EMIs likely going to fall as RBI cuts repo rate by 25 basis point to 7.25%

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday cut its key lending rate—the repo rate—by 0.25 percentage points to 7.25% rekindling hopes of lower home loan EMIs and cheaper bank capital for companies to invest and hire more.

RBI governor Raghuram Rajan, however, kept two key main rules unchanged, disappointing markets, which were expecting the central bank to cut the statutory liquidity ratio (SLR) and the cash reserve ratio (CRR) that would have given banks more funds to lend and enable them to lower loan rates by a higher extent.

The benchmark 30-share BSE Sensex fell by over 300 points shortly after the RBI announced its policy.

The SLR, the proportion of deposits banks are required to park in government bonds, stands at 21.5%, while the cash reserve ratio (CRR), the proportion of deposits that banks have to park with the RBI, stands at 4%.

The repo rate cut, however, will likely goad companies to invest, add capacities, hire more, and prompt people to spend on houses, cars and other goods and aid the budding recovery in Asia’s third largest economy.

A lower repo will bring down banks’ borrowing costs, which in turn, may prompt them to slash their “base rates”, the floor interest rate on which lending rates for final home, auto and corporate borrowers are fixed.

A lower repo can lead to lower floating home loan rates, which move in tandem with base rates, and bring cheer to consumers, who have been paying large chunks of their income every month towards repaying housing loans.

This is the third rate cut by RBI since January largely aided by low inflation rates signalling a subtle change in RBI’s stance from steadfast focus on controlling prices to aiding growth.

India's current retail inflation, the RBI’s main guide for interest-related decisions, stood at a four-month low of 4.87%, giving more room for the RBI to cut interest rates.

Rajan, had kept rates unchanged in April but told banks in no uncertain terms that it was about time they start reducing interest rates to pass on two previous cuts to customers.

Many lenders including in State Bank of India (SBI), ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank have announced cuts in their “base rates” in April leading to a fall in EMIs for some class of existing as well as new borrowers.

On Tuesday, Rajan again asked banks pass on the latest repo rate cut in the form of cheaper loans for consumers.

Also, the RBI said it will likely keep a close watch on the monsoon rains this year in the backdrop of the prediction of a below-normal monsoon for the second year.

The central bank expects inflation rates to creep up to 6% by January 2016, from the earlier forecast of 5.8%, on the back of deficient summer rains and higher service tax rates that has been raised to 14% from 12.36% earlier.

On growth, the RBI expects GDP to grow at 7.6% in 2015-16, down from the earlier forecast of 7.8%, although industrial production has been recovering, albeit unevenly.

“The sustained weakness of consumption spending, especially in rural areas as indicated in the slowdown in sales of two-wheelers and tractors, continues to operate as a drag. Corporate sales have contracted. The disappointing earnings performance could have been worse if not for the decline in input costs,” Rajan said.

Low, and even falling, capacity utilisation in several industries, indicative of the slack in the economy, Rajan said.

Indian expatriates from UAE keen on buying property in india

More than 79 per cent of the Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) based in the UAE are looking to buy an apartment in India rather than investing in plot or land or in villas (commercial or retail), commercial or retail, said a report.

Among the major cities, Bangalore tops the chart for NRI property investments and shares the spot with Mumbai, followed by Chennai, Pune, Cochin, Delhi, Hyderabad, Navi Mumbai, Goa and Ahmedabad, stated the report released by Sumansa Exhibitions, the organisers of the upcoming Indian Property Show in Dubai.

Of this, the highest number of buyers are in the age group of 31 to 50 years at 67 per cent.

"Apartments are preferred choice of investment for most NRIs as one of the key advantages of an apartment is security," stated the report.

Facilities such as power and water backup, uninterrupted supply of cooking gas is also some of the key factors going in favour of apartment purchases, said the report.

An apartment which is part of a large development comes with a number of benefits, for instance- well maintained garden and landscaping, club facilities, maintenance and provision of hassle free services, ease of renting, easy availability of convenience within the complex amongst many other facilities, it added.

The other key findings from the survey include:

 *Majority (about 55 per cent) are buying the property for their own use, while for the others it is an additional investment.
 *Residential apartments are preferred for investment with 79 per cent voting in favor, followed by villas and land.  *Of this, commercial properties are least preferred for investment.
 *Over 65 per cent property buyers approach financial institutions to fund their purchase.
 *About 72 per cent buyers are aiming for immediate purchase within the next six months, while 11 per cent are not sure of the time frame for purchase and rest would consider buying within the next two years.

