NEWS

MAHARASHTRA PRODS BUILDERS TO GO GREENSanjay Jog, Mumbai, January 03, 2010Business Standard

The Maharashtra government proposes to amend the Development Control Rules for the introduction of green building regulations initially in Mumbai and later in Tier-two cities of the state. Under these regulations, it will be mandatory for new buildings to use green technologies for recycling dry waste and drainage water, vermiculture for treatment of wet waste, solar energy and above all rainwater harvesting. The government proposes to provide incentives in the form of rationalisation in property tax and electricity tariff, and reduction in state taxes like VAT and Octroi on green technologies. The governments move comes at a time when Mumbai is reeling under acute water shortage and is expected to face power deficit soon. Delhi, West Bengal, Karnataka, Kerala and Rajasthan have taken similar initiatives. However, said sources in the realty sector, Maharashtra will be the first to put these incentives in a regulatory framework. "The department of urban development, housing and environment will hold a meeting on January 4 to look into various aspects of green building regulations and the implementation procedures in Mumbai and later in Tier-two cities,” a senior state government official, who did not want to be quoted. On Saturday. “Already, the Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation through a notification has asked developers of new buildings to go for rainwater harvesting. The objective of the proposed green building regulations is to make all efforts to minimise the impact of climate change. However, while doing so, it should not affect the governments target of affordable housing in Mumbai and the rest of Maharashtra." Green technologies can often push up the construction costs. But the relaxation in property tax would bring down the cost of green technologies in new buildings. “At present, property tax in Greater Mumbai and its suburbs varies from Rs 4.50 per sq ft to Rs 12 sq ft. In Tier-two cities, property tax is comparatively low which ranges from Rs 1.25 to Rs 2 per sq ft. The relaxation in property tax will be a major incentive,” said a member of the Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry, speaking on the condition of anonymity. He added that solar energy technology is quite costly and thus the government may consider a subsidy on it. The government official admitted that at present these green technologies are quite costly and ultimately the burden will be borne by the customers. For example, the cost of biodegradable plastic manufacturing machine at present is Rs 5 lakh. The government may consider providing certain concessions in duties in order to reduce its cost.

AN IRKSOME TOWNSHIP POLICYDivya Trivedi, January 3, 2010The Hindu Business Line
The township policy announced by the government of Gujarat recently has left many realtors of the city disappointed, as it is very different from the drafts that were being discussed, they claim. Following this, the realty sector of the city is abuzz with rumours of some of the realtors pulling out of the township policy. “We were contemplating a township project as it seemed profitable at the time, but when we took a look at the policy, we decided it was better for us to do a smaller project now and come back to the township project at a later date,” a realtor, who did not wish to be named, said. The realtors have voiced concern that it would be costlier to build a township under this policy than to build a smaller affordable housing project under General Development Control Regulations. According to the new policy, real-estate developers can get a free floor space index (FSI) of 1, and to get an extra 0.5 they would have to pay 40-50 percent of jantri rate. This pushes up the total cost of the project which would eventually be passed on to the end-consumers, said the realtor. “The FSI to be provided is not appropriate as we would end up paying a higher price if we undertake a project under the township policy rather than one under the urban development bodies such as AUDA, GUDA and VUDA and other corporations,” he said. Under the policy, a developer wanting to set up a residential township will need to buy a minimum of 200 acres of land in the urban development authority areas and 100 acres in urban authorities operating in municipalities. The developer will need to set aside 60 percent of land for residential purposes and use the rest for building common infrastructure such as roads, drainage, water supply and electricity. Townships or no townships, the affordable housing sector for the city is looking up with a slew of projects in the pipeline. Takshashila Realties Ltd is one such realtor bullish on the profitability of the sector. “There is excellent opportunity in the Rs 10- 25 lakh category right now,” says Pratik Banker of Takshashila Realties, which is coming up with a housing complex in Naroda. Priced at Rs 8-12 lakh, the housing society is not cheap accommodation with poor amenities but affordable accommodation targeted at the salaried class who take home an average of Rs 10,000-15,000 a month. Banker says that 70 percent of the market comprises this income group who cannot buy a house that is above Rs 20 lakh and yet require all comforts of life.

NEW YEAR HOLDS OUT PROMISE FOR REALTYNamrata Acharya, Kolkata, January 04, 2010Business Standard
If 2009 started on a grim note for the real estate sector, 2010 seems to be the year of promises. The year started with developers fanatically searching for occupants in vacant houses, majority of them halting their projects in want of credit, banks refusing to lend to the sector and realty stocks crashing. Cramped between low demand and high input prices, the developers saw the worst in a decade. A year after, the demand is five times higher than what it was last year, interest rates are comfortable, prices have started moving north and raw material prices is not an immediate concern for the developers. “The year started with a very bad note, but the end is very good. In the last three months, the demand has picked up substantially. It is almost four-five times more than what it was in January 2009. Prices have also increased by 5-10 percent in most areas,” said Jitendra Khaitan, CEO, Pioneer Group Residential projects clearly emerged as the winner in 2009, helping the distressed sector to come out of the slug. “The year 2009 started with a distress note, but as things progressed things improved, transactions are happening and there is a considerable change in the entire real estate scenario. This has been led by the housing sector,” said Harshvardhan Neotia, managing director, Bengal Ambuja Housing Development Amidst the worst of times for developers, it was the best of times for prospective homebuyer, as the concept of “affordable housing”, priced between Rs 5-20 lakh, became realty. Come 2010, a host of affordable housing projects are lined up to boost the sector further, according to Khaitan. In 2009, not many affordable housing projects could be launched in Kolkata and its fringes, due to unavailability of land, as volumes play a key role in profitability out of them. “In 2010 the residential market should improve further, driven by affordable housing projects. However, a little more subsidy from the government for houses below Rs 30 lakh would have been a big boost for the realty sector,” said Santosh Rungta, president, CREDAI, Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India Another positive aspect of the slowdown was the exit of speculative buying in the real estate market. “The demand this time has been driven by residential projects, and there is no more speculative buying.,” said Khaitan. Due to the absence of speculative buying, areas like Rajarhat are still reeling under high vacancy.
CHATURVEDI PANEL TO SUBMIT 2ND REPORT IN MARCHAshutosh Kumar, New Delhi, January 4, 2010DNA

The BK Chaturvedi Committee, appointed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in August for fast-tracking road development in the country, is likely to submit its second report to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) by the first week of March. “The committee has done 2-3 rounds of meetings with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for its second set of recommendations to the PM on ways and means to provide impetus to the highways construction sector in the country. The report is likely to be submitted by March this year,” said an official close to development. The committee, headed by Planning Commission member B K Chaturvedi, submitted its first report to the PM last year. “It has created a positive mood among the companies bidding for the highway projects. The demand for upfront grant that NHAI provides has come down to an average of 18-19 percent compared with 36-37 percent earlier,” an NHAI official said of the first report.
REALTORS EYE CLARITY ON NEW GST REGIMEDevesh Chandra Srivastava, New Delhi, January 04, 2010Mail Today

Like all other sectors, the real estate industry, too, could reap benefits from the implementation of the proposed Goods and Service Tax (GST) framework, according to experts. But the industry is awaiting further clarity over the recommendations of the taskforce appointed by the 13th Finance Commission. The commission has recommended that the real estate sector should be integrated into the GST framework by subsuming the stamp duty on immovable property levied by the states. The taskforce felt it would facilitate input credit and eliminate the cascading effect. According to the proposal, GST will apply to all newly constructed properties in the residential as well as commercial segments. Since stamp duty is a state subject, levies such as taxes on vehicles, goods and passengers and duties on electricity should also be subsumed under the state GST. Priyankar Bhikshu, head of consulting and research, India DTZ International Property Advisers, said, “ The overall impact of this measure on property prices would be marginal but this would certainly help bring transparency to the sector. Competition would ensure that developers would keep the price points within reach of the actual buyers. But finer details have to be read before reaching any conclusion.” Commission chairman Vijay Kelkar in June last year had suggested that the construction sector is a significant contributor to the national economy and since housing expenditure dominates the personal consumption expenditure, the two sectors would increase the tax base. Some industry players have even welcomed the move. The industry is not sure about the overall impact. Puniet Singh, director (operations and projects), Sherwood Property Consultants, said, “ This would bring transparency and uniformity but as different states have different tax structures and land laws, how this will be implemented has to be seen.” The burden on taxpayers will go down by as much as 25- 30 percent after the introduction of GST, revenue secretary P. V. Bhide had said last month. Speaking in the Assocham organised National Conference on ‘ GST — Roadmap To 2010’ he said, “ The real estate sector would be brought under the GST net since discussions in this regard between the Centre and states are almost conclusive.” However, he refused to share more details on the issue. Responding to a query on difference of views on certain GST issues between the Empowered Committee of state finance ministers and the 13th Finance Commission, Bhide admitted that there are divergent views on certain issues relating to GST between the two. The revenue secretary added that the draft legislation on GST has been referred to legal experts and would be finalised shortly to enable the government to achieve the target of implementation by April 1, 2010. However, the taskforce has recommended that the implementation date of the dual GST be postponed by six months, to October 1, 2010, because of the inadequate preparation of the government on the same. What is GST? The Centre is studying tax reforms that will sweep away part of the current VAT system, a variety of state level direct and indirect taxes, excise duties, service tax and luxury tax with a nation- wide tax standard with consumers paying a single rate of Goods and Services Tax (GST). GST in real estate13th Finance Commission has recommended that the real estate sector — all newly constructed properties — should come under GST. Realtors’ reactionRealtors have welcomed the move. They think this would bring transparency and uniformity but as different states have different tax structure and land laws, how will this be implemented has to be seen. As it will help in reducing the cost, the question arises on whether the developer will pass on this benefit to buyers or not.
UTTAR PRADESH INDUSTRY READY WITH 2010 WISH-LISTVirendra Singh Rawat, New Delhi/Lucknow, January 4, 2010Business Standard

Taking a leaf from positive signals emanating from the stock markets in the last few sessions, companies in Uttar Pradesh hope to see further boost to the state’s industrialisation in 2010. Promising all cooperation to the government, the industry is nonetheless ready with its wish-list for bringing industrialisation a much-needed push in UP, topped by uninterrupted power supply and single window clearance. “We hope that the government delivers on what it has promised on the power sector and single window fronts. Besides, the state should take immediate steps to curb harassment of traders and entrepreneurs at the field level by officials to increase revenue,” Asocham secretary general S B Agarwal told Business Standard. He suggested the government should do its homework well before the Goods and Service Tax (GST) is implemented in the country. Prominent Lucknow-based builder U S Halwasiya said UP should demonstrate its will for taking the industrialisation process forward by taking pro-industry steps. “The government should improve the power scenario and the bureaucracy give due importance to the industry. Steps should be taken to check red-tapism and ushering in transparency. Due consideration should be given for improving the infrastructure, such as road and power,” he noted. Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) chamber Indian Industries Association (IIA) executive director D S Verma said the chief minister should re-start the process of state-level periodic interaction with the industry as per the industrial policy.
50:50 JVS WITH OVERSEAS FIRMS TO GET FOREIGN TAGRajat Guha, New Delhi, January 4, 2010The Financial Express

In a bid to further streamline the foreign direct investment (FDI) policy, the government is going to classify a 50:50 joint venture (JV) between a domestic firm and an overseas entity as foreign company. All foreign partners, having such joint ventures with an Indian firm, will have to divest at least 0.5 percent in favour of the Indian partner to retain the status of an Indian-owned company. The clarification regarding 50:50 JVs is expected to be issued by the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) —the nodal FDI policy-making body of the government—soon. Since the government redefined the FDI policy last year by bringing about the concept of Indian and foreign-owned companies, this was the only area that required clarification. According to new FDI rules, a company established in India with majority Indian holding is termed Indian-held and controlled and its downstream investments are also considered as Indian. For instance, if the holding company is Indian-owned and controlled with 51 percent equity, foreign investments, which are made in any downstream ventures by this holding firm is also seen as Indian, without attracting any sectoral FDI caps. This change in the FDI norms has facilitated FDI investments in the country. Until now, even though DIPP defined foreign and Indian ownerships, it remained silent on the nature of 50:50 JVs and treatment of their downstream investments. Last week, the department of economic affairs in the finance ministry asked DIPP to clarify the treatment of investments made by 50:50 JVs at the earliest so that the confusion doesn’t become a hindrance for such JVs investing in India. It is learnt that DIPP will now classify such investments as foreign and bill such companies as foreign-owned and controlled, a government official involved with the policy said. The official also said the clarification would be incorporated in the FDI policy defined under Press Notes 2 and 3 of 2009. The issue came up when the foreign investment promotion Board (FIPB) considered Oman Refinery’s proposal to increase its stake in the JV with Bharat Petroleum to 50 percent. The Board held up the proposal owing to lack of clarity on the issue and asked DIPP to clear the air.
WE WANT TO BE AMONG TOP INDUSTRIALISED STATES'Bibhu Ranjan Mishra, Chennai/Bangalore, January 04, 2010Business Standard

