Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) has an unsold inventory of 168 million sq ft. These apartments will take 45 months to sell, a large time lag considering it should not take more than eight months to a year. The data comes from the latest Liases Foras report released on Thursday . "This huge unsold inventory is a clear indication that buyers cannot afford high property rates,'' said Pankaj Kapoor, head of this real estate research firm. MMR comprises Mumbai, Dahisar to Virar, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Dombivli, Kalyan and Diva as the main centres. The weighted average price in MMR is Rs 13,012 a sq ft, which was hovering around Rs 12,748 a sq ft in the last quarter. The report also revealed that sales dipped by a marginal 2% from the last quarter. Most new projects launched in the present quarter had a price tag of over Rs 2 crore for an apartment. "We predict prolonged inefficiency, prices have to reduce for demand to increase. Sales won't improve till prices reduce,'' said Kapoor. Earlier, prices increased 7-8% per quarter. "The year 2014-15 began on a rather muted note with a 9% sequential decline in area sales across six major cities in India. With an exception of Bangalore, all tier I cities have shown a drop in sales. The city registered a 10% growth in sales for the quarter,'' said the report. NCR led with a 20% decline, followed by Chennai and Hyderabad with 18% and 13%. MMR, however, was almost stagnant with a meagre 2% drop in sales. For the first quarter of 2014-15, sales in Bangalore have been the highest, followed by NCR and Pune. The cost range for new launches has been fragmented across the cities. In NCR and Pune it has been the affordable segment, while in Bangalore it has been the mid-segment. At the same time, MMR showed increased level of activity in the affordable and ultra-luxury segment. |
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Thursday, July 31, 2014
168mn sq ft unsold in Mumbai Metropolitan Region
Posted by Unknown at 8:00 PM 0 comments
Day's rain gives city over a month's water supply
The low rainfall in June this year had become a matter of concern but it gathered pace in July. Rainfall in Santa Cruz since June 1 this year is 1,556mm, of which only 87.3mm was received in June.
V K Rajeev , director, Regional Meteorological Centre, Mumbai, said weather systems being different every year, rainfall could vary during the four monsoon months. "There are variations in systems and the distribution of rainfall varies every year. Currently , there is a low pressure trough, which is moving inwards and we have issued a forecast of heavy rainfall over the next 48 hours. This year the maximum quantum of rainfall so far was received in July," he said, denying rumors of a `cloudburst' which were doing the rounds on social media.
In the past decade, rainfall higher than 1,400mm was received only in 2005, which was the year of the deluge that sank several parts of the city. The excess rainfall so far in case of Colaba and Santa Cruz is 120.3mm and 197mm respectively . While Colaba has already received 68.7% of the season's required average so far, Santa Cruz received 69.7%.
The good news also continued in catchment areas and there was a 100% rise in water stocks in a week. While on July 25 water stock in catchment areas was 3.3 lakh million litres, on July 31, it rose to 8 lakh million litres. Vihar and Tansa, which supply a combined 11% of water to the city , are just two metres below the overflow level whereas Upper Vaitarna is 3.5 metres off. BMC on Thursday halved water cuts to 10% and may lift it completely if good rain persists.
2 drowning deaths in city
Two separate cases of drowning were reported in the city on Thursday. A teenager, Rafiq Shah (17), drowned in the sea at Versova behind Sagar Kutir building, Yari Road, around 2.30pm. He had gone for a swim with his friends.
In the other case, Khalid Ansari (30) of Bhiwandi drowned in Nadi Naka river. He had gone for a swim after seeing the river overflow. Fire brigade officials could not trace either Shah or Ansari's bodies till late in the night.
Downpour hits highways
Heavy rain on Thursday afternoon caused a major crack on the Mumbai-Nashik highway at the new Kasara Ghat. One side of the highway, towards Mumbai, was blocked. The crack was a foot wide and three feet deep and just next to a 150-metre-deep valley. Later, National Highway 222 was cut off between Kalyan and Titwala after Rayta bridge connecting both submerged.
Waldhuni river in Kalyan and Nadi Naka river in Bhiwandi, too, overflowed. A total of 200 families living close to Waldhuni river were shifted. In Bhiwandi, in the absence of civic facilities, around 2,000 people are forced to live in 3-foot water.
