This has sparked off a buying and selling frenzy in Kalyan that has left some in a happy mood and others deeply concerned.

The Navi Mumbai International Airport, which was announced a few years ago, was planned to be constructed at the Kopra-Panvel region through public-private partnership. After the announcement of the airport, the residential prices in Kharghar and Belapur in Navi Mumbai which were in the range of Rs 2,500-3,000 per sq ft had went up above Rs 6,000 per sq ft by the end of 2008, said reports.

When this proposed site ran into trouble over environmental clearances, a few experts pointed towards the 1670 acres of land already in possession of the defence ministry near Kalyan. Also last week, Jairam Ramesh, Union Environment Minister, had expressed his unhappiness about setting up an airport at Navi Mumbai. Now, plots in Kalyan are being sold in small chunks of one guntha (roughly 1,089 sq ft) for around Rs 3 to 4 lakh each. Just a few years back, an acre of land in Kalyan could be bought for Rs 4 to 5 lakh.

Shailendra Iyanger, a real estate investor at Kalyan said that some of the real estate brokers in Kalyan had contributed in spreading the rumor that the government will move the site from Navi Mumbai to Kalyan. He said that the speculation that an airport may come up in Kalyan has suddenly triggered a lot of interest among investors, and added that the rates have zoomed up to Rs1 crore per acre.

But in August 2007, former national security advisor M K Narayanan had communicated to the then chief minister, Vilasrao Deshmukh, that the airport could not come up in Kalyan as the area was near the site for a research and development laboratory of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC). The NSA had said that the BARC site could not be shifted. And the state government continues to put its might behind Navi Mumbai as the preferred location for the proposed airport. We will probably have to wait a little while longer to know where the airport would finally rise.

In a real estate deal that has created history, the National Textile Corporation has sold eight acres of land at its Bharat Mills at Worli in Mumbai for a huge Rs 1503 crore. The largest ever realty deal meant that one acre was sold for a whopping Rs 188 crore.  Indiabulls InfraEstate Ltd emerged winner of the bid to seal the deal after it quoted a price of Rs 1505 crore.

While Lodha bid for the land with a quote of Rs 1503 crore, Peninsula had bid with a Rs 1409 crore quote.  Tatas came fourth in the bids after they came up with a quote of Rs 1263 crore. Others who had bid for the property include Oberoi and Videocon.

Incidentally, the sold out land is the one which the Maharashtra government had been eyeing for its affordable housing scheme. Though the state government had offered to pay Rs 750 crore for this land, NTC had then declined the offer.

With the property now in its hands, Indiabulls will be charting out its next course of action towards delivering a world class product in Mumbai. This is the second in the series of costly buys for Indiabulls as the company had earlier during the week, won another deal by paying Rs 198 crore for an acre of Podar Mills. The 2.39 acre mills went for Rs 474 crore.

The latest has proved that the e-auction route is the best tool in realty sale. While Lodha Structure Developers Pvt Ltd, which quoted Rs 1503 crore came second after a neck-and-neck fight while Peninsula Real Estate Management Pvt Ltd finished third with a quote of Rs 1409 crore, it added.

For NTC, the deal has come about as a windfall. The PSU is now looking at pumping in a good amount of money received as part of the sale into its modernisation efforts.  NTC is currently on path to bringing in a transformation and make it a profit-making venture.

The land for the project has already been acquired by paying off liabilities to the tune of Rs 250 crore – a plot of 17.5 acres, which was occupied by the now defunct Shrinivas Cotton Mills, at Lower Parel.

The residential project called World One, has been estimated at Rs 2,000 crore and is expected to be completed by 2014. Lodha Developers have entered into a tie-up with New York architecture firm Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, and with Lera for the structural engineering aspect of construction. Construction is expected to be carried out by a top international civil engineering firm – reportedly L&T, Samsung Constructions and Grocon are all vying to be in. With these international associations, the firm aims to bring in a new level of excellence to make World One a landmark exemplifying the Mumbai spirit.

The proposed height of World One, which is aimed at global Indians  we suppose they mean rich NRIs and rich Indians – is more than 1,450 ft. (117 storeys). It would have 300 exclusive 3 and 4-bedroom World Residences and World Villas which would have their own private pools, and also a few duplex World mansions.

