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HPCL & property consultants Trammell Crow Meghraj (TCM) Cochin project to come in 60 acres with mall, residences and other entertainment facilities

State-owned oil marketing firm Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL) has lined up its retail foray in Cochin and Jaipur with assistance from property consultants Trammell Crow Meghraj (TCM).

HPCL plans to build malls with multiplexes, food courts, hotels, convention centres, amusement parks besides commercial complexes and premium residential apartments at the 60-odd acres of land available with it in the two cities.

The Cochin project will be the first to get off the ground and the projected yield from this project, excluding the sale of residential flats, is pegged in the range of Rs 30 to 40 crore annually. Sale of flats is estimated to add another Rs 100 crore to the company’s bottomline.

Of the four models proposed by its consultant, HPCL has zeroed in on the joint venture partnership model with a private developer for development and management of the property.

The JV partner will construct and market the retail facilities and HPCL will bring in land as equity. The net revenues will be shared between HPCL and the other party in proportion of HPCL equity (including land cost) and partner’s equity construction cost.

This arrangement, according to HPCL, offers the highest value for HPCL as it gives it proportionate profit sharing without any capital investment. However, a final decision in this regard will be taken only after the approval of the company’s board.

HPCL currently owns huge chunks of prime real estate in several cities in the form of oil depots, terminals, LPG plants, housing colonies and retail outlets. At many such places, the operations have been shifted to other locations resulting in vacant land lying unused.

The other three options proposed by TCM were: forming a joint venture with a real estate fund, tie-up with integrated retail developers on BOOT basis and investment by HPCL itself in the development and construction of the property besides carrying out its own marketing and management of the complex. HPCL’s retail consultant, TCM has been associated with leading malls in the country like High Street Phoenix, Centre One, InorbitCentral Mall, Forum, Metropolls and Inox.
Indian Reality News

BlueLabs Technology a UAE based tech company with Swedish partner plans to set up office in InfoPark and come up with their own campus in Cochin!!

Kerala is blessed with a high density of science and technology personnel in India and has a low employee attrition rate in the country (less than 5%).

There are lot of IT parks coming up in Cochin. With the advent of Major IT parks like, Techno Park, Smart city, L&T, Muthoot, Leela Info Park, Kerala is to be the epicentre of the next IT boom.

BlueLabs Technology Solution is a leading supplier of high quality software development services, specialising in enterprise application development, system integration and business automation tools. Located at the Leela Infopark, they give access to professional solutions and expertise to the high standards required in international business. They follow high-end operations procedures to provide both intricate and simple software development services to a wide range of companies; with everybody receiving the same high level of professional service and having extensive experience in scientific, telecoms (VOIP), financial and process automation environments.

"We aim to make working at BlueLabs as rewarding and enjoyable an experience as possible. For our colleagues this means providing the benefits, rewards and recognition that makes BlueLabs such an amazing place to work. For our customers, it means an enjoyable experience, with friendly attentive colleagues, low prices and great services", says Mr. Mathews Jose, CEO, BlueLabs Technology Solution. Mr Jose who has just returned after attending CeBIT Australia added, "CeBIT lives up to the hype. It was an amazing experience at the CeBIT Australia. We had a great opportunity to put our organization in limelight. The business opportunities and brand exposure gained over the course of the event has been outstanding".

A technology driven company based out of UAE and having partner based in Sweden, they plan to have 250-300 employees by 2009 and around 1000 employees by 2011. They also have plans to set up a large office in Info Park and to come up with their own campus in Cochin

. "We're preparing for the future, examining every aspect of our business, from employing as many local people to recycling and use of less energy and reduction in our carbon footprint. Take a look at the people who work at BlueLabs and you'll notice, they all have one thing in common - we smile a lot. Not every minute of every day of course, but lots more than people in other companies. This is because we're an extraordinarily good company to work for", Mr. Jose feels.
Express Computer Online

Zoom developers to build 100-storey office in Kochi

India would soon have a 100-storeyed building. The New Delhi-based Zoom Developers has planned to build a 100-storey office complex in Kochi, Kerala.

At Rs 1 crore per acre, the 40-acre tract has been purchased by the Zoom Developers from the Kerala Industrial Infrastructure development (Kinfra) to build an international trade and convention centre at Kochi.

The 100-storey building developed as a part of the project will be around 1,640 ft (500 metres) in height. As per the mandate from the state government of Kerala the project should have convention halls and exhibition halls on an area of 2.5 lakh sq ft.

The mandatory requirements need to be completed by the end of this year. “The work is on full swing and we are confident of meeting the mandatory requirements by December 2008,” says Rumneek Bawa, managing director Zoom Infraestates. The total cost outlay of the project would be Rs 1,000 crore, which the company plans to fund through a mix of internal accruals and bank loans.

Zoom Developers has also roped in the Singapore-based CPG consultants for the architectural design of the project. The project will also include a five-star hotel comprising 31 floors and a total of 400 rooms. The unique 100-storey tower apart from offices would also have a shopping mall spread over six floors.

The other structures in the convention centre would include a trade centre, service apartments, restaurants, a post office, and a multilevel car parking.

The project will be completed in three phases. The first phase would involve the building of convention and exhibition halls, which will be completed by the end of this year. The second phase would involve the construction of a five-star hotel and shopping mall, while the third would involve completion of the office tower.

