Real Estate

Mahindra Will Develop Mahindra World City, near Chennai

noreply@blogger.com (Manish) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:27:00 +0000

Mahindra Lifespace Developers, the real estate company of the eighteen thousand crore rupees Mahindra group, has entered into a joint venture with private equity fund ARCH Capital Asian Partners to develop a residential township at the Mahindra group’s special economic zone, Mahindra World City, near Chennai.
The Mahindra group will have a fifty one per cent stake in Mahindra Residential Development, the JV company and ARCH Capital will hold fourty nine per cent.
The project, on fifty acres, will have seven hundred fifty residential apartments apart from retail and recreational facilities. It did not disclose financial details, pending the announcement of its financial results.
Mahindra World City, being developed by the Mahindra group and the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO), has three sector-specific SEZs for information technology, auto ancillaries, and apparel & fashion accessories.
Mahindra Lifespace recently signed an agreement with the Board of Investments of Sri Lanka to develop a sixty five acre SEZ in Sri Lanka.
Mahindra Lifespace has a land bank of nearly five million sq ft and is developing two other Mahindra World Cities at Pune and Jaipur.

DLF Plans Multiplexes In Country

noreply@blogger.com (Manish) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:16:00 +0000

Chandigarh: DLF, a leading real estate player in the country, plans to invest One thousand two hundred fifty crore rupees for the development of its multiplex business. The company has planned to add minimum 500 screens in the next four to five years across the country.
DLF’s entertainment arm DT Cinemas will set up a multiplex, which will have twelve screens with a total capacity of 2,500, as part of their upcoming project, Mall of India, at Gurgaon.
Expected to be one of the country’s biggest malls, it will cover an area of 40 lakh sq ft.
DT Cinemas announced the opening of their multiplex at DLF Infocity, IT Park, Chandigarh. Infocity covers an area of 1,90,000 sq ft and most of the space has been leased out. The mall will start operating within the comming 10-12 days.
Kajal Aijaz, CEO, DT Cinemas, said that with the multiplex offering state-of-the-art facilities like Christie cinema projection system, excellent acoustics, wall-to-wall carpeting, extra legroom with comfortable slideback seating and push back armrests for the audience, they were eyeing about 66 per cent occupancy at the multiplex in the first year.
With DLF planning to set up another 120 malls in different parts of the country, DT Cinemas would be the chief attraction in most of these malls.
Apart from Ludhiana and Jalandhar, where multiplexes would be opened in a couple of years, the company is also opening multiplexes at Savitri-GK2, Shalimar Bagh, Vasant Kunj and Saket in Delhi and Star Mall, Gurgaon, this year, Aijaz said.
DT Cinemas will also set up multiplexes in Hyderabad, Chennai, Kochi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Goa and Kolkata.

Costliest Kerala Flats Being constructed At Kochi

noreply@blogger.com (Manish) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:08:00 +0000

KOCHI: The Dewa Group promoted by NRI businessman K Venugopalan Nair is foraying into the real estate sector in Kerala with an thirty billion rupees project, which includes a super luxury apartment complex on the Marine Drive here.
The complex ‘Dewa Royale’, spread across six acres of premium property reclaimed as part of the Goshree project, will be launched today, group chairman K Venugopalan Nair told reporters here.
“We will set new standard for residential space creation in the state in terms of quality of construction and construction material,” he said claiming it was the first project in India that provides a 10-year warranty for the entire complex.
The warranty would be applicable for electrical installations, bathing systems and a slew of instruments, which includes even screws used for fixing doors and windows. On offer are 400 apartments facing Kochi backwaters in six towers surrounded by four acres of landscaped garden that would cost around thirty five million rupees.
According to Nair the entire project will come up in a 22.5 acre land and the first phase would be completed by 2011 at an estimated cost of fifteen billon rupees. The project also includes a five-star hotel and a convention centre. Most of the investors are Kuwait-based NRIs.
The group and its allied companies have substantial real estate holding in the major cities of India, including Bangalore, Chennai,

Wait and watch before investing

noreply@blogger.com (Manish) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:48:00 +0000

An international real estate agent Knight Frank predicts that the Indian property boom which lasted for the majority of 2007 is likely to continue into 2008, but it could be tempered by the credit crunch. For the same reason he advising buyers to wait and watch for a month before deciding to invest.

