PAK INFORMED OF SECURITY THREATS TO KARTARPUR

NEWDELHI: India has shared with Pakistanspecificsecuritythreats posedbyterrorgroupstotheKartarpur Corridor and will keep a very close watch for attempts by pro-Khalistanelementstomisuse the project, people familiar with the developments said on Wednesday.

The corridor, which connects DeraBabaNanakinIndia’sGurdaspurtotheDurbarSahibgurdwara in Pakistan’s Kartarpur, can help build peace but is not expectedtoleadtoanyimmediate breakthrough in the tense relations between the two sides, the peoplesaid.Withjusttwodaysto go for the inauguration, the people said New Delhi had shared with Islamabad specific threats from entities like LeT and JeM flagged by security agencies.

NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesdayapprovedaplantoset up a ₹25,000 crore alternative investment fund (AIF) to revive stalled housing projects, as it seeks to provide relief to distressedhomebuyersandrekindle animalspiritsintheailingrealty sector.

There are 1,600 housing projects and 458,000 housing units that are stalled currently due to lackoffunds,Unionfinanceminister Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters after a Union Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

Of the stalled units, around 200,000 would be in the National Capital Region (NCR) alone, around 100,000 in Mumbai and the rest in smaller cities, according to analyst estimates.

While the government will invest ₹10,000 crore in the fund, the remaining ₹15,000 crore will comeinfromStateBankofIndia, Life Insurance Corporation of Indiaandothersuchinstitutions, Sitharaman said.

Incomplete housing projects worth less than ₹2 crore per unit in Mumbai, ₹1.5 crore in other metros, including NCR, and ₹1 croreinotherpartsofthecountry will benefit from the move,

Sitharaman said.

The funds will be used to complete stalled projects.

“The projects need tobe registeredinRERA(RealEstateRegulationandDevelopmentAct)and their net worth should be positive. Even if the project has been declared an NPA or dragged to NCLT but not asked for liquidationwillalsobenefit,” sheadded.

Property developers have been struggling with dwindling sales,pilinginventoryandfalling prices, even as funding for projects has dried up, with banks reluctant to lend to real estate projects fearing defaults.

The prospects of the industry have turned worse since the ban on high-value currency notes in November 2016 and the implementationofthegoodsandservices tax (GST) in July the following year.