Raghavendra Kamath And Nivedita Mookerji

Stories by Raghavendra Kamath And Nivedita Mookerji

Logistics market glows like a 'supernova'

Logistics market glows like a 'supernova'

Rediff.com   16 Jan 2023

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.

Realty goldmine or citizen minefield, Dharavi makeover gets wiggle room

Realty goldmine or citizen minefield, Dharavi makeover gets wiggle room

Rediff.com   10 Oct 2022

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.

500,000 Homes, Worth Rs 4.48 Trillion, Stuck In 7 Metros

500,000 Homes, Worth Rs 4.48 Trillion, Stuck In 7 Metros

Rediff.com   26 Sep 2022

The NCR and the MMR together account for 77 per cent of 10 big housing projects stuck because of developers' bankruptcy or litigation.

'5G is a long haul'

'5G is a long haul'

Rediff.com   16 Jun 2022

'We showcased about 20 use cases in 5G trials in Pune and Gandhinagar and some of them were interesting and innovative.' 'However, which ones will take off and which ones would not be relevant, we don't know yet.'

RIL, Adani in race to strike a deal with Germany's Metro AG

RIL, Adani in race to strike a deal with Germany's Metro AG

Rediff.com   6 Jun 2022

Three business houses are likely to be in the final race to strike a deal with Germany's Metro AG for investing in its India unit -- Metro Cash & Carry. Industry sources in the know named Reliance, Adani Group, and Thailand's conglomerate Charoen Pokphand (CP) as potential frontrunners to acquire a partial or full stake in the Gurugram-headquartered Metro Cash & Carry, which has 31 stores and 5,000 direct employees. Around 20 companies, including strategic and private equity investors, were approached by the German chain, inviting them to bid for the Indian wholesale business, according to a source aware of the M&A developments.

Why Are Real Estate Prices Zooming Up?

Why Are Real Estate Prices Zooming Up?

Rediff.com   26 May 2022

'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.'

RBI Ban Will Hike Housing Prices

RBI Ban Will Hike Housing Prices

Rediff.com   16 May 2022

A 5% increase is expected due to additional interest on approval costs.

Kamathipura: From shanty locality to prized real estate

Kamathipura: From shanty locality to prized real estate

Rediff.com   17 Apr 2022

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.

Air India's CEO choice leaves many questions

Air India's CEO choice leaves many questions

Rediff.com   10 Mar 2022

The Tata group has begun its second innings with Air India from a war zone. Being first up in Operation Ganga to evacuate Indian nationals from Ukraine, the salt-to-software conglomerate has faced a real war. But the fire-fighting that the group experienced in appointing a chief executive officer (CEO) for the airline that it acquired from the government in a Rs 18,000-crore deal recently may have felt no less.

Property registration in Mumbai hits 10-year high

Property registration in Mumbai hits 10-year high

Rediff.com   28 Dec 2021

Property registrations in Mumbai hit the 100,000-mark till November, marking a 10-year high as "demand enablers" like low prices and cheaper interest rates lure people to buy homes in India's financial capital. The previous 10-year high was 80,746 units in 2018. November 2021 recorded property sale registrations of 7,582 units: an 18 per-cent decline compared to same month last year (YoY) when stamp duty rate was at its lowest level of two per cent, said property consultant Knight Frank India, quoting data from the Maharashtra government's Department of Registrations and Stamps. Compared to October or a month-on-month (MoM) basis, registrations are lower by 12 per cent.

What does 5G spectrum auction delay mean for India?

What does 5G spectrum auction delay mean for India?

Rediff.com   29 Nov 2021

Discussing the prospect of more reform earlier this month, telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced a delay in the 5G spectrum auction. India's telecom sector regulation has to be benchmarked with the global best, he said. It's another matter that many countries have either introduced or are about to roll out 5G services that will enable cutting-edge tech in diverse areas. For India, too, it will mean a lot for healthcare, robotics and unleashing a new chapter in Digital India perhaps.

'Vaccine hesitancy has more or less gone'

'Vaccine hesitancy has more or less gone'

Rediff.com   11 Oct 2021

'Demand is wonderful. We have crossed 10 million on many days.' 'The Swedish trade commissioner recently said, "You guys are vaccinating the entire Sweden in one day".'

