Oct - Nov, 2016 Issue- 3 Vol-

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TREKKING AND CHALLENGINGTREKKING EXPEDITION–ANEXPERIENCE TO TREASUREBy G.V.V.S. Narayana, President, CREDAI-VSP.Trekking is a unique sport. It is both thrilling andchallenging. Climbing up to a peak of 5560 mts from3450 mts through mountainous ranges is really thrillingexperience. It is also challenging because it requiresloads of physical stamina and lots of mental strength.Trekking tests physical ability, endurance and mentaland psychological capacity of participants. A group often adventure-loving people from Visakhapatnam, underthe leadership of Dr. Suman Kalagara, went on a trekkingexpedition of 18 days. Starting on October 12 at Kathmandu,it culminated on 29 at Lukla, also in Kathmandu.After a leisurely walk on the first day, the actual journeystarted on the next day. Trekking is making a journey byfoot, especially to hike through mountainous areas, oftenfor multiple days. Along the lovely mountains, trekkerscome in close contact with people in remote mountainvillages. Innocence and rusticity are the characteristicsof these people. Like sea sickness, trekkers would beprone to acute mountain sickness like severe head ache,nausea, fatigue etc. So the team members got themselvesacclimatized at Namche Bazar on the fourth day. Thishelped us to get used to higher and higher altitudes.Happily none of the members had any problems oftrekking sickness. As we continued our trekking journey,we have had the fascinating views of the great peaks ofthe Khumbu viz Everest, Lhots, Nuptse and Ama Dablam.After crossing several villages, we crossed the Dudh KosiRiver, made a steep climb to Thyangboche monastery,12 CREDAI VISAKHA VISION OCT-NOV, 2016which is the spiritual centre of for Khumbu and trainingcentre for monks. The spiritual ambience and the fabulousscenic value are some things that the trekker treasures fora very very long time.After a rest day on the ninth day of the journey, weresume our expedition. The journey from Lobuche toGorak Shep to EBC (Everest Base Camp) and back toGorak Shep at (5360 mts) was something special. At thispoint, one stands face to face with the world’s highestmountain viz Everest at 8850 mts. From this point, wehave to negotiate glaciers, do a lot of hard walking overboulders and scree slopes. Gorak Shep to Kala Pattas(5560 mts) was an important land mark in our journey.From this high point, a magnificent 360 degree viewunfolds with all major peaks of the region visible. Itwas vantage point, providing fantastic views of majorand majestic peaks. On our journey, we met Sherpas–Himalayan people reputed for mountaineering andknown for their climbing skills—and other rustic people.After all these unforgettable experiences, we reach backLukla in Khatmandu on 28th October and from there toour native places full of thrill-filled satisfaction at ouronce in a life time trekking expedition. We interactedwith lot people during our trekking expedition, respectedtheir culture and traditions and used local productsand facilities during our entire journey.The trekkingexpedition was organized by Aquatera, a Delhi-based TourCompany in coordination with the Nepal Tourism Board.

