REDUCTION IN PROPERTY TAX ON THE CARDS IN MAHARASHTRA

As the property graph continues to go down, the state government plans to reduce the property rates in the Ready Reckoner to reflect reality. The reduction might well be in the range of 10 to 30 percent of the rates for various areas in the existing Ready Reckoner. The decrease in Thane and Pune, where the recession has hit badly, will be more. The rates in it are used as a basis for the calculation of stamp duty charged by the government on registration of property deals.

DLF TO INVEST RS.1000 CRORES IN MULTIPLEX BUSINESS

Real estate giant DLF is likely to invest about Rs 1,250 crore on expanding its multiplex business, DT Cinema, by adding about 500 screens in the next four to five years. Currently, DLF is at a pre-operative stage with about seven screens. In another four to five years time, the target is to have 500 screens across India. By September this year, two DT Cinema complexes in Delhi and one in Chandigarh would be operational and 35 screens are expected to be functional in the next seven months. Once these initial projects start, the mid-term aim is to have about 150 screens operational within two years. Apart from north Indian cities, DT Cinema plans to set up multiplexes in Hyderabad , Chennai, Kochi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Goa andKolkata. The size of each multiplex could be between 35,000 sq ft to 90,000 sq ft. DLF believes that the multiplex business offered a big opportunity as there is a shortage of nearly 40,000 screens in India.