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TDR scheme: Land owners’

BangaloreMirror | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2010 4

IDEAS@WORK

loss is developers’ gain Explore. Revu.

MANU PRASAD
START-UPS WITH, AND THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE
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bmfeedback@indiatimes.com

What if the BBMP’s scheme of acquiring land for road widening did not go down well with
owners of residential plots? Builders and land bankers are making a fortune out of it Get rewarded.

T
S Kushala if the plot can accommodate it. If the DRC is
kushala.satyanarayana@timesgroup.com sold in prime areas where the realty value is
high, then the seller makes a kill.”
he writing on the wall was clear. Abdul The additional built-up space can be used as
Hafeez got the wind of what would long as the builder follows setback space, park-
happen in the days to come when he ing, etc — the riders coming with high FAR.
saw markings on his compound wall — The BBMP has so far issued 251 DRCs for
some numbers and arrows — two years ago. the 21.3 lakh square feet of land surrendered
Other houses in that row in Mathikere also had and FARs to a tune of 31.85 lakh square feet.
the markings. The much-talked-about road Educationists-turned-land bankers, the M S
widening scheme was coming true for which Ramaiah family has surrendered 6910.7 square
BBMP would acquire properties using feet of land in Mathikere and have bagged
Transferable Development Rights (TDR) with- 10,365.96 square feet of FAR. DRCs have been
out paying monetary compensation. issued to M R Raghuram, M R Sitaram, M R

Hafeez knew that TDR scheme would give
additional 1.5 times Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of
the space acquired. But what would remain
after parting with 1,000 square feet of his prop-
erty was hardly usable. So this textile merchant
wanted to strike a good deal and within a year,
sold his property to a builder who was looking
at amalgamation of plots.
The TDR-based road widening project, which
TDR scheme gives additional 1.5 times Floor Area
Ratio of the space acquired
widening. Owners who are sure of losing a
large area, are open to selling their buildings.
Builders, buying such properties, do the amal-
Sampangiram and M R Pattabhiram who have
given land for the formation of footpaths and
service roads at Mathikere.
BBMP assistant commissioner (land acqui-
sition, TDR) K Jyoti said that though the
scheme was yet to warm up with residential
property owners, builders are encashing on the
additional benefit. “DRC transactions (sale of
TDR) are catching up. Sellers also have to inti-
W
Jaishankar Jayaramakrishnan, co-founder of Revu.in
hat if sharing your experience at your
favourite hangout meant that you could
earn reward points and get recommenda-
tions about places you might like, all via
SMS? That's exactly what Revu.in offers. In con-
versation with the founders.

ORIGINS
did not go down well with residential property gamation of plots, surrender the land under mate BBMP about the transaction along with

As a team, this is START UP-TO-DATE

owners, is turning out to be a lucrative business
proposition for builders and land bankers. The
additional FAR issued in the form of
Development Rights Certificate (DRC) is traded
by builders to construct commercial buildings.
HOW IS IT PROFITABLE?
Builders who are constantly looking for bigger
spaces and amalgamation of plots, zero in on
properties that have been identified for road
TDR, get additional FAR, which is subsequent-
ly used in their own mega projects.
Dayanand Pai of Century Builders, who
owns a huge property on Race Course Road
and has given up 2,000 square feet of land for
road widening, said, “The additional FAR given
under TDR is commercially viable and is not
feasible for small property owners. The DRC is
purchased by builders who use the FAR in com-
mercial buildings and also high-end properties,
registering the document in the sub-registrar’s
office. With the real estate looking up, builders
are using TDR as a good business tool,” she said.
RELIEF ON STAMP DUTY
To promote the scheme, government has
brought down the stamp duty for TDR sales —
while it is 6.5% on normal property transac-
tions, it is just one per cent for DRC with one
per cent registration fee.
our first venture. Jai Company: Revu.in
was business evangel- Domain: Mobile based
ist at mChek where customer engagement and
he met Ishwar, who reward platform
was heading market- Founders: Mayank Sharma,
ing. Mayank was run- Ishwar Sundararaman,
ning smsTweet. It Jaishankar
took about two Jayaramakrishnan
months to freeze on Founded in: June 2010
the core idea of Funding: Bootstrapped

Now, LED scrolls to up your pharma IQ Revu.in. What started

off as two separate
independent projects - Tweet via long-code SMS

The Karnataka State Pharmacy Council wants to put up monitors at vantage points across the city to give
and a mobile-loyalty service - ended as one com-
prehensive mobile-based customer engagement

people basic information on drugs and their proper usage. It wants MLAs to bear the cost of the panels
platform linked to social media.