Posted by Unknown at 7:05 PM 0 comments
63-yr record: Santa Cruz got 1,469mm rain in July
24-Hr Torrent Adds Month's Water Stock
In June, Santa Cruz had received only 87.3mm rainfall, the lowest in 63 years, forcing the BMC to impose a 20% water cut. The heavy rain in the past 24 hours itself (July 30-31) has given the city more than 30 days of water stock as the catchment areas have accumulated 1.16 million litres.
With the showers on July 2930 having added 50 days of stock, Mumbai now has water stock for over six months.
Within a week, the catchment areas have seen a 100% rise in stock. While the stock in the seven lakes that supply water to Mumbai was 3.33 lakh million litres on July 25, it rose to 8.03 lakh million litres on July 31.
The BMC, which has now halved water cuts to 10%, may cancel the cuts altogether if the good rainfall persists.
However, heavy rain affected railway services and threw road traffic out of gear.
Fourteen CR services-four of them on the Harbour line--were cancelled due to water-logging and signal failure. Trains were running at least 25 minutes late on the main CR line till late night.
Trains on the Metro network, too, ran late by 15 minutes.
Heavy traffic jams were reported at Sion, Wadala, Mulund, Kanjurmarg and parts of central Mumbai, and the Bandra-Worli sea link saw a major snarl at 10.30 am. On the Mumbai-Nashik highway, a major crack on the new Kasara Ghat road resulted in traffic being affected for some time.
Two drowned, one killed in landslide
Two men drowned in separate incidents in the city on Thursday, while a six-year-old boy was killed in a landslide in Chembur. Rafiq Shah (17) drowned after he went for a swim in the Versova beach in the afternoon, and Khalid Ansari, a Bhiwandi resident, drowned in the local Nadi Naka river, where he had gone swimming. Six-year-old Ganesh Kurade was killed early Thursday morning when a landslide flattened six shanties near Ashok Nagar in Chembur. Two other residents of Ashok Nagar suffered minor injuries.
Posted by Unknown at 7:03 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Weathermen expect 90-95% of rainfall in Aug, lakes and dams inch towards overflow mark
Between Monday and Tuesday , though, the island city got just 48.3mm and Santa Cruz 26.6mm.
On the other hand, the Vasai-Virar region, Palghar, Dahanu and tribal belts of Jawahar and Mokhada got 176mm, which saw villages get cut off from the city and flooded important roads and residential townships such as Vasant Nagri, Evershine Nagar Nirman Nagar.
The Vasai Virar municipal fire brigade rescued villagers stranded along the highway in Virar. A 10-year-old boy was reportedly carried away by strong water currents in Palghar.
Pelhar dam in Nala Sopara that supplies Vasai-Virar began to overflow. Usgaon dam in the Vasai-Virar region reached 86% of its capacity . Damni dam on Surya river in Palghar also began to overflow.
Water stock in the seven lakes that feed the Mumbai region swelled to 4.9 lakh million litres on Tuesday from 3.7 lakh million litres on Monday .
Tansa and Bhatsa gained the most, 276mm and 247mm, respectively , compared with 66mm and 45mm between Sunday and Monday . Modak Sagar is 3 metres below the overflow mark and Vihar is 4 metres short.
"Bhatsa and Modak Sagar, which have a huge capacity , received widespread rainfall of 247mm and 216mm, respectively . Tulsi is much smaller, which could be why it overflowed. Interior parts of Maharashtra received moderate rainfall while it was fairly widespread in north madhya Maharashtra. The south-west monsoon has been very vigorous on account of an offshore trough as well as strong winds. We expect 95-96% of rainfall in August, of the long-range forecast," said K S Hosalikar, deputy director general meteorology , Regional Meteorological Centre, Mumbai.
Navi Mumbai, between 7am to 7.30pm, got an average rainfall of 50.6mm. Airoli recorded the highest of 63mm followed by Vashi with 50mm, Nerul with 43mm and Belapur 44mm. Morbe dam capacity increased to 77.9 metres from Monday's 76.4 metres.
Thane got a total of 55mm rainfall. There was one inci dent of wall collapse at Wagle Estate and one person was reported missing while swimming inside a lake at Kalwa.
