Carlyle to sell upto 6.5percent stake in PNB Housing Finance for rs 1256 crore in July 30

US-based private equity firm Carlyle is likely to sell upto a 6.4% stake in PNB Housing Finance through an open market transaction on Tuesday. According to a term sheet issued by IIFL Securities, Quality Investment Holdings, an entity of Carlyle, will sell 1.66 crore shares at a floor price of Rs 775 apiece, aiming to raise Rs 1,256 crore. The floor price represents a 5% discount to Monday’s closing price of Rs 794.90.  PNB Housing stock has grossly underperformed so far this year, with just a 1.2% gain compared to a 13% rise in the benchmark Sensex. As of June 30, 2024, Carlyle held a 32.68% stake in the housing finance company.
 

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No Need for anybody in India Cements to feel insecure : MD to Staff

India Cements Vice Chairmen and MD N Srinivasan has assured employees that it would be business as usual for them for them despite the change of ownership to UltraTech. Allaying fears to the employees, he said, "The change to UltraTech from India Cements does not mean a change in your career. Because I have been personally assured, I just spoke to the Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group (Kumar Mangalam Birla) and he said that he will follow the same policy that we have followed so far and there will be space for everybody and good workers will be rewarded". "No need for anybody in India Cements to feel insecure or threatened. The future is as solid as when I was head of the plant. You constitute the core of the cement business. You must work with full vigour, and that everything will be the same as before. The future is good," he added. Aditya Birla Group flagship company UltraTech Cement on Sunday said it will acquire a 32.72 per cent stake in India Cements from promoters and their associates for Rs 3,954 crore to expand its footprint in the highly competitive and fast-growing Southern cement market. UltraTech has also announced a Rs 3,142.35 crore open offer to acquire another 26 per cent of India Cements Ltd from its shareholders. Recalling how the founder of India Cements SNN Sankaralinga Iyer and his late father T S Narayanaswami stumbled upon a limestone after which the house of Iyer became the office of India Cements also, Srinivasan said the early part of cement was into exploration and in finding places. 
 

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Chennai Development body to introduce deemed NOCs for highrise buildings

People may be able to begin constructing an apartment sonner than before as CMDA is set to introduce deemed NOCs for highrise buildings (HRB), particularly those above five floors or 18 metres tall. CMDA, which introduced online plan permission in May 2022, on average approves 70 plans every month and more than 70 highrise buildings every year. The numbers were 35 and 60 prior to 2022, say CMDA officials. But issuing approvals took at least 45 days, especially because of the process of getting NOCs from stakeholder departments. CMDA officials say there are 21 departments, including state and Union govt agencies, involved in issuing NOCs to highrise and non-highrise buildings and layouts and sub-division approval in the Chennai Metropolitan Area. Most departments are integrated with cmdaonlineppa.tn.gov.in, but developers of highrise buildings only need approval from Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services, Airports Authority of India (if it is 30.5 metres high or above 10 floors), CMRL (if building is within metro alignment), and WRD (if it’s near water bodies). S Sridharan,vice-president, Credai National, South, said that if implemented this will be a major breakthrough in the housing and construction industry. “Home buyers will also benefit as delivery will be quicker. The speedy approval process will attract large investments from other states to TN.” 
 

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IT Department clarifies acquisition cost of real estate bought before 2001 for LTCG calculations

The cost of acquisition of real estate properties purchased before 2001 will be the fair market value (FMV, not exceeding the stamp duty value) as of April 1, 2001, or the actual cost of the land or building for the purpose of calculation of long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax, the I-T department has said. The indexation benefit allowed taxpayers to compute gains arising out of sale of capital assets after adjusting inflation. For properties purchased before 2001, fair market valuation (not exceeding the stamp duty value) can be used as a base to determine the indexed price. The indexed price will then be reduced from the sale price for calculating LTCG that will be taxed at 20 per cent. In a post on X, the I-T department said an issue has been raised as to what would be the cost of acquisition as on April 1, 2001, for properties purchased prior to 2001. For properties (land or building or both) purchased prior to April 1, 2001, the cost of acquisition as on 1.4.2001 shall be the cost of acquisition of the asset to the assessee; or the fair market value (not exceeding the stamp duty value, wherever available) of such asset as on April 1, 2001.The LTCG in such cases is Rs 63.7 lakh (Rs 1 crore minus Rs 36.3 lakh). At a tax rate of 20 per cent, the LTCG tax for such properties would be Rs 12.74 lakh.
 

