The government on Tuesday proposed significant relief for individuals who bought houses before July 23, 2024, allowing them to choose between two tax rates for long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax.

The Budget 2024-25 had initially proposed reducing the LTCG rate from 20% to 12.5% but removed indexation benefits, which allow taxpayers to adjust gains for inflation. The new option comes into effect from July 23, 2024, enabling taxpayers to compute taxes under the more beneficial regime without being worse off due to the change in law.

Tax experts had previously noted that the proposed Budget changes could increase the LTCG tax burden, but the amendments now address concerns around taxation of inflationary gains for immovable property acquired before the law change.

Two companies have formed a joint venture platform to develop industrial and logistics parks in India, starting with a 70-acre project in Chennai.

The joint venture aims to acquire and develop about 1.5 million square metres of greenfield and brownfield sites in key markets across the country over the coming years. It is positioned to become a leading industrial and logistics real estate solutions provider for both global and local corporations.

One partner holds a majority stake, while the other has a significant minority stake in the venture. The platform has been established with an experienced management team, led by a Chief Executive Officer.

The business has already completed its first acquisition: a 70-acre industrial land parcel in Chennai to develop an integrated industrial and logistics park with institutional-grade buildings.

The venture’s development footprint also includes ongoing and upcoming residential and industrial projects across several Indian cities and integrated development clusters.

An open offer for shareholders of a major cement company is scheduled to open on September 19 and close on October 3. The mandatory offer follows the acquiring company taking control of more than 55% stake in the Chennai-based cement maker over the past two months.

The company will buy 26% of shares, or up to 8,05,73,273 shares, at ?390 per share. A detailed public statement for the offer has been issued, and the offer price may be revised latest by September 17. The timelines are tentative.

Earlier, the acquiring company had purchased a non-controlling 23% stake from an investor in June, followed by a 32.72% stake from the company’s promoters and associates in July. The 55.49% controlling stake has triggered the open offer as per regulatory requirements.

The company will spend a maximum of ?3,142 crore to acquire 26% of shares through the open offer, which is at a significant premium compared to the earlier stake purchase price of around ?268 per share.

Shareholders holding shares in physical or dematerialized form can tender shares by notifying their stockbrokers during trading hours within the tendering period. A separate acquisition window will be provided by exchanges to facilitate the process.

Shares of the cement company recently closed at ?372.04, up over 2% from the previous close, and have surged nearly 82% since the start of June.

A housing finance company reported a consolidated profit after tax of ?171.74 crore for the April-June 2024 quarter, driven by business growth, stable asset quality, and higher productivity. The company’s PAT was ?142.25 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. For the year ending March 31, 2024, consolidated profits were ?61,189.56 crore.

The consolidated total income during the quarter rose to ?404.62 crore, compared with ?315.37 crore in the same period last year. For the year ending March 31, 2024, consolidated total income stood at ?1,416.84 crore.

Commenting on the performance, the company’s management highlighted a 21% year-on-year increase in net profit, supported by business growth, stable asset quality, and higher productivity.

The company achieved 27% year-on-year growth in Assets Under Management (AUM), supported by the addition of 36 branches over the previous year, both in existing and new states. Management aims to pursue an AUM growth of around 30% in the coming quarters and years.

As of June 30, 2024, the company maintained liquidity of ?907 crore, including undrawn sanctions of ?520 crore from various banks. The company is well-capitalized, with a net worth of over ?3,818 crore.

The Mumbai housing authority on Tuesday issued offer letters to 158 eligible applicants from the master list of old cessed buildings, who were selected through a computerized lottery held on December 28, 2023. The state housing minister, who distributed the letters, also announced a waiver of the NOC fee of ?70,500 for each recipient.

The function was held at the housing authority's headquarters in Bandra East. Applicants must fulfill all conditions, and failure to do so may result in cancellation of allocation without prior notice, terminating their rights on the master list.