The projections which was made by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) during January, the Indian property market is projected to grow at a rate of between 40 to 45 % during 2008.

This follows growth of between 35 to 38 % in the previous two years – largely as a result of massive investment which has poured into the country.

“In certain cities, yes [the boom will continue]. In the centre of towns and cities such as Mumbai and Delhi the boom is continuing, but I do not know what is going to happen with the present situation,” said Jaideep Singh, head of the India desk at Knight Frank.

In further evidence of the market’s strength, a survey conducted by the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE), published in February, found India’s booming property sector has attracted foreign investors and figures in the top three property markets.

Triangle RE fund to raise five hundred million dollar for Indian realty

noreply@blogger.com (Manish) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:42:00 +0000

o cash in on the growth of organised retail in India, UK and South Africa-based real estate investment groups have launched retail property focused Triangle Real Estate Fund (TREF) for India. The $500 million fund will be routed through Mauritius and will be managed by Property Zone - a joint venture between Old Mutual Investment Group Property investment Ltd., South Africa and ICS Realty Private Limited, India.

Strutt & Parker Real Estate Financial Service Limited (SPREFS) has been appointed as UK and European placing agent. “Unlike most other real estate investors, the fund will dedicatedly concentrate on tier 2 and tier 3 cities in India.
Four projects in cities of Aurangabad, Jaipur, Indore and Nagpur have been selected for the first phase of investment. Surat is also being considered,” Nick Harvey Jones of SPREF told DNA Money.
“It is a high net worth investor fund which requires minimum investment of $5,00,000 form an individual and $5 million form institutional investors,” he added.
Two deals, consisting of 11 projects and having cumulative worth over $200 million, are in the pipeline.

Ishaan Real Estate Plc. Hopeful Of Good Progress In 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Manish) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:37:00 +0000

LONDON - India-based real estate investment company Ishaan Real Estate Plc. told that it has leased and pre-let 577,000 square feet of office and retail space, growing the total area of leased and pre-let space in its commercial and retail development projects to 2.4 million square feet.
Ian Henderson chairman of Ishaan Real Estate Plc. told that they are predicting to make strong progress on construction and leasing activity during the remainder of 2008.
The company said around twenty percent of the saleable residential space in its first-class residential development project, Vivarea, in central Mumbai city, has now been pre-sold, also at prices above those expected at the time of admission.
Ishaan Real Estate said pre-sales of the apartments commenced at the end of October and are experiencing strong demand.

Bengal Chief Minister to Realtors

noreply@blogger.com (Manish) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:36:00 +0000

KOLKATA: Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Chief Minister of West Bengal expects real estate developers to think green.

Inaugurating the ‘Realty Expo 2008′ organized by Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (Credai-Bengal) at the Science City grounds on Wednesday; he said realty industrialists should concentrate on developing green buildings which make better use of solar energy.

“Global warming is a real threat to the society,” the chief minister said, while explaining the rationale behind the need to have eco-friendly buildings. The government is considering the merits of making rainwater conservation mandatory for developers. “I am in discussions with the municipal affairs minister (A. Bhattacharya) to have rainwater harvesting included in the municipal Act,” Bhattacharjee added.

The green building has already started taking roots in the city, particularly in the IT parks arena. A typical eco-friendly building uses alternative energy sources, such as solar or wind, ensures water efficiency through rainwater harvesting and also has effective waster management systems in place.

Nagarjuna to enter real estate in Oman

noreply@blogger.com (Manish) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:33:00 +0000

According to report that India’s Nagarjuna Construction Company Limited is planning to enter real estate development in Oman.

