Land loser has a say in acquisition, compensation

BANGALORE: The new land acquisition law that came into force on January 1 has sweetened the deal for landlords who may have to give up a portion of their property or land for public sector infrastructure projects in Bangalore city.

Sample this: If a commercial property of 2,000 sqft is to be acquired on MG Road for the Metro project, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRC) has to fix an average compensation price of Rs 27,000 per sqft, considering that the current market value ranges between Rs 25,000 and Rs 30,000 per sqft.

In such a case, the land or property owner will get a compensation of Rs 54,000 per sqft, as the rules stipulate that property price should be doubled when acquired. “The land owner can also dispute the market value fixed by the executing agency at an appropriate platform exclusively set up by the government by providing documentary evidence, and hold discussions as stipulated under the new Act,” explained a senior official of the revenue department.

“The new law will be helpful for farmers in some ways. The compensation package to offer four times the market value in rural areas is a significant step. It will ensure that land losers build new lives and lead a decent life. The rider that the land should not be acquired if farmers don’t give their consent is also a positive step,” said farmer leader Kurbur Shanthakumar.

The concept of Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) to compensate land owners for the loss of land area acquired by the government for a public cause — construction of roads or other infrastructure — may also eventually become redundant, say officials.

With the new law in the offing, a whole range of infrastructure projects in the pipeline, including road widening, construction of underpasses and flyovers and elevated expressways may certainly face less opposition.

But there is a rider: The new land acquisition Act says the new rules will be optional in case of acquisition of less than 50 acres of land in cities and 100 acres in rural areas. “The TDR has to be attractive to ensure land owners opt for TDR (land for land compensation) rather than cash compensation. Otherwise, we may be forced to opt for the new law,” said a BBMP official engaged in the land acquisition process.

BAD NEWS FOR FARM SECTOR
The new law is just another way to gobble up farm land. The attractive compensation will simply lure farmers into giving away their lands. This is certainly not good for the farm sector. We have no objection to acquisition of land for Metro, rail, roads and other essential projects but not for SEZ and other non-productive proposals. The government should know that no compensation can revive the food crisis that is in the offing.

Kodihalli Chandrashekar | leader, karnataka rajya raitha sangha
COMPENSATING LAND LOSER
* In urban areas, compensation is twice the market value of the property, plus 100% solatium on this amount
* In rural areas, compensation is four times the market value of the property
* ‘Market value’ is determined based on sales and purchases made at sub-registrar offices
* Law is vague on ‘market value’ – whether it’s the highest value at which a property in the area is traded or the average over a period of time
* If the land/property owner is not happy with market value offered by acquiring agency, a valuation perceived to be more ‘fair’ will be found through consultation and dialogue
WHAT’S THE NEW LAW?
* The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 has replaced the 120-year-old Land Acquisition Act, 1894, from January 1
* The new Land Acquisition Bill got the President’s assent on September 27, 2013
* The Bill was brought in as the archaic 1894 Act suffered from various shortcomings, including resettlement of the displaced
* Mandatory rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) of those whose lands are acquired, and fair compensation for them
* Social impact study to be carried out on how acquiring parties intend to use the land, and how original inhabitants or owners will be rehabilitated

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Land-loser-has-a-say-in-acquisition-compensation/articleshow/30187286.cms

Our flat design outdated, DDA vice-chairman says

NEW DELHI: Balvinder Kumar, IAS, who recently took over as vice-chairman of Delhi Development Authority, was at apex of Noida Authority during the land acquisition row. He spoke to Suhas Munshi on priorities.
How is your new assignment different from the one at Noida and what are your priorities?
Some problems are the same, like the issue of addressing public grievances. Because of the nature of the organizations, there’s a huge public grievance, and in both cases a system to redress these grievances is missing. Perhaps our environment has so far not been conducive to hearing out complaints against our departments. One other complaint that I’ve heard being made in both offices is that of updating of accounts. In Noida as well as in Delhi, people complain of inordinate delays because their information isn’t readily available in the departments. In DDA I’ve found there are 3500 applications of people wishing to change their properties from leasehold to freehold pending. Were our accounts properly compiled and updated, this should’ve been a job of 10-12 days. Thirdly farmers in both states have complained of not getting the market price for their lands and so in some cases our projects are getting delayed because of the disagreements arising from this. We’re trying to reach out to them to resolve these issues as well. Therefore, my priorities lie in making the necessary structural and functional changes to meet people’s ever-growing expectations. One major difference between the two organisations is the scope and size of the projects. The quantum of work is much bigger at DDA.

