6th election for Managing Committee of Builders Association of Navi Mumbai (BANM)

6^th election for Managing Committee of Builders Association of Navi Mumbai (BANM) was held on 24^th September 2011 at Hotel Tunga, Vashi. In the history of BANM for the first time the election was held between 2 panels of 15 candidates each. In total 15 members were elected on Managing Committee. Mr. Devang Trivedi and Mr. M. C. Sunny were elected with highest votes of 112 & 109 respectively out of total 154 votes.

The election was peacefully conducted under the supervision and guidance of Mr. R. R. Kalambkar, Dy. Secretary APMC, Vashi.

Mr. M. C. Sunny of National Builders was declared elected as president of BANM and Mr. Devang Trivedi of Progressive Homes was declared elected as Secretary. Thereafter Mr. M. C. Sunny the President declared that he is aware about the pending matters concerning VAT, Service Tax, MMRDA, Civil Aviation, NMMC & CIDCO and shall take up the same with the concerned Authorities including state Government at an early date.

Other Office Bearers were selected unanimously in the 1^st Newly Elected Managing Committee Meeting held on 29/09/2011.

List of New Managing Committee Members are as under: -

New Managing Committee Members (2011-2013)

Photo of the new elected Managing Committee Members is enclosed herewith.

Luxury Juhu Bungalow Sold for Rs 105 Crore

An industrialist is all set to own a super-luxury, 11-storey bungalow apartment building-JVPD1-constructed by Mayfair Housing Pvt Ltd at Juhu, costing Rs 105 crore. Real estate sources say the deal is unique for the simple reason that the building has been purchased by a sole individual. ”Considering that apartment sales have dropped so much, the sale of an entire building surprised us, that too, at a reasonable price when one considers the financial turmoil,” said a leading broker. Using the incentive parking floor space index, the developer has constructed approximately 50,000 sq ft (as per approved plans by the civic body) on the 700 sq yards ground plus one storey Suman bungalow, named after Broker’s wife.

At the sale price of Rs 105 crore, the rate per sq ft works out to about Rs 23,000, less than the quoted market rate of approximately over Rs 28,000 a sq ft, said brokers. The building, on a period bungalow owned by Gujarati litterateur Padmashree Gulabdas Broker, boasts of a car park on each floor, rooftop gymnasium, lap pool, double basement and a grand reception lounge with piped music streaming through it. The building has five bungalows, each having five bedrooms and admeasuring 6,200 sq ft. Nayan Shah, chief executive officer of Mayfair, said the deal was yet to be finalized. ”Negotiations are still on. However, the price is much lower than the Rs 105 crore being quoted,” said Shah, refusing to name the buyer.

Shah had purchased the 700 sq yards ground plus one storey bungalow for approximately Rs 21 crore from Broker’s son Vinod in 2007-2008. The bungalow is located strategically at the corner of JVPD road no 5 and V L Mehta road. Old timers say before huge buildings were constructed, Juhu beach was a 10-minute walk from Broker’s residence. Broker, who died in 2006, was awarded the Padmashree in 1992 in literature. Sources said the industrialist buying the building runs a chemical business. ”The industrialist will occupy the top two bungalows. The rest could be rented or used to house guests or senior executives,” said sources.

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New Land Acquisition Bill Impractical: Developers

The proposed bill on land acquisition is not only anti-development but also impractical, feel developers and builders. If the bill is passed and implemented, there cannot be any planned development of townships in the country, said Anil Sharma, CMD of Amrapali Group, who is also vice-president of Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Association of India (Credai). “This bill is kind of one-sided, ill-thought-out doles may sound very altruistic and pro-poor, but these are unsustainable and will kill the goose that lays the golden egg,” Credai said.

The proposed bill will help those who indulge in unplanned development. “The bill, if passed, will increase the cost of acquisition of land to unrealistic level. It will be almost impossible to acquire 50-acre or 100-acre land at one place for planned development,” Getamber Anand, MD of ATS group, who is also vice-president of Credai, said.

“If we do not facilitate urbanization in an organized manner, all the incremental population will be housed in slums with dire consequences for our economy. Housing prices will become unaffordable. In the long run, even farmers will suffer hugely as fringe development of urban centres will largely be in the form of unauthorized developments and they will not realize the true economic potential of their lands,” Anand said.

According to R K Arora, CMD of Supertech, a large number of provisions proposed in the bill are unrealistic. The bill says that after transfer of land within 10 years from the date of acquisition, the company will be required to share 20% of the appreciated value with the original owner. “Normally, within five years of the acquisition, a developer sells the project to end-users. Now, if end-users sell the apartments to third parties at profit, who will ensure that they should share 20% of the profit with the original land owner. Besides, if a buyer sells at loss, who will compensate for the loss,” said Arora.