A senior Nagarjuna Construction official said that “We have plans to develop a multi storied building in Sohar in partnership with an Omani company. The apartment, which will be constructed at a cost of OMR 3 million, will have several modern amenities, including health club and swimming pool.” He added that the twin tower apartment, which will be ready by 2010, will have 448 flats each.

In the Oman, Nagarjuna Construction is building the dualisation and realignment of Al Amerat Quriyat Road, Wadi Adai Al Amerat road project, a water network scheme in Sohar and initial civil work for Sama Dubai’s Yitti residential cum resort project. With a cost of OMR 56.5 million, the 7.5 kilometer long Wadi Adai Al Amerat road will be completed within 18 months. The project involves construction of 6 bridges of varying lengths, 9 box culverts and 1 single lane bridge. The total contract value of all Omani projects of Nagarjuna is around OMR 180 million.

Omaxe to develop township in Naya Raipur

noreply@blogger.com (Manish) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:30:00 +0000

MUMBAI: Omaxe Ltd has said that the company has emerged the highest bidder and has won the bid from Naya Raipur Development Authority, Chhattisgarh for development of the theme township with eighteen Hole Golf Course on over four hundred acres at Naya Raipur, the capital city of Chhattisgarh. The project value is one thousand two hundred Crore, ruppes which shall include the development of residential and commercial buildings, the golf villas and a hotel.

SBI MF to Introduce Real Estate Equity Fund

noreply@blogger.com (Manish) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 13:13:00 +0000

The SBI Mutual Fund filed the offer document with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) for launching a dedicated scheme for the real estate and related sector, on 13th march .
The purpose of Magnum Sector Funds Umbrella (MSFU) Real Estate Equity Fund is to offer investors opportunities for long-term growth in capital through an active management of investments in equity and equity-related instruments (including derivatives) of companies in the realty and similar sectors and in debt and money market instruments, the offer document said.
The open-ended scheme would be available in Retail and Institutional Plan with growth and dividend options.
Under the dividend option, facility for reinvestment and payout of dividend is available, it said. Minimum investment under the retail plan is five thousand rupees while under the institutional plan, it is Rs 5 crore. The performance of the scheme will be benchmarked against a composite benchmark created using BSE Realty Index to the extent of 60 % of the portfolio and BSE 100 for the remainder 40 %.

India DLF may delay REIT IPO

noreply@blogger.com (Manish) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 13:11:00 +0000

MUMBAI, March 13 - Indian developer DLF Ltd may delay a planned initial public offering in Singapore of a real estate investment trust and instead opt for a private placement to raise about five hundred million dollar, a source said on Thursday. DLF, India’s most valuable property firm, had planned to raise $1.5 billion from the Singapore listing, but the company had changed track because of large falls in global markets since the plan was announced last year.
DLF was now in talks with a clutch of investors and expected to seal a deal by the end of the month, the source said.
“The markets are so unpredictable now, we may wait till they stabilise before doing an IPO,” said the source, who has knowledge of the deal but did not want to be named.
“We are in touch with five or six investors for a placement, which we will probably finalise by month-end,” he said.
Potential investors include Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and DE Shaw, he said, confirming a report in the Economic Times on Thursday, with DLF seeking to raise twenty billion rupees ($500 million) in private placements for the property trust.

Sobha announces villa project in Banglore

noreply@blogger.com (Manish) — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 13:07:00 +0000

BANGALORE: Ahead of the opening of Bangalore International Airport at Devanahalli, foremost real estate firm Sobha Developers on Saturday announced the commencement of their biggest single location project, Sobha Lifestyle, in the locality of the airport area. This project is located just 7 km from airpot.

J C Sharma, Managing Director, Shobha Developers Limited (SDL) told reporters that Sobha Lifestyle is also the biggest villa project by the company in the city. The project is spread over fifty five acres with one hundred sixty five villas measuring 5000, 7000 and 10,000 sq feet

The project cost is expected to be around two hundred sixty crore and also it is expected that it will be completed by end of 2010, since the land owned by Rennaissance Developers is being jointly developed by Rennaissance and Sobha, he said.

