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Unitech to invest Rs 1, 00,000 cr by 2015

Unitech, India's second largest real estate firm, plans to invest about Rs 1,00,000 crore over the by 2015 to develop various properties across the country. "We have a land bank of over 20,000 acres, but our economic interest is for about 15,000 acres that comprises 675 million sq ft of developable area," Unitech Managing Director Sanjay Chandra.

Unitech already has 60 million sq ft under construction. It plans to develop 48 malls and shopping centres in India at an investment of Rs 20,000 crore in the next six years.

Unitech gets 12,500 acre land in Nayachar Island

The West Bengal has given possession of 12,500 acres of land at Nayachar Island on Feb 15 to the developer PCR Chemicals, a joint venture between New Kolkata International Development (NKID) and West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC). NKID is a consortium between Unitech (40%), Salim Group of Indonesia (40%) and Universal Success of Indonesia (20%). This is part of a development agreement with West Bengal Government for setting up of mega infrastructure in the State.

A survey by the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE) ranked India's booming realty sector as the third most preferred for capital appreciation. Despite the sub-prime meltdown the USA retained its top position, while China was ranked second.

The annual survey respondents included nearly 200 members of the association and was conducted in the fourth quarter of 2007. Among those surveyed, 26.2 per cent said America offered the best opportunity for capital appreciation in the real estate sector as compared to 23 per cent recorded in 2006. China received 21.4 per cent votes while India garnered 16.7 per cent.

Industrial behemoth, Reliance Industries is in talks with the New York-based Vornado Realty Trust to float a $1-billion plus fund for acquiring and managing properties across India, , mainly in the retail space. Vornado is one of the world's top five real estate asset managers with a market capitalisation of nearly $14 billion. It owns and manages over 116 million sq ft of realty assets in the US with significant concentration in New York and Washington districts.

The joint venture is expected to manage real estate for RIL's rapidly-expanding retail arm Reliance Retail (RRL). Earlier RIL's had backed associate Anand Jain's Urban Infrastructure Opportunities Fund (UIOF) to acquire assets, including some for the retail business. Possibly both the Vornado JV and UIOF work in tandem. UIOF has already tied up with local developer Makers for developing office space, a shopping mall, a convention centre and five hotels.

According to the reports, the fund and the JV could operate together in a real estate play at Mumbai's Bandra Kurla Complex.

The Euro 15-billion Hochtief, Germany's largest construction company, has taken a fancy to the booming property market in India. It is all set to make an entry into the Indian construction sector through a partnership with Bangalore-headquartered realty major RMZ Corp. RMZ has over the past five years acquired and developed over 13 million sq ft and manages a property portfolio in excess of $2 billion in real estate value across the country. The company is firming up plans for a proposed foray into hospitality, retail and residential segments.

One of the leading international providers of construction-related services, Hochtief employs close to 47,000 people the company is represented in all major markets worldwide.

In the US, the biggest construction market in the world, Hochtief is a leading general builder via its subsidiary Turner Corporation. Internationally its expertise lies mainly includes constructing buildings and civil and structural engineering. The company also operates in market segments like shopping centres, high-rises, airports, tunnels and power plants.

Vipul Ltd to spend Rs 12000 crore on real estate projects in 5 yrs
Vipul Limited has announced investments of Rs 12,000 crore on developing commercial and residential projects in the country in next five years. With a land bank of 1,600 acres across the country, the company is annually developing one million square feet in the country and during the end of next three years. The ambition is to develop and construct 8-10 million square feet every year.