The downpour brought down minimum temperatures in Colaba to 24.8 degrees Celsius and Santa Cruz to 25.7.
On Tuesday , between 8.30am and 8.30pm, Colaba recorded 11.6mm rainfall and Santa Cruz 45.3mm. The is land city and the suburbs have received more than 50% of the season's required total.
Meanwhile, traffic was comparatively smooth on Tuesday , as it was a public holiday. There some stretches, though, like the Western Express Highway which continued to witness snarls.
The cratered flyover at Malad on WEH caused backlogs around noon. "The northbound stretch of Pedder Road was jammed around 3 pm. The stretch before Mahalaxmi signal was particularly bad," said another motorist.
Slow-moving traffic was reported from Babulnath to Haji Ali, on S V Road opposite Juhu Aerodrome, Vasai, near Huma Adlabs at Kanjur Marg, Aarey flyover on WEH, near Dahisar check naka and near Dindoshi on WEH.
A tree fall threw traffic out of gear at near Hiranandani Junction at Powai.
Heavy water logging was reported at JVLR, Andheri Link Road, Kanjur Marg, L B S Marg near Gandhi Nagar, Sujay Hospital at Andheri East, Andheri Subway and Marol Naka to WEH.
Posted by Unknown at 11:39 PM 0 comments
24-hr downpour adds 32 days' water stock
Between Monday and Tuesday , though, the island city got just 48.3mm and Santa Cruz 26.6mm.
On the other hand, the Vasai-Virar region, Palghar, Dahanu and tribal belts of Jawahar and Mokhada got 176mm, which saw villages get cut off from the city and flooded important roads and residential townships such as Vasant Nagri, Evershine Nagar Nirman Nagar.
The Vasai Virar municipal fire brigade rescued villagers stranded along the highway in Virar. A 10-year-old boy was reportedly carried away by strong water currents in Palghar.
Pelhar dam in Nala Sopara that supplies Vasai-Virar began to overflow. Usgaon dam in the Vasai-Virar region reached 86% of its capacity . Damni dam on Surya river in Palghar also began to overflow.
Water stock in the seven lakes that feed the Mumbai region swelled to 4.9 lakh million litres on Tuesday from 3.7 lakh million litres on Monday .
Tansa and Bhatsa gained the most, 276mm and 247mm, respectively , compared with 66mm and 45mm between Sunday and Monday . Modak Sagar is 3 metres below the overflow mark and Vihar is 4 metres short.
"Bhatsa and Modak Sagar, which have a huge capacity , received widespread rainfall of 247mm and 216mm, respectively . Tulsi is much smaller, which could be why it overflowed. Interior parts of Maharashtra received moderate rainfall while it was fairly widespread in north madhya Maharashtra. The south-west monsoon has been very vigorous on account of an offshore trough as well as strong winds. We expect 95-96% of rainfall in August, of the long-range forecast," said K S Hosalikar, deputy director general meteorology , Regional Meteorological Centre, Mumbai.
Navi Mumbai, between 7am to 7.30pm, got an average rainfall of 50.6mm. Airoli recorded the highest of 63mm followed by Vashi with 50mm, Nerul with 43mm and Belapur 44mm. Morbe dam capacity increased to 77.9 metres from Monday's 76.4 metres.
Thane got a total of 55mm rainfall. There was one incident of wall collapse at Wagle Estate and one person was reported missing while swimming inside a lake at Kalwa.
The downpour brought down minimum temperatures in Colaba to 24.8 degrees Celsius and Santa Cruz to 25.7.
On Tuesday , between 8.30am and 8.30pm, Colaba recorded 11.6mm rainfall and Santa Cruz 45.3mm. The is land city and the suburbs have received more than 50% of the season's required total.
Meanwhile, traffic was comparatively smooth on Tuesday , as it was a public holiday. There some stretches, though, like the Western Express Highway which continued to witness snarls.
The cratered flyover at Malad on WEH caused backlogs around noon. "The northbound stretch of Pedder Road was jammed around 3 pm. The stretch before Mahalaxmi signal was particularly bad," said another motorist.
