After medi-city, IT-city: Bio-Technology park to come up near Mohali

By Bajaj Investors 

Following the setting up of medi-city, an ancillary site comprising multispeciality hospitals, in New Chandigarh (Mullanpur Garibdas) and IT-city, a site for IT companies, near airport road, the state government is set to establish a Bio-Technology park near Mohali. The government will be offering land to Bio-Technology companies, for setting up the park, in the Progressive Punjab Investors Summit 2019, scheduled to be held in December. The government has planned to acquire 84.1 acre land in Chao Majra, Chilla, Raipur Khurd and Mauli Baidwan villages for the same. The project will be located at a distance of 9 km from the international airport and 13 km from Chandigarh. A Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) told Chandigarh Newsline that the land would be offered for companies to set up Bio-Technology park as private and state universities were also coming up in the area, which would provide ample workforce for the companies. National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) is also near the project site. “The government has allowed setting up a mixed land use zone in Rajpura, near Mohali and the Bio-Technology park is being planned in a way that the requirements of the industry can be met at one go. A green industry is also coming up at Rajpura, which will boost the new project,” the officer added. On being asked about the response of the companies to the project, the officer said that during investors summit, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) would be signed with the Bio-Technology companies, however, at present, there was no company which had showed interest. The officer said, “We have estimated that the establishment of a Bio-Technology park will generate employment for more than 50,000 youths of the state and will also provide business to hundreds of people and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The state government is working to promote medical tourism and Bio-Technology park is a part of this plan.” At present, the IT city is in its nascent stages of development, while the work for medi-city has almost reached its completion. However, the state government has not yet declared a dedicated zone for setting up the Bio-Technology park.

Finance Minister hints at booster dose for realty sector

By Bajaj Investors 

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the government and Reserve Bank are working to resolve the issues being faced by realty sector. Admitting that realty sector has been left out of the booster measures announced earlier, she said the sector has a spillover effect on many sectors, especially the core sector. "The government is very keen and is working very clearly together with the RBI to see how best we can, where necessary, tweak the existing norms to help the people who are affected in the realty sector," she said at an NSE event. It can be noted that after the July budget roiled the market and business sentiment, the government has rolled back many of the tax measures and also went to the extent of drastically cutting corporate tax to 22 percent--making the biggest tax giveaways to the tune of Rs 1.3 lakh crore. Admitting that the so far announced measures have not helped revive the sentiment in the real estate, she said since August the government has been making various interventions to revive the market and consumption demand. Still there is a lot of work to be done and "one particular sector which I have not touched, but which has a lot of positive impact and also can effect an impact for the stock market, is the real estate sector." She said many funds are ready to invest but want more policy support. "There are many alternative funds which are now approaching us saying we would like to do something with you all so long as there is some supporting mechanism available for reviving the realty sector," she said. It can be noted that since the note-ban in November 2016 and the soon-to-be followed Rera introduction in May 2017 and subsequent rollout of the GST in July 2017, the realty market, which used to thrive on black money all these years, was hit hard and is yet to recover from the triple shocks. The liquidity crisis in the NBFC sector has also played its role. 

Tribune flyover soil testing work starts

   

By Bajaj Investors 

As the UT Administration has finalised the tender for the construction of the Tribune flyover, the company selected to handle the project has started a soil-testing survey for the much-awaited project. In the financial bids opened last month, the UT Engineering Department had selected a firm, DRAIPL-DMR (JV), to carry out the project. Sources said the firm had appointed Dr Ghuman and Gupta Geotech Consultants, Mohali, to carry out the soil survey to know the load-bearing capacity of earth on stretch of the flyover before starting the construction. Inderjit Singh, site engineer of the company, said the soil testing would take around 70 days. He said the soil testing would reveal the load-bearing capacity of the earth. The foundation design for the project will be based on the report. The firm, DRAIPL-DMR (JV), was selected as it quoted the lowest rate of Rs 137 crore to carry out the project in the financial bids opened last month. The Administration has now sought the concurrence of the Ministry of Road Transport before officially allotting the work. The company will have to complete the project in two years. The Administration invited bids for the project in 2019. The project is already running late after its foundation stone was laid by Punjab Governor and UT Administrator VP Singh Badnore on March 3, 2019. The flyover project will start near the GMCH roundabout and cover Tribune Chowk along Dakshin Marg. The construction of the flyover and the underpass will help ease traffic congestion at the busiest junction of the city, having the highest concentration of vehicular traffic. Flyover will help ease traffic congestion The flyover project will start near the GMCH roundabout and cover Tribune Chowk along Dakshin Marg. The construction of the flyover and the underpass will help ease traffic congestion at the busiest junction of the city, having the highest concentration of vehicular traffic.

Government considering giving more power to RERA authorities

By Bajaj Investors 

Real estate regulators from across states have gathered in Lucknow and sources said they would push for amendments in the Real Estate Regulation and Development Act (Rera) to give them more teeth, particularly to execute orders passed by them. They are also likely to flag emerging issues before the government including financing requirement for the sector, which is saddled with stuck projects across the country. “Our ultimate task is to see that stuck projects get completed and hence we have to look at liquidity issues,” said a regulator.On Sunday, housing secretary Durga Shankar Mishra hinted that the government would consider amendments in the law. “He said government is considering to give more power to regulators so that they can take bold steps,” an official statement by UP Rera said. A couple of Rera chiefs TOI spoke to said though the law had made an impact across states, there were some challenges to take it ahead. They said some legal issues needed to be resolved for effective functioning of regulators. “This is the first time that there is a concerted effort to identify issues, discuss them and make recommendations to the government. The main focus is how to strengthen the system,” one of them said.