Despite the political uncertainties, Karnataka is seeing a spurt in new investments in industrial sector with global firms like ArcelorMittal, Posco showing interest in setting up bases in the state. With the aim to attract more investments, the Karnataka government will hold the Global Investors meet in June this year. The state, according to government sources, is making sure to put in place the infrastructure like land, power and water before pitching in for new investments. V P Baligar, principal secretary, commerce and industry, Government of Karnataka discusses with Bibhu Ranjan Mishra on the mechanism the state has put in place to woo investors. Here are some excerpts... Before wooing investment in the state, what initiatives the govt. is taking to put in proper infrastructure in place? We have identified four industrial corridors in the state. Other than that, we are in the process of developing a land bank as a part of which we would acquire 50,000 acres of land — this means almost 2,000 acres in every district. We will keep the land bank ready so that if anybody wants to invest, we will give him or her the approval immediately. We will tell that the entire infrastructure they need including land, water and power is available in the state, which will help them in taking decisions fast. Do you have any fast-track mechanism in place to help acquiring land faster for industrial purpose? We have a fast-track mode wherein the industrialist can go and negotiate with the farmers directly. They can give the price that the farmers are asking for. Government officers will always be there to help both the parties. They will verify the land records and whether the person who is negotiating is really the owner of the land or not. Recent examples show how companies have landed in trouble during land acquisition owing to farmers’ protest. What steps are you taking to ensure this does not happen? We are acquiring the land only with the consent of the farmers and giving them more than the market value. For example near the International Airport in Devanahalli, we have given compensation amount ranging from Rs 57 to Rs 70 lakh per acre, which is one of the highest. Otherwise, they would not have got more than Rs 10 lakh per acre. Even long after the operation of the Bangalore International Airport, the government has not been able to harness the areas surrounding the airport? Around new international airports, we are acquiring 3,000 acres of land. This includes roughly 1,000 acres for an aerospace SEZ, 1,000 acres for hardware and another 1,000 acres for software parks.
SECTORS MAY NOT MATCH COS’ SOLO SHOW Ashish Agarwal, January 4, 2010 The Economic Times (Kolkata edition)

As the decade draws to a close, it may be pertinent to look at how companies and sectors have fared during the decade. An aggregate study of 10 different sectors of the economy reveals that construction sector has been the biggest hit during the decade, recording growth of nearly 24% CAGR in sales and 34% in profits during FY00-09. Aggregate profits for about 140 companies in this sector have risen by as much as 14 times, during the period. IT has been the second best sector, with profits growth of 28.1%, on the back of 27.5% growth in sales, whereas textiles has recorded lowest sales growth at 8.0%. The analysis is based on financials of nearly 2,300 companies, for which data for both FY00 and FY09 are available. It has also been an interesting journey for metals, cement & textiles, the three sectors, which posted losses in the year 1999-2000. Apart from the three loss-making sectors, only banking and construction sectors have shown sharp improvement in profit margin. For other five sectors, the margin change has been less than 3 percentage points. Net profit margin for IT sector has improved by barely 70 basis points, whereas for auto & auto ancillary, it has gone up by 120 basis points. Among Sensex companies, Bharti Airtel, which had revenues of only Rs 16 crore in FY00, recorded maximum sales and profit growth of 135% and 177% during the period. Among the other existing companies, ICICI, DLF recorded maximum profits growth at 49% and 45%.
INDIA INC’S TOP BOSSES HELP THEMSELVES WITH ESOP SALEVivek Sinha & Mahima Puri, New Delhi, January 4, 2010 The Economic Times

The three months leading to December 2009 saw the stock markets gaining back some of their lost glory. The quarter also witnessed more than a dozen top executives of India Inc encashing on their hard-earned shares allotted under the employee stock options (Esop). Among the top executives are two CEOs with diversified business interests. AM Naik, chief of engineering and construction major L&T, sold shares worth Rs 7.65 crore, while diversified consumer goods maker ITC’s CEO YC Deveshwar pocketed around Rs 1.29 crore. Others who pocketed over a crore last quarter include executive director of Kotak Mahindra Bank C Jayaram; ICICI Bank’s executive director and HR head K Ramkumar; MB Chinappa, president (finance) of Syngene International, a subsidiary of Biocon, Dabur’s executive director (HR) Ambati Sudhakar; and VK Kaushik who sold shares weeks before resigning as Punj Lloyd MD. Some of these CXOs have sold shares from their Esop basket throughout the year, so the value of shares sold in the whole of 2009 would work out to be much more. Moreover, most of them have only sold a part of what they own, so they are sitting on huge Esop-based wealth, that is multiple times their annual compensation. For instance, L&T’s Naik, who had total annual remuneration of Rs 12.5 crore for the year ended March 2009, is estimated to have sold shares worth over Rs 30 crore since June. His remaining shares in the company is worth more than Rs 335 crore. Saumen Chakraborty, who is president — corporate and global generics operations at Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, also sold shares worth Rs 94 lakh in the last quarter. Chakraborty said that he exercised the option to buy some property for himself. “I still hold around 20,000 shares as Esops and another 30,000 shares of the company in my demat account,” he said. Besides these top corporate executives, many independent directors also pocketed a huge sum by offloading shares allotted to them under stock option plans. For instance, Infosys’ Marti Subramanian sold shares worth Rs 1.79 crore last quarter, HCL Tech’s Robin Abrams pocketed Rs 1.09 crore, while Biocon’s Neville Bain and Charles Cooney encashed Rs 4.8 crore and Rs 1.49 crore, respectively.
FARMERS THREATEN TO AGITATE AGAINST LAND ACQUISITIONChennai/Dharwad, January 04, 2010Business Standard

President of Karnataka Pranta Raitha Sangha Maruti Manapade has threatened that the farmers would launch serious agitation against the state government, which is “contemplating acquisition of 200,000 acres of fertile land across the state to set up special economic zones (SEZ)”. He said here he has urged the state government to stop the process immediately. Manpade accused chief minister B S Yeddyurappa of acting as a pawn in the hands of land mafia and selling the farmers’ land to the capitalists in the guise of development. He alleged that the officials had tampered with land records to claim that the land under acquisition in Bellary and Davanagere were barren while actually the holdings were fertile. He pointed out that the farmers in Gurgaon and Punjab whose lands have been acquired for industrial purpose had been paid Rs 1.5 crore per acre and alleged that in Karnataka the government what the government paid was pittance. Instead of acquiring the land, the CM should convene a meeting of farmers to discuss and take up pro-farmer schemes, he said. Expressing his displeasure at the quantum of compensation paid to the flood victims in North Karnataka and other places in the state Manpade said the total crop loss was to the tune of Rs 30,000 crore but the state government has disbursed Rs 800 per acre compensation and urged the government to enhance the compensation amount. He also sought amendments to the norms of payment for compensation under calamity relief fund. (CRF).
COMMERCE MIN SEEKS MEET TO END SEZ TAX SOPS ROWAmiti Sen & Deepshikha Sikarwar, New Delhi, January 4, 2010The Economic Times

The commerce department has sought an exclusive pre-budget consultation with the finance ministry to resolve the uncertainty surrounding tax breaks available to special economic zones (SEZs). “Commerce minister Anand Sharma will have a separate meeting on SEZ issues with the finance minister before the budget,” a commerce department official, who did not wish to be named, said. The idea is to settle unresolved issues so that developers and units are not left guessing as to what the future is going to hold for them, he said. The tax regime for SEZs has become uncertain after the draft direct taxes code, unveiled late last year by the revenue department, suggested limiting tax benefits on profits enjoyed by SEZ developers to the recovery of capital and revenue expenditure incurred by them but excluding the expenditure on land, which is a significant component of the expenditure. If implemented, the tax breaks available to developers would be cut substantially. As per the current laws, SEZ developers get 100 percent exemption on profits for 10 years, which they can claim anytime within the first 15 years of operation.
BUYERS GO FOR AFFORDABILITY AND LIVABILITYE Jayashree Kurup and Neha Dewan, January 4, 2010The Economic Times

At the peak of the real estate boom, it wasn’t uncommon for almost every locality in different cities to witness a bullish phase. However, with markets slowing down and investors giving way to end-users, real estate locations are now increasingly being preferred for value-adds in terms of livability and affordability. The year 2009 was one of wild mood swings in buyer temperament. So the rationale that evolved by end 2009 is likely to dominate the mood in 2010 as well. Brix Research, the knowledge arm of MagicBricks.com, the leading real estate portal promoted by the Times group, in its recently launched Real Estate Value Analysis Reports, Issue 3, surveyed various locations across cities to assess market trends in 2010. The survey found that the consumer had become more realistic in terms of the type of housing he can afford. But localities did not often offer the type of houses in the range that consumers were looking for. In other words, demand and supply did not match consumer expectations. Says Anil Kumar, CEO & deputy MD, Ansal API, “The year 2010 will easily be the year of the end-user. The demand for residential will see good growth as both the economy as well as the job markets have stabilised. The uncertainty phase is over and people are now more confident to make investments. But this growth will mostly be in the affordable segment where the bulk demand lies.” According to MagicBricks.com site data in Mumbai, the demand for 1 BHK multistorey apartments of about 850 sq ft in the price range of Rs 5-50 lakh were concentrated in Mira Road, Malad West, Kandivali West, Dahisar West, and Andheri West. In newer developing areas such as Kharghar, CBD Belapur, Nerul, Seawoods, Kamothe, Koper Khairane, Vashi, Palm Beach, Sanpada and Belapur, buyers sought multi-storey apartments and residential houses in the Rs 5 lakh to Rs 1.2 crore-price range. Other top localities of Thane with good residential demand include Thane West, Ghodbander Road, Manpada, Hiranandani Road, Kolshet Road, Pokhran Road and Thane Road. Demand is often led by factors such as transport links. Noida, in the Delhi National Capital Region, is one such area where the advent of the Delhi Metro line led to realistic demand by end users.
PE, VC INVESTMENTS TO SEE JUMPNew Delhi, January 4, 2010Financial Chronicle

Private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) investments are likely to witness significantly higher levels of deal closures, both in terms of deal value and volume, from early this year on, according to experts. Battered by the global financial crisis, VC and PE investments dipped last year, but with improving liquidity conditions, these investments are expected see a major jump. According to the global consultancy firm Grant Thornton, PE and qualified institutional placement deals till December 13, 2009 amounted to $11.17 billion in the country. "The worst seems to be over for PE investors and clearly there is renewed PE interest in investing in the country, specifically in sectors like education, healthcare, logistics and realty. As a result PE action in 2010 is expected to pick up significantly," PricewaterhouseCoopers executive director and partner transactions group Sanjeev Krishan said. Ernst & Young partner and national director-industrial & consumer products Pankaj Dhandaria says, "PE investments are on the rise again as is evident from the deal activity, which has picked up speed in the past couple of months. India, which is on a growth trajectory and with its ability to generate relatively superior returns, will attract even higher degree of capital, including PE funds, in the years to come." "We have been witnessing strong signs of a revival in PE activity in the country since the last quarter of 2009. Our expectation is that this increased activity will result in significantly higher levels of deal closures, both in terms of deal value and volume, from early 2010 onwards," New Silk Route Advisors partner Darius Pandole said, add­ing the recovery is expected to gain strength over the course of 2010. According to Reliance Technology Ventures chief executive Harshal J Shah, "There will be a lot more conservative but realistic valuations in 2010." Sectors such as cleantech, consumer products and services, microfinance, mobile VAS and consumer Internet (social media sites driven mostly by user-generated content), aerospace, defense, rural and healthcare areas will attract maximum investments this year in the PE space.
SHORTCUT TO THE RIGHT LOAN AND VENDORBindisha Sarang, January 04, 2010Mint

With more than 70 lenders and over 100 products on offer, a home loan seeker finds comparison difficult and a feels cheated even after he gets the loan. Making life simpler is technology with comparison-shopping and loan facilitating portals making a strong entry into India. There are three services on offer. First, a search and choose facility. Apnaloan.com, Deals4loans.com and Rupeetalk.com will allow you to fill in your basic needs and will display the best deal available in the market. You can compare products on parameters such as interest rates, eligibility, processing fees and EMIs. After this. The loan process gets offline with the portal passing on your details to the bank you choose. Second, choose a lender and do part of the loan process online. Portals such as Bankbazar.com help you apply for the loan and submit basic documents online. The portal then passes on your application and documents to the lender and then it’s business as usual between the lender and you. Third, planning firms such as iTrust offer you a one-stop solution and hand hold you through the entire process. These guys are on your side and work to get you the best deal. Says Harsh Roongta, CEO, Apnapaisa.com, “We give a comprehensive comparison of more than 60-65 banks and hundreds of loan products.”
CWG BUILDINGS WILL HAVE IN-BUILT FIRE SAFETYNew Delhi, January 4, 2010The Pioneer

The Delhi Fire Service (DFS) is focusing on in-built arrangements as fire safety measures during the nearly 12-day-long Commonwealth Games later this year. According to DFS chief RC Sharma, the department and recommendations given to authorities involved in construction of buildings and stadia have approved plans. "The buildings -- stadia and residential accommodation -- which are coming up for the Commonwealth Games have to be provided with in-built fire safety arrangements. Plans have been approved by the Delhi Fire Service and recommendations have been given to the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Public Works Department (PWD), Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and all the authorities concerned," Sharma said.
DWARKA HOUSING SOCIETIES HOLD THEIR OWN DRAW OF LOTSKumar Vikram, New Delhi, January 04, 2010Mail Today

