Toll-free ride will make business boom, say industrialists, Gurgaon

GURGAON: Industry honchos have described the removal of toll on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway as a game-changer that will financially benefit thousands of commuters.

"The removal means every commuter who drives from Delhi to Gurgaon will save Rs 30,000 annually, including in toll and fuel cost borne during the wait at the toll. Other than that, it will be a big saving for those who travel to Delhi for work everyday and have no other option but to take the long MG Road detour," said Nitin Gupta, CEO, Payu India.

During peak hours, commuters are greeted by the city's biggest traffic chaos everyday. The average waiting time ranges from 10 minutes to half an hour, owing to a bad management at the plaza. "Now everyone will save at least 20 minutes during morning hours and also reach home early. It is great decision that works in everybody's interest," said chairman of JMD group, Sunil Bedi.

Bedi also admitted that the move will lure more MNCs to Gurgaon, which has a better connectivity with IGI airport. "The traffic jams have been a great turn-off for commuters and those planning to shift homes and offices. I am sure the toll's removal will help re-brand Gurgaon as an investment hub," he said.

Echoing the sentiment, national director of office space, DLF, Amit Grover, said: "We welcome the removal of the toll plaza. It will ensure better connectivity between Delhi and Gurgaon. It will add to the overall brand Gurgaon as financial hub"

For MNCs, the biggest advantage would come in the form of reduced stress for commuters. Navneet Singh, CEO Nuvoex(e-commerce), said : "Toll plaza used to strain everyone, including me and my employees. No toll means no stress of navigating through traffic jams, no honking, no screaming toll volunteers and no hassles to drive into the right lane to reach toll collection counter."

Source : -  http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/Toll-free-ride-will-make-business-boom-say-industrialists/articleshow/30692003.cms

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With Gold Prices Sinking, What Is The Future Of Residential Real Estate?

With gold prices currently on the descent, many investors are asking themselves if residential real estate prices will follow. Gold and real estate are the two primary investment routes for retail investors in India, so this is definitely a valid question to ask.

The performance of residential property as an asset class is doubtlessly dependent on the macro-economic factors that also dictate the performance of other asset classes, including gold. Nevertheless, the correlation between gold and real estate prices is not as distinct as one may at first assume.

Price movements in the real estate sector are the result of supply and demand. This is true for gold as well, but the demand drivers for real estate are not the same as for precious metals. Though, in investment terms, they technically fall under the category of asset classes, the demand for residential property stems from the desire for home ownership that is hard-wired into the Indian psyche. It is demand from end-users that dictates investors’ appetite for residential property.

In India, precious metals are an investment class that most people will consider after this basic desire is satisfied. Moreover, the prices of precious metals are not location-specific – they rise and fall uniformly. This is hardly the case with real estate, which performs differently at different times in different cities and micro-locations.

In a vast country like India, it stands to reason that various markets will display varying pricing dynamics. Real estate valuations also range from rational to irrational in different areas within the same cities, depending on the levels of supply, demand and investor activity. At the same time, other cities continue to remain uniformly rational because they are largely end-user driven.

How Good Is Residential Real Estate For Investment Today?

There is no one-size-fits-all formula for the viability of residential real estate as an asset class for investment. Different investors have different levels of expertise, experience, market knowledge and risk appetites when it comes to different asset classes. Those with insufficient expertise in stock trading are not likely to see satisfactory ROI from their activities on the stock market.

Likewise, investors who lack the requisite knowledge and research to make winning real estate investment decisions will not meet with much success in this vertical. Real Estate investors who have sufficient market knowledge or work with experienced real estate consultants will not fail to see lucrative returns on their investments.

Three parameters for successful investment in any asset class are when to invest, how much to invest and when to exit. In real estate, three additional variables are where to invest, into which size and configuration, and in which location.