Lalmahal enters retail market
Lalmahal Group, well known rice exporters, joined the retail bandwagon by opening first set of 14 stores under the brand 'LM 365' in the national capital. It also announced plans to invest about Rs 1,000 crore for a pan India roll out of 500 retail outlets in three years.
The outlets would be of 1,000 sq ft to 4,500 sq ft in size and sell food, grocery, bakery, fruits, dairy and pharmaceutical products. The stores will also provide value-added services like courier facilities and travel desks

Alchemist Realty to invest Rs 5000 cr in 7-10 yrs
Alchemist Realty Ltd will invest over Rs 5,000 crore in the next 7-10 years for developing a land bank of 10,600 acres. The company currently has a land bank of 10,600 acres across the country, mainly in the northern states. It aims to develop integrated townships, resorts, hotels and restaurants.
Firmed up plans include opening a chain of speciality restaurants in northern India under 'Red Cap'" brand at an investment of about Rs 15 crore. The company would also develop over 1,000 high-end housing units by 2010. Construct of luxury villas on nine acres of land in Shimla and an IT park at Chandigarh are also on the anvil.

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․ Mumbai Projects

․ Goa Projects

․ Bangalore Projects

․ Chennai Projects

․ Kolkata Projects

․ Pune Projects

Two Indian cities feature in the list of top 10 most expensive places to setup office in according to the CBRE Half Yearly Survey on global rates. Mumbai ranks second only to London's West End.
1. London (West End) : 329 2. Mumbai : 190 3. London (City) : 181 4. Moscow : 181 5. Tokyo (Inner Central) : 179	6. Tokyo (Outer Central) : 154 7. Paris : 127 8. New Delhi : 127 9. Dublin : 114 10. Hong Kong : 106

Growth Towns
As per International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) the following 11 Indian cities are among the 100 world's fastest growing cities. It is based on the latest urban data from the UN's Population Division,
1. Faridabad 2. Durg-Bhilainagar 3. Ghaziabad 4. Chandigarh 5. Guwahati	6. Dhanbad 7. Bhopal 8. Aurangabad 9. Vizag 10. Surat 11. Asansol

Mega Projects

HDIL to invest Rs 2,000 cr in Kochi cyber city
Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd. is planning a 70 acre cyber-city at Kalamaserry, Kochi at an investment of Rs 2,000 cr over four years. . To be executed by its subsidiary, Blue Star Realtors, HDIL Cybercity will be Kerala's first integrated IT township, having, besides IT/ITES, residential apartments, villas, schools, shopping malls, multiplex, club house, service apartments and Star Hotel. It will spread over 70 acres.

Isreali real estate firm to invest $1 bn in Ludhiana
Fishman Holdings' Indian real estate development subsidiary, Mondon Investments Ltd, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to buy a 300 acre plot in Ludhiana for $84 million. Mondon is planning a 2.3 million square metre residential and commercial project on the site in a $ 1 billion investment.
The firm is already involved in a number of development projects in India, including residential and commercial projects in New Delhi, Thane, Hyderabad, and another project in Ludhiana. Recently it had proposed to build a township at the cost of $2 billion in Jaipur.

BL Kashyap's realty arm to invest Rs 1,400 cr
Construction major B L Kashyap Group has announced it will invest Rs 1,400 crore on setting up 13 real estate projects across India during the next three years through its wholly-owned subsidiary Soul Space Projects Ltd. Initially Soul Space Projects will set up residential and commercial projects in Mohali with an investment of Rs 50 crore at an area of 2.4 acres.

Essar acquires Peninsula's Kurla project for Rs 1,200 cr
The Essar Group has acquired Peninsula Land's (PLL) Kurla commercial project for about Rs 1,200 crore in the largest commercial property deal in India. The sale covers approximately 9 lakh sq ft of commercial space at its upcoming Peninsula Tech Park project in the Swan Mills compound at Kurla in central Mumbai at Rs 14,000 per sq ft. The deal is pips Reliance Industries' purchase of convention-cum-commercial space at Bandra-Kurla complex for Rs 1,100 crore last year.
A few months ago, Peninsula sold 5.75 lakh sq ft in Dawn Mills in Lower Parel to Alok Infrastructure, a subsidiary of Alok Industries, for Rs 1,075 crore at 20,000 per sq ft.