Frustrated citizens take the law into their own hands. What do frustrated housing cooperative societies do? They organise a self- draw for vacant flats. Hundreds of members of Dwarka’s Cooperative Group Housing Societies of (CGHS) organised a self- draw on Sunday. They said they had no option left after waiting four to five years for the Registrar, Cooperative Societies, Delhi, to allot them flats. The draw was held in the presence of CPI general secretary A. B. Bardhan, CPI Rajya Sabha MP from Andhra Pradesh Syed Aziz Pasha, and Congress MP from West Delhi Mahabal Mishra. Members from more than 10 societies, including IDC, Baroda House, Janaksar, Shree New Anamika, Sapna Ghar, Crown, Appu Enclave and Satpari, took part in the draw. More than 6,000 flats in 57 societies have been lying vacant for five years. Initially, court proceedings and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probes since 2005 had delayed the allotment. The Delhi High Court had ordered the CBI to probe how some societies got land in 2000 and later. But investigations have been completed and several court orders have directed the allotment of flats since 2007. Residents claim the CBI has given a clean chit to 99.5 percent of the members. Bardhan said he had spoken to the government and the authorities earlier on the plight of the members, who are mostly senior citizens.
A NEW-LOOK BATRA COMPLEXNeelam Pandey, New Delhi, January 4, 2010 Hindustan Times (Delhi edition)

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has embarked on a new project to revamp the commercial complex situated next to the cinema hall, which is presently in a dilapidated condition. A proposal has been prepared in this regard and will be tabled in the civic body's house meeting on Monday. Once a green signal is given, work will start within three months' time. Under the project, the entire complex would be developed, pathways would be upgraded, new sleek street furniture would be installed, and the drainage area would be improved too.
CITY TO GET IT-DRIVEN INDUSTRIAL POLICY New Delhi, January 4, 2010The Tribune

The state cabinet is likely to discuss the new industrial policy for the National Capital Territory of Delhi tomorrow. According to sources, it will be an IT information technology (IT)-driven policy. The policy would not only boost revenues of the Capital but also deter polluting industries, sources said. A draft of the new policy has been drawn. The policy aims to make Delhi a global hub for clean, high technology industries encouraging eco-friendly knowledge-based industries, generating high amount of revenue without demanding much electricity, manpower, land and water. The policy makes it clear that even existing industries in the Capital need to be made environment-friendly and create employment for skilled operators, sources said. According to sources, this is for the first time after 1982 that an industrial policy is being framed for the national Capital. Its objectives are to promote non-polluting and clean industries, high technology industries, develop world-class industrial infrastructure, promote cluster approach and facilitate business through e-governance. The policy will advocate promoting cluster development, high-technology and skilled industries in new industrial areas through private public partnership (PPP) mode, facilitating business by simplification, e-enabling and investor-friendly face along with promotional measures relating to skill development and allowing knowledge-based industries in the areas.
REGULARISE GUESTHOUSES AD HOC LICENCESPrashant Pandey, New Delhi, January 04, 2010The Asian Age

The MCD councillors want the ad hoc licences for guesthouses running in unauthorised colonies in the city to be converted into permanent licences, as it would help augment the corporation's revenue. But it may just not be possible for the MCD as there are provisions related to the Master Plan for Delhi-2021, which need to be taken care of. The matter pertained to certain guest houses running in the Mahipalpur area which had not been granted trade licences for the past three years on account of them being operated on unauthorised areas.
RECESSION MADE MORE CONMEN Rahul Tripathi, New DelhiThe Times of India (Delhi edition)

According to data released by the Economic Offences Wing of Delhi Police on Saturday, 2009 saw a surge of economic fraud. Against the 6,000 complaints of cheating and forgery filed till December 15, police registered 390 cases and investigated nearly 1,100 cases in 2009. The police blamed the recession for the increase in chit fund and multi-level marketing scams. Joint CP (crime and railways) Amulya Patnaik told TOI, ‘‘There were a number of complaints about chit funds and multi-level marketing. Many people were duped, which is why investigation of these cases was made a priority.” The year started with the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) scam in which some one dozen property dealers and former DDA officials got their hands on nearly 80 reserved quota DDA flats. The economic offences wing (EOW) of Delhi Police arrested 13 people who had got the flats allotted to buyers from the SC/ST category and had then paid the buyers money to transfer the apartments to them.
ELECTRONIC CITY EXPRESSWAY ALMOST READYBangalore, January 4, 2010The Hindu

With work on the much-awaited Hosur Road Elevated Expressway almost complete, motorists commuting to Electronic City can soon look forward to faster and signal-free travel to work and back home on the 10-km expressway stretching from Bommanahalli to Electronic City. Though the date for the official inauguration of the elevated expressway, built at an estimated cost of Rs. 880 crore, has not been finalised, a senior official of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) said here that the access-controlled expressway will be thrown open to traffic soon. “The expressway is almost ready. But, we can’t say when it will be inaugurated. But, it will not take long (for the expressway to be thrown open to traffic,” he said. Officials are confident that motorists would take less than 20 minutes to cover the distance between Bommanahalli — just after the Central Silk Board Junction — and Electronic City against the one-hour it now takes during peak hours. The existing road, which is part of the National Highway 7 is choked with not only vehicles plying between Bangalore city and Electronic City but also trucks and other vehicles bound for Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
MUMBAI METROPOLITAN REGION DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY NEEDS SPACE TO GROWNinad D Sheth, Mumbai, January 4, 2010DNA

Its land holdings are its primary source of revenue. But the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority [MMRDA] does not have enough of land. So, to boost its earnings, the MMRDA has moved various proposals of land acquisition across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region [MMR]. State chief secretary JP Dange will hold a meeting with all officials concerned on Monday to give the acquisition process a fillip. For the past five years, the MMRDA has been identifying plots in various parts of the MMR that would go to create its land bank. “We are planning to acquire land as we wish to carry out infrastructure projects for the development of the region. The MMRDA has sent in as many as 17 proposals for solid waste management projects and 21 proposals for growth centres. And to implement them, we need land. The process is a bit time-consuming. Hopefully, our meeting with the chief secretary on Monday would generate the much-needed momentum,” MMRDA commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad said. A total of 6464.80 hectare has already been identified by the land department of MMRDA. Of it, 371.34 hectare would be used for solid waste management projects. The authority also wants to create a land bank of 3356.17 hectare throughout the region.
WATER CRISIS DAMPENS MUMBAI REALTYS. Shanker, January 3, 2010The Hindu Business Line

For Mumbai's city managers it is a virtual scramble for water with reservoir levels fast dipping and monsoon well over six months away. And, till such time, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) has the stupendous task of rationing water to the island city. The cumulative storage of the reservoirs is 23 percent lower at 7.38 lakh million litres against last year's 9.62 lakh million litres. As a first measure at conservation, the corporation has curtailed water for existing buildings and denied connections to new ones. For real-estate developers who were just about seeing demand coming back, it is a definite setback to a hassle-free path to recovery. The Maharashtra Chief Minister, Ashok Chavan, told the winter session of the Assembly in Nagpur that no water connections would be given to townships and new towers of seven storeys and more till the completion of the Middle Vaitarna project. The water supply scheme is slated for completion in 2012. The Rs 1,330-crore Vaitarna project will deliver 455 million litres a day (mld) to the city. Against the requirement of 3400 mld, the current supply is around 2900 mld. In the meanwhile, the corporation has been made it clear that new constructions would have to wait over 30 months for water connections or depend on alternative sources such as tanker supply or bore-wells.
GOVT MAY FREEZE NEW CONSTRUCTION PERMITSSayli Udas Mankikar, Mumbai, January 4, 2010Hindustan Times (Mumbai edition)

Chief Minister Ashok Chavan's announcement, during the state Assembly's winter session, to not allow new constructions in Mumbai till the water shortage problem is addressed is gaining impetus. Chavan is considering that permissions for additional constructions in No-Development Zones (NDZ) will be put on hold temporarily. The actual demand of water for Mumbai is 4,200 million litres a day (mld), while supply after the 30 percent water cut is just at 2,900 mld -- a gap of 1,300 mld. The government has been considering a hike in the floor space index (FSI) for facilities in NDZ's from 0.2 FSI to 0.4 FSI, which meant more construction space in such zones. About 33 percent of land in central and suburban Mumbai is marked as NDZ -- which includes Aarey Milk Colony plots at Goregaon and Worli and the Godrej land at Vikhroli. NDZs are not green lands but marked areas kept aside where zoning will be done when need arises.
MALL MANIA FADES IN MUMBAIRajshri Mehta, Mumbai, January 4, 2010DNA

The economic slowdown of 2008-09 has had its impact on the retail segment in Mumbai. Over the last one-year, Mumbai-based developers have converted over 2.5 million sq ft of planned mall space into residential and commercial complexes. Among the biggest developers to make this switch is realty firm Dynamix Balwas (DB Group), which shelved its ambitious retail venture to build the country’s largest shopping mall (over 10 lakh sq ft) in Dahisar after spending over a year planning and designing it. The developer is now constructing low-income, budget homes on the land purchased for the Rs700-crore Dahisar mall, which was to be called Ozone Orchid. The group had earlier converted a mall project in Kandivli into a housing complex. Orbit Corporation, a south Mumbai realtor, has also decided to convert a 2.5 lakh sq ft commercial development called Hafeez Contractor House in Lower Parel into a residential project. Ackruti City converted its more than 7 lakh sq ft mall space at Andheri into a residential and commercial complex. Dreams Mall, spread across 8 lakh sq ft in Kandivli and owned by Satra Properties, is being converted into residential space. Only 10% will remain for retail purposes.
PUNE TO GET OWN METROPOLITAN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITYMumbai, January 04, 2010Business Standard

Pune would soon have its own Metropolitan Development Authority like one in Mumbai to handle development and infrastructure works. The government has decided to set up Development Authorities on the lines of Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) in other cities of the state. "The Area Development Authority Bill was recently passed by the Legislature and the first such authority would come up in Pune than in Nagpur and Nashik," Principal Secretary for Urban Development Department T C Benjamin said. Smaller cities and rural areas have no proper planning, which results into haphazard growth of the areas. Later, it becomes difficult to control. Therefore the Government wants the other cities to have proper planning system, Banjamin said. Apart from development, the Authority would also plan for transport and town planning schemes for non-urban areas. "The connectivity of outer-parts of the cities would be taken care by the Authority and these cities would have own town planning schemes," he said.
UNCHECKED GROWTH OF ILLEGAL COLONIES ‘ABETTED’ BY OFFICIALSJyotika Sood, Ludhiana, January 4, 2010The Tribune

Even though over a hundred unauthorised colonies, both big and small, have mushroomed in the city during the past seven years, the municipal corporation appears to be clueless about them. And, no wonder - they were allowed to come up due to political patronage from officials who turned a blind eye to these colonies. Sources close to the civic body said the last survey of illegal colonies was conducted in 2001-2002 with the municipal commissioner, local bodies department and even ministers being fooled all these years into using the same old data. "Whenever senior officials ask for data the old survey figures are presented, due to which the mushrooming of illegal colonies has gone completely unchecked all these years. STP, MTP or ATPs are seldom found on field duties - most of the time they prefer to rely on the information being provided to them by the building inspectors and draftsmen”, the sources added. They said about half of the unauthorised colonies that have come up in the last seven years belonged to sitting and former councillors. "You would be astonished to know that the MC’s C zone is a ‘hub’ of illegal colonies that has not been ever touched by any official. An ATP posted in the C zone after 2000 stayed there for over five 5 years and yet he has failed to take any action," the sources said, adding if there are any enquiries “only the blame game is found”.
CITY WATCH Gulveen Aulakh, January 03, 2010
The Economic Times (Delhi edition)
The holy city of Amritsar is no more just a religious destination. After the Punjab government started developing it as a tourist destination, real estate developers saw the opportunity and jumped in. Even though the city is just 25 km from the Indo-Pak border, Amritsar has drawn more than a dozen real estate developers who are now considering both residential and commercial developments. In the last one year, the city has seen the world’s largest retailers Wal-Mart enter in association with the Bharti Group. One of the most sought after spas in the country Ananda chose Amritsar to open its only branch at five-star luxury hotel Ista, which is owned and managed by hospitality chain Indian Hotel and Health Resorts. Amritsar is one of the top three cities in Punjab where investors would like to take their projects, especially those in real estate. But recession has been a spoilsport for more than a year forcing developers to go slow and stalling any resale. However, that trend seems to be withering away with the Indian economy on the upswing, says Confederation of Indian Industry Punjab chapter chairman Gunbir Singh. “Colonisers that came in three years ago have felt the impact of recession and sales were not going anywhere for some time but since the last one-half year, sales are slowly building up.”
RESIDENTIAL
AFFORDABLE HOUSING KEEPS SHOW GOINGAnjana Chandramouly, January 3, 2010The Hindu Business Line
The year 2009 has been a mixed one for the Bangalore real-estate market. The one segment that saw considerable buzz was the residential segment, where there was a clear shift in demand towards the affordable segment, from the Rs 50-70 lakh mid-market segment. However, the year was relatively dull for the commercial and retail real-estate segments. Given the significant demand for sub Rs 30-lakh properties in the city, property developers should try to “synchronise their project specifications and actual demand to create a sustainable business,” says Irfan Razack, managing director, Prestige Group, in a press release. A well-planned and executed, mass housing project makes good business sense, considering the growing demand for such houses, the big push from the government and attractive interest rates announced by banks, developers say. “Though there is massive demand shortage for high-end and luxury apartments, the demand-supply gap in the affordable housing sector is quite high. Banks have reduced their interest rates on quick loans and the prices for steel and cement have gone down considerably for developers to launch affordable housing projects,” says Razack. The developers now vying for their share in this ‘affordable' pie include some of the well-known names in the city such as Brigade Group, Puravankara Projects through a wholly-owned subsidiary Provident Housing, Prestige Group, Shriram Properties, Nitesh Estates and Ozone group, among others. M. Murali, managing director, Shriram Properties, feels that for developers the affordable housing segment is purely cash-flow management. “We are able to take advantage of cost reduction available in the market on commodity prices and pass on the benefits to customers. The strategy is to achieve volume and consequently desired profitability goals. Quick turnaround and deployment of money in these projects will give developers the desired result,” he says.
PROJECT WATCHJanuary 03, 2010The Economic Times (Delhi edition)