CLEAN UP DUTYSLASH STAMP DUTY TO CLEAN UPREAL ESTATE SECTOR: ASSOCHAMNEW DELHI, NOV:To further intensify the crackdown on black money,Assocham has suggested the Centre to impress uponstates to “drastically” lower stamp duty on residentialand commercial property deals to dissuade people fromundervaluing purchases.The industry body said thatthe biggest beneficiary of the move would be buyers ofresidential or commercial properties. “One of the biggestreasons for the cash forming 30-40 per cent of the realestate transactions is the high level of stamp duty. With6-7 per cent stamp duty, purchaser of a flat worth Rs.1-1.50 crore will have to shell out different governmentlevies and other charges like registration and lawyers’fee to the extent of Rs. 10 lakh or so.“Likewise, theregistration value also determines the capital gainstax for the sellers. With both these levies accountingfor significant account, there is a big incentive for thebuyers and sellers to show the registration amountas much lower than the real transaction value,” thechamber said.It said there are instances where ironically, peoplefiling their income tax returns and living a clean life,are forced to withdraw cash from their legitimate bankaccounts cash for such transactions. “Thus, the systemforces you to convert white into black. Nobody likes it,but the state governments must come forward and slashit by at least 50 per cent and the move would resultin increase in their revenue rather than reducing it,”Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat said. He alsosaid that the lower stamp duty would revive the demandin the highly suppressed sector which would further bejolted with cash totally drying out from the transactions.“The cleanup will take place with lower duties, ease ofdoing business in terms of clear land titles by the stateregulatory agencies and other clearances being madetransparent. It cannot be a one-way street where thebuilders are expected to grease the palm of the corruptofficials and others while they are then expected to doevery other transactions by cheques. Hopefully, withthe new model law in place, things should improve,” thechamber said. A recent joint paper by Assocham andThought Arbitrage found prevalence of rampant blackmoney or ‘untaxed money’ in the real estate businessposing a great challenge for the construction industry.For speedy approvals and sanctions from authorities,builders or contractors are often compelled to paylarge sums of money as bribe to government officials,surveyors, engineers etc. A part of the burden is passedon to the buyer who in turn has to pay in cash to thecontractor, the paper noted.CREDAI VISAKHA VISION OCT-NOV, 2016 13

SHAKE UP MEASURECURRENCY DEMONETISATIONBy Vinod BehlThe landmark move by the Modigovernment to demonetise highvalue currency notes to stamp outblack money will have a far reachingimpact on the capital intensivereal estate sector where almost onethird of transactions still involveunaccounted money. Though initially,in the short term, the government’sbold move will hit the sentiment ofthe real estate market, already reeling14 CREDAI VISAKHA VISION AUGUST-SEPT, 201614 CREDAI VISAKHA VISION OCT-NOV, 2016under a recession, in the medium tolong term, the sector will reap thebenefits of the greater transparencyushered in by government’s “surgicalstrike” against black money.This is especially so when in the lastcouple of years, the government hasinitiated a number of key reforms inthe real estate sector like Real EstateRegulation Act (RERA),GST, REITs andBenami Transactions (Prohibition)Amendment Act, 2016, besidesreforms related to FDI, to bring intransparency. Consequent to thereforms, foreign investors are alreadybetting big on real estate. In a recentdevelopment, global private equityplayer Xander has formed a jointventure with Dutch Pension FundManager APG Asset Managementto deploy 1 billion in real estatein India. Much to the relief of cashstrapped and debt ridden developers,

project, land purchase has thehighest component (40per cent ormore) of unaccounted money. Also,the payments by investors at theprelaunch or early launch stage hasa considerable cash component.Cash is also involved in purchasingbuilding material and in payments toconstruction workers. In the primarymarket, however, there is more orless no cash involvement, especiallyin residential real estate as homepurchases are financed throughmortgages. For affordable homes, theticket size is too small to involve cashpayments. But in high end housing,the cash component is significant.It is also seen that in primary sales,developers offer a discount if some partof theproperty’s value is paid in cash.Now that the government has comedown heavily on black money, the cashcomponent in property transactionswill go down. This will result in a dropin land prices and land deals will likelysee a substantial dip. Developers arealready avoiding outright purchase ofland for their new projects and insteadare going in for joint developmentagreements with land owners. They arealso finding it difficult to monetise theirland bank to cut down debt obligations.institutional financing will also comewith lesser risk weightage.As the real estate sector hassignificant consumption ofblack money, the impact of thegovernment’s crackdown will befelt here much more There is acash component of 20 to 30per centin property transactions, largelydue to the difference between thecollectorate rate and market rateof property. This is even higherin land transactions and propertytransactions in smaller cities. Atthe initial stage of the real estateThe debt ridden developers, inthe short term, will face cash flowissues. And, in view of the highinventory and cash crunch, theymay well have to resort to pushup sales, much to the delight ofproperty buyers. Speculative andinflated pricing will take a beating insecondary properties, especially, inmarkets which thrive on speculativeinvestments. This will benefit homebuyers as interest rates havealready come down by 1.5 per centin the last about one and a halfyears. Going forward, with improvedliquidity of banks following currencydemonetisation, interest rates areexpected to further come down,making homes more affordable.This will boost home sales whichhave seen a 15 per cent hike in Q2FY17 across the top eight cities.And, as RERA becomes operationaland home buyers get protection oftheir investment, sales will furtherpick up, especially in the affordablesegment, much to the benefit of thegovernment’s organised playerswith corporate governance havebeen entering these cities. Someof these cities which offer goodjob opportunities, especially in ITand have good physical and socialinfrastructure, are already on theradar of domestic and global funds.Demonetisation will further boostinvestors’ confidence in the longrun. And, since corruption andapprovals’ bottlenecks are majorfactors responsible for price inflation,demonetisation, coupled with thegovernment’s next big reform tointroduce a single window clearancesystem, will make property affordablefor the masses.Notwithstanding initial setbacks,as the sector reorganises itself, realestate will be transformed into amore efficient, evolved, corporatised,fair and transparent asset class, wellon its way to a long term sustainablegrowth path.(Vinod Behl is editor, Realty Plus, aleading real estate monthly)CREDAI VISAKHA VISION OCT-NOV, 2016 15