Residential Real Estate Investment – Short-Term & Long-Term Outlook

In the short term, residential real estate prices in different cities will either remain steady see minor upward or downward fluctuations. In the long term, they will rise again. The fundamentals of the India real estate story are extremely strong. Even in this turbulent economic environment, India remains the cynosure of interest by global MNCs and investors who see the limitless potential of a young, growing economy, a wealth of highly trained workforces across the manufacturing, IT/ITeS and services industries. All this translates into assured job creation, and therefore demand on the residential real estate market.

However, Indian residential real estate is definitely not the best route for short-term investors. When it comes to opportunistic trading, gold is doubtlessly a far more suitable asset class – not least of all because one can purchase it in small or large amounts and liquefy it quickly. Turning a profit with gold is really only a matter of timing the market.

Of course, this applies for residential real estate, as well. However, thanks to a conservative banking system that makes ‘flipping’ extremely unattractive,residential property as an investment class is a very different ballgame in India. More and more regulations are being brought in to subdue the appetite for speculation in this sector. Also, the lowest entry point is definitely much higher than for gold. Finally, it requires a minimum ‘incubation’ period in order to bring ‘appreciable’ returns.

Even after one has satisfied all the basic investment criteria – good location, right size and configuration, right entry point and right entry price – one needs to stay invested for the mid-to-long term in order to garner the best possible returns. As a general yardstick, an investment horizon of 3-5 years is ideal.

So Where Does That Leave Gold? 

Exactly where it has always been – and where it will continue to be. Though gold prices are fluctuating rather wildly at the moment, gold is nevertheless an important component of a well-diversified long-term investment portfolio. It goes without saying that real estate – an asset class with rather different dynamics, is an equally important part of such a portfolio.

Anuj Puri, Chairman & Country Head, Jones Lang LaSalle India

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Dwarka Expressway gurgaon - All Update

Dwarka Expressway Gurgaon

The area called the Dwarka-Gurgaon Expressway is seeing significant buyer and investor interest and is one of the promising realty markets in the National Capital Region (NCR).

Dwarka Expressway, also called the Northern Peripheral Expressway, when complete would be an eight-lane expressway, being developed by the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) at a cost of R120 crore.

As a part of the Gurgaon-Manesar Master Plan 2021 (Urban Complex Plan), the expressway will connect Dwarka to National Highway 8 and will have 30 metres of green belt on both sides.

The proposed location will stretch 18kms, starting from Dwarka, connecting Palam Vihar and the forthcoming special economic zones in Gurgaon and would join the NH 8 near Kherki Dhaula. It is expected to reduce the travel time from west Delhi by half. Also, the expressway will touch 16 new nearby residential colonies and a commercial corridor.

Before we take up the viability of Dwarka Expressway as a location of interest, let us discuss some of its advantages:

The proposed 18 km expressway is expected to be one of India's widest roads ever, at 150 meters. As a simple comparison, the current Delhi-Gurgaon expressway is 75 meters wide.

The new Terminal 3 of Indira Gandhi International Airport would be accessible within a few minutes drive and is also close to the new commercial/hotel corridor being developed near the international airport.

It is also close to the 18-hole golf course proposed in Dwarka by the Delhi Development Authority.

Extensive belt reserved for commercial development along the new Dwarka Expressway, which can tap into the population of Dwarka and west Delhi for potential job seekers as well as providing job opportunities in proximity to those living in this area.

This area is a part of 'New Gurgaon', which is being developed with better infrastructure, to match the standards set by Greater Noida. The internal roads being planned in this area are expected to be 60-75 metres wide. Also, the sewage and electricity distribution systems are likely to be better and more modern.

There is a decent existing infrastructure of schools, shopping centers, hospitals in Palam Vihar, Gurgaon and Dwarka, which are close to the expressway.

The metro station in Dwarka, Sector 22, is only a few kilometres away from the expressway.

Proximity of the residential and commercial properties to the proposed Diplomatic Enclave with 39 embassies, which is being developed in Dwarka.

As already mentioned earlier, the infrastructure being planned for this area is quite developed. The sector roads would be 90 metres in Dwarka Phase II and 60 meters in new sectors along the Dwarka expressway, relieving hassles of traffic congestion.

