Union cabinet approves Chennai metro rail project phase II

 The Union cabinet has approved the proposal of Chennai Metro rail project phase II comprising three corridors. The total length of the metro lines is 118.9 km having 128 stations. The project completion cost is Rs 63,246 crore and is planned to be completed by 2027. The phase-II consists of three corridors. The first corridor, Madhavaram to Sipcot, has a length of  48.8km with 50 stations. Lighthouse to Poonamalle bypass is the second corridor which has a length of 26.1 km with 30 stations. Madhavaram to Sholinganallur, the third corridor will cover 47 km with 48 stations. Chennai will have a total metro rail network of 173 km once phase II is fully operational. The phase-II corridors will connect areas like Madhavaram, Perambur, Thirumayilai, Adyar, Sholinganallur, Sipcot, Kodambakkam, Vadapalani,Porur, Villivakkam, Anna Nagar and St. Thomas Mount.
 

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Madras HC fines sub register rs 25000 for refusing to register sale deed

Madras high court imposed a cost of Rs25,000 on a sub-registrar of Tuticorin district for refusing to register a sale deed despite an earlier order to regsiter it. Thje court also directed the sub-registrar to register the deed within 15 days. Justice N Sathish Kumar observed that the issue of refusal made casually by citing the pendency of the suit is elaborately dealt with by the division bench of this court, which held that merely citing the pendency of the suit, the document cannot be refused to be registered. Considering the seriousness of the issue, the judge imposed the cost to Considering the seriousness of the issue, the judge imposed the cost to be paid immediately to the women advocate association creche attached to the Madurai bench of Madras high court. The sub-registrar paid the cost imposed on him and also filed an affidavit of undertaking not to commit such a mistake hereafter. Hence, the judge set aside the refusal order.
 

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Resident Welfare associations in Chennai protest aganist 6 percent tax hike

The alliance of residents' welfare associations (AoRWA), a federation of 425 RWAs, has urged the state govt to rescind the recent 6% property tax hike passed by GCC. They demanded that taxes not be collected from residents who don't have basic water and sewer connections. In its second annual general body meeting over the weekend, AoRWA passed ten resolutions, emphasizing the need for improved civic infrastructure before implementing tax hikes. "Civic infrastructure a amenities must be provided by the govt on priority, and the tax hike proposal should be put on hold," said AoRWA general secretary J M S Nagarjunan. Many residents' associations had earlier challenged the 2022 tax revision in the high court, arguing the hike of 50% to 150% was unjustified due to inadequate facilities. The new tax increase was implemented before their petitions were addressed. Members voiced concerns over poor roads, inefficient stormwater drains and lack of water and sewer connections. Concerned about the impact on the Ramsar-tagged Pallikaranai marshland, AoRWA also passed a resolution against the proposed eco-park in the reclaimed Perungudi dump yard. Lastly, they voted to designate separate areas for dogs and cattle, away from densely populated spaces, and to ensure their regular feeding. 
 

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Chennai civic body empanels trucks for cleaning construction debris

Starting Nov, Chennai residents must hire trucks empanelled by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) to clear construction debris. Violators dumping debris in public places or water bodies would face fines up to 5,000.  The city generates about 850 tonnes of construction waste daily, with illegal dumping rampant. On Saturday, the corporation fined multiple households and trucks of 2.05 lakh for dumping waste in areas — Kodungaiyur, Captain Cotton, and Vyasarpadi canals. To address this, the GCC will register and issue ID cards to around 1,000 construction and debris waste lorries. "The lorry association members have assured us they will dump debris in designated spots since we started penalising some of them during our night-time inspections, GCC Commissioner J Kumaragurubaran. Registration applications are open, and the list of empanelled lorries will be released within a month. GCC guidelines allow dumping at the corporation's 15 sites only during working hours under supervision, while night-time dumping is prohibited. No fees will be charged for dumping during designated hours. Residents and commercial establishments can contact these lorries to transport debris to designated spots in each of the 15 zones. The corporation's contractor agency, Premier Precision, along with local workers, will collect the waste for processing at units in Kodungaiyur and Perungudi for crushing and reuse in concrete. 
 

