Comments
A Parliamentary Panel's recommendation that the Government stay away from land acquisition in public-private partnership projects will hit large projects, according to developers in the National Capital Region (NCR). The recommendation to let the private player handle the land acquisition through open market alone will stall projects. The Government should intervene when needed to acquire the last 20 per cent of large land parcel to enable contiguity, said Mr Pankaj Bajaj, President, Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Association of India, NCR. In a press release from the Confederation, Mr Bajaj said large projects in the country are stuck due to land aggregation issues. Industry needs the Government's help. This is in vogue in China and other competing economies where the government facilitates industry. Land acquisition should strike a balance between the interest of the farmers and the need of industry to get large parcels of contiguous land. The new provisions do not address the need of the industry, especially large-scale projects. Not just 5,000 acres, but it is practically impossible to assemble even 100 acres at times. Government intervention is desirable to acquire the last 20 per cent of any large land parcel in the interest of contiguity.
Office space demand in Chennai low
Office space offtake in Chennai nearly came down by half quarter-on-quarter in the first quarter of 2012, according to DTZ Research. At about 6.5 lakh sq. ft being occupied in the quarter, the offtake is more than 50 per cent down. But estimates indicate that there is a demand for about 15 lakh sq. ft of office space mostly in information technology and allied sectors. But deals are not likely to happen in the short term. About 3 lakh sq. ft of office space was handed over for fit-outs in the central business districts taking the total stock in Chennai to 480 lakh sq. ft. In the current year about 37 lakh sq. ft of new supply is expected. This is just abut 30 per cent of the space added yearly between 2007 and 2009. Supply is expected to remain subdued for at least the next three years. Average rents remain unchanged at about Rs 30 a sq. ft in peripheral areas; Rs 40-60 in secondary business districts; and over Rs 65 in primary areas. These are likely to remain at these levels at least for six months.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.