Slow-moving traffic was reported from Babulnath to Haji Ali, on S V Road opposite Juhu Aerodrome, Vasai, near Huma Adlabs at Kanjur Marg, Aarey flyover on WEH, near Dahisar check naka and near Dindoshi on WEH.
A tree fall threw traffic out of gear at near Hiranandani Junction at Powai.
Heavy water logging was reported at JVLR, Andheri Link Road, Kanjur Marg, L B S Marg near Gandhi Nagar, Sujay Hospital at Andheri East, Andheri Subway and Marol Naka to WEH.
Posted by Unknown at 9:27 PM 0 comments
Flipkart raises $1 bn, enters top tier of global startup superstars
The valuation places its founders Sachin Bansal, 32, and Binny Bansal, 31, among the richest In dians. With their 15% stake, the two are wor th a shade over $1 billi on. It also puts the Ba ngalore-based e-tailer in the top tier of privately-held internet ventures globally, comprising startup superstars like taxi-hailing smartphone app Uber, Airbnb, Dropbox and Pinterest. Flipkart on Tuesday raised over $1 billion in fresh funds, taking it to the top tier of online ventures like Uber, Airbnb, Dropbox and Pinterest, all of which are valued between $4 billion and $18 billion and are backed heavily by venture capital funds.
The $1 billion fund-raise comes two months after Russian billionaire and fervent internet investor Yuri Milner's DST Global led a $210 million round into Flipkart at a valuation of around $3 billion. Existing investors Tiger Global and South African media & internet giant Naspers have co-led the latest round, Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal said, announcing the fundraise to the media.
A new investor came in the form of Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC. Facebook investor Tiger Global, Naspers—the two put in about $250 million each—ICONIQ Capital and Accel Partners have together pumped in almost 60-70% of the money, people familiar with the deal said.
Tiger Global alone has invested more than $600 million in Flipkart and could take its exposure to $1 billion, surpassing what it invested in Facebook. Other investors, including DST Global, Morgan Stanley and Sofina, also participated in this latest round of funding, Flipkart said in a press release. While this round was done through fresh issuance of shares, a secondary sale amounting to $250 million
at a valuation of around $3 billion. Existing investors Tiger Global and South African media & internet giant Naspers have co-led the latest round, Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal said, announcing the fundraise to the media.
A new investor came in the form of Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC. Facebook infund GIC. Facebook investor Tiger Global, Naspers--the two put in about $250 million each--ICONIQ Capital and Accel Partners have together pumped in almost 60-70% of the money, people familiar with the deal said.
Tiger Global alone has invested more than $600 million in Flipkart and could take its exposure to $1 billion, surpassing what it invested in Facebook. Other investors, including DST Global, Morgan Stanley and Sofina, also participated in this latest round of funding, Flipkart said in a press release. While this round was done through fresh issuance of shares, a secondary sale amounting to $250 million from some of the smaller investors who came through the Myntra acquisition is a likely possibility , sources privy to the matter told TOI.
In all, Flipkart has raised close to about $1.7 billion in risk capital as it fights it out with Amazon and domestic rival Snapdeal in the fastgrowing e-commerce market touted to touch $8 billion in size by 2016. The funds will be used to step up investments in technology and logistics and set up a strong mobile ecosystem by rallying forces behind a mobile payments ecosystem. "India has 243 million internet users, and this number continues to grow very fast. We believe that the power of mobile in ternet is going to help us achieve this goal," Sachin Bansal said, adding that the vision was to make Flipkart a $100 billion company over the next few years.
Alibaba, the Chinese e commerce giant which is slat ed to list on the New York Stock Exchange with a much ballyhooed IPO valuing it at around $150 billion, and Ama zon, with a market capitaliza tion of $149 billion as of Tues day, are the top two online retailers globally. However, go ing public like Alibaba and Amazon is not on the cards for Flipkart, at least in the near term, Bansal said.
"The world is slightly different now as compared to ten years ago. Today, private investors have enough long term appetite and that's what we have seen across the world , whether it's Alibaba, Airbnb or Uber. In fact, a lot of Facebook investors are still invested even after their IPO," he told TOI.