DLF for Rs 60,000 cr township
DLF, India's largest realty company has received the letter of intent to build an integrated township over 9,178 acre at Bidadi on the outskirts of Bangalore. The estimated investment will be Rs 60,000 crore, the largest till date. The project will be developed through a 50:50 joint venture in association with Dubai-based Limitless Holdings, a sister company of Nakheel.

Bidadi is about 30 km away from Bangalore and 15 km from Mysore. A part of the land will be made available by the state government and the rest will have to be acquired directly from farmers at about Rs 56 lakh an acre.

Knowledge City in Visakhapatnam
Andhra Pradesh government and Unitech have agreed to set up the Vizag Knowledge City on 1,750 acres of land near Vishakapatnam Among the largest in terms of the acreage from a single source in a single deal. Unitech will invest more than Rs 20,000 crore (which includes the cost of the land) to develop a total 10 million square feet of built-up space for an Infotech Park with high-rise apartments, shopping centres and hotels as well as school and hospitals, an entertainment park and a 250-acre golf course. The estimated sales from the project is Rs 75,000 crore

Rakeen, Trimex to invest $5b in 5 yrs
Rakindo Developers a joint venture between UAE-based real estate company Rakeen and Chennai-based mineral firm Trimex Group have formed a 50:50 joint venture company to invest over $5 billion in India's real estate sector over the next five years. This will translate into 50 million square feet of residential, commercial and office space. The first project scheduled is a $1.5 billion, 1,000-acre project near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. Rakeen is a joint stock company promoted by the government of Ras-Al-Khaimah (RAK), one of the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Jones Lang LaSalle to invest $1 bn in property market
US-based Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), which recently merged with Trammel Crow Meghraj, plans to invest around $1 billion in the Indian property market. The fund will invest in high growth sectors like real estate, hospitality and infrastructure sectors. "We have also earmarked close to $20 billion for the Asia-Pacific region, and India would get anywhere close to 5% of the amount," said, Jones Lang LaSalle President and CEO, Colin Dyer.

Railways unlocks Mumbai land
The Railways planning to unlock value of its commercial real estate in three prime locations - Bandra (250 acres), Mumbai CST (250 acres) and Mumbai Central (250 acres). In the first phase, the Railways will develop nearly 200,000 sq ft of space in Bandra at an estimated value of over Rs 6,000 crore. This follows the Maharashtra government decision to grant an enhanced floor space index (FSI) of 4 as against the prevailing FSI limit in of 1.5.

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Sobha led JV to built township worth Rs 2000 cr.
Bangalore's Sobha developers will develop a township project in Haryana along with real estate firm QVC Realty and Chintels India. The Gurgaon-based township, with an investment of Rs 2,000 crore, would spread over 192 acres, consisting of single-family homes, apartments, commercial, retail and office space.

Record prices in Punjab
Best City Developers from Delhi won the bid for a 4.5 acre commercial site in Bathinda for a record Rs. 184 crores. The plot was auctioned by the Bathinda Development Authority

Citi tie up for multi-city mall development
	Citigroup has joined hands with Bangalore-based developer Nitesh Estates to set up multi-city shopping mall projects worth around $300 million in Chennai, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Bangalore over the next 3-4 years. The project will kick off with a one-million sq ft luxury mall in Bangalore's retail hot spot Indiranagar, along with JW Marriott's service apartments. The mall, which is being designed by a Seattle-based architecture firm, will be one of the largest in South India.
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Nitesh Estate wins Chennai realty deal. Nitesh estates has pipped heavyweights such as Unitech, DLF and HDFC Realty with a Rs 642-crore offer to bag a church property in the heart of Chennai city. The deal gives the Bangalore-based real estate and construction player - managed by the 31-year-old Nitesh Shetty - access to a nine-acre plot just off the city's high-profile Boat Club area.
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HDIL to develop airport land. The GVK group-promoted Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) has selected Housing Development and Infrastructure (HDIL) to redevelop 276 acres of land as part of the Mumbai international airport redevelopment programme
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Emaar MGF enters Chennai Emaar MGF has entered the Chennai residential market, launching a 536-apartment project 'Chennai Esplanade' in north Chennai. This is the company's first project in south India. Emaar MGF is a joint venture of Emaar Properties of Dubai and MGF Development in Delhi,
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QVC Realty earmarks Rs 1,500 cr to for townships
Bangalore-based realty firm QVC Realty proposes to invest around Rs 1,500 crore towards developing residential townships in Bangalore and Hyderabad. QVC Realty's plans entail acquiring about 100 acres at Devanahalli Bangalore and about 200 acres at Shamshabad in Hyderabad.

