Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Property giants bet big on Goa
Property giants bet big on Goa
Business Standard, December 8, 2009, P3.
Raghavendra Kamath / Mumbai
Property majors DLF, Parsvnath and a host of others are reviving their interest in tourist hotspot Goa, hoping that renewed investor interest will drive their home sales.
The state, which has around 2,000 apartments on sale, recently saw DLF, the country’s largest property developer, launching its River Valley Holiday Home project, wherein apartments were priced at Rs 25-55 lakh. The developer is said to have sold almost 140 apartments, out of the 250 on sale.
“We are marketing this project to investors looking for holiday homes across the country. The idea is to give a market for people who want to invest in mid-income houses. We are already getting good response for the project,” said Rajeev Talwar, group executive director, DLF Ltd.
Another Delhi-based real estate developer Parsvnath is planning to start three realty projects in the state — a shopping mall-cum-office project, a hotel and a residential project. While it has got permission for the first two, it is yet to get approval for the housing project. The company expects to launch its projects next financial year.
“We see a good potential in Goa, as there are very few large-scale developments and limited parcel of land available to build,” said Pradeep Jain, chairman of Parsvnath Developers.
Realtors such as Kumar Gera of Gera Developments said home prices turned attractive due to lower costs of land and construction. Gera is constructing a office and 224-apartment residential project in Goa. At Rs 3,000 per sqft, there is good demand for a 2-BHK,” said Gera.
Consultants said pricing was a game-changer in this tiny property market, as it was in other parts of the country. “Earlier, we were hearing houses priced at a crore or two in Goa. Since the new developers have priced their homes between Rs 20 lakh and Rs 60 lakh, people are buying them as holiday home or good investment options,” said Raminder Grover, chief executive of Home Bay Residential, a unit of property consultants Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj.
But not everything is hunky-dory in this tiny state. Initially, DLF’s River Valley project faced agitation from local villagers and non-government organisations on environment issues. Besides, DLF is yet to construct a mall-cum-office in Goa as it could not obtain the necessary approvals on time. The state government has also scrapped seven special economic zones by companies such as Cipla and Peninsula Land among others and developers have gone to the high court against it. Litigation, regulations and a number of approvals have also discouraged some developers.
“We actively looked at deals in Goa, but we could not pursue them as we felt public interest litigation (PIL) and coastal regulation zone (CRZ) rules were the biggest problems in implementing any project,” said Sunil Mantri of Sunil Mantri Realty.
Added Grover of Home Bay Residential: “The amount of permissions required in Goa is the highest compared to other parts of the country. A project can be delayed for any amount of time due to this reason.”
N-deal with Russia goes beyond 123
N-deal with Russia goes beyond 123
Hindustan Times, December 8, 2009, P1
Russia will continue to supply India with nuclear fuel even if India carries out a nuclear test in future, but does not favour amending the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) to grant India the status of a fullfledged nuclear weapons' state.
The civil nuclear deal signed in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday is being described as "better than the 123 agreement" that was signed with the United States because it binds Russia to carry on supplying nuclear fuel and technology to India even if the pact is cancelled for any reason.
The Russian agreement also allows India to reprocess and enrich spent nuclear fuel -- which is being negotiated with the US under a separate agreement.
But the biggest fish eluded the Prime Minister. Addressing a joint press conference at the Kremlin, President Medvedev, said: "I will be very frank. We are not interested in expanding the nuclear club."
New Delhi has been canvassing support from the five declared nuclear powers for a proposed amendment to the NPT which would make India a de jure nuclear weapon state rather than merely a de facto one.
The NPT grants nuclear weapon state status to countries that carried out nuclear tests before January 1, 1967.
India wants the cut-off date pushed beyond May 18, 1974 -when it carried out its first test.
Significantly, American President Barrack Obama had referred to India as nuclear power at a joint press conference with Singh in Washington on November 24 -- the first time any US president has done so.
All hopes, dreams of my generation rest on Copenhagen
All hopes, dreams of my generation rest on Copenhagen
Hindustan Times, December 8, 2009, P19
The largest and most important United Nations climate change conference in history opened on Monday with video clips of children from around the globe urging delegates to help them grow up without facing catastrophic warming.
On the sidelines, climate activists competed for attention to their campaigns on deforestation, clean energy and low-carbon growth.
Mohamad Shinaz, an activist from the Maldives, plunged feetfirst into a tank with nearly 750 litres of frigid water to illustrate what rising sea levels were doing to his island nation. "I want people to know that this is happening," Shinaz said as the water reached up to his chest. "We have to stop global warming." HEARTFELT APPEAL Leah Wickham, a 24-year-old from Fiji, broke down in tears as she handed a petition from 10 million people asking the negotiators at Copenhagen to come up with a deal to save islands like hers. "I'm on the front lines of climate change," she said. "Fifty years from now, my children will be raising their own fami lies. It is my hope that they will still be able to call our beautiful islands home," said Wickham, a student at the University of the South Pacific.