Deepak Srinath, director, digital practice, at Bangalorebased investment bank Allegro Capital, said the new round of financing puts Flipkart in the league of Chinese internet companies. "With this kind of war chest, it makes Flipkart even more competitive and gives it the ammunition to take on Amazon. While the promoters may make a public stance that they are not keen on a listing, over the next two-three years a listing would be on the cards. Flipkart is now pretty much an investorled company," he said.
Amazon announced on Monday that it will open five more fulfillment centres in addition to the ones in Bangalore and Mumbai as it works on the India market amid investor pressure in the US due to its inability to clock consistent profits.
Flipkart, which is expected to have crossed a run rate of $2 billion in gross merchandise sale, has halved its monthly losses from $5 million one year ago, helping it attract investor interest. The online retailer may raise another $2 billion in the next three years, a timeline by when the investors hope for a possible US listing at a valuation in excess of $20 billion, a source directly familiar with the developments told TOI.
this kind of war chest, it makes Flipkart even more competitive and gives it the ammunition to take on Amazon. While the promoters may make a public stance that they are not keen on a listing, over the next two-three years a listing would be on the cards. Flipkart is now pretty much an investor led company ," he said.
Amazon announced on Monday that it will open five more fulfillment centres in addition to the ones in Bangalore and Mumbai as it works on the India market amid investor pressure in the US due to its inability to clock consistent profits.
Flipkart, which is expected to have crossed a run rate of $2 billion in gross merchandise sale, has halved its monthly losses from $5 million one year ago, helping it attract investor interest. The online retailer may raise another $2 billion in the next three years, a timeline by when the investors hope for a possible US listing at a valuation in excess of $20 billion, a source directly familiar with the developments .
Posted by Unknown at 9:25 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
FM: 4 PSUs to shut, more under watch
In the case of seven other PSUs, Jaitley told Parliament that the government was trying to revive them via disinvestment and the joint venture route. His stern statement means the government is ready to bite the bullet on controversial reforms to repair public finances and put the economy on a higher growth trajectory .
The minister said that 79 central public sector enterprises have incurred losses, of which 49 are sick. At the same time he said there are 19 that have turned around, indicating that there will be an effort to revive the viable ones that remain competitive.
Coming days after the finance minister said that being pro-business does not amount to being anti-poor, Tuesday's statement is being seen as a signal that it won't be business as usual in matters of economic policy.
For a decade, the Manmohan Singh government had dra gged its feet on shutt ing down even termi nally sick PSUs des pite it clearly stating it as a policy goal. As a result, the governme nt kept on pumping e money to pay salaries and keep these money-guzzling enti ties alive, all for the sake of po litical expediency .
The Union finance minis ter stated that over Rs 1.57 lakh crore has been pumped into these enterprises over the past few years alone. While there had been interest from the pri vate sector in some of the units of Cement Corporation, among others, the UPA government failed to decide on the issue.
On Tuesday , finance minister Arun Jaitley urged PSUs to learn to function like private business houses in a competitive environment.
"The PSUs must learn how to function like any other business organization in a competitive environment and should not be run like a government department," he said while replying to supplementaries in the Rajya Sabha. Management of lossmaking PSUs have to be part of market economy , the minister said.
The government has also lined up an ambitious asset sale programme and aims to raise over Rs 63,000 crore by selling stakes in state-run firms. It has also outlined the need to provide managerial autonomy to blue chip PSUs to compete globally .
