• The generally liberal policies of the Government have been very helpful for the NRI investor subject to the compliance of FEMA.
• That there is no restriction on the number of properties they can purchase in India is a great advantage.
• Besides, they do not require the RBI permission as is wanted in several other spheres.
• Banks have been willing contributors to the NRI’s who wanted to add such an asset treating them on par with Resident Indians.
• Payments for purchase can be made through  funds remitted from abroad or out of balances in their NRE NRO FCNR accounts.
• In case of the NRI’s inability to travel to India in the course of a sale, the facility of Power of Attorney given to a close relative is very helpful.
• Stamp duty and Registrations processes are quite easy to understand and friendly.
• Loan Repayments are permissible from in he NRI’s FCNR / NRO / or  NRE a/c or a relative can be deputed to repay the same.
• The Rental advantage is always there in that the rental returns have been steady and worthwhile.
• Investment in India makes sense because of a disciplined stock market and its professional regulation.
• The feel-good feeling given by the Indian economy is a shawl of security.
• Stabilization of markets , earlier on ,  have been helpful to the cause of providing trust.
• The proposed single window investment promotion council planned by the Government looks a good promise to remove the red tape.
• To an NRI, a  base in the homeland is an added security.
• The revision in investor laws has allowed a surge of investment.

NRI‘s can set up family trusts abroad for education of his children/ maintenance of his family members. Such trusts can also be Asset Protection Trusts( including property )  where the assets held by the trust are free from attachment by the creditors.

Compared to times by-gone where the NRI was confronted from the Local Panchayat /Municipal /Corporation levels and was struggling to set foothold with property laws,income tax laws,wealth tax issues, succession legislation,land ceilings and others times have changed to welcoming the NRI’s with a red carpet and they in turn giving such an extraordinary response.

And lastly,  the depreciating Indian Rupee has proved a great advantage in that the NRI gets “so much more for less”.

Surely, GOOD TIMES AHEAD for the NRI clan !!!

After a long hiatus, the scenario at the Indian Real Estate sector has slowly started to liven up. The real estate sector in India has been struggling to make an impact with the people for quite some time now after a year long period of stagnation and declining transactional activity. However, in recent months, there has been noticeable development in the real estate front. Things are looking positive in the realty market as both property investors and property developers are coming out in numbers to revive the industry.

Simultaneously, the demand for housing and commercial space in India among the NRI’s is on the rise. The growing consumer demands has made the real estate builders think fresh and innovatively. The real estate developers are working hard towards meeting the expectations of the NRI’s who return to India for settling down. They are taking into consideration their tastes and upgrading the trends for the year 2012 so as to cater to the needs of all the classes by creating global standards of living at an affordable pricing.

The Real Estate trends that will be most sought-after by NRI home buyers in the coming year 2012 will be as follows:

• NRI home buyers are going to be thinking long-term as they basically looking to settle down here. It must be noted that NRI’s home buyers are thinking advance for the 1st time in a decade ie; homeowners are simply planning on staying longer.

• Markets reveal that the prices will drop. Foreclosures increase will visible anywhere between 7-10%. Pricing competitively, yet in a reasonable manner will make the customer to take notice of the property over the gazillion other choices existing in the market.

• It is common knowledge that no matter how low the mortgage rates are, they are bound to increase over a period of time. In order for governments to recover from their own debt loads, rates will eventually start to rise up. Long term rates are expected to rise sometime around mid to late 2012. However, keeping the mortgage rates low will help both the property seller and the home buyer.

• All new construction concerns need to be as early as possible. The most common issue being housing shortages has been an impending issue since early 2011. This needs to be given due attention so as NRI’s don’t feel the pinch or any hardships while looking for a suitable luxury apartment in the coming year.

EPC World Awards is considered as one of India’s first recognition awards for industries, which recognizes and rewards the companies and individuals who have performed exceptionally well towards national development and outwitting competition from all around the globe.

GRK Reddy, Chairman and Managing Director, MARG Group, while speaking on the occasion quoted, “With over two decades, MARG Group has a built a reputation of reliability and quality in the infrastructure space across the country. With technological innovation as a focus, MARG’s EPC division brings in the best of technology and knowledge partners for all our projects and is a major driver towards our goal to be a billion dollar company by 2014. MARG’s domain expertise in port, marine infrastructure, industrial EPC and other infrastructure projects will add value for the successful completion and on-time delivery of the project. This award reaffirms our faith in the pioneering spirit that inspires us to create inclusive and sustainable infrastructure projects that benefit the society as a whole.”

MARG EPC has had the coveted opportunity of building MARG Karaikal port, today considered as one of the finest private sector ports in the country. Master Planning, Engineering, Design, On and Off shore construction, Project Management and Value Engineering has completely transformed the landscape of marine architecture.

MARG Group, it must be noted, is currently one of the top-ranked real-estate houses in the country with offices spread across India, Singapore and China. Their projects are estimated to be of net worth than Rs. 3000 crores under execution with global partners in the Infra space. MARG’s businesses are structured under 4 specific business divisions – Marine Infrastructure & Services, Urban & Industrial Infrastructure, EPC and Real Estate. 

