Master Plan for Delhi Needs Tuning, Operational Guidelines to Work

"Urban planners and experts TOI spoke to said the city needs operational guidelines to implement the MPD and these should be a part of the document"
Three years and more than 100 amendments later, the revised Master Plan for Delhi 2021 (MPD-2021) is nearly ready. While the Centre will soon notify provisions for transit-oriented development (TOD) and the environment, some amendments have already been implemented.

But is MPD-2021 a feasible plan? How much of it has been implemented? Does it really address the pressing concerns of the city and provide a realistic vision for sustainable development? Is it in sync with the ground realities? These are some of the questions on Delhi's mind.

Experts say many features of MPD-2021 have remained on paper for reasons ranging from the multiplicity of authorities in the city to poor enforcement and planning by the agencies concerned and the presence of many unauthorized colonies, slums, resettlement colonies and villages. Urban planners and experts TOI spoke to said the city needs operational guidelines to implement the MPD and these should be a part of the document.

The failure of civic and government agencies to prepare a local area plan (LAP) even after eight years is an example of the complications in the way of MPD-2021. The erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Delhi had made an LAP for some municipal wards but it was never notified as MCD said it didn't have the powers to notify it while DDA insisted only MCD could notify it. "Due to this technical discrepancy, there is no approved LAP which is critical for any area's development. Operational guidelines will help in overcoming such discrepancies and help in faster implementation of the plan," said Sanjukta Bhaduri, head of the department of urban planning in School of Planning and Architecture who prepared some of the LAPs.

Experts say the MPD is good as a 'vision document' as it provides for sustainable development with provisions like TOD, land pooling and stress on conservation of heritage and the environment, but some of its provisions are not in sync with ground realities.

More than 60% of Delhi's population lives in unauthorized colonies, rural and urban villages and unauthorized regularized colonies. The document doesn't dwell much on the development needs of the people living in these areas. "Regularization of unauthorized colonies can't happen as per the terms and conditions of the present master plan. Building plans can't be sanctioned here as per the MPD. These colonies have come up illegally. There is a need to have different norms for them," said urban planner A G K Menon.

As a result, even "people-friendly" features like sub-division and amalgamation of plots haven't worked. Sub-division of plots was allowed in unauthorized regularized (UR) colonies, but it has not found any takers as the permitted floor-area ratio (FAR) is based on the plot's original size. "In most cases, the FAR has already been used up by people living on the sub-divided plots so fresh construction cannot be carried out on the vacant portion of the plot. This has led to rampant unauthorized construction in UR colonies," said a South Corporation official.

Experts say illegal construction is rampant in Delhi, so each master plan has focused on regularizing illegal activities. The 2007 MPD provided for legalizing commercial establishments in residential areas by allowing mixed land use. Now, the revised plan proposes low-density residential areas (LDRA), which is a way to regularize illegal farmhouses. Corporation officials say LDRA actually allows more dwelling units per plot.

"The vision is limited by the burden of the present. Each plan regularizes what has come up illegally. It is about time we seriously address the issues and provide practical solutions to decongest the city. There are villages which are 300 years old. There is a need for a special plan to restore them," said K T Ravindran, urban designer and former DUAC chairperson.

Experts say the provisions related to parking space need to be revised, as MPD-2021 stressed on providing parking while now the thrust is on public transport. "MPD-2021 allows for two equivalent car spaces per 100-sq metre of residential area and three in commercial areas. There is an urgent need to undo this clause for the success of TOD," said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, Centre for Science and Environment.

There's also a need for a rolling process of planning for timely course-correction. "Twenty years is too long a period for planning, given the city's complexities and fast growth rate," said Bhaduri.

New Delhi: To a common man it seems strange that years are spent in drawing and reviewing the master plan but Delhi Development Authority (DDA), the city's planning agency, says making the 'vision document' is a mammoth task. Decisions are taken after a lot of discussion between experts and implemented only after seeking and incorporating the public's views.

DDA had formed 12 sub-groups of experts from various fields to discuss the city's development and growing requirements of shelter, traffic and transportation, trade and commerce, etc.