The development is located at a distance of 25 km from the Cochin airport and 26 km from the sea port.

Source: Financial Chronicle

Property Bytes

Kochi's Marine Drive is costliest realty in Kerala

By Amrita Martin, CNBC-TV18

Marine Drive in Kochi is the costliest kilometer and a half in Kerala. NRIs seems to be flocking to it, driving prices up to USD 1-2 million per apartment.

The Price of being posh

A gorgeous sunset view, boat jetties bobbing in the water, the famous Chinese fishing nets and the gentle breeze from Vembanad Lake. All this has made Marine Drive in Kochi one of the costliest piece of land in Kerala. And non-resident Indians are the ones who are shelling out the big bucks for the luxury apartments. Real-estate prices have risen from Rs 2,500 per square feet from three years ago to Rs 11,000 per square feet.

BR Ajith, Chief Executive Architect of Ajith Associates said ,"Kochi has the potential for another 30 years. If a foreigner investor internationally can think that way, there should be some reasons for that. The most important reason is that it is a beautiful location of Kochi, in the midst of beautiful trees, lots of greenery around and one of the best airports in the country. It means we are well connected and have a beautiful port with a lot of international passenger vessels calling on the port."

More homes in the offing

About 15 or more construction projects are going on. Developers like Prestige, Dewa Projects, EMAAR Group and DLF have pumped in an estimated investment of Rs 1,500 crore into these constructions. Prestige is offering 3 tier triplex and two tier duplex versions of pent houses with a personal swimming pool for a neat sum of Rs 8 crore and above.

According to developers, most of the apartments seem to be out-of-reach for the average Kochiite. Marine Drive certainly seems to changed the dynamics of realty prices in Kerala.
Money Control.com

School of Communication and Management Studies (SCMS), Cochin has become the largest business school in the country in the autonomous sector

SCMS becomes 'largest autonomous B School' in India

KOCHI: School of Communication and Management Studies (SCMS), Cochin has become the largest business school in the country in the autonomous sector with the sanctioning of 60 seats in its P G Programme in Management, a SCMS release claimed on Monday.

'The campus of SCMS at Cochin and the high quality level of professional education offered coupled with placement in top multinational corporate houses made the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) increase the intake to 330 seats in its PG Dioploma in Management programme from this academic year onwards, it said.

SCMS Cochin is the only business school in Kerala that is accredited by the National Board of Accreditation with A Grade, it said.

The P G Programme of SCMS is ISO certified as the most industry relevant management programme. The Association of Indian Universities, Government of India has recognised the PGDM programme as equivalent to MBA with all attendant benefits, it said.

With the 120 seats in the MBA programme of SCMS School of Technology and Management, SCMS Group has 450 seats in its management programme.

Established in 1976, SCMS Cochin has the distinction of being the first professional institution in the self-financing sector in Kerala,the release said.
Economic Times

Bangalore, Hyderabad lose IT jobs to Kochi

Kochi, May 29 In five years, 1.7 million jobs in Information Technology (IT) sector in India will move out of tier 1 cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Hyderabad, to tier 2 cities, Siddhartha Bhattacharya, Infopark's chief executive officer, said here.

Bhattacharya was speaking Wednesday at a discussion organised by The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), a global not-for-profit organisation promoting entrepreneurship. Infopark at Kochi is a state government-owned IT Park.


It is the better quality of life and lower operating cost that are attracting the IT companies to these cities, he said quoting research reports.


He said among the upcoming IT destinations, Kochi has many inherent advantages.


'The data transmission cost from Kochi is low. Seventy-five percent of the country's data traffic goes out from Kochi. VSNL has a 15 gigabyte gateway here. The electricity and water tariffs are one of the lowest among all the states. Compared to Bangalore, house rent is low in Kochi. The attrition rates in IT companies are below 10 percent.'


At present around 40 companies in the Infopark employ around 7,000 people. 'In next four years we expect the number of companies to go up seven to eight times.'


He said that Kerala has the highest density of IT and science professionals. 'The state's infrastructure is pretty strong, especially in telecommunication sector,' he added.


Infopark is in the process of coming out with a dedicated incubator to help start up companies. 'This is an early life support system for start ups. We will help them with issues like government clearance, finance and also help them expand,' he added.

Addhra Cafe.com

COCHIN among 10 southern cities EmaarMGF plans to invest $3 billion in

EmaarMGF, one of India’s leading real estate developers, Friday announced plans to invest $3 billion at 10 cities in south India over the next few years. It plans to develop over 31 million square feet area in Hyderabad, Tirupati, Chennai, Coimbatore, Cochin, Mysore and Mangalore.

The plans span residential, commercial and retail, IT parks and special economic zones (SEZs) and hospitality sectors.

The company made the announcement while unveiling an integrated world-class leisure and residential community around an 18-hole golf course built with an investment of $1.4 billion (Rs.56.10 billion) here.

The unique project, first among several projects planned in south India, boasts of world-class golf course, luxury residences, large format retail facility, luxury and boutique hotels and IT SEZ.

EmaarMGF, a joint venture of Dubai-based Emaar Properties and MGF Development, developed the ‘Boulder Hills Golf & Country Club’ on 531 acres in the heart of the IT corridor in Gacchibowli.

The picturesque golf course, spread over 192 acres, is dotted with the peculiar Deccan plateau rocks and several lakes.

