Good morning, this Tuesday's blurbs are truly lit.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration has tied up with the Dubai government to develop all kinds of real estate across the union territory, and new proptech tools are democratising critical information for common folks.
And before you dive into today's email, you should know that Apple's supplier Foxconn is becoming the er, Android for electric vehicles.
Aatm Nirbhar J&K
In a first, the Jammu and Kashmir administration has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of Dubai for multi-faceted real estate development projects.
Zooming In
Per the pact, industrial parks, IT towers, multipurpose towers, logistics, medical colleges, super specialty hospitals and more assets will be developed in the union territory, jointly with the Dubai govt.
The essence of this agreement is to help Jammu and Kashmir scale new heights in industrialisation, sustainable growth and much needed employment generation.
The Backstory
During the announcement of this MoU, Union Minister Piyush Goyal recalled that during his recent visit to Dubai, king Sultan Ahmed had expressed his interest to visit India, especially the Jammu and Kashmir region to invest in the real estate business.
Goyal went ahead and made the invitation to the king and that resulted in this landmark MoU being inked.
Looking Ahead
Goyal said to the press, "people from Dubai will now throng J&K and the UT will go a long way in Tourism and Real Estate business".
Jammu and Kashmir LG, Manoj Sinha tweeted, "We are committed to develop a new industrial culture in Jammu Kashmir. This MoU is about Jammu Kashmir's prospect and I am confident it will set the pace in the business sector of the future that are key to the prosperity of the people."
Housing Bengaluru Credibly
Global tech hub Bengaluru has a very big land fraud problem and we have written about it before.
In brief, with credible Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) plots scarce and unaffordable, uncountable folks have fallen for dubious land ownership schemes and lost money.
A lot of that will now change, with the BDA building the Dr. Shivaram Karanth Layout - a 3,546 acre layout on the outskirts of Bengaluru, which will offer 30,000 development sites.
Awesome. Tell Me More
In the works since 2007, this is the first time that the BDA is mega serious about building the layout with all the necessary infrastructure and amenities.
The layout will be built on land acquired across 17 villages located between Hesaraghatta and Doddaballapura villages.
The entire area of 3,546 acres, which was originally identified for the project has already witnessed building construction over 1,027 acres. The remaining land will be transformed into a modern layout.
Whose Land Is It?
Land belongs to local residents of the 17 villages but beat this, it's going to cost the BDA almost nothing to acquire. Thanks to a win-win barter that's being supervised by the Supreme Court.
Every individual who relinquishes 1 acre of land for the layout will get back 8 sites of around 1,200 sq. ft. each. On the flip side, BDA will develop around 16 sites per acre, meaning everyone stays happy.
Finally, Will It Be Built?
Highly likely. The infrastructure and amenities cost for the project is around INR 4,500 crore and plot sales have already begun to fund this expense.
P:S: Corner plots are flying faster than bananas.
However, with land buyers waiting for over 5 years to take possession of their plots in BDA's Kempegowda Layout, there is a demand for an escrow to be created, to ensure that funds are used only for the development of the Shivaram Karanth Layout this time.
Half A Cup Extra
- Kerala opened near-overflowing dams yesterday after at least 22 people died when heavy rains lashed the region over the weekend. 😢
- Lifestyle focussed, mid segment hotel chain Ibis to invest over INR 500 crore to add four new properties by FY24.
- How Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) are the perfect bite sized option in your investment menu.
Democratic Tech
Venture capital is attracted to proptech like never before, providing the real estate sector with a seemingly endless stream of innovative tech solutions to increase the efficiency of everything from collecting rent payments to constructing mega projects.
And with all that tech prowess now in common hands, new startups as well as resident groups are now developing their own tools to fight back, particularly against erring developers, projects and landlords.
What's Hot?
Across major global cities, groups are appearing out of the woodwork silicon chips, with technology meant to hold bad landlords and developers more accountable.
Proptech innovation efforts include improving transparency about projects left to languish, tagging developers with poor delivery history and uncovering landlords leading unjust pushes for evictions.
Heck, in Baltimore city, scannable QR codes are being added to 17,000 vacant properties, providing free and instant information on the property owner and what’s happening with the project.
How?
We found that typically, this new line of proptech uses volunteers across a city who go about taking property pictures and adding notes on the state of the property, brief history, and the owner/developer information.
This Helps;
Renters and home buyers who are often in the dark about the bad side of such real estate and their owners/developers. Publicly sourced credible information is the only way to ensure peace of mind during a home buying decision today.
Municipal bodies, who are accessing property and owner data to evaluate tax defaults on properties across their jurisdiction. How predictable is that? 🤷♀️
In fact, such a collaboration sent canvassers to 60,000 tax-delinquent properties across Detroit in 2020, to warn residents and educate them about ways to avoid displacement.
This Doesn't Help;
When the information amassed does not reach the people it is essentially intended for.
When landlords and developers, using the same information can easily identify distressed properties to do what they sometimes do best - make housing a little more unaffordable.
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Hoping the day goes really really well for all of you.
See you tomorrow.
💙
☕ The Crew@Ginger Chai