'India has the potential to do a lot more to take advantage of the time today where we stand to gain, geopolitically and in terms of market attractiveness.'
'Professors can teach even when they are 90 because they don't lose their skill with words. Go deeper and there's spirituality in it.'
The recent India Art Fair in New Delhi generated greater interest than before in local contemporary artists among a growing cohort of Indian collectors, including millennials. But growth in Indian art is not restricted to that alone. This year saw 91 exhibitors, a much higher number than 63 in the previous edition - indicating a flourishing market. While live auction sales were largely suspended during Q2 of 2020 due to Covid-19 precautions, global fine art auctioneer Christie's says online-only sales were up 262 per cent in 2020 to $311 million), marking a record total for the channel.
Bengaluru-based Prestige Estates Projects recently said it aims to double its annual residential sales bookings to Rs 25,000 crore by FY26 from its current markets and others such as Mumbai, Pune and National Capital Region (NCR). The company's chairman and managing director Irfan Razaq tells Raghavendra Kamath about his plans to achieve the target and outlook for the real estate market.
'The rising cost of construction, the cost of doing business, high compliance, and inflation/interest rates going up have already reduced returns to single digits.'
That means a manufacturer looking at a market like India needs to decide whether small, cheap cars or small, expensive cars or both will work better for them, says Pavan Lall.
Most players are looking to invest anywhere between $500 million and $1 billion in new ventures in the next couple of years, said experts on this segment.
Shankar Prajapati, a 57-year-old potter in Dharavi, has given up hope of getting a bigger house for his family. He lives cheek by jowl in a hutment measuring 200 square (sq.) feet (ft) in the nondescript shanty town. "We have surrendered to our fate. We cannot wait forever for better accommodation. "Perhaps we are not meant to dream big," despairs Prajapati. Raju Korde, president, Dharavi Redevelopment Committee, and a local resident, agrees with Prajapati.
The NCR and the MMR together account for 77 per cent of 10 big housing projects stuck because of developers' bankruptcy or litigation.
The Carens is a warning for cars such as the Tata Safari, Hyundai Alcazar, Maruti Ertiga, Toyota Innova Crista and Mahindra XUV 700, because Kia punches much harder than others in its weight category.
The X4 offers an imposing presence that you cannot miss even in a crowd of other cars, says Pavan Lall.
The Meridian feels comfortable and upright with the quality of gadgetry, interiors and plastics expected from an international brand car. However, it lacks the overall premium-ness that may come with a top-end Japanese car or even a mid-range German car, says Pavan Lall.
The Virtus is indeed designed to look, act and behave like a well-built European sedan that swims in the segment between the compact sedan VW Vento and the larger Passat, says Pavan Lall.
'After Covid, people started looking for bigger houses with pools and landscaped gardens.' 'Even middle class buyers are looking at plots of land in smaller towns.'
A 5% increase is expected due to additional interest on approval costs.
After years of living with his family in a poky 110 sq. ft. 'house', textile worker Sambhaji Surve dreams of moving into a home four times the size once the Maharashtra government starts its ambitious redevelopment of the 39-acre Kamathipura shanty town in south-central Mumbai. Sharing his dream are about 8,000 other families hoping for a better life when the redevelopment project, part of the government's effort to redevelop old settlements and make life more livable for some residents, gets underway. The Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party aims to redevelop BDD Chawl and Dharavi but for Surve all the matters is Kamathipura where he arrived in the 1970s from Nasik to work in a textile mill. Kamathipura was originally built 150 years ago following construction of a causeway to connect the seven islands of Mumbai. From the British Raj to post-independence, it became infamous for slums and brothels.
'It has taken us 15 years to get to where we are. It obviously doesn't happen overnight.'
While the Slavia comes in eight different variants, it's the base model that starts at around Rs 10.7 lakh that is most likely to take a bite out of the market share of its competitors, says Pavan Lall.
Seven years after it announced Nexa, there's no mistaking the seriousness with which Maruti wants the segment to grow, says Pavan Lall.
High ground clearance, a wide cabin and tall stance all mean that the Carens glides over bad roads with ease and comfort and an engine performance that is adequate in terms of the power of this vehicle, says Pavan Lall.
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