The project will have 110 luxury villas with a price tag of Rs.150 million to Rs 240 million. The integrated township will have 2,700 units, with 703 units in the first phase. The developers said many luxury units were already sold out.

“The most unique thing about this community is this is the only one of its kind in the country to be built around 18-hole golf course,” said EmaarMGF CEO William R. Rattazzi.

The IT SEZ called “IT Green” will have a built-up area of three million square feet and was expected to provide 37,000 jobs.

In the special purpose vehicles (SPV) for the project, EmaarMGF holds 74 percent stake while Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corp (APIIC) holds 26 percent.

EmaarMGF (south) CEO Srikant Joshi said the company has a land bank of 13,000 acres in 26 cities across India. It has 1,500 acres in south India alone.

To a query, Rattazi said EmaarMGF might revive its plans to go public in 12 to 18 months.


Thai Indian

Cochin is the clear leader as Tier 2 cities take IT jobs away from tier 1 cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Hyderabad

Tier 1 Indian cites to lose IT jobs to tier 2 cities’

Kochi, May 29 (IANS) In five years, 1.7 million jobs in Information Technology (IT) sector in India will move out of tier 1 cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Hyderabad, to tier 2 cities, Siddhartha Bhattacharya, Infopark’s chief executive officer, said here. Bhattacharya was speaking Wednesday at a discussion organised by The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), a global not-for-profit organisation promoting entrepreneurship. Infopark at Kochi is a state government-owned IT Park.

It is the better quality of life and lower operating cost that are attracting the IT companies to these cities, he said quoting research reports.

He said among the upcoming IT destinations, Kochi has many inherent advantages.

“The data transmission cost from Kochi is low. Seventy-five percent of the country’s data traffic goes out from Kochi. VSNL has a 15 gigabyte gateway here. The electricity and water tariffs are one of the lowest among all the states. Compared to Bangalore, house rent is low in Kochi. The attrition rates in IT companies are below 10 percent.”

At present around 40 companies in the Infopark employ around 7,000 people. “In next four years we expect the number of companies to go up seven to eight times.”

He said that Kerala has the highest density of IT and science professionals. “The state’s infrastructure is pretty strong, especially in telecommunication sector,” he added.

Infopark is in the process of coming out with a dedicated incubator to help start up companies. “This is an early life support system for start ups. We will help them with issues like government clearance, finance and also help them expand,” he added.
ThaiIndian.com

Cochin pins revenue growth aims on duty-free

The airport hopes that its duty-free operation will soon account for 40% of total airport revenues
Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) is hoping to attract new airlines by reducing landing charges with the help of its growing duty-free business. Speaking at the Gate One2One conference at the TFWA Asia Pacific show earlier this month, CIAL general manager commercial V Suresh Babu reported that duty-free revenue at the Kerala airport accounts for 30% of total airport revenues at present, and that the airport hopes to grow that figure to 40% with planned changes to the airport layout.

Babu said: “We want to be the first airport in India with no landing charges…Indian airports on average generate 70% of revenues through aeronautical operations and 30% through non-aeronautical operations. At Cochin we generate 42% through non-aeronautical. We have identified three areas to grow non-aeronautical revenue, of which duty-free is one. We are aiming to increase dwell time by redeveloping the airport layout, and to expand the area devoted to duty-free.”

Alpha Asia operates the duty-free business at Cochin under the Alpha Kreol fascia, through a management contract with CIAL. Alpha Asia managing director Paul Topping told DFNIonline that the business has been achieving “phenomenal” growth as a result of extending its product offer and improving customer service. He also attributed growth to the big space CIAL had given the retailer. Alpha Kreol grew sales by over 40% last year, while traffic at the airport grew by about 25%.

Cochin is the fourth biggest airport in India, behind Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai, and was the first greenfield airport operated by a private company in India.

DFNIonline.com

ETL Infrastructure Services Ltd Cochin project will be a leisure township.

ETL Infrastructure Services Ltd, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, is developing several projects in the south at an estimated cost of Rs 14,262 crore.
"We have plans to execute nearly nine projects in Chennai, Erode, Chengalpet, Madurai and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, Cochin in Kerala, and Bangalore in Karnataka," says K. Sriram, Head - Finance, ETL.
According to Sriram, the two major projects, one in Cochin and the other in Bangalore, entail an investment of Rs 10,221 crore and Rs 1,670 crore respectively.
The Cochin project will be a leisure township comprising residential, educational, health and hospitality developments spanning 1,000 acres with a waterfront. Work has started and will be complete by the end of 2008.
The Bangalore DRC/IT park entails the development of the first private disaster recovery centre, IT park and apartments, spanning an area of 66 acres and located three km from the new international airport at Devanahalli. The centre will come up on 5.75 million sq. ft built-up area and will be one of the most secured buildings in the subcontinent. It will also include world-class social infrastructure like healthcare, clubs, bars, restaurants, health clubs, tennis and squash courts, swimming pools, and convenience stores. Work on this project will commence from November this year and complete by mid-2009.
Also on the cards is the Perundurai-Textile special economic zone, a textile park and commercial space for a power project that requires about 258 acres in Perundurai in Erode. The textile SEZ is estimated to cost Rs 855 crore and will come up on 6.3 million sq. ft built-up area. Work on the SEZ will start from October this year and complete within 14 months. The project will offer industrial, commercial and residential plots.
The company will set up a captive power plant of 18 mw in two phases of 9 mw each, which will be used for the company's captive use, said Sriram.
The company's upcoming SEZ in Chengalpet will serve residential, commercial, educational, health and hospitality needs with a golf course spanning 252 acres. This project will cost around Rs 897 crore. Work is expected to complete by the end of 2008. The project will also house India's first factory outlet mall of one million sq. ft and a golf resort.
Chennai One, an IT/ITES special economic zone that houses one of the largest gold-rated green buildings, is situated in the heart of the IT corridor of Chennai city. The company will develop phase-II of this project on about 2.4 million sq. ft that will include service apartments at a cost of Rs 358 crore. Construction work will start in October and take 15 months to complete.
Similarly, the IT park and retail mall with service apartments in Coimbatore are coming up on a built-up area of 1.5 sq. ft, entailing an investment of Rs 198 crore, and will be ready by end-2008.
Sriram said the company had planned to develop Heritage Hotel in Madurai along with a retail mall on 0.3 million sq. ft built-up area. Work on the Rs 62-crore project is expected to commence in March 2008 and take a year to complete.
ETL has acquired land and necessary clearances for the above projects
Projects Monitor.com