The villas, ranging from price points of Rs 3 to Rs 5.1 crore, would have state-of-the-art club house, gymnasium with sauna and jacuzzi, swimming pool etc. Other amenities include amphitheatre, tennis court, jogging track and CCTV for security.

Indiareit will raise Rs 1,000 cr through third fund

noreply@blogger.com (Manish) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:49:00 +0000

Indiareit Fund Advisors, the Ajay Piramal-promoted real estate investment fund, is planning to introduce its third domestic fund to raise One thousand crore.

Talking to DNA Money, Ramesh Jogani, the fund’s CEO and MD, confirmed the development but did not disclosed details.
Jogani said, “In the subsequent two years we will introduce our fourth domestic fund. We are also focusing on the retail sector.” The company has earmarked one-third of the funds for investment in retail sector.
Indiareit’s second offshore fund has previously raised four hundred fifty million dollar from 3i Plc, which is a cornerstone investor in the fund.
ICICI Bank is the chief distributor of the offshore fund which would be closed in eight years.
Additional investors include high net worth individuals from Middle East, Singapore, Japan and Europe.
The second offshore fund is planning to raise $600-850 million through a green shoe option. The fund will have three closings, of which first closing will be on July 2008.

The main cities where the funds would be implemented are:- Mumbai , Pune, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad.

Indiareit, at present, supervises funds worth Four hundred seventy million dollar, which it mopped up through its earlier two domestic and one global offerings.
About eighty five percent of these funds have already been disbursed and rest would be deployed in the next few months.
According to a assessment report, the company’s investments have developed over two-and-a-half times during 2008.
In Pune, Indiareit had invested in Paranjape Schemes residential-cum-commercial project on eight million square feet land through a special purpose vehicle called Flagship Infrastructure Pvt Ltd. The project is expected to be ready by September 2012.

Delhi Metro Effect On Real Estate

noreply@blogger.com (Manish) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:48:00 +0000

This led to the expansion of the Delhi Mass speedy Transit System, or Delhi Metro as it is known. The success of this transport network that began procedure in December 2002 now sees it as not only the public transportation of choice, but the model itself has become the standard for the development of other systems across India. And yet the current metro system, known as Phase I, is itself set to grow with another three phases, scheduled for completion in 2010, 2015 and 2020. By the time Phase IV is operational, the Delhi Metro will have found its place ahead of the London system as the biggest public rail network in the world.
It is easy to see why these four phases of the transportation network, together with the northern and southeastern suburb developments included in the Delhi Metro Masterplan 2021 have impacted and will continue to impact the real estate industry of the area.
Connectivity and traveling within the city and in the NCR areas of Gurgaon and Noida will become a piece of a cake and the economic results are being sensed already. For example, the onset of the Metro has boosted the land prices and apartments built by Unitech ltd. And Dlf, one of the foremost private building companies which own huge tracks of land in Gurgaon.
The incredible pace that the growth rate of the area has been exhibiting is having a beneficial economic effect, especially where the real estate market is concerned. It is also having a very positive effect on the entire job market, as the unemployment rate continues to drop in the major industries of the automotive, health care, and technology sectors.

Rising Price of real estate forcing BPO to shift in 2 tier and 3 tier city

noreply@blogger.com (Manish) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:45:00 +0000

The rush in real estate prices and a talent crisis in metros are forcing the $11 billion Indian BPO industry to shift to Tier II cities in the country, according to a study conducted by consultancy firm Everest Group.
“It is difficult to maintain the growth in Tier I cities because of the increasing real estate prices and talent crunch. There is no choice but to move to Tier II cities,” Everest Group’s Country Head (India) Gaurav Gupta said.
As of now, BPO industry is concentrated in seven cities namely Bangalore, NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata.
“Movement to lower-cost cities within India is likely to result in additional 15-30 per cent reduction in operating cost despite lower employability and higher management costs,” Head of Global Services at Everest Research Institute, Nikhil Rajpal, said.
Everest Group is a global consulting firm specialising in sourcing and offshoring advisory services. The study ranks several Tier II and Tier III cities on their potential to become BPO hubs for various domains in the future.
For finance and accounting services, Ahmadabad, Nagpur, Jaipur, Indore and Nasik emerge as ideal cities to host BPO firms. Similarly, Nagpur, Vishakhapatnam, Ahmadabad, Coimbatore and Mundra are ideal to have BPO operations in logistics domain.