GREAT NEWS FROMGREATER NOIDAGODREJ PROPERTIES SELLS VILLASWORTH RS 300 CRORE IN A DAY IN GREATER NOIDA PROJECTGodrej Properties has said the project - its first ever in the Noida and Greater Noida market- received a stupendous response, making this one of Godrej Properties’ most successfullaunches, at a time the National Capital Region market is witnessing a slowdown.HIGHLIGHTSThe Crest project of Godrej has received booking worthRs 300cr in Day 1 The project is a part of its 100-acretownship called Godrej Golf LinksGodrej Properties isdeveloping this project in a JV with ACE Group Real estatedeveloper Godrej Properties said it has sold villas with abooking value in excess of Rs 300 crore in a single dayat the launch of its Greater Noida Township. The Crestproject is part of its 100-acre township project calledGodrej Golf Links, which Godrej Properties is developingin a joint venture with ACE Group. The Crest project isGodrej Properties’ first-ever in the Noida and GreaterNoida market. Speaking to NDTV Profit, Godrej PropertiesMD and CEO Pirojsha Godrej said, “On the first day itselfwe sold about 600,000 square feet of space. which puts itwith the best launches we have ever had anywhere in thecountry.”“The villa project is positioned in a way that it is16 CREDAI VISAKHA VISION OCT-NOV, 2016affordable on a relative basis. We are selling villas startingfrom Rs 1 crore,” he added.It is “going to be a golf-centered township with a 9-holegolf course. A lot of amenities and features also helped itbreak through the clutter in an otherwise weak market inthe NCR at the moment,” Mr Godrej said.Godrej Propertiesis the real estate arm of the Godrej group.Speaking on theoverall market, Mr Godrej said it “certainly hasn’t beenvery good for the last 2-3 years in both Noida and NCRoverall” but “for good developers with good projects in theright locations, there continues to be demand”. “This is avery cyclical industry.We think the exact right time tobe bullish about a market is when things aren’t looking asgood.and when there’s a general pessimism in the marketas there currently is,” he added.