Project: Palash the Green CommuneDeveloper: Vilas Javdekar Eco HomesType: The project will have 350 digitised homesSize: 3.5 lakh sq ftPrice range: Rs. 3,000 per sq ft The green angle in housing projects usually means installing solar water heaters and some water recycling. Along comes Vilas Javdekar Eco Homes’ project Palash the Green Commune at Wakad, a western suburb of Pune, which is nearing completion. Here, the buildings have wind mills on the 11-storied buildings, environment friendly architecture, water recycling, solar power generation and use of eco-friendly building material. “All of this has added about 15% to the cost of the flats but we have not passed that on to the buyers. The solar passive architecture of our buildings means that natural energy is used in the design of the buildings. For instance, if a flat is east facing, the windows are vertical because in summer you want the light not the heat. in winter, you want both, so we have maximised thermal comfort. The windows are horizontal if the flat faces another direction,” explained Aditya Javdekar, managing director, Vilas Javdekar Eco Homes.
RETAIL
JOY ALUKKAS JEWELLERS TO INCREASE PRESENCESangeetha G., Chennai, January 4, 2010 Financial Chronicle

After a few months’ lull, jewellery chain Joy Alukkas Group is once again on an expansion mode and their focus is now on the domestic market in the aftermath of Dubai-debt crisis. While the company is scheduled to open 10 showrooms this year, it is also re-entering Delhi with a larger store. Work on the 7,500 sq ft multi-storied showroom at Karol Bagh, Delhi is in progress and is likely to be completed by October or November, Joy Alukka, chairman of the group said. The jeweller had exited Delhi after its store in Pitampura was closed down in October 2008. Its remaining stores will come up in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. “For the bigger stores in Delhi and Bangalore, we will invest around Rs 50 crore and the smaller ones in places like Karur, Vellore, Kanchipuram, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Mangalore require an investment of over Rs 20 crore. The investment will be funded through internal accruals,” he said. Joy Alukkas now has 20 stores inside the country and 54 in West Asia and London. “The sales are 30 to 40 percent down in the Gulf and in a few stores located at malls in Dubai have been seeing 60 to 70 percent decline mainly due to the negative impact the Dubai crisis has had on the tourism sector,” he said. The firm is also mulling on closing down three showrooms located in Dubai malls.
HIMALAYA HEALTHCARE TARGETS EMERGING MARKETS FOR EXPANSION Sreerupa Mitra, Bangalore, January 4, 2010Financial Chronicle

The Bangalore-based Himalaya Herbal Healthcare is eyeing emerging markets including Thailand and Vietnam for international expansion and is set to increase its footprint across Europe and South Africa soon. As part of its expansion plans, Himalaya Healthcare is also planning to open about 12 stores in India per year. “We are trying to open one store per month across the nation with investment of about Rs 25 lakh per store,” said Gore. In India, Himalaya operates about 127 exclusive brand outlets and 700 shop-in-shops. The company, which has been clocking 25-28 percent growth year-on-year, is looking to maintain this in the coming financial year as well. The privately held company generates 60 percent of its revenue from its domestic operations, while the remaining 40 percent comes from its global markets. Gore declined specifics on revenues.
HOSPITALITY/ENTERTAINMENT
ROYAL ORCHID PLANS 3 HOTELS IN 2010 January 4, 2010Financial Chronicle

Royal Orchid Hotels is planning to commence three hotels in 2010. Of the three, two hotels would be at Hyderabad and Jaipur, while the third one will be at Navi Mumbai.

IHPL TO INCREASE COFFEE JOINTS TO 36 BY 2010-ENDMumbai, January 4, 2010 Financial Chronicle

Ideal Hospitality Private Ltd (IHPL) plans to increase its number of coffee joints-- Aromas to 36 by December this year, a top company official said. Aromas, the Australian coffee retail chain has tied-up with Mumbai-based IHPL last year to enter the Indian and Southeast Asian markets. At present, there are two outlets of Aromas in Mumbai and one in Pune. "We will be increasing the number of Aromas outlets to 36 across the country by the end of 2010," Ideal Hospitality Chairman and Managing Director Jayant Mhaiskar said here. The company would open 10 outlets in Mumbai, 5 in Pune, 6 in Delhi, 3 in Bangalore and the remaining in Tier II cities, Mhaiskar said. The investment for opening one cafe is around Rs 80-90 lakh, he said. "We are planning to open 2-3 outlets per month," he said adding that one cafe each in Mumbai and Pune will be functional by January.
GOVT TO SET UP RS 4,000-CRORE INTERNATIONAL SHIPYARDNew Delhi, January 04, 2010Business Standard

The government plans to set up a shipyard to produce large-sized vessels under public-private partnership with an investment of Rs 3,000-4,000 crore, in lieu of Hindustan Shipyard going to the defence ministry. “The government will set up another shipyard, most likely on the east coast (of the country) in PPP mode to make very large crude carriers (VLCCs) and other large vessels... The total investment will be at Rs 3,000-4,000 crore,” a senior government official said.
AUTO FIRMS LEAD INVESTMENTS IN TNTE Narasimhan, Chennai, January 04, 2010Business Standard

The Tamil Nadu government attracted investments worth Rs 15,000 crore during 2009, majority of which was driven by the automobile industry. According to government sources, since 2006, the state attracted investments worth Rs 46,100 crore. The most recent deal was with French tyre maker Michelin, which signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state government to set up a tyre manufacturing facility near Chennai. The project is expected to attract investments worth Rs 4,000 crore over the next seven years. The tyre major has got Foreign Investments Promotion Board (FIPB) nod for setting up a wholly owned subsidiary and would invest up to Rs 11,000 crore. Mahindra & Mahindra too is reportedly in advance talks with the state for setting up an integrated auto facility in Tiruvannamalai district (195 km from Chennai). M&M will invest about Rs 1,800 crore in its facility, which would come up on over 450 acres. The plant will produce 150,000 units annually. Global consulting firm KPMG said the introduction of Industrial Policy 2007 played a crucial role in the industrial development of Tamil Nadu.
GITANJALI TO START CITY MFG OPERATIONS THIS MONTHSumali Moitra, Kolkata, January 04, 2010The Times of India (Kolkata edition)

For a state which had almost nothing going right for it on the industry front since the Nano pull-out in October 2008, the present year seems to have started on a note of hope for Bengal. Two days after IT major Wipro paid the first tranche for the land at Rajarhat where its second facility is to come up, diamond jewellery giant Gitanjali said it aims to start manufacturing operations at the state’s sole gem and jewellery SEZ in Salt Lake’s Sector V later this month. Gitanjali chairman Mehul Choksi said the group was hopeful that its Manikanchan facility would yield revenue of at least $20 million after completing a year of operations. Gitanjali would undertake diamond cutting and making gold jewellery at this centre, he added. “We are on the lookout for more space in Kolkata and still remain keen on setting up an SEZ of our own there,” Choksi said, while not elaborating on the likely size of the duty-free enclave being contemplated by Gitanjali and whether a land hunt is already on for this purpose. Incidentally, the group is currently engaged in expanding its retail presence in the city. In the past, it had been indicated that Gitanjali is on the lookout for 50 acres for the SEZ and was evaluating the merits of Rajarhat too because of its logistical proximity to Manikanchan. “Gitanjali had been given approval quite some time back. Providing them more space at Manikanchan would depend on its performance and West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) as it is the developer,” development commissioner Arun Bit, the administrative head of the SEZ, said.
FTA WITH ASEAN MAY HIT FDI INFLOWSNew Delhi, January 04, 2010The Financial Express

Free trade agreement with South East Asian nations is likely to hit foreign direct investment inflows into the country, an industry study has said. With India giving more market access to the south east Asian nations than it got in return from its free trade pact with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) bloc, the study conducted by Assocham said bulk of Indian exports to the Asean were, in any case, going duty-free, as the 10-nation bloc followed a free market policy. “The effective additional market access that India has secured out of the FTA with Asean is merely 14 percent for its exports to the region,” the Assocham study said. But India, which was not as open as the Asean bloc, would have to open more in terms of duty reduction or even elimination, it said, adding, these trade-centric economies would get extra market for 75 percent of their exports. This would also hit the FDI flows, it added. “If market is thrown open to industries situated in the Asean region, new investors may well prefer to set up facilities there and supply the products to India,” it said. Once tariffs are reduced or eliminated, goods from Asean would provide severe competition to domestic firms. “These developments could impact capital inflows to India...the Asean countries are more investment friendly with their infrastructure,” Assocham said. In fiscal 2008-09, Indian FDI inflows aggregated to $27.3 billion.
RS 1,430-CRORE WORLD BANK LOAN FOR CIVIC PROJECTHyderabad, January 4, 2010The Hindu Business Line

The World Bank has approved Rs 1,430 crore loans for Andhra Pradesh Municipal Development Project. The World Bank loan will provide a big impetus to the Government's initiative in taking up qualitative works in various municipalities to meet the civic and infrastructure requirements of urban people,'' the chief minister, K. Rosaiah, said here on Sunday. The total project cost is Rs 1,671 crore out of which the State Government's share would be Rs 238.64 crore. The project would commence from February 15, and is expected to be completed by December 31, 2015, he said in a review meting with the officials.
MOST OF INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS GO SLOWNew Delhi, January 4, 2010The Pioneer

Despite the country eyeing a double-digit growth in the coming years, most of the infrastructure projects in power, coal, roads, crude oil and natural gas production are lagging behind the schedule. Road projects and gas and crude oil productions are worst-hit by delay. According to the latest report of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, the NHAI road projects are lagging behind — 21.1 percent of the targets, till April-October last year. However, there is a silver lining on the horizon for the NHAI. After long time, it has shown an improved performance compared to previous years. “NHAI has constructed/widened and strengthened 1283 kilometres of national highways to four lanes, which was 21.1 percent lower than the target set for the period, but it was 3.6 percent higher than the achievement of 1238 kilometre during the corresponding period of the pervious year,” analyses the latest capsule report on infrastructure performance. Significantly, the border road construction work is going well and 12 percent ahead of targets. The production of natural gas at 25,389 Million Cubic Meters was 13.7 lower than the target while the crude oil production witnessed a negative growth and was 6.7 lower than the target set. The overall power generation in the country was behind 2.5 percent of the targets, though it achieved a growth comparing to previous year figures. The report indicates, while the thermal and hydel power generation lagged behind the targets, the country witnessed a considerable growth from nuclear power generation.
CENTRE ASKS STATE TO AID IN RAIL INFRAChennai/Bangalore, January 04, 2010Business Standard

Union minister of state for Railways K H Muniyappa has asked the state to submit a list of its demands for development of railway network in the state to the Centre before January 15, 2010. He said after reviewing the progress of various railway projects with state minister for infrastructure G Janardhan Reddy here, he will discuss with the railway minister Mamata Banerjee the possibility of taking up necessary steps to complete pending railway projects in the state in a time-bound manner. He said the ministry has initiated steps to speed up works in the state and improve railway network. There are 19 railway projects under various stages in Karnataka and funds have been released to complete them, he said.
12 YEARS LATER, RAIL PROJECT YET TO GET ON TRACKAmitav Ranjan, New Delhi, January 04, 2010The Indian Express

Indian Railways moves at snail’s pace when it comes to security. A project to modernise train signalling between Ghaziabad-Kanpur — the treacherous stretch that claimed 10 lives in twin collisions on Saturday — is yet to be completed even after 12 years of its approval. Despite intervention by the PMO and Finance Ministry, Railways achieved a meagre 30 percent of the project even though the feasibility report and funding were approved in August 1997. And now, the modernisation project is headed for a burial. “Project is lagging far behind the schedule and just 30 percent of the physical work has been completed so far,” said a Finance Ministry letter to the Railway Board chairman last week. It said the project could be called off mid-way unless “corrective steps” were taken “on priority” as lender, Germany, has threatened to withdraw from the project. Till October, the project authority had managed to utilise Euro 25.88m out of total Euro 94.59m provided by Germany, through Kreditanstalt Fur Wiederaufbau (KfW) bank, in 1997. But the Railways remained indifferent. Its apathy is borne by the fact that though it gave “indicative milestones” at a progress review meeting in June, it failed to take “matching action”. In October, it sent an official for a similar meeting who was not linked to the project. The KfW money was meant for modernising the section’s signalling system to enhance safety in train operations as the signalling and telecom infrastructure in the section — one of the heaviest in Indian Railways — had outlived their life and is obsolete. It included installing Solid State Interlocking and Automatic Block Signalling, laying Optical Fibre Cable and upgrading the Mobile Radio link between Ghaziabad and Kanpur. The project, scheduled for completion in December 2001, was initially delayed due to differences between KfW and the Railways over the technology to be used. Later, KfW’s consultant De-Consult and the Railways squabbled over suitability of bidders.
RAIL CORRIDOR PROJECTS ON REVIVAL PATHJanuary 4, 2010The Hindu Business Line