Posted by Unknown at 10:00 PM 0 comments
Sunday, July 20, 2014
RELIEF LIKELY FOR GUCCI, LVMH, APPLE - 30% Rider on Single Brand may Go 100%
The government may completely unshackle foreign investment in singlebrand retail, a sector that has seen growing interest from the world's biggest brands that have been lobbying for the scrapping of a condition they regard as a deal breaker. Their wish could come true. The department of Industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) is considering a move to scrap the 30% domestic sourcing clause, which could result in higher foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows. "How can luxury brands source 30% from India? It is simply not possible. Single-brand retail policy needs to be eased to allow foreign brands to invest in the country . We are working on that right now," said a DIPP official. Such a move would also free up companies such as Ap nies such as Ap ple to open wholly owned stores in India. More than . 300 crore has ` come into this segment from overseas in the last two years, s in a depressed generating jobs in a depressed economy . The previous government allowed 100% FDI in single-brand retail in 2011 with mandatory 30% sourcing from small and medium enterprises. However, in September 2012, the government tweaked the 30% mandatory sourcing norm for FDI in single-brand retail to accommodate Swedish furniture maker Ikea, changing it to something that was preferable rather than mandatory. However, there is still a lack of policy clarity for many companies, with their applications having got stuck at DIPP for months. The move to completely free up single-brand retail will ease entry for brands such as Swarovski, which have had applications rejected as they wanted to house both formats — cash and carry and single-brand retail — together. India allows 100% overseas investment in both, while restricting it to 51% in multi-brand retail with conditions attached. DIPP asked the companies to apply separately for both. Otherwise the 30% sourcing rule would apply for the cash and carry operations as well. "Most single-brand retail companies that have applied have asked the government to do away with the 30% domestic sourcing requirement, saying this cannot be implemented. Even if they source domesti cally, there is no supervision. So after five years they could be prosecuted for non-compliance, which will create a difficult situation," said Diljeet Titus of the law firm Titus and Co. He said luxury brands make a limited number of pieces, maybe 100 or 1,000, and change product lines often, which makes it impossible for them to comply with the domestic sourcing requirement. "In fact, a lot of Indian real estate companies, which would cater to singlebrand players, have also requested the government to do away with this hurdle of 30% domestic sourcing to let more FDI flow in," he added. The government is also considering a plan to allow single-brand retailers to bring in sub-brands or sell under different trademarks. The 30% sourcing condition has also been seen as impacting investments by technology companies such as Apple as any overseas company looking to own more than 51% of a single-brand retailing venture would have to comply with the norm. "This (removing the 30% sourcing norm) would be a positive move as companies have been slowly and steadily increasing single-brand presence in India, especially in apparel and footwear brands," said Abhishek Malhotra, a partner with consulting firm Booz & Co. "This should make it possible for companies like Apple to open stores. We should see more such companies coming in. This was a hurdle for such companies and luxury retailers." |
Posted by Unknown at 9:39 PM 0 comments
Kotak Bank to buy 15% in MCX for Rs. 459cr
FTIL To Offload Stake To Comply With FMC Order To Pare Holding In Bourse To 2%
FTIL, which has to bring down its stake to 2% in MCX following the order from the regulator Forward Market Commission (FMC), had offloaded 4% stake in the commodity exchange on July 16.
In December, FMC had declared FTIL, the parent of MCX, as unfit to run any exchange after a Rs 5,600-crore payment crisis at group company National Spot Exchange (NSEL).
The regulator asked FTIL to reduce its stake in MCX to 2% from 26%.
"Subject to certain conditions to be fulfilled, including regulatory approvals prior to closing of the transaction, FTIL has entered into a share purchase agreement (SPA) to sell 15% stake in MCX to Kotak Mahindra Bank for a total consideration of Rs 459 crore," FTIL said in a statement.
FTIL had committed to divesting its stake in MCX.
This transaction culminates the majority of the divestment process initiated on February 27, it added.
Commenting on the development, FTIL non-executive chairman Venkat Chary , said, "We are happy that Kotak Ma hindra Bank will become a significant minority shareholder in MCX and will contribute towards the next phase of growth of MCX as a responsible public shareholder."
Chary said FTIL was "satisfied that we could divest to Kotak Mahindra Bank" and will continue to remain a technology partner to MCX. FTIL had appointed a restructuring committee to oversee the process, which appointed JM Financials as its investment banker and Ican as adviser.
Despite many challenges since the initiation of the divestment process, FTIL was successful in generating and negotiating a binding offer from one of India's largest private sector banks, endorsing the credentials of a strong world-class institution promoted by FTIL, the company said.
Posted by Unknown at 9:15 PM 0 comments
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Mumbai to get bus that runs over water
Only few days back he had talked of floating hotels, a ferris wheel and marinas and jetties to promote intra-city water transport in Mumbai. Sources said that there are a few international spots where such buses ply on water only for a short distance and is a major tourist attraction. "The feasibility of this project will be studied. Usually , such services are offered by private players. We can facilitate for such a project," said a shipping ministry official. He admitted that the matter recently came up for discussion. JNPT officials were not available for any comment on this.