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The Ramco Cements net profit down 51 percent to rs 36.57 crore in Q1 FY 25

The Ramco Cements Ltd on Thursday reported a 50.82 per cent decline in its consolidated net profit to Rs 36.57 crore in June 2024 quarter due to a fall in cement prices and weak demand amid the Lok Sabha polls. The company posted a net profit of rs. 74.36 crore during the April-June  quarter of the previous fiscal, The Ramco Cements said in a  regulatory filing. Its revenue from operations fell 6.81 per cent to Rs 2,093.55 crore during the quarter under review against Rs 2,246.66 crore a year ago. Its total expenses in the June quarter were Rs 2,054.11 crore, down 4.3 per cent. In the first quarter of FY25, the company has incurred Rs 281 crore In the first quarter of FY25, the company has incurred Rs 281 crore is estimated to be at Rs 1,200 crore, including maintenance capex, it said. The net debt of the company is Rs 4,975 crore as of June 30, 2024. Shares of The Ramco Cements Ltd settled 1.48 per cent lower at Rs 800.20 apiece on the BSE.

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Mahindra Lifespace Developers reports profits of rs 12.74crore in Q1 FY25 

Realty firm Mahindra Lifespace Developers Ltd on Wednesday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 12.74 crore for the June quarter. The company posted a net loss of Rs 4.27 crore in the year-ago period. Its total income increased to Rs 206.70 crore during the April-June period of this fiscal year from Rs 110.05 crore in the corresponding period of the preceding financial year, according to a regulatory filing. On operational metrics, Mahindra Lifespace achieved pre-sales (sales bookings) of Rs 1,019 crore in residential business. It achieved land leasing of 18.8 acres in the integrated cities and industrial clusters business for Rs 76.1 crore. Mahindra Lifespace, which is a real estate arm of Mahindra Group, has a development footprint of 37.95 million sq ft of completed, ongoing and forthcoming residential projects across seven Indian cities. It also has over 5,000 acres of ongoing and forthcoming projects under It also has over 5,000 acres of ongoing and forthcoming projects under clusters across four locations.
 

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What real estate industry gained from Budget 2024-25

Nirmala Sitharaman, minister of finance, announced several measures for the urban development , infrastructure and real estate in the Union Budget 2024-25. and real estate in the Union Budget 2024-25. Nirmala Sitharaman, minister of finance, presented the union budget 2024-2025 in Lok Sabha on July 23, 2024. Presenting her seventh straight budget, Sitharaman said, India’s inflation continues to be low, stable and moving towards the 4 per cent target. Core inflation (non-food, non-fuel) currently is 3.1 per cent. She also said this budget envisages sustained efforts on the following nine priorities for generating ample opportunities for all: Productivity and resilience in agriculture, employment & skiling, inclusive human resource development and social justice, manufacturing & services, urban development, energy security, infrastructure, innovation, research & development and next generation reforms. 

Here is what real estate industry gained from Union Budget 2025-25:
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)
Under the PM Awas Yojana Urban 2.0, housing needs of 1 crore urban poor and middle-class families will be addressed with an investment of Rs 10 lakh crore. This will include the central assistance of Rs 2.2 lakh crore in the next 5 years. A provision of interest subsidy to facilitate loans at affordable rates is also envisaged.

Transit Oriented Development

Transit oriented development plans for 14 large cities with a population above 30 lakh will be formulated, along with an implementation and financing strategy.
 

Stamp Duty

FM said that centre will encourage states which continue to charge high stamp duty to moderate the rates for all, and also consider further lowering duties for properties purchased by women. This reform will be made an essential component of urban development schemes.

Rental Housing

In addition, enabling policies and regulations for efficient and transparent rental housing markets with enhanced availability will also be put in place. Rental housing with dormitory type accommodation for industrial workers will be facilitated in PPP mode with VGF support and commitment from anchor industries.
 

Land-related reforms by state governments

Land-related reforms and actions, both in rural and urban areas, will cover (1) land administration, planning and management, and (2) urban planning, usage and building bylaws. These will be incentivized for completion within the next 3 years through appropriate fiscal support. 

Rural Land related actions

Rural land related actions will include (1) assignment of Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN) or Bhu-Aadhaar for all lands, (2) digitization of cadastral maps, (3) survey of map sub-divisions as per current ownership, (4) establishment of land registry, and (5) linking to the farmers registry. These actions will also facilitate credit flow and other agricultural services.

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Keppel acquires One Paramount 1 tech park in Chennai for rs 2100 crore

Singapore-based global asset manager and operator Keppel has acquired One Paramount 1 tech park in Chennai for about ?2,100 crore, said three people aware of the deal. The prime office asset is jointly owned by realty developer RMZ Corporation and Canadian pension fund CPP Investments. The property in Chennai's Porur area is spread over more than 12.6 acres of land. It has gross leasable area of 2.4 million sq ft comprising three Grade A office towers. Cap rate is a ratio of a property's net operating income to purchase price, indicating potential return on investment. Genpact, Hitachi Energy, Maersk, NielsenIQ, UPS, VMware and Wabco are some of the tenants in this commercial complex. The exit is only from one asset in Chennai. CPP continues to be a partner of RMZ in other assets. Private equity investment in Indian real estate remained resilient in the first half of the year. Institutional investment in Indian real estate surged to $4.8 billion across 40 deals in the first half of 2024, when the world was battling economic challenges, showed a recent report. Investment volumes in the first six months of 2024 have already reached 81% of the total made in 2023, which was at $5.8 billion. The Indian office sector has been seeing sustained growth in demand, bucking the global trend of sluggishness.
 