The minister noted that, out of 444 flats available in the lottery, 212 applicants were verified as eligible after re-verification of documents. Allotment letters were issued to 158 applicants, who submitted their acceptance letters. Verification of the remaining 53 applicants is ongoing, while 54 others were asked to submit acceptance letters.

The authority plans to conduct a lottery for the sale of 2,000 flats in prime locations across the city in the near future.

A US-based private equity firm is likely to sell up to a 6.4% stake in a housing finance company through an open market transaction on Tuesday.

According to a term sheet, an entity of the private equity firm will sell 1.66 crore shares at a floor price of ?775 per share, aiming to raise approximately ?1,256 crore. The floor price represents a 5% discount to the previous day’s closing price of ?794.90.

The housing finance company’s stock has underperformed this year, with a gain of only 1.2%, compared to a 13% rise in the benchmark index. As of June 30, 2024, the private equity firm held a 32.68% stake in the company.

The leadership of a major cement company has assured employees that it will be business as usual for them despite a change in ownership. Employees were told that the ownership transition will not affect their careers, and that experienced and high-performing workers will continue to be recognized and rewarded.

Staff were reassured that there is no need to feel insecure or threatened, and that the company’s future remains strong. Employees were encouraged to continue working with full dedication, with the message that operations and policies will largely remain the same.

The acquiring cement company announced that it will acquire a 32.72% stake from promoters and associates for ?3,954 crore to expand its presence in the highly competitive Southern cement market. An open offer of ?3,142.35 crore has also been announced to acquire an additional 26% of the company from existing shareholders.

Reflecting on the company’s origins, the leadership noted that the early days of the cement business involved exploration and resource discovery, which laid the foundation for its long-standing operations.

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). 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.” 
 

For real estate properties purchased before 2001, the cost of acquisition for calculating long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax will be either 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.

The indexation benefit allows taxpayers to compute gains from the sale of capital assets after adjusting for inflation. For properties purchased before 2001, the FMV (not exceeding the stamp duty value) can be used as the base to determine the indexed price. The indexed price is then deducted from the sale price to calculate LTCG, which is taxed at 20%.

For properties acquired prior to April 1, 2001, the cost of acquisition as of that date is defined as either the original cost to the owner or the FMV of the property (subject to the stamp duty limit).

For example, if the sale price is ?1 crore and the indexed cost of acquisition is ?36.3 lakh, the LTCG would be ?63.7 lakh, and the tax at 20% would amount to ?12.74 lakh.

A leading cement manufacturer reported a 50.82% decline in consolidated net profit to ?36.57 crore in the June 2024 quarter, due to falling cement prices and weak demand amid the Lok Sabha elections. The company had posted a net profit of ?74.36 crore in the same quarter last fiscal year.

Revenue from operations fell 6.81% to ?2,093.55 crore, compared with ?2,246.66 crore a year ago. Total expenses in the quarter were ?2,054.11 crore, down 4.3%.

In the first quarter of FY25, the company incurred ?281 crore in expenses, with estimated total capex, including maintenance, at ?1,200 crore. Net debt stood at ?4,975 crore as of June 30, 2024.

Shares of the company settled 1.48% lower at ?800.20 per share on the stock exchange.

A global asset management firm has acquired a tech park in Chennai for approximately ?2,100 crore. The prime office asset was previously jointly owned by a real estate developer and a pension fund.

The property, located in Chennai’s Porur area, spans over 12.6 acres and has a gross leasable area of 2.4 million sq ft, comprising three Grade A office towers. Several leading corporate tenants occupy the commercial complex.

The exit pertains only to this Chennai asset, while the previous partners continue their collaboration on other properties.

Private equity investment in Indian real estate remained resilient in the first half of the year. Institutional investment in the sector surged to $4.8 billion across 40 deals in the first half of 2024, reaching 81% of the total investment made in 2023, which was $5.8 billion.

The Indian office sector has continued to see strong demand growth, bucking the global trend of sluggishness.