FAQ

a) Inland Vessels Act, Kerala Maritime Board and the Irrigation Department of the Government of Kerala. 

The Inland Vessel Act of 2021 put forward by the Central Government and enacted on February 16 , 2022 are the set of rules that are being enforced by the Kerala State government through the Kerala Maritime Board for all inland vessels and boats operating in Kerala. However these rules are applicable only to vessels/ houseboats which have an engine and will be moving around with passengers in inland waterways of Kerala . But with regard to our houseboat water villas, we do not have an engine and so we do not come under the direct supervision of the Kerala Maritime Board. Instead Stationary Inland Vessels under which category we fall , will be under the control of the Kerala State Irrigation Department which is the principal authority responsible for maintaining the free flow of rivers, backwaters and canals to prevent flooding. Any structure constructed on these waters can alter hydrodynamics, block drainage channels and will also increase the chances of warerlogging during heavy monsoons if not properly mapped and regulated. The Irrigation Department is the authority to register each of our houseboat villas and they have a specialised engineering wing which will routinely evaluate and check any physical construction or installation across or within natural streams and canals, ensuring they meet safe structural benchmarks without damaging the aquatic environment. So it is the clearance from the Irrigation Department that will be the most important sanction that we need to start our project. We have already submitted our application to the Irrigation Department and the processing is going on now. Also as we require boats to transport our customers from the shore to their respective water villas, such mobile boats with engines will come under the jurisdiction of the Kerala Maritime Board. On registration with the Kerala Maritime Board through its e-portal each boat will be given a QR code and by scanning this QR code, all information about the vessel, including passenger capacity can be accessed.

b) CRZ Regulations:

There is also the CRZ or Coastal Regulation Zone specifications too that has to be considered. As we opted for an engine- free tug navigated model, it allows our structure to be legally classified as a mobile watercraft and in this way bypass the strict CRZ rules regarding permanent construction bans. Our project does not involve reclamation, filling, bund formation, driven piling, permanent foundations all which will be beneficial for us in order to adhere to the CRZ regulations prevalent in that area.

c) Pollution Control Board:

Each of our villas will incorporate sealed sewage and gray water holding arrangements with a service boat pumping out the sewage and gray water in a daily basis, which will then be taken to an STP or Sewage Treatment Plant which will be set up on a nearby leased land area. In this manner we can ensure that there will no discharge of sewage into the waterbody. Similar arrangements will be done regarding kitchen waste and disposal of used oils after cooking. The kitchen waste and used oils will also be stored in sealed tanks with kitchen grease traps and separate enclosures segregating vegetarian an non veg wastes. All of this will be collected by service boats that will carry all these wastes to the STP plant for safe processing and disposal. Arrangements will also be made for collection and safe disposal of used batteries of solar panels and other eletronic items too. In this way we can easily get a clearance from the Pollution Control Board.

d) Panchayat NOC

We will require approvals or NOC from the local Kadamakudy Panchayat Office for any activity we do on the shore in relation to our project , like arrangements for car parking, construction of a marina or a jetty for people to enter the boats from the shore in order to be taken to their floating villas. Also clearances should be obtained to keep the STP or Sewage Treatment Plant on the land near the shore, which we have taken on lease from the local fishermen.

We are not targeting ordinary home buyers planning to buy their first home. We are looking for people who already have a primary residence and maybe a secondary one too and are now looking for something distinctive to enhance their lifestyle and entertain their guests in style. We are looking for affluent Kerala business owners, NRIs and senior professionals who values their privacy and want a weekend home not far from Kochi . In just 15 minutes they can leave their busy life behind and enter the calm and serene beauty of the Kerala backwaters . For such people, the attraction to Neer Amaya Eco-Reserve is not the size of the villa - it is the scarcity of the product, the privacy, ownership and experience of something unusual and breathtaking that iis drawing them to our project. Here we would like to stress the term ' scarcity ' because if we take the case of a conventional apartment on land, there will be hundreds of comparable units available in the market. However in the case of Neer Amaya , because our villas are set on the backwaters, a lot of environmental factors have to be looked into before construction and therefore too many villas cannot be crowded on to our property. As the carrying capacity of our 10 acre backwaters has to be taken into account due to environmental issues , our project genuinely has only a limited number of these villas for sale and this scarcity factor is our biggest selling point.

Our villas are designed and constructed under the expert guidance of Naval Architects from the Ship Development wing of the prestigious CUSAT University in Kalamassery , Kochi. They commission ships that sail in high seas and therefore they know exactly what to do to keep a stationary Water Villa safe on the calm backwaters of Kerala. The anchoring design, wind considerations, floatation calculations and emergency evacuation procedures will all be carefully looked into it by these naval architects from the renowned CUSAT University . They will also be issuing to us a Stability Certification which is essential to get clearances from the Kerala Maritime Board. It is only after all these safety procedures are completed will we start our construction. Each of our villas are designed for Kerala backwaters conditions and will be maintained under a scheduled marine maintenance programme.