Despite govt's relief package, questions remain over Voda Idea's survival

Despite govt's relief package, questions remain over Voda Idea's survival

Rediff.com   4 Oct 2021

The question mark over Vodafone Idea's survival is gone after the government's telecom package, managing director and chief executive officer Ravinder Takkar said in an interaction recently. The extended moratorium for spectrum payments and adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues has indeed ensured that Vodafone Idea survives, at least for the time being, but questions remain. Answers to those questions may determine the future of Vodafone Idea and its power to stay in a difficult telecom market in the coming years.

Real estate: Godrej, Prestige vie for Rs 10K-cr sales booking club

Real estate: Godrej, Prestige vie for Rs 10K-cr sales booking club

Rediff.com   9 Sep 2021

The real estate sector might have been caught off guard by the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, but large listed developers like Godrej Properties and Prestige Estates Projects soldier on undeterred. They aim to have sales bookings of Rs 10,000 crore in the next few years.

Top realtors in race to enter one of world's priciest markets

Top realtors in race to enter one of world's priciest markets

Rediff.com   30 Aug 2021

Some of the country's largest listed real estate developers - DLF, Prestige Estates, and Puravankara - are foraying into the Rs 50,000-crore residential property market of Mumbai, where home prices are among the highest in the world. All of them are set to launch residential projects in the financial capital of the country, where the market is dominated by players such as Runwal, Lodha, and Oberoi Realty, among others. Leading the race is Prestige, which has lined up 6 million square feet (msf) of new launches in the city across Mulund and Byculla in the third quarter of this financial year (2021-22).

How top realtors plan to transform Central Mumbai

How top realtors plan to transform Central Mumbai

Rediff.com   22 Aug 2021

One of Mumbai's biggest real estate redevelopment projects of Bombay Development Directorate's (BDD's) chawls (large buildings divided into many separate tenements, offering cheap, basic accommodation) has taken off in Central Mumbai, opening up a Rs 20,000-crore opportunity for real estate companies. It is expected to drive down real estate prices in Central Mumbai by up to 25 per cent, forecast real estate experts. Spread over 92 acres in Central Mumbai's prime localities of Worli, Lower Parel, and Dadar and consisting 195 four-storey houses, the BDD chawls were constructed in the 1920s.

D-Mart owner Radhakishan Damani enters top 100 global billionaires' club

D-Mart owner Radhakishan Damani enters top 100 global billionaires' club

Rediff.com   19 Aug 2021

Radhakishan S Damani, investor and promoter of the D-Mart supermarket chain, has broken into the elite club of the top 100 global billionaires. Damani, who grew up in a single-room apartment in Mumbai, is now ranked 98th on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index with $19.2 billion as his net worth. The index is a daily ranking of the world's richest people. The other Indians on the top 100 rich list ahead of Damani are Mukesh Ambani, Gautam Adani, Azim Premji, Shiv Nadar, and Lakshmi Mittal.

Top Mumbai realtors turn to redeveloping properties

Top Mumbai realtors turn to redeveloping properties

Rediff.com   16 Aug 2021

Leading property developers, such as Oberoi Realty, Tata Realty and Infrastructure, and Hiranandani, have turned to redevelopment of existing buildings in the expensive parts of Mumbai as a way of augmenting revenue. Experts estimate that Mumbai's redevelopment projects could be worth Rs 30,000 crore. As such, they are not new. What is new is that the big developers are interested in them. Leading the race is Oberoi Realty, which has set up a separate team for these projects.

Olympic Heroes Stars at I-Day Celebration

Olympic Heroes Stars at I-Day Celebration

Rediff.com   12 Aug 2021

The women who made India proud in Tokyo are set to be the Independence Day mascots. Invite from the PM has already gone out to these achievers to be guests of honour on August 15.

Mumbai all set for its BIGGEST infra transformation

Mumbai all set for its BIGGEST infra transformation

Rediff.com   5 Aug 2021

Mumbai, India's financial capital, is set for a mega transformation with a massive patch of land opening up for redevelopment; a new metro railway ready to start services by the year-end; and the country's oldest railway station, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, going for modernisation with private sector participation. Work on Mumbai's second airport will start from next month, while construction of the sea link connecting central Mumbai to Navi Mumbai has already moved into a fast lane despite Covid-induced lockdowns. Also, a coastal road project, connecting Nariman Point to Worli, is under way and will help decongest the city to quite an extent. Of all these mega infrastructure projects, the one that has a huge potential to change the city's skyline is the Eastern Waterfront project - to be built on the Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) land.