The foundation stone for the proposed eastern dedicated freight corridor (1,801 km) of the Indian Railways was laid in February. Nothing has been heard of the project since then. The recent visit to India by the Japanese Prime Minister stirred the dedicated freight corridor project back to life, though the focus was more on the western corridor and the industrial corridor on the route. The agreement with Japan Bank for International Cooperation will mean that the funds from Japan will flow over the next few years to overseeing the progress of the corridors on the western part. The future of eastern corridor, it appears, continues to be uncertain. Despite the Railway Minister's bid to seek Japanese help also for the eastern corridor, it is not clear yet if the Japanese authorities are inclined to fund it. Reports have it that the Railway Minister is also exploring opportunities for securing funds for the eastern corridor from World Bank and Asian Development Bank and has accordingly urged the Prime Minister and Finance Minister to initiative moves. ADB is already funding the survey of the 430-km long Ludhiana-Khurja stretch of the eastern corridor.
GOVT PLANS TO REDUCE 2-LANE ROAD TOLL BY HALFParul Chhaparia, New Delhi, January 4, 2010 Financial Chronicle

Travel on two-lane toll roads may cost less once a roads ministry proposal to bring down the toll rates is implemented. The nodal ministry has proposed that on such roads where investment is between Rs 1 crore and Rs 2.5 crore per km, the toll rate would be 30 percent of the maximum levy on four-lane roads. For an investment between Rs 2.5 crore and Rs 3.5 crore per km, the rate would be 50 percent of toll charged on four-lane roads. Right now, charges on four-lane roads range anywhere between 25 paise to Rs 2 per km depending on the vehicle, its carrying capacity and make. For mid-sized cars, the charge on four-lane way is 40 paise per km. At present, toll tariff on two-lane roads is about 60 percent of that levied on four lane highways. This applies to all roads in which the investment costs are Rs 1 crore and above. The proposed changes by road ministry in the Fee Rules, 2008, when implemented, would reduce overall toll rates on two-lane roads. As per the proposal, only roads that have incurred an investment of over Rs 3.5 crore per km will attract 60 percent of the toll charged on four-lane roads. “The changes have been proposed to ensure that toll rates are in sync with traffic and expenditure. There is no point charging high rate if there is not much traffic. The proposals are under consideration,” a senior road ministry official said.
FIX REASONABLE TARGETS: PLAN COMM TO ROAD MINISTRYNew Delhi, January 04, 2010Business Standard

Not impressed by the ambitious plans announced by Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath, the Planning Commission has advised the ministry to fix a “reasonable target” for construction of roads this year. “...Fix a reasonable target for award of contracts in the rest of the current year and raise it subsequently as soon as possible,” the commission said in a communiqué to the highways ministry. The commission pointed out to the ministry that it would not be able to award road construction contracts for more than 3,794 km in 2009-10, against a target of 12,652 km. The ministry, the communiqué said, should adopt a programme fully in line with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Independence Day statement, in which he had said, “initiate action to construct 20 km per day (7,500 km per year)”.
HARYANA ROAD PROJECTS RECEIVE NOD FROM CENTREChandigarh, January 04, 2010The Financial Express

The ministry of road transport & highways has cleared several road projects for Haryana. Road transport and highways minister Kamal Nath has agreed for making a new Kaithal bypass in widening project of Ambala-Kaithal. It will also include road over bridge (ROB) and flyover with termination point at Titram More. A bypass for Lakhanmajra and Julana Toll on NH-71 under NHO has also been approved. Apart from this, request for a bypass at Sorkhi was also agreed to, which will be funded by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). Kamal Nath, Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Delhi chief minister, Shiela Dikshit at New Delhi, took the decision at a meeting. The main purpose of the meeting was to strengthen the road network considering the upcoming Commonwealth Games. Hooda has urged Kamal Nath for declaration of some state highways as National Highways. These are: Ambala-Saha, Saha-Sahabad, Uklana Tohana Patran, Gurgaon-Jhajjar-Beri-Kalanaur-Meham, Rohtak-Bhiwani-Loharu-Pilani-Rajgarh, Sonepat-Gohana-Jind, Kaithal-Jind & Kaithal-Guhla-Punjab Border. Nath assured to consider the proposals and asked Hooda to take up the matter with the Planning Commission also. On the issue of widening of Mehrauli-Gurgaon road linking Gurgaon to Delhi, it was spelt out by the concerned officers that from Andheria More to Delhi-Gurgaon border, the portion of Mehrauli-Gurgaon road could be broadened and made six-lane road by shifting central line without any problem of additional land acquisition.
NHAI MULLS CHANGE IN TOLL FEE NORMSPraveen Kumar Singh, New Delhi, January 04, 2010The Financial Express

The financial burden on users of national highways is likely to come down soon. A negative feedback from the commuters has forced the ministry of road transport & highways to propose changes in the existing rules for tolling of two-lane highways. Under the existing National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules 2008, if the total investment on upgradation of a two-lane highway is more than Rs 1 crore per km, the concessionaire is authorised to charge 60 percent of the maximum rate applicable for four-lane roads as toll fee. The 2008 rules prescribe a base rate of 0.65-4.2 to arrive at the chargeable toll for different vehicles on the four-lane road. The ministry has now proposed different slabs for tolling on two-lane highways as against a single rate at present. The rates have been based on the total investment required to build such roads. In the draft rules, 60 percent rate is applicable only on roads that require investment of more than Rs 3.5 crore. In case the road involves an outlay ranging between Rs 1 crore and Rs 2.5 crore, the proposed rate is 30 percent. If a road is to be developed at an expenditure of Rs 2.5 crore to Rs 3.5 crore, the rate increases to 50 percent of what is applicable to a four-lane road. “The fee rules 2008 were implemented on some sections of the national highway where toll fee commenced from March 2009. There has been an adverse public reaction on these sections. One of the grounds for the negative feedback is that the rates are too high for daily users. Now, we have decided to bring in some alterations in the existing rules to address this problem,” a senior official in the ministry said.
GEARING UP FOR SMOOTH RIDE: NEW BRIDGE PUTS HIGHWAY IN FAST LANEKautilya Singh, January 04, 2010The Indian Express

For decades, the narrow bridge on Ganga near Kanpur has been a bottleneck on National Highway 25, connecting Lucknow with Jhansi and other places in central India. However, the daily ordeal of motorists is likely to end soon as a parallel, wider bridge will be thrown open to the public in 2010. The Jajmau bridge was built during the British rule. Over the years, the population increased, vehicles increased and long traffic jams became a daily phenomenon. Thus, the narrow bridge became inadequate, turning the small stretch into a motorists’ nightmare. The new bridge worth Rs 160 crore will be 720 metres in length and 7.5 metres in width. Union Minister of State for Coal Sriprakash Jaiswal, who represents Kanpur, had taken the initiative for the project, which was approved by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in 2004. While the NHAI was appointed the nodal agency for the project, Gammon India Limited was given the construction work. Work on the project began the same year, but it ran into trouble. Clearing of a huge mound on the riverbank, which squatters had occupied, and encroachments on the approach road from Kanpur became a headache.
BIHAR TOWN OFF TO FLYING STARTSantosh Singh, January 04, 2010The Indian Express

It’s not often that two political rivals can take credit for one gift but perhaps in Muzaffarpur they can. This January, a flyover, proposed in 2004 when Nitish Kumar was Railway Minister but got rolling two years later when Lalu Prasad was Railway Minister, will finally open. The Aamgola flyover at the railway crossing is expected to take about 40 percent of the town’s traffic load. At present, Muzaffarpur, which is Bihar’s most important town after Patna and Bhagalpur, has just one flyover. Aamgola will be the first of three new flyovers to be opened — the other two will take at least a year to be completed. Says Hasnain Ariz, a resident, “The traffic jams at the Aamgola railway crossing would last for hours. We never thought a flyover could come up here. This is the best new year gift we can get.”
SEA LINK TOLL EARNINGS RUN OUT OF STEAM Abhiram Ghadyalpatil, Mumbai, January 4, 2010The Economic Times (Mumbai edition)

The Bandra-Worli Sea Link (BWSL), being viewed by the state government as modern Mumbai’s engineering marvel, virtually crawls when it comes to its often-publicised business model. Six months into its inauguration, the 4.7-km-long North-South seaway has not been able to generate enough money for the agency, which put it in place. Toll recovery has not been strong enough to meet the projections made by the Maharashtra State Road Development Agency (MSRDC), which had contracted engineering major Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) to construct the sea link. The MSRDC has outsourced toll collection to Mumbai Entry Point Limited (MEPL), an Indian Road Builders (IRB) group company. In a desperate attempt to jack up toll receipt, the MSRDC has planned an upward revision of the toll structure for all kinds of vehicles from July 2010. A senior MSRDC official, who did not wish to be named, said a 2003 state government notification allowed 5-8 percent increase in the toll every three years for the public transport projects. “It also allows upward revision in 2010 only for the sea link. The increased toll will be effective till July 2012,” said the official.
KDA MOOTS DIRECT ROAD LINKING AIRPORT TO MANIPALMangalore, January 4, 2010 The Times of India

The Karavali Development Authority (KDA), which conducted its special general meeting here on Saturday, has mooted the idea of constructing a direct road link from Bajpe airport here to Manipal. A press release from K Prabhakar Rao, secretary of KDA here stated that it was decided at the meeting decided to set up Karavali Development Corporation, upgrade fish markets in coastal Karnataka, and provide solar power to backward villages.
THREE THEMES FOR PORTSD. Murali, January 4, 2010The Hindu Business Line

Ask Rajesh Samson, Partner-IRG (Infrastructure, Real Estate & Government), Ernst & Young, about ports, and he readily responds with three themes. “Enhance physical capacity, streamline private participation in ports, and address regulatory and clearance issues,” says Samson, during a brief year-end email interaction. Excerpts from the interview: At the start of the century, or even mid-decade, what were the policy expectations to be fulfilled by the end of the first decade? The late 1990s saw the first signs of the port sector gearing towards an all-round development. The award of the Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal (NSICT) to the P&O group (now owned by DP World), and the subsequent improvement in handling efficiency of the terminal exhibited that world-class terminals could be created in India as well. By the early 2000s, the country realised that policy thrusts were required to three major aspects in the sector: 1) Enhance physical capacity.2) Streamline private participation in ports.3) Address regulatory and clearance issues. At the close of 2009, where were we? The policymakers in terms of all the three thrust areas took positive steps. However, it needs to be ascertained if these are in line with what was originally envisaged. 1) Enhancing physical infrastructure: While capacity utilisation in year 2005 was 96 percent, we are at the same level even now. In fact, had we experienced normal cargo growth this year, our capacity utilisation could well have been more than 100 percent. Of the Rs 500 billion port projects targeted to be completed till 2012, projects worth Rs 380 billion are still to be awarded. 2) Streamlining private participation: Though the Government unveiled its Model Bidding documents in 2000, the journey to finalise the MCA took almost eight years. Initial issues notwithstanding, the MCA is now being implemented (Paradip Iron ore terminal was the first project to be awarded based on the MCA). In the minor port sector, however, State Governments have been successful in ensuring large private participation in a shorter time frame. As a result, the share of minor ports has increased from 8 percent in the early 1990s to more than 25 percent currently. 3) Addressing regulatory issues: Tariff fixation was one area that required active Government policy intervention. On this front, the Government did intervene, with revisions in tariff guidelines, first in 2005 and then in 2008. The Government also intends to enact a comprehensive regulatory act, which is currently in the consultation phase. However, there is scope for improvement in the current tariff regulatory process. In other regulatory areas, the policy thrust has not been as originally expected. Security clearances are still extremely time-consuming; the burden of environmental clearance is still with the investor. Lastly, labour in major ports is still regulated by the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, and therefore it is difficult to change labour practices.
CONSULTANT TO HELP KOPT WITH SHORTLISTDebjoy Sengupta, Kolkata, January 4, 2010The Economic Times (Kolkata edition)

Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) has decided to appoint a consultant to guide it through the process of selecting the partners for setting up a deep-sea port at Sagar Island on the confluence of the river Hoogly. Essar Shipping Port and Logistics, Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone, Punj Lloyd, Gammon Infrastructure, Container Corporation, Universal Success Enterprise, Lanco Infrastructure and Srei Infrastructure have shown interest in setting up the port at Sagar Island. Others in the race include LMJ International, Sical Logistics, Century Plyboard, Kaushlya Infrastructure and Navayuga Engineering. Confirming the development, KoPT acting chairman A Majumdar said: “Around 15 companies have expressed interest in setting up the port. The process of making presentations on their proposed construction plan, including land required, technology and processes to be used, to us has just been concluded. “The model that best fits KoPT will be considered. We will now appoint a consultant who will help us in selecting the final partner for building the port. Construction work is likely to start by mid-2011.” He added: “We have also set up a working group for selecting the partners who will set up the port on a revenue-sharing model. The party which offers the highest revenue to KoPT will be selected.” The port will be built on a public-private partnership model over 600-700 acres where the entire investment, estimated at Rs 650-700 crore, for three jetties as well as breakwater facility, will be borne by the private parties.
AAI TO SLASH BORROWING FOR UPGRADE OF AIRPORTSSmita Aggarwal, New Delhi, January 04, 2010The Indian Express

