Claiming that the demand for sustainable housing was likely to increase in the coming years, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Friday called for innovative urban development plans to meet the increasing requirement. He said efforts were on to prepare master plans for 136 cities, including Coimbatore, Madurai, Hosur, Salem, Tiruppur, Tiruchirappalli, Vellore and Tirunelveli. For the city, the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) was developing the third master plan for Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA) focussing on sustainable urban development, he said, while inaugurating the 17th edition of FAIRPRO 2025, a real estate exhibition being organised by the Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations (CREDAI). The exhibition features over 500 projects spanning 32.5 million square feet of residental space, 0.25 million sqft of commerical space, and 325 acres of plotted development in Chennai. Chef Minister said housing and urban development, which includes real estate and infrastructure development, was an important sector that ensures the economic growth of the state. Tamil Nadu is highly urbanished with nearly 48 percent of its population living in urban areas. Nine satellite townships will be formed around Chennai city namely Minjur, Tiruvallur, Tirumazhisai, Mamallapuram, Chengalpattu,Kanchipuram, Maraimalainagar, Thirupperumbudur, and Paranthur. e CMA, modern transport terminals will be opened next year at Chengalpattu and Mamallapuram. The Chennai Shoreline Renourishment and Revitalisation Private Limited, to develop the coastline and lakes, has evolved plans for Rs 250 crore to develop 12 lakes and 4 coastal areas. CREDAI to facilitate the development of industrial parks and office spaces in Chennai and other parts of the state.
 

The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) will be undertaking the structural audit of 1,000 cessed buildings in the country's financial capital Mumbai by March 2025 as part of the government of Maharashtra's 100-day action plan. MHADA Vice President and CEO, Sanjeev Jaiswal has instructed the officials to accelerate the process to ensure the timely completion of this structural audit. The housing body has recently held a review meeting to assess various projects under the Mumbai Building Repairs and Reconstruction Board. During thid meeting, Jaiswal emphasized the importance of conducting structural audits to assess the safety and redevelopment needs of aging buildings. He directed officials to appoint structural consultants and plan for the audit of around 13,000 cessed buildings over the next year. The government’s action plan includes the structural audit of 500 buildings, of which 171 audits have already been completed, and reports for 32 buildings have been received. Jaiswal also directed executive engineers to issue notices under Section 79(A)(1)(A) for all 13,000 cessed buildings under the Mumbai Board’s jurisdiction. He further instructed officials to expedite the redevelopment process for properties acquired under Section 91(A). These measures are aimed at strengthening the administration of Mumbai’s cessed buildings, ensure timely redevelopment, and improve the living conditions of residents.
 

Real estate market continues to drive Tamil Nadu revenue growth, with the registration department collecting 237.98 crore in single day from 23,421 documents registered across the state, marking its second highest daily collection thus fiscal year. Of this 89 crore was from Chennai zone and North Chennai brought in the second highest revenue. This surge, powered by South Chennai's booming property market and a surprising uptick in North Chennai, signals a shifting landscape in the city's real estate dynamics, even as industry experts point to rising registration costs under the new composite value system. Since Monday was an auspicious day, a high volume of registrations was  expected, and requests were received from the public to allocate additional advance booking slots. Accepting the public's request and to accommodate high demand, the govt increased advance booking slots.Offices with one sub-registrar had 150 slots instead of 100, while those with two sub-registrars had 300 instead of 200. Additionally, 100 high-demand offices received 150 regular slots and four extra urgent booking slots. Earlier, on December 5, 2024, the department set a record with 238.1 crore. 
 

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has asked Supertech interim resolution professional (IRP) Hitesh Goel to disburse Dec salaries to around 300 employees within seven days and begin processing Jan payments. A hearing regarding the non-payment of salaries between Sept and Nov last year is scheduled for Feb 18. The 300-odd workers, who have been without pay since Sept last year, recently approached the NCLAT, seeking its intervention and an order to IRP to clear the dues. Many told TOI earlier they had been struggling with basic expenses such as monthly house rent, loan repayments, and school fees. On Feb 4, the employees gathered at the Supertech's Sector 96 office and vowed not to resume work until their salaries were cleared. Monday, the tribunal took note of the prolonged delay in salary disbursements and instructed Supertech's HR head, Arun Mathur, to cooperate in providing employee details and ensuring salary payments within the stipulated timeframe. The tribunal also heard a plea of the Shree Shyam Vendors Association, formed by around 250 vendors and contractors, who are seeking the clearance of over Rs 200 crore dues for services and materials supplied for Supertech's stalled housing projects. The plea is to be heard next on Feb 18.
 