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Chennai: Tambaram and Avadi corporations to expand from January 2025

The Tambaram and Avadi corportaions, near Chennai, are set to annex 37 villages, panchayats, expanding their boundaries. The Tambaram Corporation will incorporate 18 villages, including Agamthen , Medavakkam, Kovilambakkam, Cowl Bazaar, Mudichur, Perumbakkam, Nanmangalam, Pozhichalur, Tirusulam,Ottiyambakkam, Thiruvanchery, Vengaivasal, Madurapakkam,Moovarasampattu, and Sithalapakkam. Established in 2021, Tambaram Corporation will grow from 84.7 sq km to 172.34 sq km, nearly one-fourth the size of Greater Chennai Corporation. Its population will increase from 7,23,017 to 10,08,473 with the merger. Deputy mayor G Kamaraj stated that the govt approved the Chengalpet district administration's proposal to include the panchayats that were initially excluded during the corporation's formation due to the 2019 rural local body elections. For the Avadi Corporation, three municipalities—Tiruverkadu, Poonamallee, and Tirunindravur—will merge along with 19 village panchayats: Vanagaram, Ayapakkam, Nemilichery, Adayalampattu, Nadukuthagai, Kattupakkam, Senneerkuppam, Varadharajapuram, Nazarethpet, Agaram Mel, Panaveetu Thottam, Parivakkam, Kannapalayam, Sorancheri, Morai, Vellanur, Palavedu, and Meppur. This merger will expand Avadi Corporation from 65 sq km to 188 sq km, increasing its population from 3,45,996 to 6,95,212. Municipal administration and water supply department secretary D Karthikeyan mentioned that the village panchayat presidents have tenure until the end of 2024, after which the panchayats will be merged into the Tambaram and Avadi Corporations. The upgrade is expected by December 2024 or January 2025.
 

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HDFC sells $17 million of home loan to reduce credit book

Indian lender HDFC Bank Ltd. has sold a housing loan portfolio of about Rs 60 billion ($717 million), seeking to further lighten its credit load amid regulatory pressures on the industry. The portfolio was sold to about half a dozen state-controlled banks through private deals, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified as the information is not yet public. The Mumbai-based bank also unloaded another pool of car loans worth about Rs 90.6 billion, securitized in a fixed income product called pass-through certificates, the people said. The lender had been engaged in talks — reported in late August by Bloomberg — to offload the pool to about a dozen local asset management companies. In June, HDFC also sold a 50 billion rupee loan portfolio. Its credit-deposit ratio stood at 104% at the end of March, higher than the 85% to 88% rate in the previous three fiscal years, according to ICRA Ltd., an affiliate of Moody’s Ratings. The fact that deposit growth is lagging that of credit “may potentially expose the banking system to structural liquidity issues,” the central bank said in August. For its upcoming earnings report for the quarter ended September, HDFC Bank is expected to show deposit growth of 13% on-year, compared with an 8% increase in loans, according to Suresh Ganapathy, head of financial services research at Macquarie Capital.
 

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No Further exemption in GST for long term land lease: GoM

The fourth meeting of the Group of Ministers on boosting the real estate sector held in Goa has decided no further exemption in GST should be granted on long term lease of land by private entity and sector specific exemption such as for tourism purposes. Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant hosted the meeting of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on Tuesday. Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary, Maharashtra Women and Child Development Minister Aditi Tatkare, Gujarat Finance Minister Kanubhai Mohanlal Desai, his Kerala counterpart K N Balagopal, Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna, central government GST officials were among those who attended the meet. A media statement issued after the meeting said there were deliberations on various issues pertaining to the real estate sector. On reviewing the value limit of Rs 45 lakh for the definition of affordable residential apartment for a metropolitan region, it was decided that Pradesh, Maharashtra and Delhi need to be taken to arrive at a consensus on the issue. The issue related to determining the value of land for arriving at the value of construction services in case of sale of apartments has been deferred for further examination. The next meeting of GoM is likely to be held on October 25.
 

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Finger Prints Scanners upgraded for safe land registration in Tamil Nadu 

The state registration department has procured 1,164 state-of-the-art level 1 fringerprints scanners to safeguard against fraudulent land registrations using cloned fingerprints. It has also taken measures to prevent financial fraud through Aadhaar Enabled Payment System (AEPS) by stealing fingerprints from sale deeds. Across the state every day, on average, 15,000 documents are registered and 50,000 fingerprints are authenticated in the 582 sub-registrar offices under the state registration department. The department has been using fingerprint scanners along with Aadhaar authentication and EKYC while registering documents. For those whose fingerprints are not registered, Aadhaar verification will be done," said a senior registration department officials. The department had been using Level 0 scanners. To enhance security levels of fingerprint-based authentication transactions, UIDAI made it mandatory to use L1 compliant fingerprint authentication registered devices in the Aadhaar authentication ecosystem. The L1 scanners have better encryption and are secure. The important aspect is the fingerprint liveliness security feature. This will reveal if the fingerprint has been taken from a person who is alive or cloned. Property consultants point out that this a good move. "This will prevent registration of unclaimed property using forged documents. This will protect buyers, but this should be monitored properly, Ramprabhu, CMDA and DTCP committee chairman, Builders Association of India (BAI). 
 