Since the expressway is expected to take approximately 1.5-2 years to complete and be fully operational and with the same time required for the entire area to develop, developers have started selling their projects at attractive rates.

The current rate at which reputed developers are selling their residential apartments are in the range of R3,000-4,500 per sq ft for mid-segment projects. The luxury projects are in the range of Rs 5,500-6,500 per sq ft.

These rates are almost half of the rates prevailing in the well developed projects in Gurgaon, and almost one third when compared with the prices prevailing in Dwarka in reasonably good housing societies. The quality of the projects coming up on Dwarka Expressway is much better than the high priced group housing societies in Dwarka with virtually no power back up, club, sports facilities, etc.

All the above factors indicate that the current rates are reasonable and should be sustainable, if the pace of development remains the same and if the promises relating to the infrastructure are delivered on time.

Having spoken to a few major developers who already have projects along the expressway, it seems that a good commercial space would soon be created along side the residential projects, which would almost guarantee a situation similar to the Golf Course Road in Gurgaon.

To conclude, Dwarka Expressway, with all the advantages, certainly makes sense at current prevailing rates. The rates of the plots in this area are also at R40,000-50,000 per sq yard, which are quite decent considering the rates prevailing in Delhi and Gurgaon.

Even as the locational advantages present a good opportunity, it is very important to select the right builder and the location and buy only if the price is reasonable. Finally, if everything goes as per plan, Dwarka Expressway will definitely be a good place to stay in the coming years.

—The author is MD, Bajaj Capital

From - 

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/dwarka-expressway-an-update/919280/0#sthash.eK0CIjbP.dpuf

New Update on 28/3/13

Source  - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/Project-faces-roadblocks-on-all-sides/articleshow/18247407.cms

GURGAON: Given the host of obstructions to the construction of the Dwarka Expressway or theNorthern Peripheral Road (NPR), commuters will have to wait for a long time before they can actually use the road.

The NPR, which was supposed to be completed by March 2012, has already missed several deadlines. The acquisition of around 60 acres of land at various spots along the 18km stretch is holding up the construction work.

There are several houses, factories, shops and plots which are built on these 60 acres of disputed land. As many as 19 cases are lying with Punjab and Haryana high court in this regard.

There are 12 factories that fall in the way of the road project. In keeping with the court's direction, factory owners have been allocated land in lieu of the present location. Most of the factories have not relocated within the nine-month deadline given to them and the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) has started the process of acquiring the land on which they stand.

HUDA has acquired land in the upcoming Sector 110A to compensate it to the residents of New Palam Vihar whose houses are coming in the way of the road. However, residents are not very keen on the proposal and said they would only move to the new place if all their demands are met.

At present, out of a total length of 18km, work is going on in only on 11.8km. The construction work is going on in 12 patches, 5.1km being the longest. There are many small patches measuring as short as 200 metres. However, not a single patch is connected to the main road.

Besides the legal cases, there are several other issues which HUDA will have to sort out to complete the construction work. High-tension wires come in the way of the expressway. It has been learnt that an estimate of Rs 19.54 crore has been approved by HVPNL in this regard.

A portion of land under SEZ and HSIIDC also fall in the way. The approval of land to HUDA is still awaited although HUDA has started the construction work. However, the approval and transfer are important for fast and unhindered construction work.

Moreover, there is need to divert a portion of forest land measuring 0.792 hectare. HUDA has already written to the forest department in this regard, but approval is still awaited.

There is also a plan to build flyovers on Pataudi Road, Basai Road, Daultabad Road and Bajghera Road surrounding NPR. A meeting in this regard was held on January 22, 2013 with PWD (B & R).

An estimate of Rs 12 crore has been prepared for the electrification work, whereas around Rs 4.5 crore will be spent for the horticultural work of the NPR.

On January 24 2013 , a review meeting was conducted by the financial commissioner (town and country planning) to discuss the progress report of the NPR was held.

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Thanks and Regards

Dinesh Singh |  Investment Consultant

Ph: +91-8800-900-635

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