The Bombay High Court recently made a ruling regarding stamp duty payments for members of housing societies undergoing redevelopment. The court determined that members do not need to pay stamp duty on their allotted permanent accommodation as part of the project. This ruling brings an end to a long-standing legal dispute that began in 2006 and is a significant relief to the real estate sector.Read more

According to a report published by Knight Frank India, property registrations in Mumbai fell to 9,286 units from 10,379 units for the same period last year indicating a drop of eleven percent YoY. These registrations are said to have generated over Rs 1,000 crore in revenues for the state. Of the properties registered, more than eight percent were residential properties. Experts are citing raising home loan rates are the chief reason for the drop in registrations.Read more

Mahindra Lifespace Developers, a real estate company, announced in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange that its Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Arvind Subramanian, has resigned. The Board of Directors also approved the appointment of Amit Kumar Sinha as an additional director, effective February 23, 2023. Sinha will also serve as the Managing Director (Designate) of the company until May 22, 2023. Starting on May 23, 2023, he will take on the role of full-time MD & CEO for a period of five years until May 22, 2028.Read more

The Bank of Baroda's stressed assets recovery branch has taken partial possession of the Nirmal Mall located in Mumbai's Mulund area on January 24, 2023, due to the mall's failure to repay a loan amount of Rs 161 crore. On December 6, 2019, the bank issued a demand notice to the mall and its Managing Director, Dharmesh Jain, calling for the loan to be repaid within 60 days. The partial possession was carried out under the Sarfaesi (Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest) Act, 2002.Read more

The state government of Maharashtra has struck down the April 2022 decision of the MVA regime to prohibit redevelopment of single buildings in a MHADA complexes. Residents whose buildings may have deteriorated more than neighbouring structures can now apply for redevelopment and need not wait for cluster redevelopment to take place. Earlier this week, the President of India signed off on amendments to the MHADA Act thereby allowing owners and tenants to apply for redevelopment of building termed ‘hazardous’ or ‘dangerous’ independently if faced with opposition by local authorities.Read more

Disgruntled homebuyers of Kalpataru township project Immensa in Kolshet Thane, staged a protest outside the company’s head office in Santacruz earlier last week. More than fifty individuals gathered during the day with placards and demanded an explanation for the extended delay in handing over possession of the flats. Two senior representatives of the company supposedly met the protesters to address their concerns and put them at ease. As per the MahaRERA website, the project is now scheduled to be delivered in 2025.Read more

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's Tree Authority has approached the Supreme Court seeking approval to cut 1,134 trees in Film City, Mumbai, to facilitate the Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR) project�a key infrastructure initiative aimed at connecting the Western and Eastern Express Highways and reducing travel time by nearly an hour. Respecting the Court's earlier directive barring tree felling in Aarey without explicit permission, the Authority clarified that the proposed development does not fall within the protected Aarey Milk Colony. The trees are required for constructing twin tunnels over a 6.2-km stretch, particularly for pit excavation and tunnel boring machine operations. A shift in the launching shaft�s location to avoid displacing a tribal hamlet has also increased the number of trees to be felled. The Tree Authority has sought permission to remove 95 trees in the first phase and requested the liberty to return for further approvals in the next phase of the project.Read more