The country’s largest airport operator, state-owned Airports Authority of India (AAI), is considering ways to slash its borrowing requirement for modernising 24 non-metro airports over the next two years by about 44 percent to Rs 2,800 crore from the originally envisaged Rs 5,000 crore. It has worked out a two-pronged strategy of cutting costs and boosting revenues towards this end. According to an AAI executive, the operator is exploring ways to trim the modernisation plan of some airports and also considering levying development fees in about nine airports over and above the 10 already identified. AAI is undertaking an internal assessment to identify non-metro airports where Development Fee (DF) can be levied, apart from the ten airports for which proposals are ready and are under the active consideration of the civil aviation ministry and the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA). These ten airports are Trivandrum, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Tiruchirapalli, Vishakhapatnam, Vizag, Varanasi, Amritsar and Udaipur. AAI hopes to fetch Rs 120 crore through levying of DF. In another revenue boosting measure, AAI is evaluating the prospect of turning the old Hyderabad airport into a hospitality district, developing 10-15 acres of the land for the purpose. At the same time, Bangalore Airport, which is mired in court cases, may also be re-opened as a low-cost airport, for low-cost flying. “We are evaluating both these options, and are also looking at starting academies at these airports,” said the official. On the cost cutting front, the ministry has asked the AAI to prepare the cost breakdown for each of the 24 non-metro airports. “We are re-looking at the ongoing projects where savings can be achieved. For instance, at the Kolkata Airport the cost variation is quite high on account of declining traffic, and the authority has decided to delay the construction of a control tower by eighteen months,” said the official.
RELIANCE POWER MOVES SC OVER DADRI LAND ISSUEIndu Bhan, New Delhi, January 4, 2010The Financial Express

Anil Ambani’s Reliance Power Ltd (RPL) has moved to the Supreme Court challenging the Allahabad High Court’s verdict that had in effect cancelled the acquisition of 2,500 acres of agricultural land for the group’s Rs 25,000-crore gas-based Dadri power plant. The matter is coming up for hearing this week. RPL (formerly known as Reliance Energy Generation Ltd) in its SLP said that the high court had erred in exercising its discretionary jurisdiction in the petitions filed by the farmers after a delay of four years and the same had put an industrial project of national importance in jeopardy. It alleged that the petitions filed by the farmers were motivated, as the same have been filed at the instance of its business rivals. The company said that the original landowners are barred by the principles of estoppel and acquiescence from challenging the acquisition as they had accepted compensation after signing voluntary agreements in 2005. The Allahabad High Court had not only asked the company to acquire land afresh and seek fresh consent of farmers for taking their land for the project, it had, also, allowed the farmers to take back their land provided they returned the compensation paid by RPL. The high court had quashed a notification issued by the Mulayam Singh government in 2004 that used certain ‘urgency’ powers to acquire the land for the proposed 7,480-mw projects. The court said the notification was issued bypassing a provision that was meant to invite objections from farmers According to the SLP, RPL had acquired 2,200 acres of land in 2004 for the mega power project and about 90 percent of the land owners had signed consent agreements under which they voluntarily accepted compensation based on prevailing market rate and had also handed over possession of their land to the state in 2004. The UP government had executed a conveyance deed in 2005 and transferred about 2,100 acres of the acquired land to RPL for the Dadri project in the state, it said, adding that “the public purpose and importance of the acquisition is established from the fact that the state government itself pursuant to the power policy contributed a major amount of Rs 94.71 crore out of the total compensation of Rs 157.85 crore.”
EFFORTS ON TO ALLOCATE LAND FOR POWER PLANTKochi, January 4, 2010The Hindu

The Cochin Port Trust and the State government are working jointly to sort out the formalities related to allocation of land for the proposed 1,250-MW plant on the Puthuvype island, close to the LNG terminal being set up by Petronet LNG Ltd. A senior government official said the issues related to allocation of land would be resolved soon to pave the way for a turnaround in the industrial fortunes of Kerala, which still reports 300-MW power deficiency during peak hours. Sources in the Cochin Port Trust said allocation of land would be cleared within a fortnight. They said there were two plots of land available for the power plant and the suitable one would be allocated. Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister T.K.A. Nair, at a meeting here on December 26, had asked the Cochin Port Trust to allocate land for the power station. The meeting was convened to review the progress of the work on the International Container Trans-shipment terminal on the Vallarpadam island. The proposed power project on the Puthuvype island would be a win-win situation for the State, with industries here benefiting from cheaper electricity and the Cochin Port Trust benefiting from higher volumes of LNG traffic. According to industry sources, power generated from LNG would be considerably cheaper than power from naphtha even though the price of gas was yet to be fixed. Several industrial units, including the public sector Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore (FACT) plan to use LNG once it is available in Kochi.
BENGAL SEEKS BIDS FOR SATYAM LANDSounak Mitra, Kolkata, January 4, 2010The Telegraph

Bengal is looking for a developer to set up IT infrastructure on land that belonged to the scam-hit Satyam Computer Services. The land, in Salt Lake’s Sector-V, is spread over 2.77 acres and was returned to the state by Satyam’s new owner the Mahindras in November. On December 24, West Bengal Electronics Industry Development Corporation Ltd (Webel) — the nodal agency of the Bengal government for developing information technology & ITeS industries — floated a tender inviting bids “for sub-leasing a plot of approximately 2.77 acres at plot no. G-2, block GP, Sector–V, Bidhannagar, Calcutta to establish electronics, IT & ITeS industries”. The land was handed over when Satyam was still under the Rajus. The memorandum of understanding was signed in the presence of Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and the then Satyam chairman Ramalinga Raju in Hyderabad on January 30, 2004. The foundation stone for the project was laid on February 24, 2006. Almost a year ago, on January 7, 2008, Raju admitted to a more than Rs 7,000-crore fraud in Satyam. The Indian government was forced to take over the affairs of the company and had put the company up for sale. On April 13, Tech Mahindra outbid Larsen & Toubro and US billionaire Wilber Ross to become the owners of Satyam, which was subsequently renamed Mahindra Satyam.
NOW, ONLINE SYSTEM FOR HUDA ALLOTTEESChandigarh, January 4, 2010The Tribune

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Friday inaugurated web-enabled allottee account information for the allottees of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), thus enabling the allottees to check anywhere and anytime the details of their property, including the financial transactions made with HUDA and the status of their other issues. Hooda directed officers concerned that a payment gateway should be created in the portal to facilitate the allottees. He also stressed the need to set up a computer-based grievances redressal system. Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Town and Country Planning, DS Dhesi said HUDA had more than 2.50 lakh allottees and there was client service of more than 300 persons per day per estate office. As many as 2.50 lakh files had been digitalised to provide this transparent and single window service. He said in the next phase, HUDA would launch a dynamic portal wherein the allottees would be able to make online payments through payment gateway and apply online for various schemes. HUDA had also identified 10 types of activities for which applications could be presented to the estate officer concerned online. Dhesi said with this system, the allottees could also track the status of their application online. A single-window system hasbeen introduced where all documents will be checked before accepting the application. The details of the new scheme can be seen on HUDA website www.huda.gov.in
TECH INVESTORS CAN SELL PART OF LAND TO REALTORSKolkata, January 4, 2010The Times of India

Starting with Wipro, chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee will offer a unique sop to companies investing in his favourite IT sector. They will be allowed to sell or lease out part of the allotted land for real estate activity at the prevalent market rate. Bureaucrats who have conceptualised the clause hope this would entice IT majors, particularly Infosys, to step into Bengal. For now, they think the clause is the most crucial part of the agreement between Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (Hidco) and Wipro and might become the cornerstone of all future agreements with IT investors seeking land near the city or Rajarhat. “Wipro chairman Azim Premji found the deal extremely encouraging and paid up the first instalment of Rs 18.9 crore for its 50 acres within a fortnight of meeting the chief minister,” a Hidco official said. Hidco chairman Gautam Deb told TOI on Saturday: “This step is a milestone for Brand Bengal and may now be replicated. Everyone’s interest has been considered.” Putting the Vedic Village fiasco behind, the Bhattacharjee government is now trying hard to keep the fire burning in the state’s sunshine sector. Officials are optimistic that they might manage to woo Infosys, which has so far remained unresponsive to the CM’s call to set up business in Rajarhat’s Action Area III. A senior Hidco official said: “Infosys has already announced its Orissa plans. Now, it’s Bengal’s turn. The government has reason to believe that the IT major might be game despite the current upheaval in the state if the land deal is lucrative enough.” Lucrative it is, in every way. The government — at the Hidco chairman’s insistence to not make too much allowance for IT giants in realty-rich Rajarhat — has charged Wipro Rs 1.5 crore per acre. But it has also offered a huge discount by way of allowing Wipro to sell a chunk of the land (20%) to developers at prospective rates. Even re-leasing of the land would be allowed, sources at Writers’ Buildings revealed. “This way, the investor would be able to recover some of the cost which might appear too high to him vis-à-vis other states,” an official said.
SAIL, TATA STEEL, BHUSHAN, JSW HIKE PRICESNew Delhi, 2 January 2010Business Standard

Steel companies SAIL, Tata Steel, Essar, Bhushan and JSW have hiked prices of their products by up to Rs 2,000 a tonne on the back of a rise in demand in the domestic market. The country’s largest steel producer SAIL increased the prices of flat and long products by Rs 1,500, while Tata Steel hiked the rates of flat products by up to Rs 1,500. Bhushan Steel hiked the prices of its long and flat products by up to Rs 2,000 a tonne. The white goods and auto industries primarily use flat steel products, while long products are used in the construction sector. Executives at Essar Steel said they raised flat products’ prices by up to 4 percent from the current range of Rs 28,000-30,000 a tonne. JSW also increased the prices of its long and flat products by up to 5 percent. “Internationally, steel prices had firmed up and there was a surge in demand. Based on this, we raised the prices of our flat products in the range of Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 a tonne in the spot market,” Tata Steel spokesperson Sanjay Choudhary said. SAIL said the prices of its products had been increased with immediate effect. “Prices were market-driven and there had been improvement in the scenario, leading to an increase of Rs 1,500 in both our flat and long products,” SAIL spokesperson R K Singhal said.
SAIL Q3 SALES GROW 23 PERCENT ON CONSTRUCTION DEMANDNew Delhi, January 3, 2010Business Standard

The country's largest steel maker, Steel Authority of India (SAIL), today reported a 32 percent growth in sales at 1.3 million tonnes in December 2009. The sales in the third quarter ended December 2009 grew by 23 percent over the corresponding period last year due to increase in sale of products consumed by the construction industry. "SAIL achieved sales of 1.3 million tonnes during December in the domestic market, registering a growth of 32 percent over December '08 and a growth of 23 percent during Q3 over corresponding period last year (CPLY)," the company said in a statement. "Sales of SAIL TMT grew by 33 percent in Q3 while plates registered a growth of 36 percent during the same period," it said. The company also registered record sales of 1.16 lakh tonnes through its dealer distribution network in December last year. In the second quarter ended September 2009, the company had reported 14 percent growth in its sales at over 3 million tonnes.
DSIIDC TO BUILD GREEN BUILDING FOR NIFT IN HPNew Delhi, January 4, 2010Hindustan Times (Chandigarh edition)

Spreading its wings outside the city, Delhi Government's industrial infrastructure development body DSIIDC will now construct an energy efficient green building in Himachal Pradesh. The DSIIDC (Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Corporation) has been awarded the contract to construct a new building of the prestigious National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) at Kangra in Himachal Pradesh.
DEBT RECOVERY TRIBUNAL CANNOT ACCEPT EQUITY SHARESNew Delhi, January 04, 2010Business Standard

The Delhi high court last week ruled that equity shares couldn’t be considered as liabilities under the Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act. Therefore, a claim to issuance of shares or delivery of shares in place of debt repayment cannot be regarded as an action seeking the recovery of a debt as defined in Section 2(g) of the said Act. This ruling against the order of the debt recovery tribunal in Delhi came in the case, Cochin International Airport Ltd vs Hudco. The private airport took loans from Hudco with Kerala government’s guarantee, but it could not repay the instalments at one time. It offered equity shares instead. Hudco accepted it. The airport company claimed that it had repaid the amount. There was a dispute over the payment and Hudco demanded 52,000,000 equity shares. When it was denied, Hudco moved the tribunal, which decided in its favour. The airport company moved the high court. It allowed the petition and ruled that the definition of debt did not include equity share.