Wickham issued her appeal to the conference's president, Connie Hedegaard, and Yvo de Boer, the executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
"I am relying on the deci sionmakers to sign a deal that will mean that my children inherit a safe world," a visibly emotional Wickham said.
"All the hopes and dreams of my generation rest on Copenhagen."
The first week of the conference will focus on refining the complex text of a draft treaty.
But major decisions will await the arrival next week of environment ministers and the heads of state in the final days of the conference, which ends on December 18. Denmark's prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said 110 heads of state and government will attend the final days of the meet.
The largest and most important United Nations climate change conference in history opened on Monday with video clips of children from around the globe urging delegates to help them grow up without facing catastrophic warming.
On the sidelines, climate activists competed for attention to their campaigns on deforestation, clean energy and low-carbon growth.
Mohamad Shinaz, an activist from the Maldives, plunged feetfirst into a tank with nearly 750 litres of frigid water to illustrate what rising sea levels were doing to his island nation. "I want people to know that this is happening," Shinaz said as the water reached up to his chest. "We have to stop global warming." HEARTFELT APPEAL Leah Wickham, a 24-year-old from Fiji, broke down in tears as she handed a petition from 10 million people asking the negotiators at Copenhagen to come up with a deal to save islands like hers. "I'm on the front lines of climate change," she said. "Fifty years from now, my children will be raising their own fami lies. It is my hope that they will still be able to call our beautiful islands home," said Wickham, a student at the University of the South Pacific.
Wickham issued her appeal to the conference's president, Connie Hedegaard, and Yvo de Boer, the executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
"I am relying on the deci sionmakers to sign a deal that will mean that my children inherit a safe world," a visibly emotional Wickham said.
"All the hopes and dreams of my generation rest on Copenhagen."
The first week of the conference will focus on refining the complex text of a draft treaty.
But major decisions will await the arrival next week of environment ministers and the heads of state in the final days of the conference, which ends on December 18. Denmark's prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said 110 heads of state and government will attend the final days of the meet.
Hindustan Times, December 8, 2009, P19
The largest and most important United Nations climate change conference in history opened on Monday with video clips of children from around the globe urging delegates to help them grow up without facing catastrophic warming.
On the sidelines, climate activists competed for attention to their campaigns on deforestation, clean energy and low-carbon growth.
Mohamad Shinaz, an activist from the Maldives, plunged feetfirst into a tank with nearly 750 litres of frigid water to illustrate what rising sea levels were doing to his island nation. "I want people to know that this is happening," Shinaz said as the water reached up to his chest. "We have to stop global warming." HEARTFELT APPEAL Leah Wickham, a 24-year-old from Fiji, broke down in tears as she handed a petition from 10 million people asking the negotiators at Copenhagen to come up with a deal to save islands like hers. "I'm on the front lines of climate change," she said. "Fifty years from now, my children will be raising their own fami lies. It is my hope that they will still be able to call our beautiful islands home," said Wickham, a student at the University of the South Pacific.
Wickham issued her appeal to the conference's president, Connie Hedegaard, and Yvo de Boer, the executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
"I am relying on the deci sionmakers to sign a deal that will mean that my children inherit a safe world," a visibly emotional Wickham said.
"All the hopes and dreams of my generation rest on Copenhagen."
The first week of the conference will focus on refining the complex text of a draft treaty.
But major decisions will await the arrival next week of environment ministers and the heads of state in the final days of the conference, which ends on December 18. Denmark's prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said 110 heads of state and government will attend the final days of the meet.
The largest and most important United Nations climate change conference in history opened on Monday with video clips of children from around the globe urging delegates to help them grow up without facing catastrophic warming.
On the sidelines, climate activists competed for attention to their campaigns on deforestation, clean energy and low-carbon growth.
Mohamad Shinaz, an activist from the Maldives, plunged feetfirst into a tank with nearly 750 litres of frigid water to illustrate what rising sea levels were doing to his island nation. "I want people to know that this is happening," Shinaz said as the water reached up to his chest. "We have to stop global warming." HEARTFELT APPEAL Leah Wickham, a 24-year-old from Fiji, broke down in tears as she handed a petition from 10 million people asking the negotiators at Copenhagen to come up with a deal to save islands like hers. "I'm on the front lines of climate change," she said. "Fifty years from now, my children will be raising their own fami lies. It is my hope that they will still be able to call our beautiful islands home," said Wickham, a student at the University of the South Pacific.