The survey found that about 17 per cent were keen on buying high-end properties (worth over Rs1 crore) in Bangalore, which emerged the popular hub for luxury home investments.

About 15,000 NRIs across UAE participated in the survey which was conducted to better understand the reason for buying property in India, preferred cities for investments, type of property, time frame, budget and finances planned.

Sunil Jaiswal, the president of Sumansa Exhibitions, said 2015 was expected to be a happening year for the real estate sector.
"Bangalore is an end user-driven market. The city has managed to survive the onslaught of the slowdown which gripped the country a few years back. The “City of Gardens” was able to keep the sales ticking and also emerged as the territory with the highest number of new projects unveiled in 2014," he noted.

According to him, India’s Silicon Valley – Bangalore – is the fastest-growing metropolis in the Asian continent.

"For decades, the city has been widely known all over the world for its cosmopolitan outlook, salubrious climate, and innate desire to respect different cultures. Today, it is a much sought-after city with NRIs returning to India," stated Jaiswal ahead of Indian Property Show, a major showcase of leading Indian projects to be held in Dubai, UAE, from June 11 to 13.

"Many are keen on making the city their home. The city has evinced so much interest among NRIs of late that even those who have not had the occasion to visit the city have plunged into investments in real estate here. It is most popular among techies and skilled professionals," he added.

Indian real estate property get renewed interest from NRIs : HDFC

HDFC, the country's largest mortgage lender, has planned 'India Homes Fair' exhibition in London on May 30-31, which will have more than 100 projects on display from across India.

Stability in housing prices and favourable rupee movements are bringing back the NRIs in a big way to the real estate market, mortgage giant HDFC has said.

To tap their interest, HDFC and also a number of property developers are undertaking special marketing campaigns including organising property fairs in places with high NRI population such as the US and the UK.

Interestingly, the non-resident Indians living abroad are showing a renewed interest in the Indian housing market at a time when the local demand is relatively sluggish.

"We are seeing a lot of interest from the NRI community. The rupee depreciation against the US dollar is also helping, for the prospective home buyers from the American continent," HDFC Ltd managing director Renu Sud Karnad told PTI.

Ms Karnad said that housing prices have stabilised, while softening of interest rates have helped make the home purchase much more affordable.

Property consultancy major CBRE's South Asia Head (Residential Services) A S Sivaramakrishnan said that NRIs have become extremely important for the Indian real estate market and they contribute 8-10 per cent of the total housing sales volume across India.

Stating that the contribution of NRIs in housing sales varies from city to city, he said the NRIs account for 30-35 per cent of apartments sales in Kerala.

Their contribution in Hyderabad and Delhi-NCR markets are 10-12 per cent, Mr Sivaramakrishnan added.

Cushman & Wakefield' executive director (residential services) Shveta Jain also said that investments in the real estate sector by NRIs have gained momentum over time with prices being stable or reaching bottom in select cities and markets, rupee devaluations and attractive long term returns.

"With city limits expanding to peripheries, investors have a variety of products ranging from affordable to luxury developments and special housing projects like senior homes to choose from.

"Given the tepid demand from resident buyers and investors, developers have also undertaken special marketing efforts to target NRIs, whose investor confidence in Indian real estate market will get a further boost with the introduction of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill," Ms Jain added.

Ms Karnad said that the projects on display during its London fair are from Bengaluru, Chennai, Gujarat, Goa, Hyderabad, Kerala, Mumbai, NCR, Pune, Punjab and Kolkata, among others.

The options include flats, villas and plots and customers would be given exclusive offers and value-added benefits.

HDFC would be holding such exhibitions for the eighth year in a row at a foreign location, showing its popularity amongst the NRI and PIO (Person of Indian Origin) community in London and other cities abroad.

Belgium based firm vito NV eyes smartcity associated projects in india

Belgium-based research and technology firm Vito NV has entered into an agreement with Valluri Technology Accelerators to cash in on programmes relating to smartcities, clean technology and environmental sustainability in India. 

The two companies have plans to offer their expertise on developing technological concepts and know-how in the fields of energy, water, waste, pollution, healthcare and land use. 

Through this technology and business partnership, Vito has made its first formal entry into the country. 

"We have been working with large industrial houses in India through project-specific contracts but now we can draw upon our extensive global network and expertise in clean-tech clusters and associations for offering solutions to problems that are unique to India," said VITO CEO Dirk Fransaer. 

Valluri Technology Accelerators Founder & Chairman Venkatesh Valluri said: "This agreement will focus on key areas around energy saving, water, pollution, waste, healthcare and smartcity development through collaborative approaches and principles of technology convergence." 