LISA MARY THOMSON & SHANTANU NANDAN SHARMA, JANUARY 3, 2010The Economic Times (Delhi edition)

Pitch the question of sustained global recovery to a group of experts and cacophony ensues. Talk of India’s ride on the road to recovery, and the ‘yeah’s’ rings loud. This is the big Indian story for 2010. If corporate India’s projections for this year are any indication for what is to come, Indian consumers are likely to return to shopping with a zest, returning home with products ranging from mobile handsets, slimmer TVs to ever cars. Mind you, it isn’t that surprising given that India’s GDP is expected to grow at 7 percent and more in 2010, while most developed countries find themselves struggling to keep growth in positive zones. While a Gartner research forecasts a 21% growth in PC shipments in India for 2010 over the last year and whopping 41% in mini-notebook segment, India’s continued journey of adding 10 million mobile subscribers a month for this year too, may make India an attractive destination for top telecom and technology giants. While the last year witnessed a major dip in the number of transactions and sales in real estate sector, confidence boosting measures such as job security and recovery of the economy are expected should drive up sales in 2010. “Many developers are likely to rejig their portfolio in favour of residential development in 2010. On the commercial front, there still appears to be a level of oversupply. For instance, in 2009, about 50 million sq feet of commercial was added, while there was demand for only as much as 26-28 million sq feet. In 2010, it is estimated that another 57-58 million sq feet of commercial space will be added but the supply is likely to exceed demand in this segment,” says Kaustuv Roy, executive director of real estate consultancy firm Cushman and Wakefield.
IPO ARENA HOTS UP; COS PLAN TO RAISE RS 50K CRORE IN '10New Delhi, January 4, 2010 Financial Chronicle

Domestic companies are expected to embark on a mega fund raising spree this year with plans to raise over Rs 50,000 crore by way of public offers, driven by the sharp recovery in the stock market. The revival in the Initial Public Offer (IPO) market in 2009, is likely to get a boost this year as 50 companies have already filed the draft prospectus with the market regulator the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Indian companies had raised about Rs 20,000 crore through IPOs in 2009. Analysts believe with the government planning to sell shares in a host of public sector companies by way of IPOs and follow-on public offers (FPOs) fund raising can go up to Rs 50,000 crore this year. "The IPO pipeline looks strong in 2010. Also the way the government is pushing ahead with the disinvestment plan, fund raising can go up to Rs 50,000 crore by the end of the year," SMC Capitals Equity head Jagannadham Thunuguntla said. As per the draft prospectus filed with the SEBI five companies aiming to raise over Rs 307 crore have already received the regulator's clearance for the IPO. These companies have to hit the market within a year of receipt of SEBI clearance. Further, 45 others are queuing up to raise about Rs 35,000 crore and are awaiting SEBI approval. The rest is expected to come from disinvestments the government plans to undertake. The IPO market is on fire post the decision of the UPA government, which has come to power for the second term, to dilute stake in PSUs as investors were waiting for these IPOs to test the primary market. As part of its disinvestment plans the government intends to raise over Rs 20,00 crore by way of FPOs of NMDC, SAIL, NTPC, and REC. Besides these, some of the prominent private companies which have their IPOs lined up include Jindal Power (Rs 7,200 crore), BPTP (Rs 1,500 crore), Reliance Infratel (5,000 crore), Emaar MGF (Rs 3,800 crore), Sahara Prime (Rs 3,450 crore). Others, which are waiting in the sidelines, include Sterlite Energy (Rs 3,000 crore), Lodha Developers (Rs 2,500 crore), Jaypee Infratech (Rs 1,650 crore) and DB Realty (Rs 1,500 crore). "Of the total IPOs that are in the pipeline, as many as 16 are from real estate sector. However, their success is a bit doubtful as the appetite for realty IPOs are currently less," Thunuguntla added.
NEPTUNE DEVELOPERS FILES FOR IPO January 4, 2010 Financial Chronicle

Realty firm Neptune Developers has filed a draft red herring prospectus with Sebi for Rs 495 crore IPO. The company plans to use the proceeds for its ongoing and forthcoming projects.
BPTP PLANS TO RAISE RS 1,000 CRORE January 4, 2010 Financial Chronicle Mint Business Standard

Real estate firm BPTP , which aims to raise Rs 1,500 crore through an initial public offer, will utilise around Rs 1,000 crore from the proceeds to develop its existing and future projects.
THREE NEW IPO LISTINGS THIS WEEK TO TEST MARKETSMumbai, January 4, 2010Business Standard

The listing of three big initial public offers (IPOs) — JSW Energy, D B Corp and Godrej Property — this week would be yet another test for the lacklustre primary markets. In the past some of the big IPOs including state-run hydropower producer NHPC, Adani Power, DEN Networks and Indiabulls Power among others had witnessed poor listing. While JSW Energy would list on Monday, Godrej Property will list on Tuesday and D B Corp on Wednesday. “If all the three IPOs witness fairly good listing there would be some revival in the IPO market. While D B Corp is likely to fair well, most market players have their reservations about the other two IPO,” said a managing director of Mumbai based brokerage house. The Rs 2,700-crore IPO of JSW Energy, part of Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Group, had fixed an issue price of Rs 100 a piece, the lower end of the price band, for institutional investors whereas the issue price for retail investors was set at Rs 95, a piece at a discount of Rs 5. The price band of the issue was between Rs 100 to Rs 115. Godrej Property, which raised nearly Rs 500 crore, too had fixed the issue price at Rs 490 per share, at lower end of price band of Rs 490-530. The retail and high net worth portion of IPOs by JSW Energy and Godrej Properties was under-subscribed.
ANALYSTS' CORNERNew Delhi, January 4, 2010Business Standard

Indiabulls Real EstateReco price: Rs 218Current market price: Rs 220.20Target price: Rs 259Upside: 17.6 percentBrokerage: ICICI Securities The developments in Indiabulls Property Investment Trust (IPIT) and new project launches look inspiring. Total saleable area of IPIT has increased from 5 million square feet (MSF) to 6.3 MSF owing to change in FSI. It has 2 MSF of constructed office space, of which 0.9 MSF has been leased and another 0.3 MSF is expected to be leased in March 2010 quarter. The management expects new leases to be done at Rs 185-190 per square feet, up from Rs 175 earlier. The brokerage believes that IPIT is undervalued and estimates its equity value at Rs 6,000 crore or Singapore dollar $0.50 per unit (currently trading at $0.26). In 2009-10, Indiabulls Real Estate (IBREL) launched about 20 MSF of residential projects, including in Mumbai (9 MSF). Of the total, 2 MSF has already been sold (including 0.5 MSF in IPIT). IBREL recently raised Rs 2,700 crore through a QIP, which is yet to be deployed. The company is looking at strategic, big-ticket land banks, particularly in Navi Mumbai, Dharavi and Mantralaya projects. Since the stocks’ downgrade by the brokerage on July 31, 2009, it has under performed the broader markets by 25 percent. However, given the increase in saleable area at IPIT, pick-up in residential sales and bottoming of commercial lease rentals, it is upgrading the stock to ‘buy’ with target price of Rs 259 per share. Om Metals InfraprojectsReco price: Rs 30Current market price: Rs 31.50Target price: Rs 39Upside: 23.8 percentBrokerage: SBICAP Securities Om Metals Infraprojects is the largest hydro-mechanical equipment supplier in India with a market share of over 60 percent. The company presently has an order book of Rs 636 crore, which is 3.5 times first half 2009-10 annualised sales and is expected to be completed in next 3 years. This provides substantial medium-term revenue visibility. In addition, the company has submitted bids for more projects, which are expected to take the total order book to over Rs 800 crore by 2009-10. The company has recently forayed into the infrastructure segment by winning two contracts for the development of a port and a multi-product SEZ, both in Pondicherry. The SEZ project is spread over 860 acres and the company has a 20 percent stake in it. It has a 50 percent stake in the port project, which is to be developed in next 5-6 years. Both projects are expected to be developed through separate SPV's. Further, there is potential to unlock value from its saleable land-bank (1.5 MSF) situated at Hyderabad, Jaipur, Mumbai, Faridabad and Kota. The stock is trading at 5.3 times its core 2010-11 estimated earnings. Maintain ‘buy’. Current market prices as on December 30
VOLUMES, VOLATILITY SHOULD RISEDevangshu Datta, New Delhi, January 4, 2010Business Standard

The market registered new 18-month highs as it closed out the last settlement of 2009 with small net gains. The Nifty closed at 5,201.05 for a gain of 0.4 percent. The Sensex closed at 17,464 for a gain of 0.6 percent. The Defty was up 0.65 percent as the rupee strengthened. Breadth was decent in terms of a wide variety of shares being traded. Advances outnumbered declines comfortably. The FIIs were net buyers while domestic institutions were net sellers. However, volumes were down except on settlement day though that can be explained by the holiday spirit. The BSE 500 and the Midcaps were both up by about 0.6 percent. DLFCurrent Price: Rs 361.2Target Price: Rs 385 The stock is consolidating and trading in a wide range between Rs 350-390. It could move up till the Rs 385-390 level if it develops a little volume. Keep a stop at Rs 355 and go long. Increase the position beyond Rs 370 and book profits beyond Rs 385.
IL&FS OPEN OFFER FOR MAYTAS INFRA GETS POOR RESPONSEHyderabad, January 3, 2010The Hindu Business Line

The open offer by Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd (IL&FS) to hike its stake in Maytas Infra Ltd, from 37 percent to 57 percent received tepid response with the latter's stock quoting at a premium. IL&FS, which took over the management reigns of the Hyderabad–based scam-hit Maytas Infra in second half of 2009 following a directive of the Company Law Board (CLB), had come up with a public announcement in November last through SBI Capital Markets. The objective of the offer was to acquire 20 percent additional stake from the public at Rs 112.80 a share for Rs 132 crore. With some changes in time line for the open offer due to delay in clearance, the Maytas Infra stock quoted much higher than the open offer price. In a statement to the stock exchanges, the company announced 124 shares were acquired as against IL&FS bid for 20 percent stake from public shareholders. The open offer formalities were completed on December 31 and the shares transferred from the escrow account. In another disclosure, IL&FS has informed that it has completed the acquisition of 13,245,126 shares, amounting to 22.51 percent, which constitutes residual security with Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd (IFIN) pledged with it, for a consideration of Rs 149.40 crore. With this move, the company holding has gone up to 37.01 percent up from 14.50 percent it held before.
OLD HIGHS MAY BE TESTEDMumbai, January 3, 2010Business Standard

The year 2009 ended on a high note, with benchmark (BSE & NSE) indices registering best yearly gains in the last two decades and touching fresh 19-month peaks. The year, however, will be most remembered for the Sensex and the Nifty hitting the upper circuit for the first time. In the week under review, the markets surprisingly moved in an extremely narrow band despite the two holidays and the derivatives expiry. The BSE benchmark index, the Sensex, moved in a narrow range of 200-odd points. The index touched a high of 17,531 and settled with a gain of 104 points at 17,465. Among index stocks, Reliance Infrastructure surged over 4 percent. NTPC, Grasim, Bharti Airtel, SBI, Hindalco and Jaiprakash Associates were the other major gainers. Sun Pharma dropped 3.6 percent. DLF, Wipro and ITC were some of the other prominent losers. Lack of momentum on the upside suggests the up move may halt temporarily. The Sensex needs to sustain above 17,550 for further gains, while on the downside, the index may seek support at 17,385-17,335, below which the bears are likely to have the upper hand. The longer-term picture, since we are at the start of the New Year, looks quite promising. Chances are that we may re-test the 21,000-mark this calendar year, while there are multiple strong supports for the index on the downside. The bias will remain bullish as long as the index remains above 13,840 this year. There is a further deeper support around 11,590 in case of extreme bearishness. On the positive front, the Sensex is first likely to target 19,550, followed by 21,090, in 2010. The Nifty moved in a range of 62 points and ended with a gain of 23 points at 5,201. Last week, I had mentioned that the Nifty needed to sustain above 5,210 for fresh bullishness. As we see, the index was unable to close above 5,210 on any single day. Currently, the chart suggests that the Nifty needs to close above 5,237 for fresh bullishness. The Nifty may face resistance around 5,225-5,240 and find support around 5,177-5,163. A dip below 5,163 could see the index fall to 5,100 and then further lower to 5,010. Unlike the Sensex, the yearly Nifty chart reveals that it will be difficult for the index to attain its 2008 peak (6,357) this year. In fact, the index has strong resistance around 6,225. The first significant target for the index is 5,790. On the downside, the index is likely to find considerable support around 4,600 and further lower at 4,175.
COS PLAN TO RAISE RS 50K CRORE IN 2010New Delhi, January 03, 2010Business Standard

Domestic companies are expected to embark on a mega fund raising spree this year with plans to raise over Rs 50,000 crore by way of public offers, driven by the sharp recovery in the stock market. The revival in the initial public offer (IPO) market in 2009, is likely to get a boost this year as 50 companies have already filed the draft prospectus with the market regulator the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). Indian companies had raised about Rs 20,000 crore through IPOs in 2009. Analysts believe with the government planning to sell shares in a host of public sector companies by way of IPOs and follow-on public offers (FPOs) fund raising can go up to Rs 50,000 crore this year. "The IPO pipeline looks strong in 2010. Also the way the government is pushing ahead with the disinvestment plan, fund raising can go up to Rs 50,000 crore by the end of the year," SMC Capitals Equity Head Jagannadham Thunuguntla said. As per the draft prospectus filed with the Sebi, five companies aiming to raise over Rs 307 crore have already received the regulator's clearance for the IPO. These companies have to hit the market within a year of receipt of Sebi clearance. Further, 45 others are queuing up to raise about Rs 35,000 crore and are awaiting Sebi approval. The rest is expected to come from disinvestments the government plans to undertake. The IPO market is on fire post the decision of the UPA government, which has come to power for the second term, to dilute stake in PSUs as investors were waiting for these IPOs to test the primary market. As part of its disinvestment plans the government intends to raise over Rs 20,00 crore by way of FPOs of NMDC, SAIL, NTPC, and REC. Besides these, some of the prominent private companies which have their IPOs lined up include Jindal Power (Rs 7,200 crore), BPTP (Rs 1,500 crore), Reliance Infratel (5,000 crore), Emaar MGF (Rs 3,800 crore), Sahara Prime (Rs 3,450 crore). Others, which are waiting in the sidelines, include Sterlite Energy (Rs 3,000 crore), Lodha Developers (Rs 2,500 crore), Jaypee Infratech (Rs 1,650 crore) and DB Realty (Rs 1,500 crore). "Of the total IPOs that are in the pipeline, as many as 16 are from real estate sector. However, their success is a bit doubtful as the appetite for realty IPOs are currently less," Thunuguntla added.
SMART PORTFOLIOS ENDS 2009 ON A HIGHRex Cano, Mumbai, January 4, 2010Business Standard