If the city civic infrastructure fails to meet people's expectations, then they are partly to blame. The residents collectively owe 5,500 crore in property tax dues to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation which is already reeling under severe fund crunch. In the past over eight years, nearly 7 lakh residents have not bothered to clear their tax dues as per GHMC records. At present, there are around 17 lakh taxpayers in the GHMC region, including 13 lakh residential and four lakh commercial property owners. Property tax is the main source of income for the GHMC and accounts for almost 90% of its total tax revenues. With less than 50 days remaining in the financial year, the civic body is again faced with the same problem of recovering pending taxes from defaulters. The situation is further complicated as the state govt has so far not introduced a one-time scheme (OTS) that would provide relief on accumulated interest arrears to taxpayers, prompting many to pay up. A distress warrant notice serves as a legal directive that can be issued to property owners who have defaulted on tax payments. It enables the municipal authority to confiscate and auction the property of defaulters. GHMC officials said they are conducting regular door-to-door visits through their bill collectors and tax inspectors to encourage timely tax payments. Property owners have multiple options available for tax payment, including citizen service centres, online platforms, e-Seva centres and direct payments to bill collectors, officials said. Apart from these, around 60 govt departments too have not cleared their taxes amounting to 4,400 crore over the past decade. Some of the major defaulters in GHMC are the secretariat, roads & buildings, revenue, health & medical, prohibition and South Central Railway. The civic body has set a target of over 2,000 crore for property tax in the current fiscal, which surpasses the previous financial year's (2023-24) collection of 1,917 crore . 

Homebuyers from 32 socities, including 7x sectors and Sectors 141, 167, and 137, staged a conch shell (shankhnaad) protest within their societies on Sunday evening. The protest highlighted the residents' frustration over the delay in pending registries. They also demanded the implementation of the original Amitabh Kant Committee report and the chief minister's intervention on the matter. Approximately one lakh registries are pending in Noida, of which about 25,000 are from 7x and neighbouring sectors, comprising over 1.5 lakh population. In the meanwhile, about 16 residents from Skytech Matrott Sector 7x are currently visiting Mahakumbh at Prayagraj, where they also held a banner protest against pending registries. They also held a black flag protest on Jan 26. Meanwhile, on Saturday, residents' anger erupted against the professional appointed by the NCLT court regarding the pending registries of Supertech Eco Village 1 and 2. They said that NCLT-appointed the officials have been constantly procrastinating for past three years and paid no attention to the matter. Saurabh Sinha, a Skytech Matrott Sector 76 resident, told TOI that he, along with 16 homebuyers from his society, raised the protest on pending registries with banners from the Kumbh ground. Speaking to TOI via telecon from the Mahakumbh ground in Prayagraj, Sinha said it's a do-or-die situation for the homebuyers as they are suffering heavy financial burden due to pending registries. NCLT court regarding the pending registries of Supertech Eco Village 1 and 2.
 

Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) has auctioned plots for four hotels near Noida International Airport, securing bids significantly above the reserve price.The plots, ranging from 3,400-4,000 sqm in Sector 29, received the highest bid of Rs 31 crore. Equasocio Digital Technologies was allotted a 4,000-sqm plot at least Rs 5 crore above its reserve price of Rs 26 crore, officials said. Two 3,400 sqm plots were auctioned for Rs 23 crore each, against a reserve price of Rs 22 crore, to Balaji Enterprises and Ranchor Infra Developers. Net2Source Consulting emerged as the highest bidder for another 3,400 sqm plot, acquiring it for Rs 29 crore against a reserve price of Rs 23 crore. The Authority earned a cumulative revenue of Rs 106 crore, about 12% more than the reserve price of Rs 94 crore from the sale of plots. It anticipates a total investment of over Rs 200 crore in these projects. The Authority also allocated a 2,100 sqm plot for a fuel station in Sector 18 to Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd at Rs 12.2 crore. The e-auctions for both the schemes were conducted on Thursday. The hotel plot scheme was launched in Dec last year, offering 12 plots ranging from 3,100 sqm to 20,000 sqm for allotment through e-auction. The scheme for the fuel station plots was introduced in November last year and offered two plots of 2,100 sqm and second one of the 1,600 sqm.
 

The chief minister said on Wednesday that major firms from the IT, IT-enabled services, and electronics manufacturing sectors will participate in the upcoming Global Investors Summit (GIS-2025), scheduled for February 24–25 in Bhopal, helping the state achieve new growth in the technology sector.

He added that, in alignment with national digital initiatives, the state is taking a leading role in adopting advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Big Data, blockchain, and cybersecurity.

Several new technology infrastructure projects are in the pipeline, including expansions of IT parks in Indore, a large data center park, and a new IT tower in Jabalpur. These initiatives are expected to accelerate the state's digital development. With affordable operational costs, strong government support, and a high quality of life, the state is increasingly seen as a promising destination for startups and technology-based enterprises.

