Realty News Roundup: Rs 192 Cr Released For 96 Smart Cities; Sachin To Buy Luxury Villa In Kochi

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

Top News

The Urban Development Ministry has sanctioned Rs 192 crore under the Smart City Mission for 96 cities that are shortlisted for the project. Each of these cities has been given Rs 2 crore for preparing the plan. Read more.

The Cabinet has approved an exemption of 13 central laws from the Land Acquisition Act. These laws will now remain valid even as the land ordinance lapsed on August 31. Read more.

UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is currently on a visit to India, has said that his country is keen to invest in India's programmes such as Make in India and Smart Cities. Meanwhile, India and UAE have moved closer to setting up a Rs 5-lakh crore joint infrastructure fund. Read here and here.

Delhi Development Authority's (DDA) new Vice- Chairman Arun Goel is planning to build a new 'brand DDA'. Mobile apps, quality delivery and many other things are in the pipeline. Read more.

Off the front page

Global property standards setting body, International Property Measurement Standards Coalition (IPMSC), has urged property experts to give their inputs on new global residential standards. This aims to address the problem of inconsistent methodology adopted across the world for measurement of real estate. Read more.

VCCircle reports that big investments in certain real estate start-ups are forcing others to consider mergers. Read more.

Mint reports that small and medium-size residential property finance companies are now targeting self-employed segment. Read more.

Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar is reportedly going to buy a luxury villa in Kochi, Kerala. According to this report, Sachin is eyeing one of the 15 villas in the 'Blue Waters Villa', developed by Prime Meridian. The price range of these villas start from Rs 3.4 crore.

Opinion

A guide to buying luxury homes in India. Read here.