More than 200 experts took two years to prepare the draft of Master Plan for Delhi 2021 after the Union urban development ministry commissioned it in 2003. Each group had academicians, experts working on the ground and government representatives. "They submitted their recommendations after reviewing sectoral studies and current problems like the commercialization of residential areas," said a senior DDA official.

Experts say the main objective of MPD-2021 was to address the city's growing needs while conserving the environment and heritage.

After the draft plan was notified in March 2005, DDA received more than 7,000 suggestions and objections from the public. "Close to 90% of the suggestions were related to property. We incorporated the suggestions for the city's development and sent them to our advisory council for approval," a DDA official said.

Finalizing a master plan after incorporating the public's suggestions takes a long time. The draft plan is vetted by various committees for legal and technical issues before it is sent to the Union urban development ministry which notifies it after receiving the Cabinet's approval.

"The entire exercise for preparing a draft plan is repeated after the public's suggestions are incorporated. That is why it takes years," said the official.

The same process is followed to notify a revised master plan. The revision started in early-2012 and the government is notifying the changes in phases. DDA officials say more than 100 amendments have already been made to MPD-2021. The urban development ministry is in the process of finalizing the last chapter on environment, which will be posted for people's suggestions and objections soon. Sources say the review is likely to end by December.
Read More

Real Estate In Pain But Some Shares Cheaper Than In 2008

"The ongoing stock market decline has been relentless in its punishment of leveraged and cyclical companies. Not surprisingly, real estate stocks have taken it on the chin in the recent decline."
The ongoing stock market decline has been relentless in its punishment of leveraged and cyclical companies whose shares tend to have higher beta. 

Not surprisingly, real estate stocks have taken it on the chin in the recent decline. Consider this: over the past six months, the BSE Sensex has fallen 13.5 percent while the CNX Realty index is down 34 percent. 

For many investors, the fall in property shares is reminiscent of the 2008 crash, except that, unlike then, there has been an absolute lack of excitement with respect to such stocks preceding the crash. 

There's one more difference. Some of the stocks are trading at valuations that are cheaper than were witnessed even during their 2008 lows. 

To measure stocks' valuations, we used the classic metric price-to-book (P/B), which -- while having its own limitations (such as cash flow being more important than land bank these days) -- serves as some sort of yardstick to ascertain a stock's value.

Interestingly, in the current downturn, some of the 2008 crash's notable market-darlings-turned-lemmings, such as DLF, Unitech, HDIL and Indiabulls Real Estate, are trading at close to 1 time book value or below. 

Others that have arguably done a better job at management since, such as Sobha, Oberoi Realty or Ashiana Housing, are more expensive than the older lot but they too are trading cheaper than they have been in months or years. 

Price-to-book was calculated by dividing the company's book value (assets minus liabilities) per share, as of the latest filing, by its prevailing stock price on each day.
Read More

Developers Should Lower Property Prices to Revive Economy: CEO, National Housing Bank


"Sriram Kalyanaraman believes that in most cities, prices are too high and they need to come down"

Sriram Kalyanaraman,CEO & MD of National Housing Bank, believes that property prices, at least in some pockets, are way too high and developers should lower prices to revive the economy. In a wide-ranging chat with ET's Sangita Mehta, Kalyanaraman said NHB is trying to create an eco-system, which will encourage deep-pocket entrepreneurs to float housing finance companies, which in turn, will help achieve its vision of `housing for all'. Edited excerpts...

Do you think property prices are too high, as suggested by RBI, and should real estate developers lower them?

I think they are. In most cities, prices are too high and they need to come down. If you take Mumbai, I think prices are really unaffordable for even the middle class and the upper middle class. So, in many cities, if there are unsold stocks, they should reduce prices because beyond a point, there's no point holding on to them.

Will there be an economic revival, at least to some extent, if prices are reduced?