This would all be housed in a complex that houses three residential buildings, a top-end shopping avenue and an office building of international standards. The area would have about 5 acres of landscaping and would include an 80,000 ft. sports club that would be situated 175 ft. above ground level. The structure will be designed to effectively withstand wind and seismic movements.
Prices for the units would range from Rs 7.5 to 50 crore. The firm is reported to be expecting Rs 5,000 crore in revenue at the end of the project. According to sources at Lodha, the pre-launch, which was done among select buyers, has already seen a number of bookings, priced at around Rs 25,000 per sq.ft. A full on launch is expected to take place by the end of this month.
Funding for the project is to be through customer receipts, debt finance and internal accruals. Sources say that the developers would also be open to going in for private equity funds if the need arises. Banking sources say that the firm received property funds from HDFC, Singapore funds GIC and Temasek, of more than Rs1,000 crore.

The building will receive the ‘Gold Leed’ certification and will, on completion, take on the title of tallest residential building in the world – which is currently owned by the QI tower in Australia’s Gold Coast (80 storeys in height). Lodha Developers also plans to launch an initial public offering (IPO) of $650 million this year.

The definitive agreements to be signed soon,  Bharti will have a bigger playground in an under-penetrated zone as soon as it takes the African plunge.

The deal having come about, analysts believe that the average revenue per user of Zain is quite high and that justifies its current valuation by Bharti. Further, the new combined entity would boost shareholder value in the long term. As if heralding a new profitability scene for the company and its investors, Bharti shares have zoomed 11 per cent since February 15 – that is ever since the two companies had begun parleys for a possible takeover.

With the deal poised to go down in corporate history as the second largest overseas acquisition by an Indian company, after Tata’s take over of Corus for over $13 billion, investors are a cheery lot. The buyout will also see Airtel making a foray into Africa, the fastest growing market. The two businesses combined will be among the top 10 telecom firms in the world with an over 165- million subscriber base and total revenue of $13 million, says a report.

The deal is seen as bringing in a rare consolidation in the highly competitive sector and Bharti would have a major challenge to face in terms of how successful it would be in attempting to integrate its operation with Zain.

Bharti  was able to finalize the deal with the money for funding arranged  from a handful of foreign banks and the State Bank of India. The Standard Chartered Bank is said to have committed the highest amount of $1.3 billion, followed Barclays with $0.9 billion. An amount of $7.5 billion debt would be dollar-denominated and the remaining about USD 1 billion will be in rupee loan from SBI.

The Zain acquisition is Bharti’s successful attempt after it had twice failed to take over another South African giant MTN two years ago.

According to E Sreedharan, managing director of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, the novel information service is being offered as a part of Google Transit services.

As for mobile devices, the services will be provided as a part of Google Maps for Mobile, which lets commuters check the latest updates to make route changes “on-the-go,” Sreedharan said.

He explained that the Delhi Metro, in keeping with its vision for a people-centred public transport system, has started many initiatives in order to help the commuters manage their travel time and transfers in a better manner as well as make more informed decisions on transport.

E Sreedharan said that the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s collaboration with Google is yet another step aimed at making it easier for the public to plan their travel by using the transit information on Google Maps.

Google Transit is a navigation tool on Google Maps which offers information on train times, location of stations, time taken for travel, ticket fares, and the frequency of service.

As Delhi is preparing for the Commonwealth Games to be held in October 2010, Google Transit will be of help to the large numbers of visitors to the national capital, E Sreedharan said. Apart from this, as new routes will be added to the Delhi Metro network, people from Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida will benefit by accessing information on train routes and train schedules.

In a statement, Manik Gupta, product manager (Google Maps & Local) of Google India, said the aim of Google Transit is to make information on public transport useful and easily accessible. A commuter can, with just a click on a station, will get information on train times, stations, frequency of service, and passing lines.

The new service by Google will benefit the Delhi Metro – which is the favoured public transportation for tens of thousands of commuters every day – by not only attracting new commuters but also by helping the existing commuters to find out new routes. All these services, Manik Gupta added, will be available on computers ands also on mobile phones.