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Tamil Nadu government handed over free Pattas to 6.52 lakh poor since 2021

The Tamil Nadu government said that free pattas had been handed over to 6.52 lakh poor people ever since chief minister MK Stalin took change in 2021. The revenue department also handed over 2.75 crore e-certificates in the last three years under 26 heads, including, community, income, nativity, first graduate, and inter-caste marriage in the corresponding period. Highlighting the achievements in the rural development and panchayat raj department in the last three years, an official release said the DMK govt allocated Rs 5,337 crore towards old age pension, which is Rs 1,250 crore higher than the previous AIADMK regime. The state government extended Rs 2,477 crore from the state disaster relief fund towards relief and restoration measures in the wake of cyclone Michaung in Chennai and neighbouring districts and to the southern districts affected by heavy rains and floods in December last year. A scheme launched in 2022 enabled transfer of 41.81 lakh pattas through online. A web-based system for online applications and processing was launched last year for measurement and identification of boundaries of lands resolving the land. “Of the 186 towns in the state, the town survey land records (TSLR) of 179 have become online. 
 

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Aadhar Housing Finance experts 20 percent increase in disbursement 

Blackstone backed Aadhar Housing Finance Limited (AHFL) is expecting over 20% increase in order book and disbursement in home loan for low-income housing as the upcoming budget is likely to give push to housing for all. Rishi Anand, MD and CEO of the company said that it has requested the government to redefine income criteria of economically weaker section (EWS) to Rs 5 lakh and low income group (LIG) to Rs 10 lakh. The company has disbursed Rs 6,000 crore in FY 23 and Rs 7,100 crore in FY 24. Uttar Pradesh is the biggest market for the company contributing almost 15% of the revenue. Areas in metro cities like Delhi and Mumbai also contributing significantly to the revenue. The company is also exploring Northeast and Jammu and Kashmir as a market. AHFL is one of the largest low-income segment focused Housing Finance company with AUM of Rs 16,566 crores as on 31st December 2022, with a geographical reach across 20 states and union territories and a network of 424 branches and offices. Owing to rising cost of construction, the government could also consider, redefining priority sector lending limits from current Rs 35 lakh in a metro location to Rs 50 lakh and Rs 25 lakh in a non-metro to Rs 35 lakh and merging both PMAY Urban and PMAY Rural schemes for CLSS subsidy while keeping the subsidy amount the same.

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Dalmia Bharats net profit up 0.69 percent in Q1 FY25 

Dalmia Bharat, a cement manufacturing company, has reported a marginal growth of 0.69 per cent in its net profit during the quarter ended June 2024. It profit after tax stood at Rs 145 crore in Q1 FY25 as against Rs 144 crore it registered in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal, the company said in a BSE filing. The company's net consolidated total income stood at Rs 3,671 crore in Q1 FY25, a minor dip of 0.27 per cent from Rs 3,681 crore it recorded in the similar quarter last year. Its installed cement capacity on June 30 stood at 45.6 MnT and net debt to EBITDA stood at 0.17x. In the said quarter, its volume increased 6.2% year-on-year to 7.4 MnT, renewable energy consumption increased to 35%. year-on-year to 7.4 MnT, renewable energy consumption increased to continued to be weak during the quarter, but we saw a notable improvement in margins due to better input prices and reversal of certain cost inefficiencies of the previous quarter. We have added 2 MnT of cement capacity in South and are on track to add another 2.9 MnT in North East & East region during FY25."  The company commissioned 1 MnT cement capacity each at its existing units at Ariyalur, Tamil Nadu and Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh respectively. This takes company’s overall installed capacity to 17 MnT in South and 46.6 MnT in India, and is in line with the long-term growth strategy of increasing the total capacity to 110-130 MnT by the 2031.
 

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Government may reduce income cap for PMAY homes in urban areas 

In the next phase of PM Awas Yojna  (PMAY) in urban areas, government is looking to slab the income threshold foe middle-income group beneficiaries from rs 18 lakh to 10 lakh to traget it better, while also spreading the disburement of the subsidy over five years , instead of one shot payments, to ensure better monitoring. Although officials are tight-lipped about the interest subsidy for MIG beneficiaries, sources said it may be around Rs 2.6 lakh as was provided in the last phase of the scheme. Financial allocation for the scheme is likely to be part of the budget to be presented on Tuesday. In the first leg, govt had put the MIG under two categories - those having an annual income of Rs 6 lakh to Rs 12 lakh and households with annual income of Rs 12 lakh to Rs 18 lakh. Now there may only be one MIG category. The scheme has been redesigned keeping in mind the PM's announcement from the Red Fort last year - to give relief in bank loan interest by providing a help of "lakhs of rupees" to families living in rented houses, unauthorised colonies and shanties in cities, to build their own house, officials told TOI. They added several new provisions have been made based on the learnings from the earlier scheme, seeking to eliminate the scope to beat the system.

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