More people will look to buy houses, but whether it would open the floodgates, it's too early to say. Housing by itself is somewhat long term -in the sense, it takes long for prices to either go up or come down. But there will be a revival of interest, and for the floodgates to open, many things have to happen. One has to build confidence that the economy is doing well. But yes, it (developers lowering prices) would be the first step to build that confidence.

There's a perception that NHB just does a copy-paste job of RBI's regulation for banks, and in effect, has a meaningless existence. How do you counter this?

NHB has done a lot of developmental work but perhaps haven't done its PR exercise well. To `copy-paste' what RBI does is not a bad thing because I am a part regulator of a macro regulator. So, if I have to take a different stand, I need to speak to RBI. Also, regulators can't differ on the same point, but if I have to take a different call on HFCs, I would talk to RBI and convince them. I don't see anything wrong if NHB takes the same path that the large regulator lays down.

How do you change this perception about NHB?

If we fund more private-public partnerships for low-cost housing and execute some of the government schemes as its active intermediary, the perception will change.

How do you intend to do this?

Our goal is housing for all. Maybe we can start taking equity in HFCs at an early stage or create some financial instruments to take that forward. Maybe, we can refinance them at an early stage because companies need hand holding at initial stages. Now, a player can receive refinance after three years of performance. We need to create an ecosystem where entrepreneurs, with deep pockets, could come and say they are willing to float HFCs. The idea is to increase the number to 100 from 6065 HFCs now.

All banks, which are large players in the home loan segment, follow a system of base rate (a declared floor rate, below which banks do not lend). NHB has not mandated base rate for HFCs...

A number of HFCs do not take deposits.So the question is how would they calculate base rate, and therefore, fixing a base rate becomes a difficult and tricky issue. But as the industry evolves, we would be open to the idea of base rate for HFCs.

Has the move to withdraw pre-payment penalty for floating rate home loans affected HFCs?

We are considering a proposal to create a window of protection for them for 12-18 months, and then the customer is free to shift to another lender. Of course, we need to consult RBI on this.

How will the limited window help housing finance companies?

HFCs bear a cost of sourcing a customer -say around Rs 3,000 per Rs 2,800 to account. They have to do valuation, check on credit history and property.So, let them at least recover this cost.We should allow them to recover this and then give the customer the freedom to move.

Are they seeing a lot of migration?

This is what they have conveyed, but we still haven't got concrete data. We are trying to gather data to find out about migration to other lenders.
Read More

East Delhi to Soon Get 8,000 Flats in its Two Smart Cities

"TOD Projects To Start Early Next Year, To Be Over In 5 Years"

The east side of the city is all set to get smart.Starting early next year, two new infrastructure projects offering 8,000 flats are coming up in Karkardooma and Trilokpuri.

To be built on TOD (transit-oriented development) guidelines, both the projects will give commercial as well as residential spaces. While the Karkardooma project will have 5,000 flats, at Trilokpuri--where the flats will come up right opposite Sanjay Lake--3,000 will be up for grabs. Also tagged as smart cities, the complexes will be built near Metro stations and will have landscaped parks and green areas. The buildings, too, will be totally green with complete recycling of waste, including plastic. The projects are being undertaken by National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC), a PSU. They will be completed in five years, said NBCC head Anoop Kumar Mittal.

NBCC, which will work on the projects in phases, plans to start sale of flats of the first phase by next year, said Mittal. Work on the Karkardooma project is going to start from March 2016 and that on the Trilokpuri project, also called the Lake View Complex, will start from February 2016. The cost of the Karkardooma project is around Rs 5,000 crore while that of the Trilokpuri project is Rs 2,000 crore, he added.

“Both the projects are in critical stages of planning and design. We have already identified the basic plan, including the number of flats that will be on offer, along with the commercial segment of the projects. Both will have an iconic, signature building of 100 storeys that will have both commercial and residential spaces,“ Mittal said.That's not all.

The project will be a green complex. It will follow the zero-discharge principle. All sewage generated within the project will be treated or recycled in-house. There will be no surface parking. “We will ensure that there is minimum vehicular movement,“ said the NBCC chief. Interestingly , the zero waste management is the zero w being undertaken by NBCC in its previous project too--the government flats built in New Moti Bagh. “All the waste, including solid waste, in the New Moti Bagh project is recycled by NBCC. In these two projects, even plastic will be recycled and converted into cooking gas,“ said Mittal.