Google already has similar tie-ups on providing information with Kolkata Metro, Hyderabad Metro, and Chennai MRTS.

Each day, about 950,000 commuters use the Delhi Metro, which has a network of around 96 kilometres. It has been planned to extend the Delhi Metro’s network to 190 kilometres by October 2010, ahead of the Commonwealth Games.

The Railway Budget for 2010-11, presented in the Lok Sabha on February 24, 2010, by Mamata Banerjee, Minister for Railways, has proposed no increase in passenger fares or freight rates.

This is the 7th year in succession that passenger fares have not been increased.

The tariff for transporting foodgrain, kerosene and fertilisers has been reduced by Rs 100 per wagon in order to deal with the rise in prices.

The Railway Budget also proposes to bring down the maximum limit of service charge on e-booking of ticket to Rs 10 for the sleeper-class and by Rs 20 for the AC class. Currently, the maximum service charge on e-booking of ticket is Rs 15 for the sleeper-class and Rs 40 for the AC class.

Mamata Banerjee announced in her budget an array of concessions – including free travel for children up to 18 years; free travel, in three-tier AC and sleeper class, for cancer patients travelling for treatment; as well as continuance of concessions for journalists and for students of madrassas.

As many as 101 new suburban services will be started in Mumbai as well as more train services in Chennai and Kolkata.

A special train – called the Sanskriti Express – to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore will run across India and also to Bangladesh, Mamata Banerjee said.

While the special tourist trains, the Bharat Tirth, will be launched on 16 routes, there will be 6 new long-distance, non-stop Duronto Express trains and 4 short-distance Duronto Express day trains.

The budget estimates for 2010-11 pegs the cargo-loading target at 944 million tonnes – 54 million tonnes more than the revised estimates of the current year.

Passenger traffic is expected to go up by 5.3%.

The other highlights of the Railway Budget 2010-11 include concession to the film industry; plan for electrification of 1,000 kilometres in fiscal 2011; the Janmabhoomi train (connecting areas in the western sectors); the Karmabhoomi (sleeper trains for the unorganised sector); special trains for women; the work under Mumbai suburban area under MUTP phase 1 to be completed in 2010, and under phase 2 to be completed by March 2014; Kolkata Metro to be extended inside the city; funding for metro rail projects up by 5%; starting door-to-door service for freight movement; launching of double-decker trains on a pilot basis; and premium tatkal service for transporting parcel and freight.

New trains have been proposed to be run on the following routes:  Howrah-Chennai-Puducherry-Madurai-Rameswaram-Kanyakumari-Bangalore-Mysore-Chennai-Howrah; Howrah-Gaya-Agra-Mathura-Vrindavan-New Delhi-Haridwar-Varanasi-Howrah; Howrah-Varanasi-Jammu Tawi-Amritsar-Haridwar-Mathura-Vrindavan-Allahabad-Howrah; Howrah-Vizag-Hyderabad-Araku-Howrah; Howrah-Ajmer-Udaipur-Jodhpur-Bikaner-Jaipur-Howrah; Pune-Jaipur-Nathdwara-Ranakpur-Jaipur-Mathura-Agra-Haridwar-Amritsar-Jammu Tawi-Pune; Mumbai-Pune-Tirupati-Kancheepuram-Rameswaram-Madurai-Kanyakumari-Pune-Mumbai; Pune-Ratnagiri-Goa-Bangalore-Mysore-Tirupati-Pune; Bhopal-Dwaraka-Somnath-Udaipur-Ajmer-Jodhpur-Jaipur-Mathura-Vrindavan-Amritsar-Jammu Tawi-Bhopal; and Ahmedabad-Puri-Kolkata-Gangasagar-Varanasi-Allahabad-Indore-Omkareshwar-Ujjain-Ahmedabad.

Mumbai: The trial run of Mumbai’s super-fast monorail has been successful.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, who flagged off the 300-metre trial run, described the monorail as “an engineering marvel” and “the only one of its kind in the country” for the use of the common man.