The GIS-2025 summit in Bhopal will offer investors an opportunity to explore the state’s significant potential in the IT and technology sectors. With investment-friendly policies and a proactive administration, the state is positioning itself to become one of the country’s major digital transformation hubs, he said.

A major biotechnology company has leased around 500,000 sq ft of space in Hyderabad to set up its first global capability centre (GCC), effectively doubling its office footprint in the city, according to people familiar with the development.

In the first phase, the organisation has taken up 2.5 lakh sq ft, with an additional 2.5 lakh sq ft to be occupied in phase two, expected to be operational by the end of 2025. The lease tenure is nine years with a five-year lock-in period, and the rental cost is approximately ?90 per sq ft.

The new GCC will focus on building advanced technology and digital capabilities to enhance efficiencies across global operations. It will leverage technology, artificial intelligence (AI), and data analytics to drive innovation, streamline processes, and accelerate research efforts.

Hyderabad continues to strengthen its position as a leading hub for life sciences and technology, consistently drawing large-scale investments from global corporations. Recently, multiple multinational healthcare and biotech companies have announced sizable investments to expand or establish their GCCs in the city.

India’s biotechnology sector is projected to contribute 19% to the global biotech market by 2025, supported by strong cost competitiveness, a growing bioeconomy, and strategic advantages. The sector is expected to surpass $300 billion by 2030.

Holding that one-sided agreement between homebuyers and real estate companies which is totally tilted in favour of the developer cannot be enforced, Supreme Court on Monday said that developers cannot deduct unreasonable amounts if the buyer seeks cancellation and it should not be more than 10% of basic sale price (BSP). A bench of Justices B R Gavai and S V N Bhatt said the contractual terms which are ex facie one-sided, unfair and unreasonable would constitute unfair trade practice as per the aforesaid definition of unfair trade practice and turned down the plea of real estate company Godrej Projects Development Ltd which said it should be allowed to forfeit 20% of the amount which was part of the agreement with a buyer. Section 74 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, inasmuch as, such a forfeiture does not amount to imposing a penalty, then Section 74 would be applicable. This Court has further held that under the terms of the contract, if the party in breach undertook to pay a sum of money or to forfeit a sum of money which he had already paid to the party complaining of a breach of contract, the undertaking is of the nature of a penalty. NCDRC had allowed the company to deduct only 10% of the BSP i.e. Rs.17.08 lakh only towards cancellation and refund the balance amount.
 

A leading global asset management firm has taken over 1.65 lakh sq ft of office space in Mumbai’s Goregaon through a long-term lease of more than 10 years to set up a Global Capability Centre (GCC) supporting its worldwide operations, according to people familiar with the development.

The company has leased three floors in a prominent commercial complex developed by a listed real estate firm, at a monthly rental exceeding ?2.6 crore, taking the total deal size to nearly ?400 crore including additional charges. The agreement includes a 15% rental escalation every 36 months and a five-year lock-in period. The lease, effective January, was registered last week and includes exclusive access to over 90 parking slots.

The new office marks a significant step in the organisation’s India expansion strategy, signalling its long-term commitment to the market.

Earlier, in August, the firm leased 42,700 sq ft of premium office space in central Mumbai’s Worli business district for five years.

The company already maintains a strong presence in the Indian financial ecosystem, offering a wide range of investment products and services catering to both institutional and retail clients, with offices across major metros.

The Union Budget 2025–26, announced recently, introduced measures expected to benefit global capability centres. These include streamlined international taxation norms and an expanded safe harbour framework. The proposal to shift transfer pricing assessments to a three-year block period is intended to improve regulatory clarity and reduce litigation for multinational companies operating in India.

A leading cement manufacturer reported an 83.5 per cent decline in net profit to ?5.19 crore for the third quarter ended December 2024, citing lower volume and prices. The company had posted a net profit of ?31.47 crore in the same quarter last year, according to a regulatory filing.

Its revenue from operations fell 10.6 per cent to ?542.82 crore during the quarter, compared with ?607.13 crore a year earlier. The company stated that EBITDA per tonne dropped to ?291 — a decline of 46.3 per cent — due to reduced volume and pricing pressure.

Overall revenue was affected by a 5.3 per cent fall in volume and a 5.6 per cent drop in prices, as per its earnings statement. Total expenses for the quarter stood at ?544.63 crore, down 5.7 per cent year-on-year.

The firm is a subsidiary of a major multinational building materials group. Its shares were trading at ?220.55 on the stock exchange on Thursday, up 0.78 per cent from the previous close.