs 125.15 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2017. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 123.96 crore during the same period in the previous fiscal, it said in a statement here. Total income during the October-December quarter stood at Rs 1,164.77 crore, as against Rs 1,168.44 crore in the corresponding period previous fiscal.

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