About 3 lakh people are expected to use the monorail daily, Chavan said.

The monorail moves on a single elevated beam, instead of the conventional tracks.

The Mumbai monorail project – being jointly implemented by Larsen & Toubro and the Scomi Group, of Malaysia – is expected to be completed in 2010 itself, at a cost of Rs 2,460 crore.

An initiative of the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA), the Mumbai monorail project involves design, construction, installation, testing and commissioning of a 19.4-kilometre route stretching between Jacob Circle and Chembur.

While the Phase I of the Mumbai monorail project will be between Wadala and Chembur via Mahul (about 9 kilometres), the Phase II will cover the distance between Gadge Maharaj Chowk and Wadala (11 kilometres).

We are trying to get hold of a few good photos of the Mumbai Monorail for you.

According to Shailendra Roy, executive vice-president and head of corporate initiatives of Larsen & Toubro, the Phase I of the monorail from Wadala to Chembur is scheduled to be commissioned by the end of 2010, and the Phase II by December 2011.

The monorail network is aimed at easing the traffic in Mumbai, the most populous city in India, having a population of about 14 million people. It is also expected to supplement the existing public transport system in Mumbai, along with the underground metro rail network under construction.

It has been planned to introduce, to start with, 14 monorails with 4 coaches, with a capacity of 500 passengers.

The super-fast monorail will have a frequency of 4.5 minutes, and the fare will range from Rs 8 to Rs 20.

Mumbai monorail’s first corridor will have 15 trains – with 9 of them for the Wadala-Jacob Circle stretch, and the rest for the Chembur-Wadala stretch.

Three coaches from Malaysia are likely to arrive in Mumbai by March 2010.

Suhaimi Yaacob, president of Scomi’s India Projects, said the company estimates that the Wadala-Jacob Circle stretch will have a higher passenger density than the Chembur-Wadala one. The Wadala-Jacob Circle alignment, Yaacob added, has fewer public-transport alternatives.

He said the pillars are designed in such a way that they can take the weight of 6-coach rakes. This means that, in future, if the services need be augmented, there is the scope of adding 2 more coaches without affecting the frequency of the trains at that time.

Countries such as Brazil have planned 8-coach monorail trains, according to Suhaimi Yaacob.

This state-of-the-art commercial-cum-residential project, named Ramanujan IT City, will be constructed over an area of 26 acres of land along Old Mahabalipuram Road at Taramani in Chennai.

The Ramanujan IT City is being promoted by TRIL Infopark, a joint venture between the Tata Realty and Infrastructure Limited, the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO), and Indian Hotels Company.

A press release from the Tata Realty and Infrastructure Limited said that the premium residential community of the project – called Cambridge Greens – will be ready to be occupied by the middle of 2011.

The project is a tribute to Srinivasa Ramanujan, the legendary mathematician, from the Tata Group, the Tata Realty and Infrastructure Limited said.

The Special Economic Zone will house duly notified IT/ITeS companies, residential apartments, serviced apartments, an international convention centre, malls, security-camera system, children’s play area, a health club, and swimming pools.

There will be, in all, 150 super-luxury apartments in the Ramanujan IT City – ranging from 2,000 square feet to 3,000 square feet – complete with world-class amenities as also the latest fire-detection systems.

Sanjay Ubale, CEO and managing director of Tata Realty and Infrastructure Limited, said in the press release that Chennai is an “emerging IT hub” and that the Ramanujan IT City has been planned to be built in such a way that it will be “the most sought-after property in Chennai” having excellent connectivity, concentration on social infrastructure, as well as contemporary architectural design.

Skidmore Owings and Merrill (SOM), the world-famous master-planning company based in New York, will prepare the master-plan of the Ramanujan IT City’s residential portion, according to Sanjay Ubale.

The United States has announced a global fund, costing $350-million, to help provide clean-energy technology to the so-called developing countries, and pledged to contribute $85 million to the multinational fund.

The 5-year programme has been named the Renewables and Efficiency Deployment Initiative (REDI, or the Climate REDI.)

The US also invited top officials to participate in a ‘green summit’ to be held in Washington in 2010.

