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The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA) was passed by the Indian Parliament in March 2016. The Act came into force in May 2016.  According to the Act all projects with land over 500 sq. mts or with at least eight apartments will be registered with the Real Estate Regulatory Authority for launching the project. Once registered the developer will have to put all the details of the project on the website and its login will be provided to the investors. 70% of the amount being invested in the project has to be deposited in the banks. The developers will have to   sell the project based on the carpet area and not on the basis of super-built up area. A Real Estate Regulatory Authority and Appellate Tribunal will be set up state wise to look into the complaints of the investors. Stringent penalties are in place for the developers who do not show compliance to the provisions of the Act. The allotment has to be made on the promised time or else the investor can withdraw from the invested amount. Besides, there are many other provisions that protect the rights of the investor.

Definitely, RERA shall bring greater transparency and accountability in the business and promote a lot of positive sentiment amongst the customers. This in turn will differentiate chaff from the grain and only developers with a real and genuine legacy will be able to do business.

Real estate is a sound investment proposition always. However, since it entails investing hard earned money in large amounts, one should diligently and watchfully buy an apartment or a commercial space. The most important thing in terms of importance is the history of the builder. The builder should have delivered his previous projects in time and should have a sound reputation among the customers and general public. Second, importance thing is the location. A property located at the right place is bound to register higher growth in terms of its cost as well as rentals. In case one wants to set up residence, the property should be accessible from prominent landmarks, schools, bus stops, airports, hospitals and shopping centers. The property should be free of encumbrances and all necessary permissions especially from the pollution control authorities have to be in place. The building should be quake resistant and conform to fire safety norms. There should be elaborate parking space and trained watch and ward staff. The residential complex should have important features like the club house, swimming pool and lawns for relaxation and recreation. One should also check for the maintenance arrangements and quality of facilities like the elevator. The building material used should also be of the highest quality.

After, all one should be sure and doubly sure before placing the eggs in the basket!

Demonetization of the 500 and 1000 currency denomination is a step that has sent reverberations in the Indian polity and shock waves in the economy.  All of a sudden a major chunk of currency was sent out of circulation. As people turned up to deposit their demonetized notes in banks, people also started queuing up for cash to meet their daily needs. Since very little of Indian economy is plasticized, people faced tremendous difficulties in making cash transactions.

However, contrary to government expectations the public has deposited 14 lac crore value of old notes in the banks. This is almost 90% of the amount government believed was with the people.  According to government estimates it also included a large of amount in ‘black’, which it believed was the parallel economy that was slowing the pace of the economy.  The ‘redepoisting’ of that amount has belied government’s claim. Major opposition parties raised a clamour. Former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has claimed that demonetization will have a retarding effect on the world’s fastest growing economy of India.

Politics apart, we need to understand, however controversial a major regulatory decision be, the government always thinks in the favour of the public and economy. We need to stand by the government.  On other hand, we should not panic and let our financial growth continue. The savings and investments should go on.  The property rates in the secondary market are stabilizing. It is also a win-win proposition to invest in branded property and that developed by reputed builders and developers.  Good builders stand by their commitment. Realty prices are likely to shoot up in near future so investing in a luxury property at a good location is always a worthwhile idea.

In the ‘90s and the first half of this century, Mohali indeed missed the bus. Mohali’s loss was Gurgaon’s or Bengaluru’s and Hyderabad’s gain in terms of IT and infrastructural development. Although, Mohali was much better placed in terms of manpower availability and living standards, as compared to the other cities, yet they got the lion’s share of investment. By the early ‘90s, Mohali became known as a semi-conductor city and an electronics shop. However, the entrepreneurs of Mohali could not keep pace with technological innovations of the day. Moreover, the rise of China as a manufacturing hub of most electronics components companies, further dented Mohali’s industry.

The IT industry, on the other hand, could not really take off and by 2005 Mohali had completely lost the game. The political leadership failed to create a visionary roadmap for the future, despite the city possessing a surfeit of things in its favour. Unfortunately, even Punjab Infotech, a government body that gave directions in this regard, could not perform to the required levels.

Big names in the global IT scenario like Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, Google, Yahoo, and Cisco, did not even consider Mohali. It was only Quark, the desktop publishing software leaders who came to Mohali, but that too was at the instance of Kamar Aulakh, the CEO, India operations of the company. This was purely an individual effort of Kamar, a local lad, who always dreamt of bringing investment to the city. If concerted efforts had been made in this direction, the region would have been a lot more prosperous with the generation of hundreds of thousands of job openings.

One of the biggest drawbacks attributed to the city was lack of an international airport. But now, with the opening of Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport, things are really looking up for the city. There is a massive opportunity for investment in the IT sector. A large number of computer professionals graduating from the engineering colleges of the region need jobs. There are a lot of investors, especially among the NRIs, ready to invest in Mohali, along with entrepreneurial talent among the local youth.

Branded and non-branded real estate sector is present in the region in a big way. While a large number of malls and residential enclaves are already functional, a lot more are ready to begin operations soon.

All that is required now is a bit of governmental support and initiative on the part of the entrepreneurs and Mohali could well be the Gurgaon next. Let us look forward to the giant leap ahead.