Headquartered in Mol, Belgium, Vito is a leading European policy consultant and had a turnover of 140 million euros in 2014.

south korea offer $10 billion funds to the development of smart cities in india

South Korea offered to provide $10 billion for infrastructure projects in India, including smart cities and railways, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with President Park Geun-hye here on Monday and the two countries decided to elevate their ties to a special strategic partnership.

 

Both sides agreed to increase their defence and security cooperation and also inked seven agreements, including on avoidance of double taxation and for cooperation between their National Security Councils.

 

Modi, who arrived in the morning from Ulan Bator, held talks with President Park after a ceremonial welcome at the Cheong Wae Dae, the presidential residence.

 

Modi, in his press statement said India considers South Korea "a crucial partner in India's economic modernization" and it can be a leading partner in India's focus on infrastructure and developing a world class manufacturing sector.

 

He said that both countries have agreed to hold their diplomatic and security dialogue in the "2 plus 2 format" -- between their foreign and defence secretaries. Japan is the other country with which India holds such a dialogue.

 

"I welcome the decision to have regular cooperation between our National Security Councils. We have also agreed to expand cooperation between our armed forces," said Modi.

 

A lengthy joint statement said that South Korea is to offer $10 billion for mutual cooperation in infrastructure projects in India, including smart cities, railways, power generation and transmission. Both sides are to cooperate in the Asia-Pacific Region.

 

President Park, in her remarks, said both leaders have found complementarities between India's "Act East" and her country's Northeast Asia Peace and Cooperation Initiative (NAPCI).

 

As part of the Special Strategic Partnership, both would hold annual summit meetings; hold annual joint commissions led by the their foreign ministers and boost cooperation between their defense education institutions.

Time for Retail market to reach big by 2025 in india : CII

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has envisaged that the retail market in India will touch US $ 1.2 Trillion by 2020 and US $ 2.1 Trillion by 2025 from the present level of US $ 550 billion, generating 10-12 million Jobs in next decade.
Collaboration between organised, unorganised & online to be the game changer in retail - CII

According to a Report titled The Indian Retail Medley released jointly by CII and Wazir Advisors at the Conference on Retail themed as 'Decoding the Future of Retail' organised by CII, The organized retail in India is expected to grow 7 folds and online retail 26 folds, while the unorganized retail will continue to dominate.

The report further highlighted that CII & Wazir are certain that the sector will get a transformational push with an aggressive collaboration between the organized, unorganized and online retail growth, driven by India's demographics with huge young and tech savvy population (500 million below 25 years), rising incomes and demand levels, urbanisation, attitudinal shifts and above all, a phenomenal and continuous rise in internet penetration across the country with the government's commitment to digitization.

It is estimated there would be 550 million net users in India by 2018, as also the face of the Internet user will change dramatically, with higher penetration to the tune of 210 million in rural areas. The online retail would provide a superb platform to the unorganised retail to reach out to the consumers across markets in tier 3 & tier 4 cities, further highlighted the report.

Time is absolutely opportune to 'Make in India' for Retail in India, with our country being one of the fastest growing and most dynamic retail markets in the world. We must produce and sell in India. There is however a dire need to strengthen our supply chain management, identification of the consumers' needs, trained and skilled manpower and streamlining of our taxation system, highlighted Mr Adesh Gupta, Chairman, CII Retail 2015 & Promoter, Liberty Group.

Further, India is expected to become the world's fastest growing e-commerce market on the back of robust investment activity in the sector and the rapid increase in internet users. It is expected that India's e-commerce market will grow from US$ 2.9 billion in 2013 to over US$ 100 billion by 2020. There is enough demand, and the challenge would be how to reach the consumers, both from connectivity and logistics perspective. The online retail can reach Tier 4-6 areas much better than offline channel, giving it a bigger advantage. Collaboration between both organized and unorganized retail companies could be the real game changer, he added.

The share of e-Commerce is growing steadily. Customers have an ever increasing choice of products at the lowest rates. E-Commerce is probably creating the biggest disruption in the retail industry and this trend will continue in the years to come. Almost everything is sold on the internet now and this means that pretty much all of the retail industry faces the challenge of either being a part of e-commerce or taking it head on. Partnering is the best way out, shared Mr Shreekant Somany, Chairman, CII NR.

It is imperative that the retailers take advantage of digital retail channels (e-commerce), which would enable them to spend less money on real estate while reaching more customers in tier-2 and tier-3 cities. Nevertheless, the long term outlook for the industry remains to be positive on the back of rising incomes, favourable demographics, entry of foreign players and increasing urbanization", shared Mr Mukesh Mathur, Executive Director, Oracle India.

