Developers who are launching new projects are opting for this route, as they need not pay the entire amount in one lot and owners need not forego the potential rise in value. As much as 70 per cent of land deals in the country take place through this model now, against 40-45 per cent a couple of years earlier, say property consultants.
Even as the outbound tourism sector is feeling slowdown jitters, cruise tourism is becoming popular with Indians. Bookings for April went by 20 per cent.
Most developers charge 18 per cent annual penalty from defaulting customers. Over the past year, many people who had booked a home on installments have lost jobs or taken salary cuts. The past 6-9 months have seen many of them defaulting on payments. "The move to waive penalty on late payment is a smart move. This will provide customers the much-needed cushion at a time when a lot of them may want to back out due to their financial condition," said a real-estate consultant.
Beating the slowdown, chartered accountants (CAs) have bagged jobs with top-notch companies in the latest campus placement drive, which has also seen more newly qualified professionals get jobs.
Maytas Infrastructure Ltd, the listed company floated by the promoters of Satyam Computer Services, plans to raise Rs 800 crore to Rs 1,000 crore through asset sales plus loan and guarantees from banks to complete various projects, including the prestigious Hyderabad Metro, and to bid for some new projects that are coming up for auction.
After a dismal 2008, the travel and hospitality industry is set to receive yet another setback, this time due to the outbreak of swine flu, which may curb inbound and outbound tourist movement. The flu spreads among humans through contact with infected pigs.
"Since December last year, we started focusing on TDS and regular assessment to increase tax collections, and it has paid off," said a senior revenue department official. According to the latest data, TDS collections increased by 25 per cent to Rs 1,304.56 billion in fiscal 2009, compared to Rs 1,046.95 billion in the previous fiscal. However, advance tax collections under two major heads -- corporation tax and income tax -- dipped by 7 per cent to around Rs 1,680 billion.
DLF, the country's largest property developer, might offer another three rent-free months to retailers at its malls in South Delhi, who have begun an agitation against the company.
He went on to explain that it is standard practice for developers to have development agreements under which the land-owner cannot sell his land to any other entity or individual.
"The customers had entered into a three-year contract with us. If we have to sell the apartments at a discounted rate, the customers who are backing out should make up for it," an official said. "If DFL tries to re-sell its apartments in the open market, it will have to reduce prices by a further 10-15 per cent. The new buyers know the expected supply is more than demand," said Rupesh Sankhe, equity analyst, Centrum Broking.
DLF, the country's largest property developer, may retrade its apartments at New Town Heights, Gurgaon, and Garden City, Chennai, at a discount. This is to refund buyers who want to exit the projects, according to a senior company official.
The government, on January 13, had initiated an SFIO probe into various corporate aspects of the fraud under Section 235 of the Companies Act after getting a report from the registrar of companies, Andhra Pradesh. "The report was submitted to the government on Monday night," said a senior corporate affairs ministry official who declined to reveal the contents of the report.
In the three months since the scam, Satyam's employee strength has reduced from 53,000 to 50,000, said a senior ministry of corporate affairs official. "Satyam continues to have strong revenues. The difference between its turnover and the next highest is around 10-15 per cent," he said. He did not disclose his idea of the revenue and net profit, saying it would interfere with the ongoing process for selling a strategic stake in Satyam.
Indian Hotels, which owns the luxury Taj brand of hotels, may see its profit decline 47 per cent to Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion) from Rs 377 crore (Rs 3.77 billion) last year for the fiscal ending March. EIH, a part of the Oberoi Group, is likely to see a profit figure of Rs 154 crore (Rs 1.54 billion) from Rs 223.6 crore (Rs 2.23 billion) , a fall of 31 per cent, a survey of analysts has said.
The government has decided to provide Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) liquidity support to Emmar-MGF, the developer of the Commonwealth Games village project, as against the developer's demand for Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion).
The government has initiated the process to recruit the remaining two members of the Competition Commission of India (CCI), with an aim to make the anti-trust body fully functional by June 2009.
This would bring between 20,000 and 25,000 firms under the ambit of cost audit. At present, only 44 industries and specific products within an industry come under cost audit. This covers around 6,000 firms but cost audits are conducted in only about 2,200 of these. The proposed change will have a major positive impact on the profession because more firms will have to mandatorily appoint a cost auditor and have cost accounting records audited on an annual basis.
"The inspiration to develop smaller and cheaper apartments comes from the Nano car, which is eliciting a tremendous response. I am sure our project will see a similar response, given the fact that we will come up with such low-cost apartments in metro cities," said R Nagaraju, general manager, corporate planning, Unitech. It plans to launch mid-segment residential projects in metro and suburban cities over the next few months.
The government's estimate that 300,000 to 500,000 people will lose their jobs -- is well below the projections of industry lobby groups, which put the number at around 1 million. The textiles and garments industry is the second-largest employer in India after agriculture. It directly employs 35 million people and indirectly provides livelihood to about 88 million people.
The general elections could take a toll on the bottom lines of a host of Indian companies that have accessed overseas debt.
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