India Top Destination for Retail World

noreply@blogger.com (Manish) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:03:00 +0000

In a survey, 3000 global retailers, representing a global portfolio of around twenty five thousand stores, who are looking to expand outside their domestic markets, have considered India as the most sought-after retail destination..
The survey was conducted by London-based C B Richard Ellis, a leading real estate services firm, to get latest insight into retailer attitudes towards the world’s emerging retail destinations.
The report suggest that 40% of the surveyed retailers believe emerging markets to provide their main source of growth over the coming five years. India is considered particularly attractive due to the size of its market compared to its low presence of international retailers.
‘With foreign rights rules being gradually relaxed, foreign investment is also now probable allowing single-brand retailers to own up to 51% of their India operations,’ notes the report.
Ukraine, Russia, Malaysia and Turkey followed India in this ranking. 27% of the surveyed retailers opened their first store in India last year or are planning to do so soon.

Effect Of Rising Interest Rates On Real Estate

noreply@blogger.com (Manish) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:00:00 +0000

Increasing real estate prices are causing in a decline in the demand for home loans. The rising interest rate is a additional factor.
Even though Indian realty market is observing a compounding growth, owning a home is still a tough dream for a lot of middle class Indians. Previously (2002-2006), the trouble-free availability of home loans was accelerating the realty growth drive. But, there is now considerable decline in the demand for home loans in India. Leading banks have blamed the increasing property rates as a cause for this cut. As per the current survey, the prices of furnished and semi-furnished houses in the metros and upcoming metros are becoming sky scrapping day by day.
The increasing real estate prices are not the only factor for this decline. However, the decline has been attributed further to the home loan interest rates that have been increasing incessantly for the earlier couple of months. As per the current details of Associated Chambers of Commerce (ASSOCHAM), rise in these loan rates severely affect the housing sector.

Now Munjal Family Is Interested In Real Estate Business

noreply@blogger.com (Manish) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:55:00 +0000

NEW DELHI: The Munjal family, known for the two-wheeler business, is planning for real estate business. After announcing a alliance with the world’s biggest commercial vehicle maker Daimler, the company has lined up major plans in the real estate sector that comprise developing residential townships, industrial parks, hotels, resorts and leisure centers all over the country.

As per the group head Brij Mohan Munjal his revenues exceeding $3 billion. “We are working on several projects around the country in the real estate area and plan to enlarge in a big way,” Sunil Kant Munjal, son of Brij Mohan.

According to one member of group the initial investments in the real estate venture will come from the Munjal family. It has been observed that potential investors , bankers and private equity players are very much interested in the plan.

A new project of the real estate diversification is coming up around Hero Honda’s new Haridwar factory. Arrow Infrastructure, a new company, will develop township and industrial park around the plant, and this is one of the many projects that are in the pipeline.

Apart from the project at Haridwar, the group is developing an IT park at Gurgaon while looking at resorts development in Himachal Pradesh and residential townships in Punjab.

Elaborating on township plans, one member of the group said the company would provide housing options across price points. “Our idea is to provide mid-level to high-end housing and price points on the lower side could be even less than Rs 20 lakh.”