Inordinate delays and poor quality work have been giving DDA a bad name. What do you think is fundamentally wrong with the organization ? Is it work culture?

DDA missed deadlines of delivery in the past due to a variety of reasons – be it the contractors’ failure, non-availability of land for providing critical infrastructure like trunk sewer lines or laying of roads. On the other hand, DDA housing has been valued essentially for its price competitiveness which meets the requirements of ordinary citizens, who cannot afford private housing. As far as quality of construction is concerned, DDA does have third party quality inspection. We have a penalty clause in our contracts to punish the contractors who delay projects and these penalty clauses have been invoked by us time to time. But I’d also admit that the cause of delays lies within the authority too.

Will housing remain one of the core areas of DDA’s functioning and how will the organization deal with the changing realities of the housing market?

Along with housing, our priority is also to build supporting infrastructure – these two are our biggest priorities. Most of our projects were conceived long ago. We had designed our houses according to the standards of those times, but now seeing the sort of designs that private builders have brought in, it seems that we’ve not kept pace with them. I think we must update our designing and architecture of the constructions , and we will do it.
Even the infrastructure projects have been suffering because of delays. The Sarita Vihar underpass has been in the making for ages and the roads there are in a terrible condition. People feel frustrated.

The Sarita Vihar project was delayed primarily because several key public services passing through the area had to be shifted and also because we got the required clearance from the railway ministry quite late. We are focused on the project and are hopeful of completing it by August 2014.

Why is the master plan review process taking so long? When do you think the new master plan will be out? Don’t you think this defeats the very objective of planned growth?

We are reviewing Master Plan 2021 since 2007 and have been working to bring it up to the satisfaction of most of the stakeholders. The drafting and fina lising of the master plan involves public consultation which is a process that takes time. Lately, we’ve also been involved in the process of adding two more chapters to the MPD, on environment and transportation, besides a chapter on land pooling. The whole process of finalizing MPD should take about three to four months for completion.

The land pooling policy was a part of the last master plan and we are still spelling it out. Some real estate experts feel it could have been more transparent, for example, on valuation of land and the environmental or infrastructural impact of pooling on neighbourhood areas.

So far we have been involved in formulating the policy and detailed guidelines for implementing it. Now we will properly concentrate on the drafting of the policy. At the time of drafting the policy, we’ll take care to ensure maximum transparency and frame a policy that is citizen and, importantly, farmer centric.
Some experts are warning against DDA’s move to allow expansion by increasing the permissible FAR, warning it will put pressure on existing infrastructure, including roads.

The extra FAR will only add 20% to 25% occupancy in the hotels that already have a good infrastructure. We have been careful enough in allowing extra FAR without relaxing parking norms. I don’t think this is going to have any impact on either the existing resources or the environment. Besides, the tourism sector is important for the Indian economy. So the issue of shortage of rooms in the capital is a question that needs to be addressed immediately.

A huge tent mafia has occupied wedding venues across Delhi in collusion with DDA staff and all efforts to break the nexus have failed. We are getting many complaints about perpetual unavailability of marriage venues. What do you propose to do about it?

From parking to booking tents, we will carry out our process online for a fair and transparent system. For this reason, I think we have mitigated chances of corruption and of collusion between any party and DDA officials. If however some agency is found to have permanently booked the venues, we take necessary steps to act against them as well.

DDA had announced monitoring of land encroachment through real-time mapping but what steps is it taking to remove existing encroachments on 4780 acres of its land?

I confess that a large chunk of land has been encroached upon in Delhi and it’s one of the more serious problems we’re facing. According to our information, there are encroachments on about 1500 acres. These are of two kinds – one where people started settling down and slowly communities flourished over a decade or more, which is trickier to deal with, and temporary encroachments by people constructing jhuggis. To deal with the latter we have an enforcement cell. We are also working to video-graphing our area to check encroachments in real-time with help of GSDL (Geospatial Data Limited) to get real-time information about encroachments on our land by superimposing high-resolution satellite images on our khasra maps.

There have been complaints that DDA’s sports complexes are often in the grip of private interests who dictate terms to the users. Will you do anything about it?

Our job is to maintain the complexes and appoint coaches. We try to run the complexes without bias and for general public use. There have been some concerns voiced over the appointment of coaches being opaque to the public which we are going to address shortly. A committee was recently constituted to frame guidelines for the appointment of coaches. We are going to take a look at this and appoint coaches only according to the revised guidelines. We will ensure that from now on these recruitments, along with the general functioning of the complexes, is done in a transparent manner.

How do you think the public interface with officials can be improved?

