#RealtyNewsRoundup: Launch Smart City Mission By June-End, Centre Tells Cities

Realty News Roundup is PropGuide's selection of top stories from the real estate sector.

Union urban development secretary Rajiv Gauba has asked Indore, Pune and other cities selected for the Smart City Mission to ensure that it is launched by June 25. While urging the chosen cities Smart Cities to ensure appointment of full time Chief Executive Officers for the Special Purpose Vehicles, Guba said that civic bodies also have the option of appointing professionals as CEOs. Recently, Gauba spoke with civic chiefs municipal commissioners and mission directors of 16 smart cities through video-conferencing and urged them to ensure the launch of projects by June-end. Read more

With celebrities facing flak over brand endorsements, the Central Consumer Protection Council on Tuesday said celebrities should be made liable for "misleading advertisements". "This was stated by Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan after the CCPC meeting. Paswan, who is the CCPC chairman, said the Council was also of the view that there should be guidelines for brand ambassadors. Indian cricket team captain MS Dhoni last week resigned as brand ambassador of realty firm Amrapali, days after the unhappy residents of a housing project in Noida launched a social media campaign asking the cricketer to dis-associate himself from the builder. Read more

The Noida Authority has joined the two other Gautam Budh Nagar authorities to start a scheme that offers easier rescheduled payment plans to defaulting land allottees, in order to recover dues that amount to nearly Rs 15,000 crore. The total land dues for the three authorities is Rs 24,000 crore. Noida officials said the new scheme will only run till April 30, under which allottees will have one chance to submit an application and accept the rescheduled payment plan. Read more

Too much money, too few deals. That's what is pushing non-banking finance companies and private equity funds to further reduce interest rates on debt deals with real estate developers. In the 18 to 24 months, interest rates for debt deals, which are mostly structured transactions, have dropped by 1-2%. The supply of debt has increased over the last two to three years as several new players, including the likes of Piramal, KKR, Altico, Indiabulls Real Estate, IndoStar and others, ventured aggressively into funding real estate projects. Read more