Rs 1,000cr realty project in Bangalore
Nitesh Estates and Sagar Group plan to develop an Rs 1,000-crore mixed use real estate project in Bangalore. The project will comprise about 1,000 premium residential apartments, a school, hospital and a retail block over 20 acres in south Bangalore.

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Axiom & Citibank Organizes HNI meet in London

The Investor Seminar organized by Axiom in association with Citibank last month was a huge success. The event was attended by 39 people apart from 7 wealth managers from Citibank. The venue was grand and beautiful and was well appreciated by all investors.

The main attraction of the show was the presentation by our COO Alok Banerjee on Investment Opportunities in India. His presentation was very well received which was followed by a Q&A session. There was another presentation by Achal Kapoor from Citibank on mortgage options available.

Overall, It proved to be a good place to network over some champagne and wine. We expect some good results from the event. In future we hope to do more and more of such events.

Axiom Estates Road Shows in the US Break New Ground

A series of Axiom Estates Road Shows and Seminars were held successfully in Sacramento, Los Angeles, Santa Clara, Chicago, Long Island and Seattle from January 26th to February 17th, 2008. The highly informative seminars were a big draw, especially in regions where Axiom was not showcased before.
The road show series kicked off with the Sacramento road show, the first time that Axiom had held one in the region. People from Sacramento, Folsom and nearby cities attended the Sacramento road show in the Folsom Marriott in Folsom, CA on January 26th. In the looming shadow of San Francisco and Los Angeles, not everyone remembers that Sacramento is the capital of California. With a large NRI population comprising government employees, techies and an established agro-based community, the Sacramento region was long overdue for a road show.
We were back at the Sheraton, Cerritos on January 27th for our Los Angeles road show. The rain poured down on this leg of the series. However, NRIs turned up in force to talk to Axiom Estates' representatives. Alok Banerjee, COO, presented his informative and well-appreciated seminar. Here as in the Santa Clara, CA road show the attendees included new as well as returning visitors. The Santa Clara show on February 2nd was held at the popular Silicon Valley venue, Santa Clara Convention Center. Axiom's Fremont, CA representatives met and disbursed information to the enthusiastic and receptive audience. The seminar at Santa Clara had people lined up against the walls as Mr. Banerjee spoke and answered questions patiently for over an hour.

Back in Long Island, the road show there was held at the Long Island Marriott on February 16th. First and second generation Indo-American Easterners had the opportunity to mingle with Axiom's New York representatives who were hard pressed to keep up with the rush. The demand was such that the seminar had to be held twice rather than the planned for one session.
Simultaneously held on February 16th, the Redmond Town Center Marriott was the venue for the Seattle road show. For the first time, the preponderantly IT crowd of Seattleites and other Washington state residents had the chance to get their real estate queries answered.
Over 1000 people attended the road shows with around 350 prospects registering their interest. With detailed and informative seminars and discussion of location specific properties, this series built on earlier events in Santa Clara, Los Angeles and Long Island and broke new ground for Axiom and India properties in Sacramento, Chicago and Seattle.

Snap Shots of the Show