Embassy Office Parks REIT has committed more than Rs 300 crores to its ESG program for its pan-India portfolio spanning 43.6 million square feet. At the 'ESG Occupier Connect' forum, Embassy REIT commissioned the first phase of its 20 MW solar rooftop project, which is one of the largest solar rooftop projects in Asia. This project aims to produce 30 million units of solar power, which will offset about 25,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.Read more

Various citizens' groups in Pune have appealed to the state government and the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to reintroduce a property tax discount scheme for self-occupied homes in civic areas. The special discount, which was initially introduced in 1970, offered a 40 percent reduction in property tax for self-occupied properties. However, since the discount was never notified as an act by any state government, it was declared illegal by auditors of the Union government and was scrapped in 2019.Read more

BPEA EQT formerly known as Baring PE Asia is in advanced discussion to take stake in Shriram Housing Finance Ltd. (SHFL) a mortgage subsidiary of Shriram Finance. The group is yet to decide the stake amount and sources close to the parties believe the deal should be completed in the first quarter of the upcoming fiscal year. Shriram Housing Finance has 7,200 crores of rupees in assets under management (AUM) as of December 2022. About 85% of the housing finance subsidiary is owned by Shriram Finance, and the remaining is owned by Valiant Mauritius (P) Ltd.Read more

The Indian government is aiming to develop comprehensive infrastructure for close to 100 industrial clusters in collaboration with state governments, in line with the Gati Shakti Masterplan (NMP) principles. The NMP features a GIS platform that integrates geospatial data related to infrastructure in India and the planning portals of various ministries and departments. The digital component of the NMP will enable the government to identify infrastructure deficiencies within a 150 km to 200 km radius of a cluster and address them in conjunction with the respective state governments.Read more

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

Blackstone Inc has prevented investors from withdrawing their investments from its real estate income trust (BREIT) worth $71 billion, due to the high number of redemption requests that the private equity firm has received. In February, BREIT fulfilled only $1.4 billion in redemption requests, which accounts for just 35% of the total withdrawal requests of approximately $3.9 billion for that month. BREIT informed investors of this in a letter.Read more

Embassy Property Developments, also known as Embassy Group, has recently announced that it has sold a portion of its shareholding in Embassy Office Parks REIT to Bain Capital. This strategic sale is aimed at strengthening Embassy Group's balance sheet by reducing overall debt by approximately 30% before June 30, 2023. According to a media release by the company, this sale will help Embassy Group achieve its goal of reducing debt and provide it with a stronger financial foundation.Read more

At a recent real estate conference organised by NAREDCO, Irfan A Kazi, Chief Investment Officer of SWAMIH Investment Fund, SBICAP Ventures Ltd, stated that approximately Rs 10,000 crore has been sanctioned for the fund so far, while Rs 5,000 crore remains unallocated. The SWAMIH fund has facilitated the completion of 20,577 housing units across 26 projects, with total funding amounting to Rs 2,200 crore. Their objective now is to complete 80,000 homes over the next three years.Read more

A First Information Report (FIR) has been registered against Gauri Khan, and two real estate developers – Mahesh and Anil Tulsiani of Tulsiani Group in Mumbai city. The complainant, a resident of Mumbai, claims to have purchased a flat in Lucknow in 2015 from the group for a sum of Rs 86 lacs but is yet to receive possession. Gauri Khan is the brand ambassador for Tulsiani Group. All three have been charged under section 409 (the criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code.Read more

NoBroker, the Indian real estate platform, has received a $5 million investment from Google as an extension of its Series E funding round, bringing the total raised in the round to $215 million at a valuation of $1.01 billion. The Google investment was made as part of the $10bn India Digitization Fund announced by the company in 2020, and follows earlier backing by General Atlantic, Tiger Global, and Moore Strategic Ventures.Read more