Raghavendra Kamath And Siddharth Kalhans And Krishna A Pophale

Stories by Raghavendra Kamath And Siddharth Kalhans And Krishna A Pophale

Realty market fall: Developers find JVs attractive

Realty market fall: Developers find JVs attractive

Rediff.com   19 May 2009

Developers who are launching new projects are opting for this route, as they need not pay the entire amount in one lot and owners need not forego the potential rise in value. As much as 70 per cent of land deals in the country take place through this model now, against 40-45 per cent a couple of years earlier, say property consultants.

Credit flow to real estate eases

Credit flow to real estate eases

Rediff.com   14 May 2009

Developers such as DLF, Unitech and Orbit are in the process of raising around Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion) in the current fiscal after they rolled over nearly Rs 9,000 crore (Rs 90 billion) debt subsequent to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowing banks to restructure loans to developers.

Meet the man behind Tatas' nano housing plan

Meet the man behind Tatas' nano housing plan

Rediff.com   11 May 2009

Jamshedpur gave birth to Telco (now Tata Motors) which has just launched the low-cost Nano; Jamshedpur, according to the 35-year old Tata Housing Development Company managing director Brotin Banerjee, is what inspired Tata Housing to launch its Shubh Griha low-cost housing project in Mumbai.

Tata Housing eyes Rs 700 cr from low-cost projects

Tata Housing eyes Rs 700 cr from low-cost projects

Rediff.com   11 May 2009

Tata Housing Development Company, a unit of Tata Sons, expects to earn Rs 700 crore (Rs 7 billion) in revenue from low-cost housing in the next four years, a top company official has said.

Peninsula defers hospitality, new ventures to save

Peninsula defers hospitality, new ventures to save

Rediff.com   11 May 2009

In May last year, Peninsula forayed into the hospitality sector with a joint venture with textile maker and real estate developer, Arrow Webtex. The JV planned to build hotels in Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Nasik and Kolhapur in Maharashtra. There were also plans to develop hotels in Ahmedabad, Surat, Jamnagar, Mundra port, Goa and Kerala.

DLF targets Rs 55 billion from asset sale

DLF targets Rs 55 billion from asset sale

Rediff.com   4 May 2009

In addition, it is banking on Rs 20 billion of additional inflows from group company DLF Assets. The move follows 33 per cent growth in DLF's gross debt to Rs 163.58 billion at the end of March 2009 from Rs 122.77 billion a year ago. In addition, DLF's revenues fell 28 per cent to Rs 105.41 billion as home buyers deferred purchases and it offered discounts to lure buyers. As a result, its revenues were hit to the tune of Rs 6.88 billion.

Store 99 plans six-fold increase in outlets

Store 99 plans six-fold increase in outlets

Rediff.com   4 May 2009

Store 99, which sells apparels, accessories, cutlery and other items for Rs 99 or below in its 14 stores in North India, is buying merchandise from firms that went into liquidation in the US and Europe to keep prices low, said Shiraz M Javed, a director of the group.

Aditya Birla Nuvo plans 150 new stores

Aditya Birla Nuvo plans 150 new stores

Rediff.com   1 May 2009

It will also close 30 unviable stores. The company's move comes after its net loss widened to Rs 141.2 crore in the March-ended quarter, owing to mounting losses in apparels. The loss was Rs 82.2 crore in the apparel business, against a loss of Rs 4.44 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year.

Home buyers still wary

Home buyers still wary

Rediff.com   13 Apr 2009

Developers remain cautious on property deals as customers expect further price cuts.

Home buyers wary, bankers uncertain

Home buyers wary, bankers uncertain

Rediff.com   13 Apr 2009

Developers remain cautious on property deals as customers expect further price cuts.

DLF's retail arm plans 500 luxury lifestyle stores

DLF's retail arm plans 500 luxury lifestyle stores

Rediff.com   28 Mar 2009

Already partnering seven international brands such as Giorgio Armani and Salvatore Ferragamo, it also plans to tie up with 12-15 global brands in the next five years. The company plans to fund its expansion through a mix of equity and debt and go in for tie-ups through joint ventures and franchise routes. The focus of expansion would be in metros such as Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai in the initial phase, the official said.

Retailers put cash & carry on backburner

Retailers put cash & carry on backburner

Rediff.com   26 Mar 2009

Indian retailers put cash & carry on backburner

DLF to book Rs 2,000 crore from group firm by Apri

DLF to book Rs 2,000 crore from group firm by Apri

Rediff.com   25 Mar 2009

The company has already booked Rs 5,450 crore (Rs 54.5 billion) revenue from sale of 5 million sq ft it has sold to DAL. DLF on Tuesday clarified to the exchanges that it had been looking at various options from time to time but no definite option had been presented to the board so far for its consideration.

UP: The Maya factor holds the key

UP: The Maya factor holds the key

Rediff.com   13 Mar 2009

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) defeat in the Bhadohi Assembly by-election in Uttar Pradesh last month was a big blow. Not only was this the first major setback for the Mayawati-led BSP, but also showed the flaws in the first-Lucknow-next-stop-Delhi project.

Redeveloping Dharavi is not viable for us: HDIL

Redeveloping Dharavi is not viable for us: HDIL

Rediff.com   10 Mar 2009

Developer to bid for work from those who win the final contract.

Contractors shift from realty to govt projects

Contractors shift from realty to govt projects

Rediff.com   2 Mar 2009

Companies are either taking small government projects alone or bidding for larger ones with consortium partners. The companies, which had 18-75 per cent of their order books in property development, say they are facing payment delays of 20-90 days from some of the private developers, blocking their working capital requirements. Some of them take a week's advance payment from developers to execute their projects.

Reliance Retail struggles to beat slowdown blues

Reliance Retail struggles to beat slowdown blues

Rediff.com   26 Feb 2009

Reliance Retail has added 485 stores in the last one year, taking the total count to 950 and the footprint is now spread across 77 cities (58 in the last one year) across India. While his critics say Ambani may have lost the plot as the progress of his retail plans are nowhere near what he had sought to achieve, others feel the Reliance chief is just being pragmatic given the not-so-conducive environment for expansion in retail.

Apparel retailers may cut summer buys by 20%

Apparel retailers may cut summer buys by 20%

Rediff.com   23 Feb 2009

After a lacklustre winter season sale, apparel retailers are now planning to cut their summer purchases by as much as 20 per cent to save holding cost and reduce pressure on working capital.

Retailers mull alliance with foreign cos

Retailers mull alliance with foreign cos

Rediff.com   13 Feb 2009

According to sources in the Future Group, it plans to tie up with international retailers in different segments. "We can certainly look at bringing in foreign capital to our subsidiaries now," said a group official, who did not wish to be quoted. Under the new guidelines, downstream investments by an Indian company that has foreign investment but is owned and controlled by Indians will not be considered as FDI.

Apparel retailers offer up to 80% discount

Apparel retailers offer up to 80% discount

Rediff.com   12 Feb 2009

Though end-of-season sale is common in the first week of February, what is interesting this time around is the quantum and timing of the offers. Retailers are giving away 20-25 per cent additional discounts, compared to the last year. Also, they began giving discounts at least three weeks before the ususal timing.