Alfa Horizon Vallarpadam Cochin the finest commercial property in COCHIN

Overlooking the bay and the proposed Vallarpadam International Container Terminal to be run by Dubai Ports (D.P World).
Office blocks -3 Towers.





Area :-
Tower1
Modules of 1000 sqft, 950 sqft,2375 sqft, 2000 sqft and 1950 sqft on each floor.
Tower 2 Modules of 1800sqft,1350sqft, 900 sqft and 450 sqft on each floor.
Tower 3 For rental purpose(not for sale).

75,000 sq.ft. Commercial shopping space for rent(not for sale).
Assured appreciation on investment .
High Rental Income
ALFA VENTURES

Kerala to spin land from Vaiga Thread Processors to IT park

The Kerala government is readying to spin an IT infrastructure out of a former cotton sewing threads unit. The proposed land for the IT park had been used on lease by Vaiga Thread Processors, formerly Yamuna Coats.

An IT park, yielding 10,000 direct jobs will be set up at Koratty (near Kochi and Trissur), state revenue minister KP Rajendran confirmed, when contacted. This is part of the initiatives from the 'land bank' that the state government is culling together for development projects, he said. About 45 acres for the new IT park will be from the excess land procured from the Koratty unit of Vaiga Thread Processors last year.

A small portion of the land from Vaiga Thread Processors was given to National Highways and one acre to Kerala State Electricity Board for infrastructure development.

The land bank is envisaged considering the development of the state in the next 25 years, the minister said. The land needs for many crucial infrastructure projects coming up in the state, including the new bypass in Kochi, ring roads, Kochi Metro Rail and IT Parks, are factored in, while detailing the land bank project. Construction of office and commercial complexes on BOT (build-operate-transfer) basis with State-run outfits like KSIDC, Kinfra, Kerala Power Finance Corporation and Kerala Tourism Finance Corporation are also in consideration. State Planning Board is considering whether the land bank can get more operational efficiency if it takes a company form.
Financial Express

After Club FM, Radio Mango hits Cochin airwaves

Cochin is witnessing some FM action this week. Close on the heels of Mathrubhumi Group’s Club FM going on air in Cochin, Radio Mango, the FM venture of Malayala Manorama Publications, has also launched its operations there. Radio Mango is already present in Kozhikode, Thrissur and Kannur – all in Kerala.

As part of the Cochin launch, Radio Mango has undertaken an intensive multimedia campaign along with innovative on-ground promotional activity, christened ‘Nattile Tharam’ (Star of the State). The on-ground activity covered over 800 panchayats throughout Kerala.

Besides Malayalam music, Radio Mango would play Tamil, Hindi and English songs. Commenting on the launch, Amit Mathew, General Manager, Radio Mango, said, “Coming from the house of Malayala Manorama, we have in-depth understanding of the lifestyles, tastes and preferences of the listeners in Kerala. This has enabled us to formulate the right programme mix and marketing strategies. The recent IMRB study has ranked us as No. 1 at the three stations we currently operate in. We are confident of replicating the success story in Cochin as well.”

Targeted at not only the youth, but also the youthful, Radio Mango was the first private FM station to go on air in Kerala.

Exchange4media.com

Genovate Solutions which is already in Cochin plans to invest around $3-5 million to open eight new centres.

IT and training solutions company, Genovate Solutions, plans to invest around $3-5 million to open eight new centres across the country within the next 12 months, a top company official said.

"We will be investing $3-5 million for opening eight new centres in various parts of the country," Genovate Group's CEO J Anton Ravindran told PTI on the sidelines of a conference here today.

The company, in the last 12 months, had invested a similar amount in infrastructure upgradation and renovation of its existing centres.
Genovate, currently operates in Mumbai, Cochin, Trichy, Ahmedabad, Pune, Lucknow, Mangalore, Baroda, Hyderabad and Bangalore.

Out of the eight centres, two centres would be opened in the next three months in Lucknow and Thane, he said. "The remaining would be set up by April next year".

The company has not yet decided the cities where it would be opening its other six centres but would target the northern part of the country, he added.
Business Standard

Sun TV launches FM station at Kochi

Sun TV Network, a television broadcasting company based in South India, announced the launching of its FM Radio Station at Kochi under the brand ``S FM`` from May 21, 2008 through its Subsidiary Kal Radio. This Station can be heard at 93.5 MHz frequency in Kochi and will cater to the audience of all age groups.