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Tamil Nadu CM opens two Neo Tidel Park in Thanjavur and Salem

Tamil Nadu cheif minister MK Stalin on Monday inauguarated two Neo Tidel Park in Thanjavur and Selam districts with a combined seating capacity of around 1,000 seats. These facilities, each having a built-up area of 55,000 sq ft and built as G+3 structures are part of the govt's effort to take information technology jobs to tier-II and tier-III cities in the state. The Salem facility, situated in Anaikavundanpatti and Karuppur villages, is built at a cost of Rs 29.5 crore and has commitments for 70% of the capacity, while Thanjavur facility at Pillayarpatti village, has commitments for 30% of the capacity, Sandeep Nanduri, managing director of TN Industrial development corporation told TOI. IT, ITES, health-tech companies and startups are showing interest in these cities. TIDCO already booked clients for the Vellore facility even before it is ready. The Tuticorin project will be ready in a month, while parks at Vellore and Tirupur are expected to be inaugurated by the end of the year. Stalin opened a 63,000 sq ft neo tidel park in Villupuram this February. The govt had announced setting up seven neo Tidel parks in the 2021-22 budget.
 

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Ramco Cemnets increase grinding capacity by nearby one MTPA

Tamil Nadu-based Ramco Cements on Friday said it has increased its cement grinding capacity by nearly one million tonnes per annum (MTPA). The company has carried out debottlenecking of cement grinding capacity at its Kalavathala Plant in Andhra Pradesh, resulting in an increase of capacity from 1.5 MTPA to 2 MTPA. In addition, at its Valapady Grinding Unit, in Salem District, Tamil Nadu, it has carried out debottlenecking of cement grinding capacity leading to increase of capacity from 1.6 MTPA to 2 MTPA. "The company's total cement grinding capacity has increased by 0.9 MTPA, from 23.14 MTPA to 24.04 MTPA with an aggregate investment of Rs 58 crore," according to a regulatory filing by the company. It has received consent to operate from the competent authorities for the increase in capacities. Ramco Cements revenue for the financial year ended on March 31, 2024 was at Rs 9,349.83 crore. The company operates five integrated cement units and six grinding units.
 

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Finance Minister reviews capex plan of housing and urban affairs ministry

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday reviewed the capex plan of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and emphasized on the need for timely and efficient utilisation of these funds. A key focus of the discussions during the meeting was the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) scheme, which plays a crucial role in providing affordable housing. "Union Finance Minister Smt. @nsitharaman underscored the importance of accelerating progress under this scheme to meet the housing needs of urban India," the finance ministry said in a post on X. This meeting was part of a series of ongoing reviews with Ministries and Departments that have significant capex allocations in the Union Budget.For the financial year 2024-25, a budgetary allocation of Rs 28,628 crore has been earmarked for capital expenditure. During the meeting, the Finance Minister emphasized the need for timely and efficient utilisation of these funds. Sitharaman also impressed upon the officials of the Urban Affairs Ministry to ensure that the capex target for FY 2024-25 is met within the stipulated time frame and that the entire budgeted amount is fully utilised by the end of the financial year. Sitharaman also emphasised the importance of urban transport, urging officials to meet capex targets allocated for Metro Rail and the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS).
 

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Chennai civic body yet to act on 387 diplapidated buildings

The Greater Chennai Corporation is yet to act on 387 dilapidated buildings in the city which it surveyed with the CMDA in 2022. Though notices were issued to a hundred buildings, none of them have been demolished yet. As a result, the city continues to have dilapidated buildings with peeled-off concrete, exposed reinforcement steels and cracked roofs waiting to fall. The affected buildings are located on the Seventh Main Road in Anna Nagar, in Collector Nagar on the Ambattur Estate Road and in George Town. Santhome Housing Board tenements are also affected. Tamil Nadu Urban Local Body Rules 2020, the GCC is supposed to carry out structural stability assessments with its engineers and renew the structural stability certificates for old buildings. Officials said in dilapidated housing board colonies, residents have already tied up with private builders to demolish and reconstruct. " But  demolition does not take place, either because of compensation delays from builders or because of project approval delays. Owners have let out these dilapidated buildings for rent till the buildings are reconstructed. We have issued around 80 notices in North Chennai zones over the last year in these cases," said an official. The corporation would soon begin a fresh survey of dilapidated buildings..