Interacting with industry leaders Gadkari said his ministry will push for more seaplane service to promote tourism. "To give a fillip to this initiative we are proposing to set up a sea port authority which will have representatives from aviation and shipping ministry ," the minister said. Sources said Gadkari also discussed these projects in his interaction with BJP MPs from half a dozen states including Maharashtra.
Posted by Unknown at 12:53 AM 0 comments
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Pvt sector, foreign investors get ticket to ride on Modi's bullet train
Focus Shifts From New Projects To Consolidation, Modernization, Passenger Services Rail Budget Shuns Populism, Will FM Follow Suit? Railway minister Sadananda Gowda used his budget on Tuesday--the first major policy showcasing of the Modi government to signal its intention of using private sector investments, both domestic and foreign, as the prime engine of growth and modernization. Having got rid of the difficult part by hiking rail fares and freight charges late last month, Gowda could focus his budget speech on the new government's vision for the railways, and he did just that. The government's vision clearly has a major role for the private sector in everything from new projects and freight terminals to cleanliness and food on trains and at stations. As Gowda's speech made clear, "It is our target that the bulk of our future projects will be financed through PPP (public-private partnership) route". He argued that while hikes in fares and freight charges were necessary to sustain financial viability, it would be "unrealistic" to depend solely on such an approach to raise the resources needed for modernizing the prime national transporter. Gowda was at pains on Tuesday to point out that successive governments in the past had announced new projects with abandon--falling prey to the "nasha (intoxication) of claps--but had been lax in implementing them to the extent that some were pending for three decades. In contrast, he said, the focus now would be on prioritizing projects. Modi takes ownership of Rail Budget As Gowda drew flak for not presenting a populist budget, the PM stood firmly behind him. "This budget will help accelerate the country's growth, modernize railways and provide safety and better amenities to passengers... Railways would have taken the country to a new growth trajectory had it been fully harnessed. Anyway, it is better late than never," Modi said in a robust defence that was interpreted as a pointer to the Union Budget. P 14 FULL COVERAGE: P 2, 3, 12, 13, 14 Sensex tanks 518 pts, sharpest in 10 mths, P 23 In keeping with this line of shunning populism and in a radical departure from historical practice, the minister did not announce any new projects in his budget, though there were a slew of new trains (including those announced by the UPA in the interim rail budget) and extensions of existing ones.Gowda also castigated earlier governments for failing to raise passenger fares and thus creating a situation in which the loss per passenger kilometre had risen from 10 paise in 200001 to 23 paise in 2012-13. Describing the noughties as the "decade of golden dilemma the dilemma of choosing between commercial viability and social viability", Gowda said while the Railways would continue to fulfill social obligations, doing so beyond a point was "not possible without compromising on efficiency and safety". Hence, he said, rail fares and freight rates will be adjusted for changes in fuel prices periodically. Despite the pro-corporate and pro-reform tone of the rail budget, stock markets reacted adversely with the sensex shedding 518 points, its biggest single-day decline in 10 months. The political opposition as well as the railway unions, not surprisingly , reacted sharply to the budget, with some dubbing it 'elitist' and others decrying the move to 'privatise' the railways. The new-look railways, Gowda promised, would include a bullet train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, highspeed trains on nine sectors, a greater focus on cleanliness and decent food and further improvements in the e-ticketing system. They would also see some stations being developed along the lines of the new airports through the PPP route. Corporates will not just have a role to play in developing new freight terminals, they could also adopt stations and take care of their cleanliness and maintenance. NGOs and charitable institutions too could do so. CCTVs will be used to monitor cleanliness at stations. Food courts at major stations, where regional cuisines would be available, and precooked meals on board from reputed brands are among the promises on the catering front. Not only will tickets be available for booking online, the facility would be extended to booking trains, coaches, or seats. Online booking of retiring rooms will be extended to all stations in 2014-15, the minister promised. Business travellers will also, on some select trains, be able to use workstations for a fee. For the handicapped and elderly, the service of battery-operated carts will be extended to cover all major stations. Safety of women too found a mention, with the rail mantri saying 4,000 women RPF constables would be recruited towards this end. Also, "coaches for ladies will be escorted" and additional care would be taken of women travelling alone. | Read the article and share your views on |
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