Although Smart Portfolios kicked off on September 1, 2009, it feels good to end the calendar year on a cheerful note. The net returns in the second season are at the highest point currently. The benchmark S&P CNX 500 portfolio value has appreciated by 12.73 percent to Rs 11.27 lakh as against its starting corpus of Rs 10 lakh. Ajay Parmar and Amar Ambani continue to outperform the benchmark with a wide margin. While the former's return has zoomed 20.46 percent, the latter's portfolio value has soared nearly 19 percent. Phani Sekhar has reported gains of 6.72 percent so far, and Praveen Panjwani's net worth is up by 6.3 percent. The holiday shortened week saw low trading activity, both in real and our own virtual stock markets. Only two out of the four fund managers were active. Ajay Parmar and Amar Ambani did some more churning with their portfolios, while Praveen Panjwani and Phani Sekhar preferred to remain on the sidelines. On the 20 percent markAjay ParmarHead, Research (Institutional Equities) Emkay Ajay Parmar’s net returns have now soared over 20 percent so far. Last week, he bought shares worth Rs 1.93 lakh and sold equity worth Rs 1.91 lakh. Parmar booked partial gains on his investment in Sterlite Technologies and exited from Torrent Pharma with net gains. He booked a loss of 7 percent on his investment in Fresenius Kabi. His fresh purchases are HOEC, Balaji Tele, Godawari Power and Panacea Biotech. He holds 21 stocks in his portfolio, HEG has the highest weightage and Sintex the lowest. Sterlite Tech is the current top gainer and Deccan Chronicle, the laggard. Good form continuesAmar Ambani Vice President (Research), India Infoline Amar Ambani continues to carry his good form from the previous season. His net returns are almost 19 percent. His gross purchases for the week amounted to Rs 2.98 lakh as against gross sales of Rs 3.02 lakh. Ambani's fresh purchases are National Aluminium, Reliance Industrial Infra, NRB Bearings, Apollo Hospital, MPS and Binani Cements. His investment in Greaves Cotton, Hinduja Ventures and Nava Bharat Ventures yielded him net returns in the 3-5 percent each. However, he booked 11 percent loss on his trade in Zandu Pharma. Ambani has 20 stocks in his portfolio of which Tata Sponge has the highest weightage (also the top gainer along with Jindal South) while PVP Ventures the lowest weightage and incidentally the biggest loser. His net worth now stands at Rs 11.89 lakh, and he holds cash of Rs 2.06 lakh. Concentrated portfolioPhani SekharFund Manager – PMS, Angel Broking Phani Sekhar continues with his strategy of being a steady investor. Although he joined three weeks later, net returns are up at 6.72 percent. Sekhar has 13 stocks in his portfolio, of which eClerx has the highest weightage. In fact, the top five stocks in his portfolio account for almost 49 percent of his net worth. MphasiS has the lowest weightage in his portfolio. Sunil Hitech is the top gainer while Federal Bank the top loser. Sekhar's portfolio is valued at Rs 10.67 lakh, which includes Rs 1,890 in cash. No trade weekPraveen PanjwaniAssistant Vice President, Edelweiss Praveen Panjwani after revamping his portfolio in the previous week preferred to stay on the sidelines last week. The new look portfolio saw his returns jump to 6.3 percent. Panjwani has 24 stocks in his portfolio. HOEC has the highest weightage while GTL Infrastructure the lowest. Tinplate is the biggest gainer among the 24 stocks in his portfolio, and IRB Infrastructure the loser. Panjwani’s net worth is valued at Rs 10.63 lakh, and he holds a meagre Rs 18 as cash in hand.
EMPLOYEE STOCK OPTIONS ARE BACK IN VOGUE K. Venkatasubramanian, January 4, 2010The Hindu Business Line

If the falling markets in 2008 were a deterrent to companies issuing stock options to their employees, 2009 has seen a comeback for this form of compensation. The value of stock options exercised by employees more than doubled in 2009 over 2008. More importantly, the prices at which these options were allowed to be exercised are lucrative compared to the current stock prices of these companies, with gains to the tune of 19-199 percent waiting to be made. In 2009, as many as 86 of the CNX 500 companies offered employee stock options, compared with 82 in 2008. Now, that may not seem like much of an increase, but for the fact that the amounts involved were more than twice as much. In 2009, the total value of exercised options amounted to Rs 193.5 crore, compared with Rs 75.7 crore in 2008. Improving market conditions seem to have lured the beneficiaries of these options – employees and senior management – to take advantage of the gains to be had from the gap between the exercise price and the market prices of options. Although the list of companies offering ESOPs spans a wide range of sectors, among the large-cap stock universe, banking and financial services players dominate the list. The extent of gains to be made from exercising these options is phenomenal in many cases. ICICI Bank issued options that were exercised for an average value of Rs 331.2 a share, while the current market price of the stock is Rs 875.7, a 164 percent gain. HDFC Bank, IDFC, and ACC are some of the other companies where employees with stock options may have made a triple-digit gain or more as a result of attractive exercise prices. ESOPs give the employee a right to subscribe to a company's shares at a predetermined price, usually within one to nine years from allotment. The attractiveness of exercise price depends on how the company concerned arrives at the value. While Dr Reddy's, Wipro and HUL (Hindustan Unilever Ltd) allot options at prices as low as the face value to the senior management, Axis Bank, Reliance Communications and Lupin allocated options at an exercise price that is the average of the high and low closing prices of the stock two weeks prior to the grant. IDFC chooses the closing price of the stock the day before the allocation of the option. Most companies such as Bharti Airtel, Dabur India, Dr. Reddy's and Wipro have a series of options at varying exercise prices.
SHOW-STOPPERS OF 2010January 3, 2010The Hindu Business Line

Adieu, 2009, Welcome, 2010. As we turn to the New Year, let's keep our fingers crossed that it will be as successful a year for investors as 2009 was. With stock prices zooming ahead are you wondering how to choose from that mind-boggling array of stocks? Well, here's some help. We spoke to half a dozen leading market analysts from the broking fraternity to find out sector favourites for 2010. Vipul Sanghvi, Head, Research, Religare Securities Broadly, the sectors we would like to bet on for 2010 are IT services, healthcare, capital goods, automobiles and media. The macro environment for IT companies is very positive. Global IT spends for the next year is looking fairly positive. Domestically we have IT companies with very strong balance sheets and virtually zero debt. So we have comfort on staying with these companies. Similarly, the media sector will be a beneficiary of the overall increase in economic activity. Since this sector is directly related to the economic growth, advertising spends will rise with higher economic activities. The industry will benefit more from the perspective of companies in the electronic and print media. Oil refining is a sector where we don't see any major upside. We still don't have much of clarity about how the government is going to take care of subsidies. The cash flows will always remain a question. There is also the possible upside in oil prices, which will be a negative for these companies. Likewise, we have a moderately negative view on cement because in the next one-, one-and-a-half years, there may be huge overcapacity within the industry. Nischal Maheshwari, Head, Research, Edelweiss Securities Banking and infrastructure are sectors on which we are really positive, while we would like to be cautious on telecom. In case of banking, if the economy grows at 8-9 percent for the next year, the credit growth will also happen. So if the GDP growth is at around 8-9 percent, the credit growth should be 20-25 percent and till now that has not happened. There is a strong expectation of credit growth happening next year. Infrastructural activities will continue based on the expectations from government spending. As of now the capex in the private sector has not completely picked up. We see more capex plans getting implemented next year, as newer projects commence earnings will start getting better. Amar Ambani, Vice-President, Research, India Infoline We are positive on automobiles, banking, FMCG, infrastructure, sugar and utilities. On the other hand we maintain neutral views on IT, oil and gas and telecom and have negative views on cements and hotels. The Indian auto industry has witnessed a sharp recovery in volumes from the fourth quarter of 2008-09. The upsurge was on the back of improvement in consumer sentiment and higher availability of consumer finance. As for banking, we believe that we are at the start of a long credit up-cycle with demand for credit reviving in most segments. The growth momentum in the FMCG sector will remain intact aided by strong demand across categories and propelled by rising demand from the bottom-of-pyramid. The cement industry has entered a cyclical downtrend with prices in Southern and Western region falling by a drastic 15-40 percent in the past two months. The industry is likely to add another 50-60 million tonnes (mtpa) in capacity over the next two years, which would take the total cement capacity to about 300 mtpa by FY12. This would outpace incremental demand and may lead to surplus of about 30 mtpa by FY11.
POWERING UP THE PORTFOLIOMayur Shah, January 04, 2010The Financial Express

A nice come back for the bulls in 2009 after the drubbing they got in 2008. The Sensex saw a gain of 81.03 percent and the Nifty ended 75.76 percent higher. Among the sectors, the BSE Metals index was the largest gainer ending 233.68 percent higher and was followed by the BSE Auto index, which gained 204.16 percent. The least gainer in the last year was the BSE FMCG index, which gained 40.46 percent and was followed by the BSE Health Care index, which gained 68.30 percent. The other indices, which had outperformed the Sensex, were CNX IT index, which gained 116.04 percent, BSE Capital Goods index, which gained 104.26 percent, the BSE Consumer Durables, which gained 97.80 percent, and the BSE Bankex, which gained 88.51 percent. In the past weeks, the indices have been exhibiting a slower rate of rise and as a result the weekly MACD indicators have been exhibiting a negative divergence. This suggests that the upside momentum has reduced. After the strong rise seen by the indices in March, a pause or a drop in momentum is expected and has been happening since October. Does this result in a reversal or will the indices breakout on the upper side. To answer these questions, we will look at the important support and the resistance levels which will help us in deciding the fate of the major trend. The Sensex is facing a strong resistance near the October highs and end it did cross the same on the December 31., it was unable to close past it. The Sensex will have to move past the strong resistance zone between 17,500-17,554 and the Nifty past 5,200-5,237 for it to move higher and head towards the next weekly resistance of 17,816 and 5,304 respectively. On the lower side, as long as the Sensex stays above the weekly support of 16,640 and the Nifty above 4,948, the major uptrend remains intact. Only a close below these levels on a weekly basis will mean further weakness. Above the weekly resistance of 17,816 and 5,304 for the Sensex and the Nifty, the Sensex could be heading towards the next target of 19,258 and the Nifty towards 5,703. This can happen if we see the indices closing strongly past the resistance zones mentioned here. Reliance Infrastructure has been under performing the indices and hence the relative strength line is bearish. The stock has gone into a fresh intermediate uptrend and is at the important weekly resistance of 1,145. A strong close past this level will mean higher levels towards the next resistance of 1,303. The stock is in a strong intermediate rise since the past few days and the first pull back in the stock towards the support of 1,102 and 1,067 can be used by traders to pick up long positions. Currently the stop for the long positions is far away and swing traders and position traders must wait for a minor decline before they look for long positions. As the relative strength line is bearish, investors must stay away.
WORLD'S HIGHEST BUILDING TO OPEN TODAYDubai, January 4, 2010 Financial Chronicle

Dubai is set to open the world's tallest building amid tight security on Monday, celebrating the tower as a bold feat on the world stage despite the city-state's shaky financial footing. But the final height of the Burj Dubai — Arabic for Dubai Tower — remained a closely guarded secret on the eve of its opening. At more than 2,625 feet (800 metres), it long ago vanquished its nearest rival, the Taipei 101 in Taiwan. The Burj's record-seeking developers didn't stop there. The building boasts the most stories and highest occupied floor of any building in the world, and ranks as the world's tallest structure, beating out a television mast in North Dakota. Its observation deck — on floor 124 — also sets a record. "We weren't sure how high we could go," said Bill Baker, the building's structural engineer, who is in Dubai for the inauguration. Work on the Burj Dubai began in 2004 and continued rapidly. At times, new floors were being added almost every three days, reflecting Dubai's raging push to reshape itself over a few years from a small-time desert outpost into a cosmopolitan urban giant packed with skyscrapers.

ALL FLATS IN HIGHEST BUILDING SOLD OUT, CLAIM DEVELOPERSDubai, January 4, 2010Hindustan Times (Mumbai edition)

The world's tallest building, the Burj Dubai, officially opens its doors on Monday, leaving a colossal reminder of the hubris that brought the emirate crashing in November. The $4.1bn building is 818 metres high, has more than 160 floors and will boast the world's highest observation deck. Over 50 lifts, travelling at 25mph, will take two minutes to reach the top. Developer Emaar Properties claims that almost all the 1,000 or so residential apartments in the tower have been sold, in defiance of a property crash that saw prices drop by 50 percent last year.