When the owner is not using the villa, our management company will take care of all the maintenance of your villa and you also have the option of signing up in Resort Rental Management Program in which our hospitality company will operate and market your villa to tourists when you are not using it. This program will give you 30% of the revenue collected from your villa every month which will be an additional income which you will be getting from your investment in the villa. The phrase that aptly describes our thoughts on the maintenance of your villa is: 

" You own it We take care of it "

An apartment in the city provides you accommodation which be will just one unit among many. But the villas in Neer Amaya will provide you an experience which will be unique along with the chance of escaping from the hustle and bustle of the busy city life. You will be transported into a totally different world where serenity prevails and the beauty of the backwaters with swaying coconut palms and the call of migratory birds will surround you. You will be able to enjoy the nature at its best while going boating, fishing and watching the beauty of the sunset up close. You will be able to enjoy all of this by going sailing in your own boat that is also included in the price package. So your regular apartment in the city will just give you a conventional lifestyle in a city environment and you will be one among many holding a common type of property in the city. Whereas if you invest in our project you get private ownership over 5-8 cents of land along with the villa which will be your individual floating retreat and the open deck around the villa will give you a beautiful view of your own private waters along with the lake that surrounds you. Also you will be the proud owner of a limited edition unusual asset with a distinctive boutique tourism potential.

This question is particularly relevant for second generation NRI families. Our emotional message to this question is " Give your children a reason to come back to Kerala." Just owning a regular apartment in the city will not appeal to the second generation kids. But living in a floating villa, going sailing in their own boat , sightseeing, fishing, kayaking and indulging in various water sports will definitely be attractive to the new generation kids, which will make it exciting for them to keep visiting Kerala from time to time. Powerful messages to such kids will be:

1. " When you come home to Kerala, come home to something extraordinary ". 

2. " Own a piece of Kerala, live on its waters ". 

3. " A little piece of Kerala that will always be yours ".

We will be having a hospitality division who will be taking care of the marketing of your villa. We will be targeting foreign tourists as well as domestic ones too. If you sign up to our Resort Rental Management Program, you can reserve the villa for your own personal use whenever you wish, subject to the management agreement. During the rest of the year, we will operate it as a professionally managed luxury backwater tourism project. As the owner you will receive 30% of the rental revenue actually collected every month after deducting the GST and OTA ( online travel agency) commissions. The balance 70% will go towards Management Fees , Salaries and other monthly maintenance expenses for Resort Operations and towards Future Asset Maintenance Allocation. In such a case the owner will be saved of the expenses of having to fully maintain his villa with his own resources every 5 to 10 years. The owner will need to put in only 50% of the Major Refurbishing Expenses and the balance 50% will be taken out from the Future Asset Maintenance Allocation Fund maintained by the Management Company. The 70% collected from from the monthly rental revenues also saves the owner from having to pay the monthly maintenance expenses towards the upkeep of his villa . All this is possible only if the villa is enrolled in the Resort Rental Management Programme which is to be renewed every year. 

You are fully justified in wanting to know how many days in a month your villa was leased out to tourists and for what amount. As soon as you sign up to our Resort Rental Management Program, you will receive an online Dashboard and using this dash board the owner will be able to see the following for example for the month of August 2026 for a Premium Water Villa.

Today : Occupied 

Next Occupied : Sept. 2nd 2026 August 

Occupancy : 14 nights 

Average Rate/Night: Rs.12000 

Less GST@ 18% : Rs. 2160 

Less OTA Commission@ 20% : Rs.2400 

Net Rental Revenue per night. : Rs.7440 

Net Villa revenue For 14 days. : Rs.104160 

Owner's share @30% : Rs.31248

The figures shown above are just an example of what our future figures may look like. We hope to achieve such income in maybe one to one and half year of operation. In five years time we could be operating at 75% occupancy which will of course bring more income to investors. The owner's 30% share will be paid on a quarterly basis every three months. All transactions happening regarding the villa will get updated on the dashboard and this kind of operation will ensure total transparency in the dealings between the company and the villa's owners . Further proof of occupancy can be verified by checking the company's booking calendar as well by getting a monthly system generated statement from the company's central PMS or Property Management System. All owners will have a copy of their annual accounts reviewed by a Chartered Accountant.

At the time of signing the agreement with the company , you can specify the number of nights you require the villa for personal use. You need to handover only the remaining weeks to the company to lease it out to tourists . If you specify the dates in advance , we can hold those days especially for you. But if you are not sure of your dates, you can give the company 30 days advance notice before your actual arrival and we will keep your villa ready for you when you come.

If you are registered in our Resort Rental Management Program, you dont have to pay the monthly maintenance fee of Rs.15000 every month. You are also allowed 15 days of free use of your villa every year under this program. But for any extra use of your villa you will have to pay the proportionate maintenance fee depending on the number of days you are personally using the villa. 