Apart from the 100-storey signature towers, other towers within the complex will have 10-30 storeys. The Karkardooma project will take five years to complete and the Trilokpuri project will take four years to complete.

They will also give retail space, a five-acre park, sculptures, a laser park and a circular skywalk. According to NBCC, the EWS housing will be largely subsidized. Other units in the semi-luxury , middle-class and luxury housing, serviced apartments etc will be sold to the public like any private development. “NBCC will maintain the complex for 30 years,“ said Mittal. 
Read More

`Housing For All': Centre Identifies 305 Cities, Towns

The housing ministry has identified 305 cities and towns across nine states to start building houses for the poor in urban areas. The government has set the target to provide houses to two crore families belonging to the economically weaker section (EWS) in urban areas by 2022.

The states that are likely to gain are Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, J&K, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Telangana.Moreover, six other states --Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Uttarakhand -have agreed to implement six key reforms relating to clearances and approval for housing projects to accelerate their construction.

The Housing for All (Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojna) was launched on June 25. “Getting states to agree to the condition and signing of agreements with the Centre are also encouraging indications. Fifteen states have signed the agreement,“ a housing ministry spokesperson said.

The mandatory reforms that form part of the MoAs including the doing away with the requirement of separate non-agricultural permission in case land falls in the residential zone earmarked in any city master plan and amending plans earmarking land for affordable housing. Another major reform is to do away with approvals below certain built up area or plot size for EWS and low income groups.

Under the urban housing mission, Centre will provide assistance in the range of Rs one lakh and Rs 2.30 lakh per house under different components including in-situ redevelopment of slums using land as resource, credit linked subsidy scheme, affordable housing in partnership and beneficiary led individual construction improvement.

Officials said the announcement of list of cities and towns under Smart City Mission, AMRUT and Housing for All shows how there is a “clear convergence“ of implementation of the three schemes. The nine states that have identified 305 cities, also account for 26 smart cities and 136 AMRUT cities.

Union housing minister M Venkaiah Naidu said, “This convergence of urban schemes helps in better utilization of resources resulting in visible improvement in urban areas. I am glad that state governments are resorting to convergence based approach.“
Read More

Home Prices in NCR to Slightly Drop: Experts

"All of it really depends on how much focussed a builder is upon moving out the inventory"
With the real estate sector facing a slump across the NCR, experts say there is an urgent need for correction in property prices.

In fact, according to them, a slight drop in property rates could be expected in the next few months. But, all of it really depends on how much focussed a builder is upon moving out the inventory. The real estate sector has been affected by declining sales due to high prices and low demand. Currently, NCR builders could be having anything between 35 and 45% of apartments in cold storage, with Noida alone accounting for as many as 40,000 unsold units.

Experts say the sale of property in NCR has been at an all-time low in the last three years. "Huge inventories have been stacked up by builders and it will be wise for them to move their stock to keep their business rolling and meet existing commitments. The logjam will never end unless there is a price correction, but it all depends whether the builder has the bandwidth for it," said Ganesh Vasudevan, CEO of IndiaProperty.com, a real estate portal.

"Some 40,000 units are ready but remaining unsold in Noida, despite discounts and other benefits offered by developers. The next few months will determine how the market is moving, following the Okhla eco-sensitive zone demarcation," said Surabhi Arora, associate director (research) at Colliers International India, a realty consultant firm.

However, NCR builders say they are loaded with pending dues for leasing charges of existing land. With low demand and construction and input cost on a steady rise, the chances of rate cuts are bleak.

"While there is a huge inventory to move, the builders do not have the bandwidth to cut down rates at this time. The builders are already over stretched and there are huge costs piled upon most of them. While there is a need to move inventory, correcting rates is not something that is out there to happen immediately. Builders will wait and watch a bit," a senior member of Credai western UP, a developers' organization, said.

