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