Mumbai, India, March 14, 2007 - Craig S. Phillips, former Global Head of Securitized Products for Morgan Stanley, announced today the founding of Ptarmigan Capital LLC, an alternative asset management firm. The firm plans to focus on real estate-related investments, including private equity real estate investments in India and opportunistic investments in the U.S. residential markets. The firm has offices in Stamford, Connecticut and Bangalore, India.
New Delhi, India, March 07, 2007 - A request has been received from Government of Tamil Nadu for development of Colachel Port as a Major Port. Preparation of a Techno-Economic Feasibility and Detailed Project Reports as well as Environmental Impact Assessment Studies for this project have been undertaken.
Mumbai, December 26, 2006 - Leading real estate developer Sobha Developers Ltd has announced that the Company has received a Letter of Indent (LOI) from DELL India Pvt Ltd to construct its Manufacturing Plant in Sriperumbudur, Chennai.
Chennai, December 23, 2006 - INRnews features real estate and property news snippets from around the country. Read further for news snippets from Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Mohali, Patiala and Pune.
Chennai, December 13, 2006 - According to real estate services firm Colliers International, there has been a significant increase in capital values for real estate in South Chennai in the third quarter of this year. Areas like Adyar, Thiruvanmiyur, Kotturpuram are seeing steep rises in land values as well as apartment prices. The IT & ITES sectors are also driving demand for residential properties in Chennai's IT Corridor.
Hyderabad, November 15, 2006 - If India's much anticipated retail revolution has a start date, it could well be the first week of November 2006. On November 3, in a classic RIL move marked by scale and ambition, Reliance Retail launched 11 Reliance Fresh retail outlets simultaneously in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, firing the first salvo in what will be a keenly contested battle to win a huge prize - nothing less than the wallets of Indian consumers!
Chennai, October 28, 2006: Bangalore-based Alliance Infrastructure is to develop a residential township in Padi in the Northwest of Chennai at an investment of Rs.500 crore. The integrated township, Orchid Springs, will provide all facilities required to deliver on a "walk to work" concept.
Chennai, October 8, 2006 : Real estate giant DLF plans to invest $2.1 billion in the Southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu on real estate and infrastructure projects. The investment would go towards development of Special Economic Zones, integrated townships, hotels and convention centres.
Chennai, September 28, 2006: Spencer's is fast emerging as a key retail brand in the country. The 80-store supermarket chain, part of the RPG group, is comprised of 7 hypermarkets each occupying more than 35,000 sq.ft, 3 supermarkets up to 15,000 sq.ft, and 70 Daily stores between 4,000 to 7,000 sq.ft where consumers can purchase fresh produce, frozen products, bakery products, groceries and other daily requirements.
Spencer's Retail plans to open Spencer's Dailies in Pune, Hyderabad, Trichy and Bangalore. According to the company, in October it will open one new store every two days.
Hexaware's 11-hectare information technology Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Siruseri near Chennai, has been notified. Another SEZ for Medicaps covering an area of 12.25 hectares at Indore in Madhya Pradesh has also been notified. This takes the number of notified SEZs to a total of 22. It may be recalled here, that the Board of Approval has given its stamp of clearance to 150 applications, already.
The Tamil Nadu govt is planning to acquire 30,000 acres of land for a satellite township in the outskirts of Chennai. According to the Chief Minister, Mr. Karunanidhi, land for the town has already been identified and will be purchased at the prevailing market rate. The sprawling estate is located near Chennai, south of the Vandalur-Kelambakkam road. Currently only 13,000 families inhabit the proposed site area.
After people, the biggest cost to a company would be the cost of renting or buying of office space. One way to reduce investment costs here is to outsource space from Regus Group Plc. It is the biggest provider of outsourced workplaces on demand, in the world.
According to property services firm DTZ Debenham Tie Leung, rental values in Chennai's CBD area have increased during the last quarter driven by strong demand particularly from the banking and financial services sector, lack of fresh supply and vacancy rates as low as 4%.
IVRCL hopes to execute real estate projects across the country,including townships, residential estates, golf courses, shopping malls and hotels, in the next four years. The estimated cost - Rs.6000 crores.
HCL Technologies has got approval to set up three special economic zones (SEZ) in India in the cities of Noida, Bangalore and Chennai. The company plans to invest Rs. 500 crore to set up the SEZs.
The public sector Ennore Port Ltd. (ELT), Tidco and Sipcot are to jointly set up a 2,500 acre SEZ in North Chennai. The TN govt has been approached for approval and waiver of Sales Tax for enterprises located in the zone.
Union Minister Mr. Jaipal Reddy said the central govt. could provide up to 20% of the cost of an infrastructure project as viability gap funding. A Chennai Metro Rail project is being proposed by the Tamil Nadu government. Metro rail projects are already coming up in Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai and Hyderabad.
Anna Salai and Nungambakkam are no longer on the growth list for commercial space. Areas occupying top spots are R.K. Salai, Egmore, Ambattur, Guindy and Porur. Commercial space is also being lapped up in city outskirts according to property consultants Trammel Crow Meghraj.
The Taj GVK group is progressing plans to develop three new five star hotels one each in Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. The 125-room Chennai hotel already under development is likely to be completed by March 2007. The 189-room hotel in Hyderabad is likely to be ready by 2008. Taj GVK is also to acquire land for the Bangalore hotel.
RR Industries is to set up a 2.2 million sq ft IT park, RR Skyline, in the Ambattur industrial estate in Chennai. The IT park is planned on a 10 acre plot and is expected to fetch a lease rental of Rs. 50 per sq ft. The entire investment of Rs. 510 crore is to be financed by a mixture of debt (Rs. 275 crore) and equity (Rs. 160 crore). The project is slated to be completed by September 2007. RR Industries has previously developed IT facilities in the Guindy Industrial Estate in Chennai.
Information technology major, Tata Consultancy Services, is to open a $150 million IT facility in Chennai by the fourth quarter of this year according to news reports. The facility is coming up in Siruseri Industrial Park on over 75 acres of land. The first phase with a seating capacity of 3,500 is likely to be ready by the end of the year while the second phase expected by the second quarter of next year will create a seating capacity for over 20,000 people. TCS employs over 14,000 people in Chennai and services over 20 of its top 30 clients from Chennai.
Real Estate prices in India have been on a tear in the last one year. According to Knight Frank India, prices for A Grade properties have increased significantly. In Mumbai residential rates have moved up from Rs. 17,000 to Rs. 30,000 a sq. ft., while for commercial property the rates have gone up from Rs. 11,000 to Rs.29,000. Delhi has seen residential prices move up from Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 25,000 a sq. ft. and commercial property go from Rs. 8,500 to Rs. 16,000. Chennai has moved up from Rs. 3,500 to Rs. 3,600 for residential property and Rs. 4,000 to Rs. 4,500 for Commercial Property while Bangalore residential property has moved up from Rs. 4,000 to Rs. 4,800 a sq. ft. while commercial property has moved up from Rs. 3,500 to Rs. 6,000 a sq. ft.
India's Minister of Communications and IT, Mr. Dayanidhi Maran, has said that he would like to see Chennai's "IT Corridor" extended all the way to Mahabalipuram. Speaking to reporters at SIPCOT's Siruseri IT Park, Mr. Maran said the extension would help as land prices have spiralled out of control on the first stretch of the IT corridor up to Siruseri. There is also a need for Chennai to learn from experiences in Bangalore and provide housing near the IT Corridor.