Monday, August 3, 2009

Puravankara buys 62 acres in Bangalore for Rs 150 cr

Provident Housing, a fully-owned subsidiary of the Bangalore-based Puravankara Group, is learnt to have bought a 62-acre land parcel in the outskirts of Bangalore. The deal is believed to have been struck for a value of Rs 150 crore.

A person involved in the deal said the company is planning a low-cost housing project. The deal between Provident Housing and the seller, who is an individual, was signed earlier this month. “The price paid for the land is quite nominal,” the person added.

A senior official with the group confirmed to ET that the land had been bought, without revealing the size of the transaction. “The land parcel is located on the Mysore road around half-an-hour away from the heart of Bangalore,” he added. This is said to be an outright purchase with Provident Housing, scheduled to make the payment in two tranches. In the first stage, the buyer has paid a nominal token amount at the time of signing the agreement and the balance would be paid when the project is completed.

Recently, many real estate developers have been exploring opportunities in the affordable housing sector. The Puravankara Group will have these projects in Chennai and Bangalore and is negotiating deals in Hyderabad and Coimbatore. It is learnt that deals in Hyderabad and Coimbatore will be finalised in a month.

The affordable housing concept has gained ground with players like Tata Housing launching a project in Boisar, which is a two-and-a-half hour train ride from Mumbai. This project has come to be known as “Nano houses.” Typically, the definition of affordable housing is a price tag of Rs 45 lakh in a tier I city.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Mega housing plans on track form TATA and DLF

Full stop to Nano. Question mark over Telcon. But no such flutters for Eden Court or New Town
Heights.

Brand Tata and Brand DLF are shifting gears over their mega housing projects at Rajarhat despite the political upheaval looming over Brand Bengal. It's clear that chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's most valued brands have left Singur and Dankuni well behind them and are ready to begin all over again. Both are currently working overtime on their condominiums at New Town.

Eden Court is Tata Housing's major endeavour into the eastern market and New Town Heights is DLF's prized project also at Rajarhat. Both projects had come under a cloud after the Nano debacle last October and DLF's subsequent decision to pull out of the 4,840-acre Dankuni township project.

"Ratan Tata has kept his word. He had promised that none of his other projects in West Bengal would face the consequences of the Nano pullout. And now, the much-awaited Eden Court is ready to take off," said an official of Hidco, the keepers of the Rajarhat township. Ditto for DLF, which opted out of the Rs 40,000-crore Dankuni project over land issues. Downturn was the other big reason. Not for New Town Heights, though. Thankfully, even Tata Housing (a Tata group firm in which Tata Sons holds 97.5 %) hasn't allowed itself to be bogged down by downturn blues.

While DLF is steadily progressing towards erecting its nine towers, Tatas are about to start their construction. In fact, their site at Action Area II has been out of bounds to the media, fearing political unrest. "The local Trinamool Congress has been creating problems for some projects in and around Rajarhat. Post Singur, the Tatas have been weary of any untoward publicity," said Vinod Dan, a local developer.

But quietly and steadily, over the last month, the 200-odd flats of Tower I have been a complete sell-out. "We couldn't be happier with the way things have turned out for our Rajarhat project," said Brotin Banerjee, managing director, Tata Housing, which has been most successful in its Shubh Griha project launched in Mumbai.

Having sold all 1,500 apartments, the low-cost project like Shubh Griha, widely applauded as a "Nano" in the housing sector had offered 283 sq ft for Rs 3.9 lakh.

But Tata's footprint in West Bengal's realty market is essentially premium and a 1,000-square feet flat at Eden Court would cost about Rs 30 lakh. The bigger spaces could scale to Rs 65 lakh.

Despite the downturn, Tata Housing, already flooded with applications (precisely, 67 per flat) has decided to draw a lottery to choose its clients for Tower II apartments beginning next week.

Buyers, 15 % of whom comprise NRIs, are extremely keen about the Tata brand because the towers have a strong green accent about them. Said Banerjee: "All the flats are sustainable green buildings certified by the Indian Green Buildings Council (IGBC). The complex will have swimming pools, playgrounds and everything that comes with a modern set-up. But the unique aspect will be the huge, huge green space enveloping the concrete structures."

The craze for the brand showed when despite the economic slump Eden Court increased prices of its residential units to Rs 2,900 per square feet from the staring price of Rs 2,750 a square feet. Spread over 50 acres, Eden Court is a combination of residential and retail. The first phase, though, comprises the residential project and will be complete three years from now.

DLF, on the other hand, will be ready to hand over its flats by 2010. Said Vikas Kumar, assistant manager for the New Town Heights project: "We have sold out most of the 800-odd flats."

The condominium offers nine impressive towers offering two, three and four bedroom apartments spread over 15 acres in various configurations. Designed by Hafeez Contractor, New Town Heights boasts of badminton, squash and tennis courts and a host of other amenities like retail, multi-facility club and a primary healthcare and diagnostic centre.

Trinamool leaders have decided to desist from "untoward" movements. Arabul Islam, party leader from Rajarhat, vouches for that: "We shall go by Mamata Banerjee's instructions at every step."

source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Tata introduces 'Nano' housing for Rs 3.9 lakh-Rs 6.7 lakh

After its revolution on wheels, the Tatas are aiming at a Nano house, which will cost anywhere between Rs 3.9 lakh and Rs 6.7 lakh.

Tata Housing, a subsidiary of Tata Sons, has launched its low-cost housing initiative called the Shubh Griha project.