Sun TV will be operating in seven stations, as it already operates FM stations in Chennai, Coimbatore, Tirunelveli and Visakhapatnam. Work on 38 FM stations is in progress, as the company has retained 45 FM radio stations across India out of 68 FM stations successfully bid.

The SunTV Network originally began as a Tamil satellite channel. It has expanded with other channels in other languages including Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. The channels offered are SunTV, KTV, Sun Music, Sun News, Chutti TV, SuryaTV, GeminiTV, Teja News, Gemini News, Gemini Music, Gemini Cable Vision, UdayaTV, Udaya Movies, Udaya News, etc.

The SunTV Network is available in Asia, South Africa, Australia, Europe and USA. The company has hiked its advertisement rates by 5% to 27% with effect from January 2007. The corporate and registered office is located at Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

Shares of the company declined Rs 7.7, or 2.17%, to settle at Rs 347.2. The total volume of shares traded was 12,851 at the BSE. (Tuesday)


MY IRIS.COM

Club FM’s fourth station goes on air in Cochin

May 19 2008


Club FM, the FM venture of the Mathrubhumi Group, hit the Cochin airwaves on May 16. With this FM station, Club FM has completed the launch of all its four stations. Apart from Cochin, Club FM is present in Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur and Kannur.

Shreyams Kumar, Director, Electronics Media, Mathrubhumi Printing and Publishing Co, is gung-ho about the Cochin market, which is considered to be the fiefdom of the Matrubhumi Group.

Club FM will be on air from 5 am till midnight everyday. Apart from regular interactive and live shows, the FM station has lined up some live road shows as part of its exclusive ‘connect to people’ marketing strategy.

Kumar feels that the three RAPA Awards for station anthem, humour programme category and best female radio jockey is a reiteration of the fact that Club FM’s programme quality is the ultimate differentiating factor for its success.

Meanwhile, adding to its medley of music and game shows, Club FM will be coming up with a new lunch time show, ‘Meals Ready’, especially crafted to capture the distinctive eating-out habit of the people of Cochin. The show will cover various eateries and food joints of the city.

Exchange4Media.com

30 Acre Residential Township by Jairaj Builders to come within 2 km from COCHIN Seaport-Airport Road

Residential Township from Jairaj Builders

Matching the contemporary industry standards and customer response, Jairaj Builders has its seventh project fast progressing. The proposed project is a residential township, comprising of villas and apartment homes ranging from economy to super-luxury. To be launched in an expanse of over 30 acres, the township will promote the following features, including a fully-equipped private club with a thousand-seater auditorium, a banquet hall, health club, swimming pool and other recreational facilities. The site located within 2 km from seaport-airport road will also boast of well-planned layout and excellent sewage system. Having completed 6 projects - 5 deluxe residential apartments at Padamugal, Kakkanad and one commercial building complex at NH-47 by-pass Edapally, this residential township from Jairaj Builders too will be a promising deal to home buyers!

Jai Raj Builders

DEWA GROUP to invest Rs 3,000 crore in 'Dewa Royale', spread across six acres of premium property at the Marine Drive in COCHIN

The world's finest in living spaces. At Marine Drive, Cochin(KOCHI).

Dewa Royale is a premium apartment project coming up on a 6-acre waterfront property at Marine Drive, Kochi. The apartment project itself will be the first stage of a groundbreaking, multi-phase development – including an exclusive shopping mall and a world-class hotel – which the company plans to execute on its 18-acre property at Marine Drive.

DEWA PROJECTSKochi (PTI): Leading real estate and infrastructure development group, Dewa Group is foraying into the real estate sector in Kerala with a Rs 3,000 crore project, which includes a super luxury apartment complex.

The complex 'Dewa Royale', spread across six acres of premium property at the Marine Drive in the city, will be launched on Saturday, Group Chairman K Venugopalan Nair told reporters here on Thursday night.

The group would set new benchmarks for residential space creation in the state in terms of quality of construction and construction material, he said claiming it would be the first apartment venture in the country, which would be providing a 10 year warranty for the entire complex.

The warranty would be applicable for electrical installations, bathing systems and a slew of instruments, which includes even screws used for fixing doors and windows.

The entire project will come up in a 22.5 acres land. The first phase, being built at an estimated cost of Rs 1,500 crore, will have six towers comprising 400 apartments surrounded by four acres of landscaped garden.

This is expected to be ready by 2011, Nair said adding each apartment would be approximately priced at Rs 3.25 crore.

The project also includes a five star hotel and a convention centre.

Dewa Projects Private ltd is a venture promoted by a group of NRIs based in Kuwait.

The group and its allied companies had substantial real estate holding in the major cities of India, including Bangalore, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, he said.

The Hindu

COCHIN(Kochi ) Duty Free Shop wins best Indian retailer award

Kochi wins best Indian retailer award

CIAL has the best duty free shop

Press Trust of India / Kochi April 24, 2008



The Cochin Duty Free shop at the Nedumbassery airport has won the 'Best Indian Duty Free Retailer' for 2007-08 from among 11 international duty free shops in India.



The award, conferred by the UK-based Mars International Travel Retail (MITR), would be received at the Tax Free World Association (TFWA) asia pacific retail conference at Singapore on May 13, CIAL Managing Director S Bharat said at a function at the Cochin Duty Free yesterday.