Steven Chu, United States Energy Secretary, announced at the United Nations Climate Summit in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, that the multinational programme will help “speed up the delivery of technologies related to renewable energy to the developing and underdeveloped nations.” The global initiative, Steven Chu added, will enable the developing and underdeveloped countries combat the greenhouse-gas emissions in a better manner.

The 2-week United Nations Climate Summit in Copenhagen began on December 7, 2009.

The world leaders are meeting in Copenhagen to forge a new treaty to deal with the huge problem of global warming in order to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

Among the programmes of the Renewables and Efficiency Deployment Initiative is the one to supply solar-energy lanterns and LED lanterns to millions of people in the developing countries who have no access to electricity – thus providing a low-cost alternative to kerosene-lamps that are both costly and polluting.

A statement issued by the White House said that the Climate REDI programme is expected to yield “immediate economic as well as public-health benefits.”

The Climate REDI programme is also aimed at improving the efficiency of electrical appliances, sold around the world, through “coordinating incentives and setting global standards.”

The programme will establish an online platform to share information among the members of the group called the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate (MEF). It will, in addition, render technical aid to poorer countries to develop strategies related to renewable energy.

While the United States will contribute $85 million to the Renewables and Efficiency Deployment Initiative, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway and the Netherlands have together pledged to put in $200 million.

Italy, Sweden and Australia have announced that they will contribute to Climate REDI, the statement from the White House said.

US Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced at the United Nations Climate Summit in Copenhagen that Washington will host, in 2010, a ministerial-level meeting of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate (MEF).

The MEF, which is a working group of the largest emitters of greenhouse-gases in the world, was launched by United States President Barack Obama in March 2009.

The goal of the MEF is to promote international discussions on combating climate change as well as to encourage the use of clean energy, Steven Chu said.

The announcement by the United States of the ministerial-level meeting of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate after came as developing nations, led by countries in Africa, boycotted the UN Climate Summit on December 14, 2009. They returned to the meeting only after obtaining guarantees that the Climate Summit “will not sideline talks about the future of the Kyoto Protocol.”

The Tourism Department of Haryana is readying to provide the best services possible to the foreigners visiting India for the Commonwealth Games 2010, to be held in New Delhi, according to Kumari Selja, Union Minister for Tourism, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation.

She told reporters in Ambala in Haryana that as many as 6,000 rooms are being constructed “on a war-footing” by the various hotel-owners in Haryana. All these rooms will be completed within the stipulated time, she added.

The Minister said that vehicle drivers will be given “behavioural training” on how to “behave decently” with the foreign tourists and others coming to New Delhi for the Commonwealth Games.

The road tax of different states will be collected at one point in order to make it easy for the tourists who would be visiting other states. Later, the road tax so collected will be distributed among the states concerned, Kumari Selja said.

A special campaign is at present under way to promote tourism in the Ambala parliamentary constituency. Holistic schemes, the Minister said, will be drawn up after examining the tourism potential in Ambala, Yamunnagar, and Panchkula.

The Common Wealth Games 2010, according to Kumari Selja, is expected to boost India’s tourism sector considerably. This will be the biggest sports event to be held in India so far.

The Haryana government has already announced that, for the Common Wealth Games 2010, a “bed-and-breakfast scheme” will be implemented in Gurgaon. According to this scheme, house-owners can rent out their premises to tourists.

Rajender Kataria, Deputy Commissioner of Gurgaon, said that since it takes a long time to construct a hotel, the Central Government has approved about 25 houses in Gurgaon which could be converted into guesthouses. The registration and other legal process related to these guesthouses have been simplified, and adequate security will be provided to the buildings where the tourists stay.

Because the hotel industry is suffering from a financial crunch and the real estate sector from the downturn, the bed-and-breakfast scheme appears to be the only viable alternative, according to Rajender Kataria. Efforts are being made to make available other services such as conference rooms and restaurants.

Under the bed-and-breakfast scheme, house-owners are allowed to rent out a maximum of 5 rooms, along with complimentary services such as power backup, airconditioning, Wi-Fi, as well as 24X7 security.

The Haryana government will market the bed-and-breakfast facility online.