Real Estate

Hilton, Starbucks Add to Their India Portfolio

May 14 – Looking to further break into the Indian market, Hilton Hotels has committed to expand its mid-market and luxury brands in the country.

Hilton, which already has established various hotels in India, recently acquired an additional number of properties on which it looks to open up and develop hotels for its luxury brand, Conrad, and its mid-market brands Doubletree and Hilton Garden Inn. Hilton is also looking to introduce its world-renowned Waldorf Astoria brand to India in the near future.

“We are on equal footing with our competitors both from the perspective of the number of hotels trading and the number of hotels that are actually going to come up in the next one or two years. By the end of this year, we expect 17 hotels to be trading, and we have the second largest pipeline of hotels in the Asia Pacific region with 21 hotels in various stages of construction,” said Guy Hutchinson, Hilton Worldwide’s Vice-President of India Operations. Continue reading →

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Mumbai’s Commercial Real Estate Market

Oct. 19 – The Indian economy has witnessed astounding growth over the past decade and is likely to be one of the fastest growing economies in the coming years. In particular, the real estate sector in India has assumed greater significance with the liberalization of the economy, as increasing business opportunities and labor migration have led to greater demand for commercial and housing space.

India’s financial capital of Mumbai is also known as the greatest real estate market in India, due partly to its large population of approximate 19 million people. Below, we summarize the city’s main business districts, costing concerns, and the key feature of the market. Continue reading →

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India Proposes Repatriation of Profits for Foreign Real Estate Companies

Jul. 13 – The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion is studying a proposal to allow foreign real estate companies to repatriate all their profits except the minimum initial investment of US$5 million.

This will apply to foreign companies in a joint venture with a local developer and will effectively limit India’s lock-in period for real estate investment to only apply to the initial US$5 million. It will do away with a previous DIPP rule announced last year that forbade repatriating profits after less than three years of completing capitalization. Continue reading →

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The Wealth Report: Mumbai and Delhi Represent ‘Significant Investor Promise’

Apr. 15 – The Mumbai and New Delhi realty markets hold a significant level of promise for potential investors, says Knight Frank’s The Wealth Report 2010.

The report forecasts trends and identifies areas of growth in global prime residential property and wealth. Moreover, it provides insight to the attitudes of the wealthy towards property and other investment types. The report, conducted in cooperation with Citi Private Bank, looks at the answers from three major surveys conducted on the “Prime International Residential Index (PIRI),” “World’s Most Influential Cities’ survey and a unique survey on the “HNWI Attitudes to Property and Wealth.” Continue reading →

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New Construction Services Tax to Increase Real Estate Prices

Mar. 9 – A proposal to implement a construction tax under the new services tax will invariably hike prices for real estate projects still under construction or pending approval from authorities.

The tax would apply to the construction of complex service or commercial or industrial construction services as well as services offering premium prices based on a flat’s location in a multi-storey building. Continue reading →

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New Delhi Best City for Living

Mar. 9 – The Confederation of Indian Industries has ranked New Delhi as having the best quality of life for its residents among all cities in the India based on their latest “Liveability Index.”

After New Delhi, the next best cities to live in are Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore. The survey looked at 37 Indian cities in over a decade to compute for a quality of life index. It also used hard data collected from reliable sources to eliminate the possibility of personal bias or a sampling error obscuring the reality. Continue reading →

Posted in Bangalore, Chennai, Culture and History, Economy and Politics, FDI and Foreign Trade, Mumbai, New Delhi, Real Estate | Leave a comment

New Delhi Property Tax Rates to Increase in April

Feb. 3 – India is set to increase property tax rates in New Delhi starting April 2010.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s (MCD) has proposed higher tax rates for residential properties in the A to H category. A two percent increased for categories A and B, three percent in categories C and D with the highest hike in property tax rate proposed for category E increasing from 6 to 12 percent and a one percent increase for category F and H. Continue reading →

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New Hotels to be Given 5 Year Tax Holiday

Jan. 27 – To encourage more hotels to open prior to the Commonwealth Games, India is giving a five-year tax holiday for new hotels completed in the national capital region before March 31.

The rule will apply to 2, 3 and 4 star hotels and exclude 5 star hotels. An estimated 100,000 tourists are expected to arrive in New Delhi when the Commonwealth Games start on October 3. Currently, the city only has 10,000 hotel rooms and will need 30,000 more for the games. Continue reading →

Posted in Finance, Tax and Accounting, New Delhi, Real Estate, Retail | Leave a comment