How Green is your Property?

With the population in India rising drastically from time to time, and the urbanization also rising up, there is a radical growth in power consumption. It has become very necessary to conserve power and energy, due to which eco-friendly or 'green' buildings are coming up in various parts of the country. At present, India has around 267 certified green buildings, and the government is supporting the plan of more eco-friendly buildings to be built up in the country.

How Green Is Your Property

A green building is one that conserves natural resources by using less water and reducing the use of plastic and waste material. It reduces water consumption by 30-70% and energy consumption by 30-50%. Green projects include water treatment and waste treatment plants, rain water harvesting system, solar air-conditioning, solar heating, good ventilation and strategically planted trees. Hence, they optimize energy efficiency, generate less waste and provide healthy spaces.

These days, there are many builders who tag their buildings as 'green' only because they provide landscape gardens or lawns. But, this is not right. In order to tag your property as eco-friendly or green, you need to have specific certifications by certain committees assigned for the duty like Indian Green Building Council (IGBC), Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) and Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA), who give certifications or ratings based on parameters like design, construction materials, ventilation, lighting, water management, waste management and energy efficiency. Let us see how.

Indian Green Building Council (IGBC)

The IGBC has rating programmes for both residential as well as commercial buildings. For residential properties, it gives ratings based on the following categories.

·        Site Preservation & Restoration

·        Site Planning & Design

·        Water Efficiency

·        Energy Efficiency

·        Materials & Resources

·        Innovation & Design Process

For commercial or factory properties, the following categories are considered.

·        Soil erosion control measures in future

·        Changes in design to accommodate requirements like lifts, rest rooms, etc.

·        Change to low flow water fixtures

·        Rainwater harvesting

·        Limit turf areas

·        Policy for use of green materials in future

·        Minimum fresh air ventilation

·        Comfort conditions

·        Eco-friendly housekeeping materials

Here is a summary of how IGBC rates residential and commercial properties.

Certification                      Context                                Projects with                     Projects without              Factory

level                                                                                      interiors                              interiors

                                                                                                (for owners)                      (for builders)

Certified                              Best                                       32-39                                     30-36                                     51-60

Silver                                     Outstanding                       40-47                                     37-44                                     61-70

Gold                                      National excellence        48-59                                     45-55                                     71-80

Platinum                              Global leadership             60-80                                     56-75                                     81-100

Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE)

The BEE is an agency that was created in March 2002 under the provisions of India's 2001 Energy Conservation Act. It has been created to develop programs which will increase the conservation and efficient use of energy in India. As far as properties are concerned, it is applicable for those buildings that have a connected load of 100 KW or more. The ratings are done on a 1 to 5 star scale, with 5 star labelled buildings being the most efficient. This rating is applicable only for a period of 5 years from the date of issue. The ratings are done based on the use of the building, hours of operation, climatic zone and the space.

Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment (GRIHA)

GRIHA is conceived by the Center for Research on Sustainable Building Science (CRSBS), TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute, New Delhi) and developed jointly with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). It is currently operating under ADARSH (Association for Development and Research on Sustainable Habitats) and is supported by the National Advisory Council (NAC) and Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). The GRIHA certification is eligible for buidlings that are spread over 2500 square meters or more. GRIHA rates the buildings from 1 to 5 stars, based on 34 parameters, which are divided into four groups, that are -

·        Site selection and site planning

·        Building planning and construction

·        Building operation and maintenance

·        Innovation

Let us see how buildings are rated by GRIHA.

Points achieved          GRIHA ratings

            50-60                         1 star 

            61-70                         2 stars

            71-80                         3 stars

            81-90                         4 stars

            91-100                      5 stars

Now that you know quite a bit about certifications of green buildings, when you think of purchasing one, do ask for the right certification from the builder or owner of the property and then decide on how eco-friendly the property is. One of the best green projects in Bangalore is the AdiseshGreen City, which is spread over 60 acres of land and is built in a non-pollution zone of Narasapura, with a wide range of amenities including water treatment plants, sewage treatment plants and rain water harvesting. You can also check for other properties by Adisesh Projects around this beautiful area like villas in Hoskote, Malur and Devanahalli.

What Rules do NRIs have to Follow to Invest In Real Estate in India?

With the decrease in the value of the “Rupee”, NRIs are more interested to invest in real estate in India. It is not as difficult for NRIs to invest in Indian properties as it was earlier. Previously, the NRIs had to run around the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) for approvals. But now, the rules fall under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and the paperwork has considerably reduced. Hence, the task has become easier, which is leading to more and more NRIs coming in to purchase properties in India.

Rules For NRI Investments in Indian Real Estate

 Adisesh Green City in Hoskote Bangalore provides some of the best properties for NRIs to purchase in India. Its 30 acres land in a non-polluted zone, surrounded by top MNC’s and automotives like Honda, Mahindra, Volvo and Benz makes it the perfect place for investment.

Though there is less paper work and approvals required, there are still many rules to be followed, which are as under.

·        A citizen of India, that is an NRI who holds an Indian passport, need not need any approvals. Also, PIOs need not require approvals, unless they are citizens of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, China, Iran, Nepal or Bhutan.

·        The buyer needs to submit some documents for purchasing the property that include PAN card, address proof, passport size photographs along with passport in case of an NRI and an OCI/PIO in case of an OCI/PIO.

·        They can make their payments either by transferring funds to India through regular banking channels or by debit to any of their non-resident bank accounts like Non-Resident Rupee (NRE) or Non-Resident Ordinary Rupee (NRO) or Foreign Currency Non-Resident (FCNR). But, they need to pay only in Indian rupees. No other forms of currency or Traveller’s Cheques are applicable.

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·        NRIs can take a home loan for purchasing a property in India upto 80% of the total property value. The remaining amount needs to be funded by the NRIs themselves. The loan can be granted to them on the same criteria as those to resident Indians. The only difference is that a resident Indian can claim a deduction only up to Rs 1.5 lakhs for home loan interest. But, there are no limits for an NRI to claim deductions. The loan, however, needs to be paid back in Indian Rupees only.

·        NRIs do not have any restrictions on the number of residential or commercial properties that they buy. But, they are not allowed to purchase any kind of agricultural land, plantation property or farm house. They can only have possession of such properties if the owners of such lands want to gift these properties to them or if they possess them through inheritance.

·        Repatriating the money that is made through real estate investments requires permission from the Reserve Bank of India. It should fulfill the terms and conditions of the bank and prove that the property was taken into possession in conformity with the foreign exchange law in force at the time of possession.