The first Shubh Griha township will be launched at Boisar in Mumbai. Tata Housing has tied up with SBI and HDFC to help potential buyers with finance options.

Announcing the launch of Shubh Grih’, Brotin Banerjee, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of TATA Housing said, “This is in continuation of the group’s commitment to providing, quality, innovative products for the common man. We observed that since most of the people in the Low Income bracket live away from their families to earn a livelihood in the big cities, there is a large percentage of migrant population with people living in either rented or company provided accommodation".

Booking:

Applicants can purchase the Application form booklet at Rs. 200/- from SBI branches.

After purchase of the Application form booklet, bookings should be made in the next 20 days along with the initial booking amount of Rs. 10,000/- through bank pay order at selected branches of SBI bank across Mumbai.

The first list and the waiting list will be declared after 15 days of the final booking after a thorough scrutiny of the submitted Application form booklets. The allotted would be sent allotment letters from TATA Housing along with the payment schedule. Details of other requirements have been provided in the Application form booklet itself.

Types of houses:

Under the scheme three types of flats will be available. A one-bed room flat with a hall and kitchen in an area of 465 square feet. A one-room flat with a large kitchen in an area of 360 square feet. A one-room flat with a small kitchen in an area of 283 square feet

Tatas' Nano Housing Plan Takes Off

Here is a roundup of news from Indian newspapers, news wires and Web sites on Wednesday, May 13. The Wall Street Journal has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

Tatas' nano housing plan takes off in style

Tata Group has sold around 3,500 application forms for its low-cost housing project, Shubh Griha near Mumbai, in the first two days of booking, three-and-a-half times the number of apartments the company is planning to build under the project, a company executive said.

The pricing of the project has taken many by surprise. Its Shubh Griha website has received 15 lakh hits in four days since announcement of the project. This includes 6.7 lakh hits from the US and 3.3 lakh hits from India, as per the executive.

Source: Economic Times

FMCG spend falls in Jan-March quarter

Falling advertising rates and focus on improving operating margins saw FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) companies reduce their ad spending during the January to March quarter, said sector experts.

Advertising and marketing (A&M) spending for Godrej Consumer Products (GCPL) dipped 85 per cent, Marico's ad spends were down by 20 per cent and Emami's were down by 7 per cent. Hindustan Unilever's spending saw an increase of 3 per cent, but as a percentage of net sales, its advertising and promotions spending was down 40 basis points for the January to March quarter as compared with the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Source: Buisness Standard

UTI Mutual Fund to offload 26% stake by July-end

UTI Asset Management Company, the oldest fund house in the country, will rope in a strategic partner with 26 per cent stake.

While the government has given the go ahead for the move, the company is in the process of getting shareholder approval, UTI AMC Chairman and Managing Director U K Sinha told Business Standard in an interview.

Source: Buisness Standard

Activists oppose extension of deadline to Maytas consortium

The Maytas Infra Ltd-led consortium's failure to achieve financial closure for the Rs 123.12 billion Hyderabad Metro rail project has given fresh legs to an old enemy: activist groups that were against the project even earlier saying it would mean pulling down several heritage structures are now opposing any extension of the deadline.

According to an agreement signed on 19 September with the Andhra Pradesh government, the Maytas consortium was to achieve financial closure for the Metro rail project within 180 days of signing the deal. That deadline ended on 17 March.

Source: Mint

DLF promoters to sell 9.9% stake for raising funds

Real estate barons K.P. Singh and his son Rajiv Singh will likely dilute their stake in DLF Ltd, the country's biggest realty firm by market value, by 9.9% through market sales on Wednesday to raise up to Rs3,800 crore ($760 million), according to people familiar with the situation.

The people, who didn't want to be identified, said the stake sale is likely to take place through an overnight book-building issue. Deutsche Bank AG is the joint book-runner along with JPMorgan Chase and Co., the people said.

Source: Mint

DoT to appoint special auditors for 4 telcos

The Department of Telecom will appoint special auditors this week to verify the revenue figures of Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar, Idea Cellular and Tata's telecom companies, which operate in different areas of communications.

The special auditors will be from the CAG panel, informed a senior DoT official.

Source: Financial Express

Polling begins for final phase of LS polls

Voting began across nine states and Union Territories in the fifth and final phase of Lok Sabha elections. Over 10.78 crore voters have a say in electing 86 MPs to the 545-member lower house of Parliament in this phase.

The polling exercise began at 0700 hrs across 1.21 lakh booths.

Source: Times of India

Congress, BJP hope for UPturn in fortunes

Among the many local tales dotting the landscape of Uttar Pradesh, a few big stories stand out. Like the one about chief minister Mayawati. The Dalit icon seems to have lost much of the lustre that she had acquired after her stunning victory in the assembly polls two years ago.

While her party, BSP, still has a devoted following, the support is often for the party candidate, not as much as it used to be for "Behenji" Mayawati herself. In this election, it may not be a steep slide for BSP, but is it the beginning of one? It is unlikely that Mayawati will post the 40-plus tally that she had hoped for, and which was once considered a realistic target even by her rivals.

Source: Times of India

Kumaraswamy meets Sonia but says JD(S) not leaving Third Front

JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswany tonight met Congress president Sonia Gandhi sparking speculation of realignment of political forces but he insisted it had nothing to do with national politics and his party was not leaving the Third Front.

The former Karnataka Chief Minister, who hid his face while entering Gandhi's 10, Janpath residence to avoid the media, insisted his meeting with the Congress chief was in connection with certain issues relating to his state Karnataka and had nothing to do with national politics.

Source: Indian Express