Mr Harminder Sahni, MD, Wazir Advisors Ltd shared that The profitability of the retailers is a major issue these days. The companies should concentrate on opening profitable stores, with thrust on hiring trained manpower. Both online and offline must work together.

Real estate portal PropTiger.com plans to hire 1000 employees in 25 cities across the country

 

Noida-based firm, real estate portal PropTiger.com plans to hire about 1,000 employees in this fiscal for expanding its presence in 25 cities across the country. 

which was founded in February 2011, helps customers through the entire process of buying a home, including search, property identification, price negotiation, documentation, home loan facilitation and post sales services. 

It has eight offices in the country with employee strength of around 500. Since 2011, around 12,000 homes worth $ 1.2 billion have been purchased through PropTiger's platform. 

"We expect that the market conditions will improve in the next few months because of interest rates cut and also some softening of housing prices. Therefore, we intend to build capacity to take advantage of that," PropTiger.Com co-founder Dhruv Agarwala told PTI. 

"We are looking to expand our team from 500 to 1,500 over the next 12 months. Large number of these would be in technology, product and sales," he said, adding that hiring would be at all levels. 

Agarwala said the company plans to expand presence in 25 cities in this fiscal from 8 cities at present. 

"With recent acquisition of a design company Out of Box Interaction (OoBI) and Makaan.com, one can expect a lot of innovations in products and service over the next few months," he said. 

Last month, PropTiger acquired rival Makaan.Com for an undisclosed amount as it aims to ramp up presence in India's secondary property market. For the time being, both PropTiger.com and Makaan.com portals would run separately. 

In November 2014, News Corp took a 25 per cent stake in Singapore-based Elara Technologies Pte Ltd which owns PropTiger.com. 

PropTiger also provides real estate consulting and data services to real estate developers, private equity investors and banks.

Ashish Puravankara has become MD & CEO of Puravankara Projects

Realty firm Puravankara Projects today said that Ashish Puravankara has been promoted as the Managing Director of the company. 

Puravankara, who is currently joint MD in the company, has also been appointed its Chief Executive Officer. 

His father, Ravi Puravankara, the current Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the company, will hold the post of Chairman. . 

The board, in its meeting held on May 15, also approved the proposal to re-designate Ashish Puravankara as Managing Director of the company. 

"As a part of corporate restructuring, the board of directors approved the proposal to re-designate Ravi Puravankara, the Chairman and Managing Director of the company, as the Chairman of the company," Bengaluru-based developer said in a filing to the BSE

"Ashish has also been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of the company," the filing added. 

Nani R Choksey, the deputy MD, has been re-designated as Joint MD, while the group's CEO Jackbastian K Nazareth has been re-designated as Chief Development Officer. 

Puravankara Projects has presence in Bengaluru, Kochi, Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad and Mysore. 

The company has 24.87 million sq ft of projects under development, while an additional 81.83 million sq ft is in the pipeline. 

Home prices record high level but increase in disposable income made homebuyers afforadable to buy :HDFC

Housing prices have risen to record high levels, but increase in disposable income of the homebuyers has made the purchase of a house most affordable in over a decade, according to mortgage giant HDFC Ltd. 

A sharper increase in the income levels, as compared to the housing prices, has brought down the affordability ratio to 4.4 -- the lowest in more than a decade since 4.3 in the year 2004 which remains the all-time low score. A lower ratio means it has become more affordable to purchase the house. 

The average property value of housing units has appreciated to an all-time high of over Rs 52 lakh, while the annual income of the homebuyer has grown to near Rs 12 lakh, also a record high level, shows the data compiled by HDFC. 

The affordability ratio equals the average property price divided by the annual income and determines how affordable a housing unit is for a homebuyer as per his or her income. 

In its latest annual update on the mortgage market in India, HDFC said the improved affordability has largely been driven by the rising disposable income, tax incentives and affordable interest rates. 

HDFC's Managing Director Renu Sud Karnad said the increased tax incentive limits on housing loans and for the personal taxes have helped boost the demand for housing loans, while property prices have also stabilised. 

The increase in double-income-no-kids (DINK) population have also helped increase the disposable income, which has made purchase of house more affordable, Karnad told PTI. 

"The end user demand is reflected in our loan book, while the absence of investors has also helped the property prices to remain stable," she added. 

HDFC, the country's largest mortgage lender with total assets of about Rs 2,54,000 crore, has a loan book of about Rs 2.5 lakh crore that grew by 23 per cent last fiscal. Its average home loan size has also grown to Rs 23.3 lakh, while its loan to value stands at 66 per cent. It has financed over 4.9 million homes in the last three and a half decades. 