But experts say there is no other option than price correction.

"Why we think there could be a price correction is that the builders have no option at the moment due to a pile up of stocks and low demand," Madhavan said.

He added, "The price trend in Noida has shot up from Rs 2,800 per sq ft in 2014 to Rs 3,500 per sq ft in Noida on an average. There has to be a correction, for the buyers to show slightest interest in a bleak demand situation."

 Source: ET Realty
Read More

In 3 yrs Time, a Spanking New Terminal 1D

"Even standing room is scarce at Delhi's low-cost carriers' terminal. TOI unveils details of the plans to revamp it altogether"

A man Varma, a Karol Bagh-based exporter who flies frequently on work, dreads the thought of going to IGI Airport's Terminal 1D, from where domestic flights of budget airlines depart.He hates the serpentine queues there ­ the terminal is as crowded as any railway station or a bus terminus. In the peak hours, he has to line up for everything ­ from getting past the entry gates to checking in and then passing through the security check.

Even after that, it is difficult to find a seat in the buzzing waiting area because the proliferation of commercial outlets has eaten up the space available for seating. The way leading to the escalators and stairs that take the passenger to the ground-level bussing area is so narrow that one could miss it entirely .

Outside the white canopied terminal, finding a slot among the choked lanes to stop and let the passengers disembark is a big challenge for drivers. “Things are so bad during the peak departure hours that I am reminded of the chaotic Terminal 1B days (it was IGIA's only domestic terminal till 1D became functional in April 2009),“ says Varma. He points out a big difference. “Earlier, we did not pay to use the airport. Now we are levied steep airport charges to fly in and out of Delhi. And yet this is what we get after shelling out so much!“ rues Varma.

Three low cost carriers (LCCs) use Terminal 1D: IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir. They are the biggest budget carriers, led by IndiGo, that handle almost two-thirds of India's domestic traffic that is growing at 30%. Last month, 67.5 lakh people flew within the country, 29.3% more than the 52.2 lakh who boarded flights in July 2014. To meet the demand, LCCs are boosting their fleets. The 100-aircraft strong IndiGo is getting 430 more planes in the coming years. SpiceJet is also seeing a resurgence, while GoAir will begin receiving delivery of more aircraft soon.

Naturally , Terminal 1--which was built to annually handle 1.6 crore passengers--is choked today. Air Asia India, an LCC that recently started flights to and from Delhi, was even asked to operate from Terminal 3 for lack of space.

“Even in the current lean travel months of July-September when aircraft have low occupancy levels, the situation has got out of hand.Imagine what will happen when the festive season starts and flyer number swells,“ exclaims an airline official. “DIAL should have anticipated the overcrowding and planned expansion much earlier.“

For airlines, the chaos at 1D means delayed flights. It is a regular experience to see airline staff calling out names of passengers still standing in lengthy queues and hurry them out because their flights are ready for departure.Once a flight gets delayed, all the other sectors it is operating fall behind too.

Things are likely to improve, but not in a hurry. A couple of months ago, DIAL sought the responses of the airlines on an ex pansion plan for Terminal 1D. While DIAL did not comment on its plans to expand 1D for this article, the project aims to expand both the domestic departure and arrival terminals. The work is scheduled to be completed by 2018.

But people are asking for quicker measures. “If DIAL cannot provide immediate relief, it should at least stop asking users to pay airport charges,“ says an irate G K Saxena of Mayur Vihar. “Why is it charging us for standing in neverending queues?“ he continues. Varma would agree.

Airline officials suggest that DIAL should operationalize unutilized terminals until the expansion plan is implemented. These include Terminal 1A, Delhi's international terminal before the 1982 Asian Games and later the departure terminal for Indian Airlines and Kingfisher; T2, which was the international terminal till T3 was built; and the Haj terminal that is used only during the Haj season.

Aviation secretary R N Choubey , in charge of the terminal, is indeed considering temporary measures to ease the passengers' woes. But DIAL has a lot to do if it is to satisfy flyers like Saxena and Varma.
Read More
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)