A conventional apartment or hotel room does not have a floating platform, anchoring system and other marine expenses. So it is essential to keep a portion of the rental revenue for salaries and other resort maintenance expenses along with keeping aside another portion of the rental revenue as a future reserve for the following :

1. FRP coating work 

2. Pontoon repairs 

3. Anchoring Replacement 

4. Corrosion protection 

5. Deck Furbishment 

6. Electrical Equipment maintenance 

7. Plumbing 

8. STP maintenance 

9. Furniture replacement 

10.Boat repairs etc.

In fact it will be a big relief for owners as 50% of their villa maintenance every five to ten years will be met by this reserve fund.

Our management company will surely assist in finding secondary market purchasers. Also our reserve fund will help protect the asset from too much depreciation.

Our main answer to this question is in our differentiation from other entities. A conventional hotel room is widely avaliable in the city. However a private Kerala style floating villa with its own deck, boat and backwater setting is a much more distinctive tourism product. Here we are selling experiences such as private boat rides , fishing, sunset dining, local seafood, bird watching and curated Kadamakudy village experiences. Also due to environmental issues there will only be a limited inventory of private floating villas available and this will create scarcity and support premium pricing.

Because our property is fully submerged in about 5-6 ft of water, demarcation of each plot with boundary stones is not possible as is the case of property on land. So instead we will give each plot its own identification in the form digital co ordinates derived from the digital survey of our entire plot. In fact these digital coordinates will also be mentioned on the title transfer document which we will be executing in your favour at the Sub Registrar Office.

Payment is collected in 3 instalments. Initially an advance of 50% should be paid and immediately the land portion of 5 cents or 8 cents (depending on the type of villa you choose)will be registered in your name. Then an ageement for construction of the water villa on your property has to be made between you and the company after which the actual construction of your water villa will start. The second installment of 25% of the cost, has to be paid in the next three months. The last installment of 25% has to be paid in another three months by which time your water villa will be completed, fully furnished and ready to be handed over to you. So these are the three stages in which the payments have to be paid.

If a person owns 10 acres of property on land and wants to sell it in small plots , he will first make a sketch of the various plots along with the roads and can then proceed to sell these plots with no hindrance.However in our case though we have 10 acres of land , we cannot break up this area into 5 and 8 cent plots and sell it in full as is the case on land because our property in Kadamakudy is one hundred percent part of the sensitive Kerala backwaters and there are strict guidelines which we have follow for the sake of environmental conservation when doing any construction in these waters. Keeping these considerations in mind , the first phase of our project will comprise of a limited cluster of villas and any further expansion will be undertaken only after an assessment of the environmental carrying capacity of the property. The cumulative ecological load of our project will have to be assessed at every stage as we proceed further. As an example, let us take the case of physical coverage of the water surface because of our floating platform for each villa. Floating platforms can alter sunlight penetration into the water, temperature, air - water gas exchange and local water circulation beneath and around the floating platform. These factors can cause changes in the thermal behavior of the waterbody which in turn will affect the marine and plant life under the water. Also structures on water surface will affect wind flow and redirect water currents. Therefore all these factors have to be taken into account when we design the layout of our project and we will not be able to sell our plots as a mass real estate project on land. Instead we will have to limit the number of plots for sale to preserve the environment around the property and to safeguard its pristine and unspoilt natural beauty which will surely happen if we crowd the entire area with villas. This is the 'scarcity' factor in our project that will fetch us a premium price in the market.

Investors in our villa are not buying purely for financial yeild. They receive both: 

Lifestyle value + Investment income

Also our villa is not intended to replace your home. It is a place you come to when you want to get away from your home. A weekend here will fully rejuvenate you and equip you to get back to your work in the city with full vigor. The biggest advantage you have here is that in less than 30 minutes you will be able to reach this place from anywhere in the city. From the poshest part of Kochi - namely Marine Drive , our villas are just 15 minutes away. So you save a lot of time in commuting between your home and your villa at Neer Amaya. So in about 20- 25 minutes of getting out of your home in the city, you will be transported to an entirely different world where calm waters, cool breeze and swaying coconut trees will extent you a warm welcome and will hold you enthralled for the rest of your stay at Neer Amaya Eco- Reserve.

You have to pay us 50% advance for your initial booking. If you are a resident Indian national, immediately on payment of the 50% advance we will re gister 6 cents of land in your name and will start the construction of your water villa. In three months you have to pay 25% of the cost and the balance 25% will have to be paid at the time of completion . On receiving the full and final payment we will register the water villa in your name and complete the handing over process.
If you are an NRI or foreign national we will lease out the 6 cents to you and start the construction.  We cannot transfer the property to your name as the Indian government rules will not permit the transfer of agricultural property in the names of NRI or foreign nationals and our property is classified as Nilam in our property documents which clearly classifies it as agricultural land. Alternatively If you have your parents in India you can transfer the 6 cents to their name and later after their demise you can lawfully inherit that property by way of a registered will in  your name.