The Madras high court has ordered demolition of seven floors of unauthorised construction of a commercial building in Pondy Bazar in Chennai. Rejecting the request of the builder to regularise the illegal construction, a division bench of Justice S M Subramaniam and Justice K Rajasekar observed that regularisation of unauthorised construction could not be claimed as an absolute right. It is a concession granted as a one-time measure through special schemes. The govt is not expected to regularise the unauthorised buildings in a routine manner by invoking the provisions of exemption under the Town and Country Planning Act The court then directed the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) to proceed with the demolition of the unauthorised constructions, by retaining the approved portion of the building, within eight weeks. The court passed the order on a plea moved by Bengaluru-based Janpriya Builders challenging the demolition notice issued by the CMDA to demolish the fourth to tenth floors of the building located on the Sri Thyagaraya Road, Pondy Bazar, T Nagar, Chennai. Instead, the petitioner wanted the court to direct the CMDA to process its applications dated May 24, 1995, and May 26, 1996, and regularise the unauthorised construction. As per the approved plan dated Feb 9, 1990, the builder was authorised to construct only three floors. The court said the builders were emboldened to commit such illegalities at the cost of the people with the fond hope that it would be regularised. They are emboldened because of large-scale collusion on the part of the officials of the CMDA and other authorities. 
 

Affluent Indians who used offshore companies to buy apartments and mansions in the UK are coming under the glare of the Enforcement Directorate (ED). While resident individuals are allowed to remit up to $250,000 a year to directly purchase properties abroad, acquiring stocks of foreign companies that primarily hold properties is a violation of foreign exchange regulations. Nonetheless, well-off Indian families, under the impression that such deals would never come to light, have over the years bought shares of companies owning properties to escape stamp duty, capital gains, and even inheritance tax. While the British government has plugged the tax loopholes, certain tax advantages of controlling properties through companies remain. The identities of the owners behind the companies are now surfacing more and more due to a combination of factors: ED enquiring about the actual assets underlying the overseas stock investments declared by the resident Indians in their income tax (I-T) return and the UK mandating the disclosure of beneficial ownership (BO) details since 2023 of companies possessing properties. Over the last one month at least four individuals have received notices from ED for owning shares of companies which in turn own properties. These companies are either based in the UK or in other jurisdictions. It is a widely shared perception that a greater scrutiny of property owners, particularly individual buyers --- their identities, nationalities, source of funds --- followed the huge Russian money chasing London properties and the US sanctions against Russia. Though avoiding capital gains and inheritance tax is no longer possible, a lower or nil stamp duty is still applicable when shares of a company owning property are transferred. Also, in many cases the shares of such companies are owned by trusts and the beneficiaries of the trust can manage to remain unnamed.
 

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.
 

Chief minister Mohan Yadav said on Wednesday that major companies from the IT, ITES, and ESDM sectors will participate in the Global Investors Summit (GIS-2025), scheduled for Feb 24-25 in Bhopal, propelling Madhya Pradesh to newer heights in this sector. Yadav said that aligning with the Digital India Mission, Madhya Pradesh is taking a leading role in adopting advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Big Data,Blockchain, and Cybersecurity. Economic Zones (SEZs). Several new projects are in the pipeline, including Crystal IT Park 3 and 4 in Indore, a 50-acre Data Center Park,and a 1 lakh sq ft IT Tower in Jabalpur. These developments will accelerate Madhya Pradesh's digital growth. With affordable operational costs, strong govt support, and a high quality of life, the state is emerging as an ideal location for startups and IT companies. The GIS-2025 summit in Bhopal (February 24-25) will provide investors with an opportunity to explore Madhya Pradesh's immense potential in IT and technology. With investment-friendly policies and a proactive govt, the state is on track to become India's next major digital transformation hub, Yadav said.
 

Biotechnology giant Amgen has leased about 500,000 sq ft of space in Hyderabad to establish its first global capability centre (GCC), doubling its office footprint in the city, said people aware of the deal. Amgen India's technology and innovation centre is located in the RMZ Nexity and Spire Tower in HITEC City. The company is a subsidiary of California-headquartered Amgen Inc. In the first phase, the company has taken 2.5 lakh sq ft, with another 2.5 lakh sq ft to be occupied in phase two, which is expected to be operational by the end of 2025,” the people cited earlier said, adding that the lease tenure is nine years, with a five-year lock-in period and a rental cost of about Rs 90 per sq ft. The GCC will drive the development of advanced technology solutions and digital capabilities, enhancing efficiencies across the company’s global operations. RMZ declined to comment on the deal. The Hyderabad GCC will focus on leveraging technology, artificial intelligence (AI), and data analytics to develop innovative healthcare solutions. It aims to drive digital transformation, streamline operations and accelerate research efforts, strengthening Amgen’s global footprint. Hyderabad has emerged as a prominent centre for life sciences and technology, consistently attracting significant investments from global corporations. In recent developments, Sanofi has announced an investment of Rs 3,600 crore to expand its GCC in Hyderabad. Similarly, AstraZeneca has committed Rs 250 crore and Medtronic has announced an investment of Rs 500 crore to establish their respective GCCs. As per industry estimates, India’s biotechnology sector will contribute 19% to the global biotech market by 2025, driven by its cost efficiency, flourishing bioeconomy and strategic positioning. It is expected to top $300 billion by 2030.