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SMOKING AND ASTHMADID YOU START SMOKING BEFORE YOU WERE15 YEARS OLD? YOU MAY INCREASE RISK OFASTHMA IN YOUR FUTURE CHILDRENLONDON:Men who indulge in smoking since their adolescence mayput their future children at more than three times higherrisk of an early-onset of asthma, a finding suggests.In thestudy, the researchers included more than 24,000 childrenand showed that both a father’s early smoking debut anda father’s longer smoking duration before conceptionincreased non-allergic early-onset asthma in kids.“The greatest increased risk for their children having asthmawas found for fathers having their smoking debut beforeage 15. Interestingly, time of quitting before conception wasnot independently associated with offspring asthma,” saidCecilie Svanes, Professor at the University of Bergen, Norway.Concerning mother’s smoking, the research found moreoffspring asthma if the mother smoked around pregnancy,consistent with previous studies.However, no effect ofmaternal smoking only prior to conception was identified.The difference from father’s smoking suggests effectsthrough male sperm cells.18 CREDAI VISAKHA VISION OCT-NOV, 2016“Smoking is known to cause genetic and epigenetic damageto spermatozoa, which are transmissible to offspring andhave the potential to induce developmental abnormalities,”Svanes added.It is previously known that nutritional,hormonal and psychological environment provided by themother permanently alters organ structure, cellular responseand gene expression in her offspring. Father’s lifestyleand age appear, however, to be reflected in molecules thatcontrol gene function.Svanes and her team also investigatedwhether parental exposure to welding influenced asthmarisk in offspring, with a particular focus on exposures infathers prior to conception.The study showed that paternal welding increased offspringasthma risk even if the welding stopped prior to conception.Smoking and welding independently increased offspringasthma risk, and mutual adjustment did not alter theestimates of either. “For smoking and welding startingafter puberty, exposure duration appeared to be the mostimportant determinant for the asthma risk in offspring,”the author added.

AFFORDABLE HOUSINGIN DRIVER’S SEATAFFORDABLE HOUSING WILL OUTPACE OTHER REAL ESTATESEGMENTS: GETAMBER ANAND, CREDAI NATIONALHow is the affordable housingsegmentevolving in India?Affordable housing has always beena strong market in India. The recentemphasis on this segment throughgovernment initiatives like ‘Housingfor All’ is accelerating the growthby facilitating large scale inventorycreation. Combined with the shortageof housing units in the country, this has20 CREDAI VISAKHA VISION OCT-NOV, 2016triggered a doubling of new launchesin the first half of 2016, compared tothe previousyear.The top eight propertymarkets are Mumbai, Pune, Delhi,Bangalore, Kolkata,Chennai, Ahmedabadand Hyderabad. Total launches, acrosssegments, rose 17% from a year ago,to 60,000 apartments. However, thedemand for quality affordable housingprojects far outstrips the supply.Developers are now noticing thispotential demand and focusing on thissegment. Such projects also providemonetary benefits for both developersand consumers, in terms of reducedcosts and tax sops. Affordable housingtakes less time to be completed thanmid or high end apartments, while thesales momentum is faster, which helpsdevelopers realise their costs quickly.

the accelerated rate at which the segmentis growing, it will outpace mostotherreal estate segments. With recent policychanges, specifically RERA, we expect themarket to see even more growth in supplyand demand. If in the next 10 years homeloan rates vary between 57%,the futureof the sector as well as the segment willsurely be bright.Is affordable housing a viable option forhomebuyers in metros?For now, we are seeing affordable housinggrow in metropolitan centres, which iswhere the largest demand is. Tier II andIII cities also have a considerable market,especially in terms of supply. However,in terms of demand, metros far outpacethese centres. With the growing emphasison affordable housing and with notableplayers getting into the market, theviability for homebuyers in these cities isbeginning to surpass expectations. GivenIs demonetisation likely to impact thissegment?Real estate has mostly been driven by loanbased consumption and is highly regulated.Demonetisation will have an impact onthe immediate liquidity of the overallmarket, but as a sector we do not expectany notable changes. We hope that overalldemand will go up as the banks lowerinterest rates in response to affordablehousing will out pace other segmentsthe large influx o f funds. Banks will havethree choices: making RBI depo

Sri K. Rama Krishna Rao 9848037477 katrurk@gmail.com President Sri G.V.V.S. Narayana 9848130272 narayana.gvvs@yahoo.com Vice-Presidents Sri P. Koteswara Rao 9908600005 panbuilders@yahoo.co.in Sri P Rama krishna 9848414051 k654321r@gmail.com Hon. Secretary Sri B. Srinivasa Rao 9553356666 srba