DLF to build, run its own metro in Gurgaon
In a bid to improve connectivity to its township and malls, real estate giant DLF Ltd is planning to run its own metro rail in Gurgaon covering about four km at an estimated investment of up to Rs 375 crore.
DLF, the country's most valued real estate developer, plans to run its own metro rail as feeder service to Delhi-Gurgaon metro line being constructed by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation for providing better connectivity.
"We have assigned RITES to undertake a feasibility report for providing feeder service between Sikandarpur Chowk and Sector-24 (Mall of India) of Gurgaon covering 3.7 km," DLF Advisor C B K Rao said.
The report is expected to be submitted by the end of October, Rao said, adding work on the project could start from January-February next year.
DLF's metro rail in Gurgaon would run on an elevated corridor and not pass through underground. The investment for entire 3.7 km stretch could be around Rs 350-375 crore with each km costing about Rs 95-100 crore.
The company also plans to develop and run metro rail in other parts of the country as well like Bangalore where it is developing townships.
DLF has sought permission from the Haryana government for use of road and also to cut trees wherever require. Besides, it has also written for tax concession for its metro project and providing electricity at no profit-no loss basis.
According to the plan, there would be four stations, all single-level, in the proposed metro rail by DLF. At the outset, the company would run four trains comprising three coaches each with a carrying capacity of about one lakh people a day.
Hero Group to foray into real estate
High valuations of prime land and a robust outlook for housing and office space is spawning new wannabes in the country’s burgeoning realty sector. The latest to enter the fray is the Hero Group, a leading maker of two-wheelers and auto parts in the country
“We have about 10 acre land at Gurgaon, Haryana, and we are exploring possibilities of developing it into a commercial property,” Naveen Munjal, chief executive officer of Hero Exports, the trading arm of the group.
The group is in talks with leading real estate companies in Delhi to develop the property, Munjal said.
Details of Hero Group’s realty plan are yet to be worked out, he said.
Over the last one decade, domestic and foreign companies have flocked to Gurgaon to set up their offices – driving real estate valuations in the satellite city of the National Capital as high as its landscape.
Bank surety must for SEZs to get stamp duty sop
Developers of special economic zones (SEZs) may have to provide bank guarantees to states to avail of stamp duty exemption on land. The board of approvals (BoA), at its meeting last week, decided that developers should be given stamp duty exemption on land after they receive in-principle approval for their proposals.
However, they might be asked to provide bank guarantees equivalent to the exempted amount so states can recover the sum if developers do not use the land to build SEZs or the SEZs don’t get notified.
A source, who attended the BoA meeting, told ET that since developers start acquiring land after getting in-principle approval from the government, members agreed that this was the stage when the stamp duty exemption should be given. “It was felt that giving stamp duty refund after formal approval is given or a SEZ is notified would be unnecessarily delaying things,” the official said.
Some states, however, expressed apprehensions about being unable to recover the stamp duty exemption amount from the developer if a SEZ did not get notified for some reason. “It was felt that asking developers to furnish bank guarantees for the amount would be a sure way of getting around the problem,” the official added.
The decision would be official once it appears in the minutes of the BoA meeting. If developers are asked to furnish mandatory bank guarantees in lieu of stamp duty, it will significantly increase the initial investment.
For instance, in Haryana, a developer will have to give a bank guarantee equivalent to 8% stamp duty charged by the state. So, if a company wants to set up a SEZ on 12,500 acres at the rate of about Rs 20 lakh per acre, the bank guarantee has to be for about Rs 200 crore. The company would be able to encash the bank guarantee only after the project is notified.
Sources say the move is aimed at discouraging developers from getting into real estate plays for land earmarked for SEZ development. “A developer coming up with a mid-sized project in Gurgaon recently approached us, saying he was unable to complete acquisition of the entire land earmarked for the project. He wanted to convert it into an integrated township. We have obviously not allowed it. But there need to be specific laws to deal with such cases,” an official in the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) told ET.
In Haryana, this is a matter of particular concern because barring Reliance and Orient Craft, all other developers have a real estate background. Meanwhile, the BoA meeting held on Tuesday formally approved 10 proposals, including three IT/ITes SEZs to be set up by Mukesh Ambani-promoted Navi Mumbai SEZ Pvt Ltd and a multi-product SEZ by Mundra Port in Gujarat.
A decision on four proposals from Uttar Pradesh was, however, deferred as the developers did not possess land. BoA chairman and commerce secretary GK Pillai clarified the proposals will be approved once the developers acquired land. The next meeting of the BoA is scheduled for October 19 |