Another provision - reservation of 20% of the developed land for landowners as part of rehabilitation entitlement would make the projects financially unviable as it will increase the cost of developed land by almost 100%, Arora added. And this additional cost will be passed on to the buyers. Provisions like subsistence allowance for 12 months and annuity for 20 years are very difficult to implement, said Credai.

The compensation package envisaged by the bill lacks proper assessment and research. The government has totally lost sight of the middle class citizens of the country who need good and affordable accommodation, Credai added.

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CREDAI Miffed Over New Land Acquisition Law

The Union Cabinet on Monday cleared a new land acquisition law that tries to bridge the gaps in existing legislation. Popular protests against governments acquiring land for private projects have spread across the country and toppled a 35-year-old Left government in Bengal. The Congress hopes to gain some political mileage from the new law and deflect accusations of policy drift. Industry, however, was less than enthusiastic about the new law.

“It is disastrous. If private land is bought under this act, be sure that very little land can be developed. There are too many points of conflict. It is an absolutely mindless idea to bring private land acquisition under this act,” said Lalit Kumar Jain, national president of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (Credai). The bill, which seeks to replace colonial era legislation and hopes to draw a line under a hugely sensitive issue, offers generous compensation for land owners in the form of subsistence allowances, annuity payments, employment and a share in any future appreciation of the land. This will have to be paid irrespective of whether the land is acquired by the government or industry.

Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh had got allies such as Trinamool Congress, which has strong views on land acquisition, on board before presenting the bill before the Cabinet. The bill, originally championed by Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council and tweaked many times, will update the Land Acquisition Act of 1894. Under the new bill, the state will be able to invoke the provisions of eminent domain and public service under very limited circumstances. The ability to invoke ‘urgency’ clauses has been limited to instances related to national security and natural calamities.

The definition of ‘livelihood losers’ under the draft bill has now been changed to mean people who have been employed in the land being acquired for three years or more. So squatters on public land, for instance, will not be able to seek immunity under this provision, but farm wage workers will. The new law says 80% of the people affected by an upcoming project must agree to the acquisition, unless it’s being done in public interest. “This is a big mess. If I have to take 80% consent, I might as well take 100%.

Why should I go to the government at all? If this bill is passed as it is, GDP growth is bound to come down to 6% or less if we are growing at 8%,” Jain added. Ramesh, however, said the bill has tried to take a balanced view of the issue, “We understand that development and urbanisation should continue while farmers’ rights should be protected. We have tried to take a balanced stand.”

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Regulatory Body for Real Estate will lead to Corruption: CREDAI President

Real estate industry body CREDAI on Saturday opposed constitution of a regulatory body for the real estate sector, saying that it would become a “breeding ground for corruption” if implemented. “The proposed regulatory bill will become a breeding ground for corruption (if implemented),” the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) President Lalit Kumar Jain told reporters here. The Centre has proposed to form a regulatory body through the Real Estate Regulation Bill 2011 which seeks to protect home buyers from fly-by-night developers.

Arguing that the objective of draft regulatory bill was limited to just consumer protection, Jain sought the jurisdiction of the bill be expanded to address other pressing issues like long delay in approval, rising cost of material and labour etc, which hold utmost importance for the sector. “Only controlling one issue (consumer protection by the regulatory bill) is not going to help unless the entire spectrum of the industry is handled by the proposed bill,” he said. CREDAI further questioned the formation of any regulatory body on the ground that there were a number of options and mechanism like the consumer affairs department, the Competition Commission of India redress consumer grievances.

“Then what is the need for increasing the number of windows for (consumers),” asked CREDAI Vice President Getamber Anand. The real estate sector complained that delay in getting approvals from different departments, especially environment, cause bottlenecks for projects. “There are 48 departments attached to the real estate sector which leads to exploitation of developers…we are victims of corruption,” Anand said. “If the time taken for (statutory) approvals for starting a project is reduced, then the sale prices of the property could come down from 10 to 25 percent in the entire country,” he said.

Jain also pointed out that the spiraling labour and material cost had also put an additional burden on the real estate players. Meanwhile, CREDAI unveiled ‘Code of Conduct’ for the real estate sector for Punjab, aimed to bring transparency in the conduct of the business. “The Code of Conduct not only ensures transparency in real estate deals but will also imbibe setting up of a grievances redressal cell for the people who have unsavoury experience with respective real estate companies,” he said. Jain said if any member found to be indulged in wrong practice his membership could be terminated. He asserted that the Code of Conduct would make developers responsible towards their consumers.

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