The Cochin Duty Free shop at the Nedumbassery airport here, which accounts for 30 per cent of CIAL's annual revenue, has registered a 44 per cent growth in revenue in 2007-08, netting Rs 42 crore turnover against the previous year's Rs 32 crore, he said.


An additional 5,000 square feet of duty free shop space would be added at CIAL's new international arrival terminal getting completed soon, he said.


Many promotional schemes launched by the Duty Free had helped boost its sales, of which foreign liquor accounted for a major chunk, he added.


Business Standard

Volvo Ocean Race: A big opportunity for business community in COCHIN

KOCHI: The Kochi stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race will offer a big opportunity for the business community, especially the tourism sector, said N Ramachandran, chairman of the Cochin Port.

He was making a presentation at the discussion session on `Volvo Ocean Race- Business Opportunities’ organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry(CII) on Friday.

“CEOs and other top business leaders of sponsor brands visit the stopover ports to witness the race and cheer up their team. Ericsson, one of the major sponsors of the race, alone will bring a 500- member team of corporate guests.

The corporate world will be looking to Kochi during the days of stopover. In addition to the global exposure, the race provides a platform for the business community to interact with the leaders of major brands and networking,” the chairman said.

Since the race is being held with international standards, we have to arrange all infrastructure here, he said.

“It is expected that around 5,000 hotel rooms will be needed during the days of the race. At present we don’t have this capacity. It is expected that this shortage can be filled by using houseboats and by setting up more homestays. Restaurants and eateries are another sector.

Since the people roaming with the race are capable of high spending, restaurants with good amenities have to be set up. In addition to this, there will be various programmes such as food festivals, exhibitions, cultural and entertainment programmes,” Ramachandran said.

He said that the facilities at the Willingdon Island would be upgraded. During the discussion, there were suggestions that `Keep Kochi and Backwaters Clean’ would be the theme of the event.
NEW INDIAN EXPRESS.COM

Muthoot Technopolis: A model that clicks

A project wherein the private sector set up IT infrastructure in a Government-operated Special Economic Zone could be a trendsetter, say the developers.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



C. J. Punnathara


A novel experiment at setting up IT infrastructure by the private sector in a Government-operated Special Economic Zone has proved to be a resounding success.

“Within six to seven months of completing the project, all the 3.5 lakh sq.ft area at the Muthoot Technopolis found occupancy. But what is even more heartening about the whole project is that clients who had already occupied space are clamouring for more,” Mr George Muthoot, Managing Director of Muthoot Pappachan Group, says.

The uniqueness of the project lies in the fact that it came up in the government-run multi-speciality Cochin Special Economic Zone and was the first of its kind in a government-run SEZ, he adds. The project, started in 2004, was completed in 20 months. Muthoot Technopolis today houses some of the country’s top IT majors, such as Cognizant, Sutherland and Wipro. The availability of state-of-the-art facility was a major draw for Sutherland and Cognizant to make their maiden foray into Kerala, according to Mr Muthoot.

There are tremendous advantages to setting up such infrastructure in a SEZ — the cost of construction dips by 20-30 per cent on account of the reduced taxes on common building materials such as cement and steel. And the company has passed on these cost advantage to the clients, Mr Muthoot says. Sadly, constraint of space is already blocking expansion possibilities at CEPZ.

Advantage clients


The advantages to clients arise from other avenues as well. “With around 80 engineering colleges in and around Kochi, the city is indeed a rich reservoir of entry-level talent. While the availability of mid-level and high-level talent continues to pose a challenge, we see a growing number of Keralites increasingly keen to return to the State and settle down in a fast-growing city like Kochi, which is highly cosmopolitan, well-connected nationally and internationally, and offers a great standard of living. The attrition rate here is low. In addition, by virtue of Kochi being a landing point in India for the submarine cable, connectivity is good and is a major marketing advantage for IT companies operating out of here,” Mr T.P. Vincent, Assistant Vice-President and Head of Kochi Operations of Cognizant, says.

Tapping into places offering a good talent pool and creating opportunities for broad-based and diversified growth have always been an important part of Cognizant’s growth strategy, say company sources. Because of its educational infrastructure, the availability of skilled resources, and favourable real-estate options, Kochi has become an ideal destination for IT companies looking to enhance their return on investment.

More importantly, “expanding our presence across smaller towns helps us become more inclusive and take the benefits of our growth to more people,” the sources said.

Mr Vincent adds, “We are happy with our experience in Kochi.” The response time from government officials and the support offered by the Cochin Special Economic Process Zone (CSEZ) authorities have been a big support, he says.

Muthoot Technopolis offers the best of plug-and-play facilities and a secure environment. Such infrastructural and location advantages have prompted majors such as Larsen and Toubro to set up similar facilities in Kochi, he says.

The Hindu Business Line

New Cochin Housing Project

COCHIN(KOCHI): APPLE a Day properties have launched a new project, `New Cochin: The real metro.’ Spread over 54 acres of land just 20 km from Vyttila and 12 km from Aroor NH bypass,New Cochin will be a waterfront residential township that boasts of 6-m wide roads and more than 100 common amenities, including shopping centres, indoor stadium, modern security systems, health club, centralised gas supply etc.