Wickham issued her appeal to the conference's president, Connie Hedegaard, and Yvo de Boer, the executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
"I am relying on the deci sionmakers to sign a deal that will mean that my children inherit a safe world," a visibly emotional Wickham said.
"All the hopes and dreams of my generation rest on Copenhagen."
The first week of the conference will focus on refining the complex text of a draft treaty.
But major decisions will await the arrival next week of environment ministers and the heads of state in the final days of the conference, which ends on December 18. Denmark's prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said 110 heads of state and government will attend the final days of the meet.
Dubai World asset sale to finance debt
Dubai World asset sale to finance debt
Hindustan Times, December 8, 2009, P25
Dubai World will sell some of its assets to part finance its $26 billion (Rs 1.2 lakh crore) debt, the Director-General of Dubai's Department of Finance, Abdul Rahman Al Saleh, told the Al Jazeera television. He said the government will not sell any of its assets to bail out the conglomerate, but added that the Dubai Financial Support Fund could extend support to Dubai World if needed. The Dubai Financial Market slumped by more than five per cent on Monday.
RBI push for local area banks
RBI push for local area banks
The Economic Times, December 8, 2009, Page 9
Move To Allow More Banks From FY11 Will Aid Drive For Financial Inclusion
Anto Antony NEW DELHI
THE Reserve Bank of India plans to allow more local area banks from the next financial year to provide an impetus to the government’s financial inclusion drive.
The finance ministry and the central bank have conducted discussions on giving licences to more such banks, as recommended by the Raghuram Rajan committee, after putting in place an appropriate regulatory framework, said a senior finance ministry official.
“They will help to bring in local knowledge to bear on products that are needed locally,” the official said, requesting anonymity.
Local area banks with operations in two or three contiguous districts were conceived in the 1996 Union Budget to mobilise rural savings and make them available for investment in local areas. They are expected to bridge the gaps in credit availability and enhance the institutional credit framework in rural and semi-urban areas.
Although the geographical area of operation of such banks will be limited, they will be allowed to perform all functions of a scheduled commercial bank.
The local area banking licences will be given out in under-banked or unbanked areas of the country. Some of these local area banks could eventually become full-fledged banks at some stage. According to data available with the finance ministry there are 120 unbanked revenue blocks in the country.
The RBI and the finance ministry are confident of addressing apprehensions over the viability of these small banks, the governance structures and the ability of the regulator to take corrective action.
The Raghuram Rajan Committee had envisaged these local area banks as private, well-governed, deposit-taking small-finance banks. They were to have higher capital adequacy norms, a strict prohibition on related-party transactions, and lower concentration norms to offset chances of higher risk from being geographically constrained.
The committee was set up to suggest the next generation reforms for the Indian financial sector. It submitted the report in April 2008.
According to the official, these banks will be on the lines of six local area banks that were given licences by the RBI in 1996. A review committee formed in 2002 had opposed giving further licences, citing regulatory hurdles. Four of the six local area banks set up are still operational.
According to a RBI official, local area banks are likely to have a capital adequacy ratio higher than 15%, while it is 12% for scheduled commercial banks. Capital adequacy ratio or CAR is the ratio of capital fund to risk weighted assets expressed in percentage terms. CAR is the measure of a bank’s ability to withstand losses arising from sticky loans. The local area banks will have higher capital adequacy ratio to offset higher risk arising from being geographically focused.
If the finance ministry’s proposal to consider the local area banks on par with scheduled commercial banks is accepted, the oversight of these banks is likely to rest with the department of banking operations and development in RBI, unlike in the earlier scheme when the department of banking supervision in RBI was in charge of the banks.
But the head of a large public sector bank who asked not to be named pointed out that the business correspondents model being pursued by the RBI will give people access to credit and there is no need to resume the licensing of local area banks.
Govt to seek $2 b more from World Bank
Govt to seek $2 b more from World Bank
The Economic Times, December 8, 2009, Page 9
NEW DELHI: The government will seek $2 billion of additional funds from the World Bank for highway development, road transport & highways minister Kamal Nath said on Monday after the first meeting of empowered group of ministers for the road sector. Along with other options, the government is also looking at raising long-term funds from LIC and pension funds. But the modalities are yet to be worked out. “About Rs 100,000 crore has already been tied up for the current financial year,” Mr Nath said.
The Economic Times, December 8, 2009, Page 9
NEW DELHI: The government will seek $2 billion of additional funds from the World Bank for highway development, road transport & highways minister Kamal Nath said on Monday after the first meeting of empowered group of ministers for the road sector. Along with other options, the government is also looking at raising long-term funds from LIC and pension funds. But the modalities are yet to be worked out. “About Rs 100,000 crore has already been tied up for the current financial year,” Mr Nath said.
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