Our public mechanisms will improve only when we have transparent, computerised systems in place. I’m trying to make a difference by computerising the process of changing properties from leasehold to freehold. As soon as we get our accounts reconciled and computerised , which should happen shortly, we will be able to process the lease-hold to free-hold applications within 15 days, which as of now happens in 45 days. Our focus will be to reduce the interface between public and DDA and to bring process online.

Is there going to be a regular focus on commercial centres and marketplaces developed by DDA? As of now, many have gone to seed with encroachments , fire hazards and occupied parkings.

It is true that marketplaces and local convenience stores have been allotted by DDA. But these areas have been transferred to municipal corporations who charge them property tax and parking tax but don’t maintain these commercial centres saying that they belong to DDA. I have had meetings with representatives of various market associations to understand their issues and am trying to meet senior officials from the three corporations to find solutions.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Our-flat-design-outdated-DDA-vice-chairman-says/articleshow/30257986.cms

Illegal buildings in Tamil Nadu face the axe

CHENNAI: Thousands of unauthorised buildings in the state are facing demolition after the Madras high court on Monday quashed two government orders that proposed to legalise illegal structures built till July 1, 2007.

The first bench comprising Chief Justice R K Agrawal and Justice M Sathyanaryanan said: “But for the lackadaisical attitude on the part of the authorities, such an alarming and mushrooming growth of unauthorized and illegal constructions would not have come into place.” The bench was delivering verdict on two PILs against October 30, 2012 government orders extending amnesty schemes for illegal buildings constructed between 1999 and July 1, 2007.

“The state government and statutory authorities concerned are required to act diligently and prevent recurrence of such unlawful activities in future. They must deal with the violators with an iron hand. This court also hopes and trusts that no further extension of cut-off date will be granted in future by the state government,” the bench said in its 67-page judgment.

In 2000, the Supreme Court upheld the validity of Section 113 of the Town and Country Planning Act, and permitted the government to use the clause and regularise illegal buildings built till February 28, 1999 “as one-time measure”. However, successive governments used the same route to extend the cutoff date for structures built till 2000 and then till 2001.

In 2006 and 2007, the then government brought in two ordinances which later became Acts. All were struck down by the high court, prompting the government and other stakeholders to move the SC. After the appeals were sent back to the high court, the state government constituted Justice S Mohan committee, which recommended extension of the amnesty schemes for buildings constructed up to July 1, 2007. The government issued two orders on October 30, 2012 accepting the recommendations.

Quashing both the orders and pointing out that for the past 13 years the government had not done anything pragmatic to address the issue, the bench said: “Thirteen years had lapsed and the state government and authorities concerned have failed to take any effective and sincere steps to avoid such a kind of nuisance. They merely extended the cutoff date for regularization of unauthorized constructions, saying illegal constructions have come up in such a large scale that it is virtually impossible for them to resort to demolition and, instead, by collecting hefty regularization fee and fulfilment of other conditions, they will regularize unauthorized constructions.”

The bench reiterated the fact that the state government did have power to grant exemptions under Section 113 of the Town and Country Planning Act, and said the regularisation issue could be referred to the Justice Mohan Committee or a different committee. It said based on the recommendations given, the government can frame appropriate guidelines and rules for proper and effective implementation of Section 113-C of the Act.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/Illegal-buildings-in-Tamil-Nadu-face-the-axe/articleshow/30179767.cms

Nirala Greenshire Name Of Royal Living

Nirala Greenshire is an independent private venture which not just offers agreeable living arrangements with some advanced luxuries however is likewise accessible at generally competitive costs. Prefixed by the name of the developer Nirala, which basically implies exceptional, these habitations are proposed to be situated on a site which will be encompassed by about 70 percent of green spread. Thus the name, Nirala Greenshire is adept for an undertaking where cutting edge living is commended plus the endowments of the unstoppable force of life.

This private undertaking, Nirala Greenshire,sector 2 of Greater Noida West is deliberately put in Greater Noida West. This locale is likewise casually called Noida Extension. It offers a few area particular preferences. Some of these incorporate closeness to clinics, metro station, sanctuaries, mainstream commercial centers and so forth. Nirala Greenshire is more particular, while Fortis Hospital and Sai Temple exist in a short sweep of around five kilometres from the undertaking site, the closest metro station of the Delhi Metro Railway Corporation (DMRC) is only seven kilometres away. Also, just a 10 minutes drive will be obliged to achieve the renowned worldwide commercial center in Noida called the Atta Market in Sector 18 and the grant winning shopping center, Great India Palace.