Residential plots of 5 and 10 cents are ready for sale at Rs 5 and Rs 15 lakh respectively. In the first phase of the project, New Cochin will also feature state-of-the-art villas and studios. The second phase will have 1,2 and 3 bedroom apartments. The project will be complete in the third phase with added attractions like commercial area, business centres and service apartments.

NEW INDIAN EXPRESS

Smart City project at COCHIN promoted at Outsource World London

The proposed Rs.15-billion Smart City project at Kochi had its first marketing event at Outsource World London, a premier business trade platform, the company said here Friday. Outsource World London brought top executives, who are looking to outsource business services, face-to-face with exhibitors. The expo was held in London Wednesday and Thursday.

“Our participation served to raise awareness and interest about Smart City among local, regional and international audiences and at the same time engage stakeholders. This will further enhance credibility and awareness of Smart City locations,” a company press release said.

It added that Fareed Abdulrahman, CEO of Smart City and a board member of Smart City, Malta and Smart City, Kochi, made a presentation.

Smart City is based on the successful models of Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City and Dubai Knowledge Village and provides state-of-the-art infrastructure, environment and support systems that promote the growth of knowledge-based companies.

Smart City hopes to create a global network to assist companies to tap into various markets, opportunities and talent.

Work on the project at Kochi, being built by Dubai Internet City, is to begin in October.

Smart City Kochi will offer a host of business support services as well as residential, hospitality, retail and recreational facilities. The project has an employment generation potential of over 90,000 jobs.

The project was cleared last May, nearly three years after it was first mooted. When complete, it would have 8.8 million square feet of building, of which 70 percent would be for IT and IT-enabled services.

Thai Indian News

Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) are churning the oceans for Disease fighting drugs

By KUMAR CHELLAPPAN

Chennai, April 17: Mythology speaks about devas (Gods) and asuras (devils) churning the sea for amrit that will give them immortality.

Today, scientists at the Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) are churning the oceans for drugs capable of fighting many terminal diseases, including HIV and cancer.

"The sea is a treasure house of healing," says Prof. Muthusamy Chandrasekaran, the Cuddalore-born bio-technologist at Cusat. Impressed by the systematic research done by Prof. Chandrasekaran and his team of young researchers, the ministry of earth sciences has approved a project for exploring the oceans for new drugs, in collaboration with the Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology (CMLRE) of the ministry.

"Watch out. You are in for big surprises. The next two to three decades will certainly be an era of marine biotechnology. We will rule the pharma world," says Prof. Chandrsekaran.

The professor has reasons to be elated. Samples of microbes, organisms, invertebrates and sponges collected by Sagar Sampada, the ministry’s 72-foot-long fisheries oceanographic research vessel (FORV), were tested at the hi-tech labs of Cusat. "We have found that the bio-active compounds extracted from these organisms have anti-cancer, anti-viral and anti-depressant characteristics. Firm conclusions will be arrived at once their structural studies are completed," says Dr Soorej M. Basheer, a leading member of the research team.

Instructed by the ministry, Cuddalore-based Centre for Advanced Studies in Marine Biology (CASMB) has also been conducting research for developing drugs from the sea.

The scientist team led by director Dr T. Balasubramanian has already succeeded in extracting heparin from mollusc found along the east coast. Arguing that the sea is richer in bio-diversity than the earth environment, he says anti-cancer drugs have been isolated from toxic blue-green algae found in the South Pacific Ocean.

HOWRAH.ORG

SmartCity Kochi inducts two new Board Members

KOCHI, Kerala: SmartCity Kochi, a self-sustained township for knowledge-based industry here, held its first meeting of the Board of Directors.



Speaking to mediapersons after the meeting, Kerala Fisheries and Registration Minister S Sarma, who is also the Chairman of SmartCity Kochi project, said the construction work of the project will start in October end.

He said four firms were short listed after calling global tenders for the master planners. Negotiations with two firms were in progress for the project, he said.

The signing of the lease agreement for an additional 11.79 acres land was not done today, he said.

Recently the Board for Approval for SEZ at the Centre had accorded SEZ status for 136 acres of land for the project. Necesary steps have already been initiated to obtain the formal SEZ status for the remaining 100 acres of land, which had accorded the SEZ status in principle by the Board.

The Board has also decided to induct Anirudha Damkey, Director of Finance TECOM Investments and Dr Ajay Kumar, Secretary, Information Technology, Department, Kerala, as Board Members of SmartCity Kochi, he said. MORE PTI TKK SmartCity Kochi, to be developed by Dubai-based SmartCity, the joint venture company promoted by TECOM Investments and Sama Dubai, in partnership with the Government of Kerala, will be one of India's largest business parks. The project has an employment generation potential of over 90,000 jobs.
Kerala Next.com

Hi-tech parks power COCHIN( Kochi’s) metromorphosis

VISMAYA
HI-TECH parks are powering Kochi’s industrial development. Starting from the Rs 2,400 a Smart City Project, which the state government approved on Wednesday, the city would see the launch of more than half a dozen industrial infrastructure parks in the coming months.

The state government and the Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone Authority are expected to ink the pact for Smart City project in a few days.

The Smart City Project, by facilitating the growth of IT industries, would create dose to 90,000 jobs within a few years. Another hi-tech city project is being planned by the Shobha Group over4p0 acres in Kochi.

