Realty News Roundup: Govt Approves Programme For Home For All By 2022; Dutch Telecom Major To Invest In Greater Noida

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

The Union Cabinet approved the launch of a programme to provide homes for all by 2022. It will ensure rehabilitation of slum-dwellers and promotion of affordable home for the urban poor. The programme targets to provide nearly 20 million homes over seven years with participation of private developers. This was a key promise in the Bharatiya Janata Party's manifesto for the Lok Sabha election in 2014 — a “pucca” home for every family by the 75th year of Independence. Read this report in The Hindu to know more.

In yet another development, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved a hike in interest subsidy for promoting affordable homes for the poor in urban areas. The CCEA has accepted the recommendations of an inter-ministerial committee to increase interest subvention to 6.5% on housing loans to beneficiaries belonging to economically weaker sections (EWS) including slum dwellers and low income groups (LIG). The Economic Times repots more on this here.

The government has cancelled approvals of 22 special economic zones, including that of Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation and True Developers, as no "satisfactory" progress was made to execute the projects. The decision was taken in the meeting of the Board of Approval (BoA) headed by Commerce Secretary Rajeev Kher. Read more in Tribune.

In a major relief to home buyers, the Maharasthra consumer disputes redressal commission has ruled that a builder or property developer cannot unilaterally terminate a registered agreement between him and the buyer of a flat. Dismissing an appeal by a Pune-based builder, a two-member bench of the commission, headed by S A Kulkarni, also held that lopsided agreements favouring the builder more and going against the provisions of the Maharashtra Flat Ownership Act cannot be legally sustained. Read the full report here.

A Delhi court has said that rising trend of crime against property can't be ignored and innocent persons need to be protected from "frivolous elements of the society" who usurp property through forged means. The court's observations came while upholding six months jail term to a woman for forging documents to acquire a property of a Delhi resident. Read full report in Business Standard here.

Off the front page

After a Taiwanese consortium, a Dutch telecom company is planning to invest in Greater Noida. Scarlet, which is an internet service and telephony provider, is reported to be eyeing 200 acres of land to set up an electronic product manufacturing unit in the city, Economic Times reports quoting sources.

Multinational bank HSBC is reported to be in advanced talks with realty developer K Raheja Corp to sell its 1.4-acre prime land parcel in Worli for over Rs 220 crore. The plot located next to Doordarshan Tower in the plush locality is expected to provide development potential of around 2 lakh square feet through a residential project.

Opinion

An article in the Economic Times discusses serviced apartments. It says the returns are good but at the same time raises the question whether it's worth the effort. Read here.

The Hindu has published an obit piece on Charles Correa, who is known as 'India's greatest architect. The newspaper rightly says that with the passing away of Charles Correa, the country has lost a genius of urban planning.  “He was the chief architect of Navi Mumbai, considered among the largest urban spaces in the world. He pioneered some unique concepts in urban development and affordable homes that, if adopted widely, could "change the landscape of the poorest townships of not just India but much of the Third World”. A good read.