A significant number of choices are accessible for closure clients and gurus at Nirala Greenshire, Noida Extension by method for two, three and four room flats running from 1180 square feet to over 1840 square feet.

Because of Nirala Greenshire Noida Extension inhabitants will urge their social orders to receive the efforts to establish safety as those which will be furnished at this venture. This is since abundant number of security characteristics will be introduced in this gated neighborhood to control instances of burglary, robbery and trespassing by receiving measures to guarantee complete observation of the intricate constantly. Because of the vicinity of adequate carport, instances of flattening of auto tyres and so forth will be evaded. A quake safety structure will guarantee that the parts who live in this mind boggling remain unaffected by conceivable common catastrophes.

A few offices will be given inside this mind boggling, which will guarantee independence additionally give a ton of alternatives for social order to get together and interface. Get to know your neighbours while imparting wearing encounters be it inside a tennis court, bushel ball court or additionally a swimming pool in the club. Wi Fi connectivity will be given so one can remain joined with individuals over the globe through the digital world. A selective region will be allocated inside the unpredictable for youngsters to play. This will make youngsters and in addition soccer mums and fathers blissful. Inhabitants won't need to look for enrollment of exercise center outside the intricate, for inside it, a decently provided gym with state-of-the-workmanship gears will be accessible for them inside NiralaGreenshire Noida Extension .

Cleantech Startups Heat Up In India

Everyone knows cleantech is a hot investment category in the U.S. But what about in such emerging markets as India?
On a recent tech tour (self-guided) of Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai, I found that India too has its share of entrepeneurs and investors who want to save the world. I interviewed the founders of several young businesses that are helping to improve the environment — from electronic waste recyling facilities to solar-powered LED lights to electric cars and water purification systems. These startups are proving that cleantech enterprises can make money, scale in size and do social good at the same time.
Several of  of these are startups funded by the same venture investment firms in Silicon Valley that support cleantech deals in the U.S.–Kleiner Perkins and Draper Fisher Jurvetson, to name two prominent examples.
Here’s a sampling of some finds during my three-week journey.
On the outskirts of Bangalore in an industrial area, Kotak Solar is churning out solar-powered products of many kinds–to light up streets and gardens with LEDs, heat swimming pools and provide drinking water. Chief Executive K. Srinivas Kumar gave me a tour of the operations housed in the same building as his office.
To prove a point that solar can work for every day practical uses, Kotak Solar recently electrified a village in India with solar power.  Now 120 families in this remote spot pay just five cents per day to get light and drinking water, plus juice for a community-shared mobile phone, plasma TV and Internet connection.
The next step is to take this pilot project to more villages in India, where 80,000 villages or 45 percent of the total, are still not on the grid, Kumar says. "We want to take this trend-setting model on a much larger scale," he adds.

Kotak Solar generated revenues of $25 million in 2009 — up from $15 million the year before — and the Chief Executive says the business has been profitable since one year after it was formed in 1997.  Little wonder that it attracted $6 million-plus from Kleiner Perkins and Sherpalo Ventures in October 2008.
In Delhi, I met with a Stanford MBA grad and former Peace Corps volunteer Sam Goldman, who’s also into solar. He’s formed a startup in Delhi named D.Light Energy that produces and sells solar-powered LED lanterns to replace kerosene lights in the emerging market villages. In two years’ time, he’s sold 100,000 lanterns to villagers in India, east Africa and Latin America. The lights help moms work on handicrafts at night-time to earn some income and get kids to study after sun fall. 
The potential is huge. Goldman says about 1.6 billion people worldwide are off the grid. He’s aiming to reach 5 million people. His startup has funding from Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Garage Technology Ventures plus two social investor groups and is aiming to generate revenues of $25 million this year. 
About an hour’s drive from DLight’s offices in central Delhi, I arrive at the offices of Attero Design in a gritty area of the Noida district. Here, CEO Nitin Gupta describes how his startup recyles electronic products and extracts precious minerals for sell on the London and Indian metal exchanges. His one-year-old startup made $1 million in revenues in 2009 and is aiming for $12 million in 2010.
With only a powerpoint and a dream to improve the environment, Gupta raised $6.3 million from Draper Fisher Jurvetson and NEA-IndoUS Ventures in May 2008. He’s looking to soon raise about $7 million. So far, the startup has invested $5 million. Most of that went to setting up the plant about 200 kilometers north of Delhi in Roorkee.  To build the plant, Attero got tax breaks from the state government and research help from the local Indian Insittute of Technology.
Forbes discovered the Reva electric car back in 2005, but that didn’t prevent me from meeting with the founder Chetain Miani (pictured, with the author) at his headquarters in Bangalore, about a twenty-minute drive from the world headquarters of Infosys. Here, Miani showed me the electric powered-roadster that Reva is coming out with in 2011.
Not wasting a PR moment, Miani led me through car’s features: a top speed of 130 kilometers, a range of 200 kilometers, an optional solar panel that can add eight kilometers driving distance, a choice of 2,000 colors, automatic transmission, and a telematics system where drivers can send a SMS to get a power boost to make it home in case the battery runs low.
Reva’s new solar-powered plant that I toured will produce 30,000 of these vehicles – there are 3500 on the road now, including Miani’s own Reva – and take the cars into Europe and Latin America, Japan, thanks in part to investment of $55 million from Draper Fisher Jurvetson, among small investors. So far, the cars are sold mostly in Bangalore and London. Once the 30,000 vehicles are sold, Reva will not exactly be within GM’s range but will generate a respectable $500-$600 million in revenues, up from the current $10 million currently.
I asked Miani why anyone would want a city car other than Reva? He laughingly answered, "Good question. Let the consumers decide." 
When Reva gets to the U.S., I may even give up my Honda Element!
source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/velocity/2010/02/22/cleantech-startups-heat-up-in-india/

