RBI's policy and ‘leveraged developers'

RBI's policy and ‘leveraged developers'

Mr Pranab Datta, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Knight Frank India, says the latest 25 basis-point hike in short-term lending rate to 8.25 per cent, and borrowing rate to 7.25 per cent, announced by the RBI, will put pressure on the “leveraged balance sheet of the developers and on the other hand, burden home loan customers who are already troubled with the rising household budget. As prospective buyers distance themselves from property, the holding capacity of the developers will be impacted further.”

The fallout of the weakening rupee has been the recent petrol price hike. The rising inflation rate thus made a case for further tightening of the key policy rates. Hence, we are witnessing this twelfth repo rate hike since beginning of last year.

RICS to focus on South Asia

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), which set up its India operations nearly three years ago, has now identified a new market region ‘RICS South Asia', as it strengthens its presence in the region.

According to a press release from RICS, the market comprises India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Nepal, and its operations were formally launched from September 1, 2011. Other RICS regions include UK and Ireland, Latin America, North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), South East Asia and Oceania.

Mr Sachin Sandhir, Managing Director RICS South Asia, who earlier headed RICS India, will head the expansion of the RICS brand in the wider South Asia region, including India. A nine-member RICS South Asia Board, including the CMD, South Asia and seven members has been constituted to drive RICS' business plan.

Mr Anshuman Magazine, CMD – CBRE South Asia, has been appointed as Chairman, RICS South Asia Board.

RICS is a professional body for qualifications and standards in land, property and construction in this region.

Ascendas bags LEED Certification

The International Tech Park Chennai (ITPC) a joint venture between Ascendas and the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (Tidco) has been awarded the LEED Silver certification for Phase I, the Pinnacle building, according to a press release from the company.

The Pinnacle building received LEED Silver status in the category ‘Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance' (EB:O&M), version 2009 standard. Built in 2005, the 10-storey Pinnacle is the first of the three buildings at International Tech Park, Chennai, and offers 5.42 lakh square feet of quality business space. The building has since made several modifications and retrofits to conserve energy and water and also reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions.

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is an internationally-recognised green building certification programme designed by the US Green Building Council. It is a programme for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. LEED uses a points system for evaluating an existing building's environmental performance in the following categories: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality and innovation in operations. Ascendas received the LEED Silver status, for sustainability, green development and operations.

ITPC is a quality development by Ascendas India, the sub-continental arm of Ascendas Pte Ltd, Asia's leading provider of business space solutions. The 15-acre prime hi-tech IT Park is developed in three phases, comprising of Pinnacle, Crest and Zenith buildings of more than 2 million square feet of premium business space.

Ascott starts operations in South

The Ascott Limited, a wholly-owned serviced residence business unit of CapitaLand, has opened two serviced residences in India last month. According to a press release from the company, the 96-unit Citadines Richmond Bangalore opened on August 1 and Somerset Greenways Chennai, a 187-apartment unit, was opened on August 29.

Ascott also has five serviced residences with more than 1,100 apartment units under development in India. The five properties are scheduled to open in Ahmedabad, Bangalore (two properties), Chennai and Hyderabad by 2015. Ascott's seven properties in India will have more than 1,400 apartment units and will cost more than Rs 1,125 crore, when fully developed. Mr Ronald Tay, Ascott's Chief Investment Officer said in the release, “There is a huge untapped demand but limited supply of serviced residences to cater to the increasing number of expatriates and travellers. Our strategy for India is to expand in the high growth cities with strong demand for international-class serviced residences.”

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