Parsvnath sells thirty percent stake of Mumbai project

noreply@blogger.com (Manish) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:48:00 +0000

MUMBAI - Real estate firm Parsvnath Developers Ltd has sold 30% stake in a Mumbai project to foreign funds for 1.86 billion rupees, the company said on Thursday in an announcement.
Shares in the company hit a high of 217.65 rupees on the news, and were trading 4.57 % higher at 216.30 rupees.
Parsvnath will sell 15 % stake each in the Kurla bus station redevelopment project to Euronext-listed Yatra Capital and Saffron India Real Estate Fund-I, both sponsored by Mauritius-based fund manager Saffron Asset Advisors.
Parsvnath said that Yatra and Saffron have picked up the stake at land-value basis. They will also proportionately fund all future development and construction activities for the project.
Future investment is estimated at two billion rupees and the project is to be completed in two and half years.
The deal will help unlock value of the property and help to begin a strong relationship with well-known foreign direct investment partners, Parsvnath said.
Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj was the consultant for the deal. Foreign investors have rushed to invest in India’s growing real estate market for the last few years, attracted by simpler investment rules and rising property prices, which have gone up for the fifth straight year.

Century 21 will make one thousand offices in the country

noreply@blogger.com (Manish) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:45:00 +0000

New Delhi: Global realty brokerage firm Century 21 Real Estate LLC announce its foray into the Indian market with plans to open offices from all over the country, where it is looking a business of one thousand crore in next five years. The US-based company plans to open one thousand offices through franchisee route.

It would also have its own offices at fifty places in the country to supervise the entire operations. “In the next five years, we plan to have one thousand offices at pan-India level. Century 21 India country head A. Rathore told that he guess one thousand crore income after these sub-franchisees get entirely functional.

Reliance Industries results on April 21

noreply@blogger.com (Manish) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 12:40:00 +0000

The Mukesh Ambani sponsored Reliance Industries Ltd on 14th April said the company would publicize its annual financial result on April 21.
In an interview to the Bombay Stock Exchange, he said that a meeting of the board of directors of the company would be organized on April 21 to consider and finalize the financial results of the company for the year ended and to recommend dividend on equity shares of the company.

Basic Definitions related NRI, PIO,PRI,OCB

noreply@blogger.com (Manish) — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 10:23:00 +0000

NRI: - NRI stands for Non-Resident Indian. Non Resident Indian means a person resident outside India who is a citizen of India or is a person of Indian origin.

PIO: - PIO stands for Person of Indian Origin. A person of Indian origin is an individual (not being a citizen of Pakistan or Bangladesh or Sri Lanka or Afghanistan or China or Iran or Nepal or Bhutan),-

i) Who, at any time, held Indian passport; or
ii) who or either of whose father or whose grandfather was a citizen of India by virtue of Constitution of India or the Citizenship Act, 1955 (57 of 1955);

PRI: - PRI stands for Person Resident in India. PRI means

i) A person residing in India for more than one hundred and eighty-two days during the course of the preceding financial year but does not include—

A. A person who has gone out of India or who stays outside India, in either case—
a. for or on taking up employment outside India, or
b. for carrying on outside India a business or vocation outside India, or
c. for any other purpose, in such circumstances as would indicate his intention to stay outside India for uncertain period.
B. A person who has come to or stays in India, in either case, otherwise than—
a. for or on taking up employment in India, or
b. for carrying on outside India a business or vocation in India, or
c. for any other purpose, in such circumstances as would indicate his intention to stay in India for an uncertain period.

ii) Any person or body corporate registered or incorporated in India, or
iii) An office, branch or agency outside India owned or controlled by a person resident outside India, or
iv) An office, branch or agency outside India owned or controlled by a person resident in India.

PRO: - PRO stands for Peron Resident Outside India. PRO means a person who is not resident in India.

OCB: - OCB Means Overseas Corporate Body. OCB means a company, partnership firm, society and other corporate body owned directly or indirectly to the extent of at least sixty percent by Non-resident Indians and includes overseas trust in which not less than sixty percent beneficial interest is held by Non-resident Indians directly or indirectly but irrevocably.

Emaar MGF Land Limited has extended Bidding Period

noreply@blogger.com (Manish) — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 12:28:00 +0000

Good news for them who are interested in Emaar MGF Land Limited BID/ISSUE. The Bidding period was scheduled to close on 6 Feb 2008, has now been extended by three working days so the new closing date of bidding is 11 Feb 20008.

Timing for submission of Emaar MGF Land Limited is 10:00am to 03:00pm for all categogries of Investors.