A Residence that Fills the Gap Between Dreams and Reality – JM Aroma, Sector 75, Noida

There was a time when buying a home in the dream location remains unfulfilled and alternatives were also getting completely missing. But slowly and consistently, the innovation as well as creativity took a step in the market changing the overall scenario and giving rise to a new ray of hope which was looking not so easy. In the latest trends, it has become a task of just a second to make an investment and the best example that fits for this fact is JM Aroma. It is an outstanding symbol that shows the development level of the Real Estate industry.

The name that is credited with the above heart touching presentation that leads the Realty market known as the JM Housing. The organization is highly renowned and attained this fame by putting up some brilliant efforts that were really tight to accomplish in tough situations. The basic parameters of success like the cost and location are included in the quantity as are desired by customers. JM Aroma Noida is the best option to experience something unique that has not not even imagined by any investor. It is a complete destination to upgrade the living standards and get the abroad feelings.

JM Aroma Sector 75 is a residential project that brings the wave of luxury at your doorstep and acts as a residence that fills the gap between dreams and reality. The preferences that are provided by the project regarding the apartments are 3 and 4 BHK inclusive of all ultra modern features and facilities. It spreads over a huge area and surrounded by lush green environment. The project is strategically located at the best location in Sector 75 of Business Capital, Noida. All the modern amenities like City Centre Metro Station, Sector 119 Noida and Companies persist in close vicinity.

Mahagun Meadows Upcoming Residential Project Of Mahagun

Numerous private and business is running at moderate cost by the Mahagun Group. It has recently completed some milestone ventures in areas for the property. It is the best alternative for whom searching for speculation in property. These days, likewise starting private Mahagun Meadows property in Noida Sector 150. Mahagun Meadows supported by Mr.Shahrukh Khan.

Mahagun Meadows shows amazingly overall arranged Sector 150, is one of the finest interpretations of a lavish lifestyle. The undertaking oozes the loftiness and overwhelming picture of the while meeting the necessities of the present day residents for magnetic flats and estates 2 BHK, 3 BHK with great accommodation and solaces of the city. Mahagun Meadows likewise furnishes the ideal atmosphere for the changing necessities of single person. This extreme undertaking might be the best choice to profit from because of the area profits and reasonable rates. Mahagun Meadows Noida presents an extensive variety of extravagance homes as 2, 3, 4 and 5 bhk available to be purchased. These are part offer cost takes after:

Villa-2BHK-SR-Terrace with pool 3400 sq ft Rs.1.54 Cr.

Villas-4BHK-SR 2950 sq ft Rs.1.34 Cr.

2 bhk 2700 sq ft Rs.1.22 Cr

2 bhk 2385 sq ft Rs.1.08 Cr

3BHK-Balcony 1925 sq ft Rs.87.5 Lacs

3 BHK 1740 sq ft Rs.79 Lacs

AMENITIES:

Gymnasium, Swimming Pool, Kids Pay Area and also providing clubbing. These are some additional amenities available with this project.

Power Backup

Security

Vastu Compliant

Tennis Lawn

Club

LOCATION ADVANTAGE:

18kms from Mahamaya flyover, 20kms, From Sector- 18 Noida 3Kms, From Pari Chowk.

For more information  Mahagun new project Mahagun Mantra 2