Consolidating on the MoU  signed for  developing of the Bellary and Bijapur airports, real estate developer MARG has entered into another MoU in Karnataka, this time with the State Government to develop and operate several infrastructural projects  in agriculture, agri-industry and rural infrastructural domains totalling an investment of Rs 40 billion spread over the next 5 – 7 years.

A great recognition for MARG‘S work.

Tsunami hit Nagapattinam and Karaikal districts  will soon witness an explosion of knowledge dissemination and infrastructural growth in the partnership fusion of M.S.SWAMINATHAN RESEARCH FOUNDATION and MARG.

A GREAT WAY TO PAYBACK SOCIETY AND DEVELOP RURAL INDIA.

Seeking to provide value enriched homes and building everlasting relationships, MARG , India’s premier housing conglomerate currently offering  MARG SWARNABHOOMI, will be participating in a major way in CONNECT 2011- CII’S initiative to innovate and provide leadership to entrepreneurship in the Tamilnadu scenario.

Furthering its mission to harnessing the power of human spirit concurrently with superior technology,  MARG seeks to drive its best to all spheres of the society through CONNECT 2011.

MARG ,  having the mission of giving the best homes in India is a partner involved in the GREEN KALAM initiative by providing schools, homes, businesses and organisations with the kind of tools and taining required to promote ecology and a culture of conservation.

Their contribution to their share of saplings, part of the million saplings project has brought in praise from all quarters.

MARG is extremely proud to be partner in this initiative with the thought ” THINK GLOBAL, ACT LOCAL”

The mission to GO GREEN initiated by the comedian VIVEK on a suggestion of former President KALAM will help MARG keep its commitment to pay back to society in the cause of environment.

Different lenders follow different methodologies.

A)  FIXED HOME LOANS WITH A RESET CLAUSE :
Here rates are fixed for an agreed period and revised thereafter. These have small 2-5 years as a fixed component and are more reasonable to the borrower.
B)  FIXED HOME LOANS WITHOUT A RESET CLAUSE :
The interest component does not change for the  entire tenure of loan.  They are the most expensive kind.

C)  FLOATING RATE HOME LOAN:
These rates may change at any point of time with the borrower’s EMI changing as also his privilege to change the quantum of loan. They are linked to the Bank’s Base Rate and change over periods of time due to a variety of factors.

Not to worry, because the average middle class Indian is always in a need to add a home to his asset base and this could be the best time to do so for a variety of reasons.

While Europe’s Banks are in a lending squeeze and American housing has been witnessing a down trend for the last several years, the Indian situation is vastly different and healthy because the substantial borrower’s contribution has been a significant hedge in any home loan transaction in stark contrast to low borrower’s contribution component in the USA.

Besides the removal of the foreclosure  penal provision that the RBI has sent in its latest circular to Banks is a boon to many existing borrowers and an assurance to the current borrower that he will not unnecessarily lose his money should he chose to repay earlier than scheduled .

Strengthening the position of Bank lending out of concern following excess flow of banking funds the RBI restricted the Home Loan to 80% of the cost of property. But otherwise, the Government has taken supportive view on home loans in tandem to its commitment and has continued the teaser loans till March 2011. SBI ended its teaser rates from April 30, 2011 and other lenders followed suit. Coinciding with a hike in the BBR in May 2011 , SBI dropped the prepayment charges on home loan schemes- a small savings for the buyer. Currently, the interest rates have stabilized at 10.5%. With inflation under 9% and low economic growth rate, no more hikes are expected for the next quarter. Many banks have come with renewed attractive fixed schemes for 1-5 year periods.Conversions have been made relatively hassle free.

The SBI Home Loans have a major advantage in that they use the daily reducing balance method, have very low processing charges, have no hidden costs,minimal or negligible administrative charges,no prepayment penalties and a wide net work of branches to chose from.

Over all, the scenario promises to stabilize itself in the foreseeable future and the best time to buy your home could be now.

Local sources have informed us that this slaying of dogs has been done by persons working in the Cheyur Panchayat and we have reported the matter to the village panchayat public representatives of Kodur, Seekinankuppam and Madayambakkam and they are well aware of this matter.

These practices have been prevalent for a long time in the villages and we are in full agreement that this should stop with immediate effect.

As an urgent endeavour on our part , we now propose to work closely with Blue Cross & the Village Panchayats in the near vicinity of MARG Swarnabhoomi to vaccinate the 600 odd dogs currently in the area, with the intent of not just eradicating rabies but also to develop sensitivity and compassion towards the stray dogs.

In the meantime, we are also doing an internal due diligence to find if any of our employees were aware of this incident and if they were, then how come they did not show compassion to the dogs?

After this internal investigation, we will present the case to concerned and ensure that the culprits are brought to justice.

This unfortunate incident has saddened the entire MARG family that is known for corporate governance and ethical standards. We pledge that we will selflessly work in our areas of impact to try and avoid any such incident in the future.