ELEVATOR PITCH
Revu.in is a customer engagement platform for
MOHAN PRASAD S
Neethu.Reghukumar GOOD MOVE, BUT WE NEED
businesses to build and engage with their commu-

A
@timesgroup.com
re you aware that you are
supposed to drink one full
glass of water while taking a
tablet? “Most people think that two
or three sips are enough. The prob-
lem: Neither your doctor nor your
pharmacist has the time to tell you
this,” says D A Gundu Rao, presi-
dent, Karnataka State Pharmacy
Council. “Similarly, people who use
inhalers end up with mouth ulcers,
sooner or later. The simple practice
of washing one’s mouth after using
an inhaler will thwart the ulcer
problem,” said Rao. To address this
grave pharmaceutical illiteracy
among the public, the Karnataka
State Pharmacy Council put up an
LED monitor a week ago in front of
the council building to give people
basic information on drugs and
their proper usage.
Rao said, “This is just the first
step. We have asked MLAs to put
up similar monitors in their indi-
vidual constituencies. Each assem-
The LED monitor gives out health information in front of the Pharmacy
Council building
bly constituency should have at
least two of these monitors.”
Rao added that the installation
of each monitor will cost around
Rs 80,000 to Rs 1 lakh, but if indi-
vidual MLAs decide to take up the
initiative, the cost will not be a
deterrent. The council can give
out information. He also identi-
fied some areas where the moni-
tors can be put up to begin with:
Jayanagar, Koramangala, BTM
Layout, J P Nagar, Hoskerahalli,
Kengeri and Rajaji Nagar.
Rao said it would be a waste for
these monitors to be displayed in
crowded bus stands as commuters
are generally more interested in
bus timings. Instead, they should
be in areas where you have clus-
ters of medical shops. For exam-
ple, near Victoria Hospital.
THE DETAILS: LEGISLATORS
B N Vijayakumar, MLA, Jayanagar
“It is a good initiative. Health aware-
ness is necessary as most people do
not know simple pharmaceutical
truths, right from storing medicines
to taking them the right way. Let the
council approach me or my office. We
are ready. The cost is not an issue.”
M Krishnappa, MLA, B’lore South
“Definitely, I will take it up. Let them
send the details to me, including
the cost.”
N A Haris, MLA, Shanthinagar
“It’s a good initiative, but we will
have to study the location. The
monitors cannot be put up at busy
junctions as they will distract mo-
torists. I would like to put up one of
them in my constituency.”
M Krishnappa, MLA, Vijayanagar
“This is a good move. We can edu-
cate the people effectively. Let
them approach me first.”
nity. The in-built rewards programme and the link
to social media, are incentives for consumers to use
the Revu service
GAMEPLAN
We provide a platform for businesses offering
rewards and discounts to consumers. This means
that you stand to gain various benefits every time
you transact or talk about the business. We cur-
rently have programmes running with Kyra, Oye
Amritsar. Revu.in is also a kind of StumbleUpon for
real world places. You tell us places you like in the
city and we recommend new places to visit.
Mobile-number-based rewards and loyalty is key.
We plan to tie up with more businesses and also
approach investors for funding.
THE CHALLENGES
The slow uptake of the service by small busi-
nesses and time to reach decision-makers in large
businesses. Consumer acquisition has been a huge
challenge too.
REWARD: FAME, MONEY, THRILL?
All three! But fame is fleeting and money can be
had in a regular job. Sheer adrenaline rush and a
desire to create a product in perhaps one of the
most difficult markets is the main motivation.