The HDFC data also shows that the tax incentives have lowered the effective rates on mortgages to below 4 per cent, while the same was more than double at 8-12 per cent in the early years of the current century. 

The home finance major further said that the mortgage penetration is the lowest in India at just 9 per cent of the GDP, in comparison to many other major countries, which implies significant room for growth. 

Globally, the penetration level is highest in Denmark at 94 per cent, while the same in the UK is 81 per cent and in the US at 52 per cent. China has mortgage penetration of 18 per cent of the GDP, the double the level in India. 

As per HDFC, the actual home loan rate currently stands between 9-10 per cent, but the effective rate works out to be 3.8 per cent after taking into account various tax incentives. 

In last year's budget, tax exemption limits on principal and interest component of a housing loan were raised by Rs 50,000 each, to Rs 1,50,000 and Rs 2,00,000 respectively. 

As per the HDFC data, the average property value has consistently risen in the last seven years, while almost doubling from about Rs 30 lakh in the year 2009. 

In 2004, when the affordability ratio was at its lowest, the average property value was about Rs 15 lakh and the annual income of the average homebuyer stood at less than Rs 4 lakh. 

The affordability ratio was highest at 22 times in 1995, as the property value averaged at over Rs 25 lakh and the average annual income was just about Rs 1 lakh. 

Benami & the 12 following things

The government had on Wednesday tabled the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Bill, 2015 in the Lok Sabha. Parliament has already passed the Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets (Imposition of Tax) Bill, 2015, popularly known as the black money Bill, to nab those stashing unaccounted money abroad. The Benami Bill is aimed at catching those with black money in the domestic economy, hidden through benami properties. Here are a few things you need to know:

1) What is Benami?
 

Benami is Persian for what could mean “without name” or “no name”. In this Bill, the word is used to define a transaction in which the real beneficiary is not the one in whose name a property has been purchased.
 

2) What is a Benami transaction?
 

An arrangement where a property is held by one person and amount for it is provided by another. The property is held for the benefit — direct or indirect — of the person paying the amount. 

3) What will not constitute Benami property?
 

a) Property held in the name of spouse or child for which the amount is paid out of known sources of income

b) A joint property with brother, sister or other relatives for which the amount is paid out of known sources of income

c) Property held by someone in a fiduciary capacity

 

4) What could be considered Benami property?
 

Assets of any kind — movable, immovable, tangible, intangible, any right or interest, or legal documents. As such, even gold or financial securities could qualify to be Benami.
 

5) Who initiates proceedings against alleged Benami property beneficiaries?
 

An assistant or deputy income-tax commissioner, designated as initiator by the government, will be authorised to start proceedings into an alleged benami transaction. The officer will refer the case to an adjudicating authority (which will be set up). The authority will decide within a year if the property is benami. The Bill provides for an appellate tribunal, too.
 

6) Will Benami property be confiscated?
 

After an order becomes final, the property or properties in question will be confiscated. These will be managed and disposed of by designated officers, who will be appointed from among income-tax officers.
 

7) What is the punishment?
 

Benamidar, or the beneficial owner or any other person who abets any person to enter into such a transaction, will face rigorous punishment ranging from a year to seven years in jail.
 

8) How much is the fine?
 

These persons will be liable for a fine of up to 25 per cent of the fair market value of the property
 

9) How will the fair market value be determined?
 

It will be a price that the property would ordinarily fetch on sale in open market. In cases where the price is not ascertainable, another procedure will be prescribed.
 

10) What is the punishment for those giving false information?
 

Imprisonment from six months to five years
 

11) How much is fine for those giving false information?
 

Up to 10 per cent of the fair market value of the property
 

12) Will the government frame rules under the proposed Act?
 

The Bill provides for that. The existing Act of 1988 does not.

Goldman saachs & Nitesh estates join hands to start a new venture of office projects worth 1600 cr

Bengaluru based builder Nitesh Estates and global investment bank Goldman Sachs have announced an agreement to jointly invest up to $250 million (about Rs 1,600 crore) in income generating commercial real estate assets in India. 

"This landmark investment announcement with Goldman Sachs, an experienced investor in Indian and global real estate, will accelerate our firm's footprint across the country by providing capital where it is needed as well as through acquisitions of existing projects," said Nitesh Shetty, chairman and managing director of Nitesh Estates.

Along with this joint venture, Goldman Sachs has also provided a financing commitment of $37 million (about Rs 237 crore) for Nitesh Estates' acquisition of Koregaon Park Plaza, a one-million sq ft operational shopping mall and future high-end office complex development in Pune.