Realty News Roundup: CREDAI Holds Nation-Wide Strike; DMICDC Appoints Alkesh Sharma As CEO & MD

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

Top News

Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Association of India (CREDAI) held a nation-wide strike on October 13, to protest against "corruption and inefficient system" in the aftermath of a developer's suicide in Thane. CREDAI said that all its members closed offices, site offices, registration, and construction work during the protest. Read more. 

The Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (DMICDC) a new chief executive officer (CEO), managing director (MD). The Department of Personnel and Training appointed Alkesh Sharma, a 1990-batch Kerala cadre IAS officer who at present works for the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, as the new CEO & MD of DMICDC. A recent study had stated, that the corridor would help create five new cities. Read more.

State Bank of India (SBI) has received an in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to set up a new subsidiary to manage its non-banking activities, primarily real estate. The new venture is expected to be set up by the end of 2015 and become operational in early 2016. Read more.

Off the front page

Business watch: Kolte-Patil Developers Ltd has reportedly bought out equity from its two joint venture partners—ICICI Venture Funds Management Company Ltd and an unnamed individual investor. VCCircle reported that the compay has also bought out its partners in its special purpose vehicle company Corolla Realty Ltd by shelling out about Rs 164 crore. In another development, Mint reports that Piramal Fund Management Pvt Ltd is set to launch a new financing scheme to invest about Rs 500 crore in plotted development projects. For more such news, click here and here.

The Bombay High Court directed the Maharashtra government to extend the tenure of the panel probing alleged irregularities in allotment of flats under the Chief Minister's discretionary quota till November 30. Read here.

Opinion

"The infrastructure sector in India is fraught with execution risks. Over the past decade, several infrastructure firms have seen their books balloon with debt, largely on account of projects delayed by issues related to land acquisition, regulatory issues, and delays in environmental approvals," says a Mint article, which looks at how Piramal Group will address these issues, after its successful bid for Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS). Read here.