The Rs 5,000-crore project would provide facilities for knowledge-based industries. The self-sufficient city will have a residential section, shopping malls and even a green belt. Meanwhile, the government-owned Infopark is in it’s final stage of development as it has already used up most of its land.

Infopaxk’s own buildings, the 1.25 lakh sq ft Tapasya and 2.5 lakh sq ft Vismaya have been completed. A third one with 4 lakh sq ft is under construction.

Infopark’s co-developer Leela Group has started work on a 3.3 lakh sq ft project after completing a 1.25 lakh sq ft build­ing. The other co-developer L & T has started work on a 3.5 lakh sq ft project. Wipro, TCS and IBS are the companies that are developing own campuses in Infopark.

Source: The Economic Times
Property Bytes

SMART CITY COCHIN INDIA (Construction work will commence in 6 months)

Two consultants short-listed



Staff Reporter



To prepare master plan for Smart City project in Kochi






KOCHI: Giving impetus to the proposed Smart City project, a director board meeting of the company here on Wednesday short-listed two consultants for drawing up a master plan for the project. The names of the consultants would be announced as soon as the formalities in this regard are over.

“The short-listing of master planners for SmartCity Kochi is a defining step towards our commitment to the fulfilment of the project. The master plan will focus on creating complete business and community infrastructure keeping in mind the requirements of high-quality work environment for knowledge-based industries and the experience of a rich community lifestyle for its workers,” Fareed Abdulrahman, Chief Executive Officer of SmartCity, said.

Lease agreement


The company had received proposals from four national and international players for preparing the master plan last year.

Though the lease agreement for the remaining 12 acres, which were excluded from the lease deed signed last November owing to the presence of inhabitants, was to be signed on Wednesday, it did not materialise.

New directors


The meeting inducted into the board as directors Anirudha Damkey, Director of Finance, Tecom Investments, and Ajay Kumar, Secretary, State Information Technology.

The company has taken steps for securing the Special Economic Zone status for the remaining 100 acres. In addition to this, efforts are being made to obtain another 167 acres for future development of the project.

The Board decided to participate in the forthcoming OutsourceWorld Exhibition in London to promote Kochi as a major centre of Information Technology and IT Enabled Services. Kochi will be showcased to the world as a hub for knowledge-based excellence.

The Hindu

India: Jewelry Spurs Rise in Exports at Cochin SEZ

By Avi Krawitz Posted: 04/06/08 07:27


RAPAPORT... India's gem and jewelry products were the main catalyst for the sharp rise in exports from the Cochin Special Economic Zone (CSEZ) in the year ending March 31, 2008.

The CSEZ’s export earnings more than tripled to INR 4,652 crore ($1.16 billion) in the fiscal year 2007-08, from INR 1,037.52 ($259.54 million) the previous year.

According to local media reports, CSEZ Development Commissioner C J Mathew said gem and jewelry exports accounted for approximately 77 percent of the total at INR 3,600 ($900.56 million.)

The CSEZ, which initially emphasized areas such as rubber and rubber products exports and electronics hardware, is designed to facilitate foreign direct investment and is run by the government of India.


RAPAPORT
Information that means Business

CSEZ achieves 70 per cent growth in exports

COCHIN(Kochi): The Cochin Special Economic Zone has registered a 70 per cent growth in exports during 2007-08, while its earnings stood at Rs 4,652 crore as against Rs 1037.52 crore in the previous year.

The earnings were mostly from gems and jewellery exports, which touched Rs 3,600 crore, CSEZ Development Commissioner C J Mathew told a press meet here.

At present, there are 119 units in the zone of which 101 are in operation and remaining 18 units are under various stages of implementation. The units in the zone manufacture a wide range of products in various sectors like software, electronics, textiles, engineering, ceramic and food, he said.

MNCs like Tyco, Baird McNutt and Indian groups like Hindustan Lever, Tatas, AVT, Leela and Nest have set up their units in the zone. CSEZ has opened its doors to a British company M/s Magnum Aviation for the manufacture of aircraft engines and components.

The zone is also the largest employment destination in the state giving jobs to around 11,358 persons, including 5,034 women.

The 63 Export Oriented Units (EOUs) in Kerala, 526 in Karnataka, one in Lakshadweep come under the CSEZ's jurisdiction. EOUs in Kerala recorded exports of Rs 1,079.76 crore during 2006-07 and EOUs in Karnataka recorded exports of rs 17,656.11 during 2006-07, he said.

Notifications have been issued for 20 SEZs in Karnataka, including 13 in IT/ITeS sector and eight in Kerala.
Economic Times/ India Times

State-of-the-art airport in Cochin

NOT A FLIGHT OF FANCY: The Cochin International Airport is all set to change the way one looks at civil aviation.



Cochin: There is good news for travellers who put up with the daily hassles of international airports in India. The Cochin International Airport, the country's first joint public-private venture in civil aviation, is close to setting a benchmark.


The airport will soon emerge as India's first airport township with an investment of just Rs 300 crore.


“The government is there to give the policy support. The delays of red-tapism and bureaucratic functioning are not here. So, decisions are taken quickly. This is something which you won’t find in any other airport in the country,” MD, Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL), S Bharath says.


Ten years down the line, the airport will have 18 different sub-projects including, a 6.4 crore IT park, a golf course, a perishable cargo unit, half a dozen five-star hotels and an aviation academy spread out over 1,300 acres of land.

And to top it all, there's going to be a state-of-the-art maintenance and hanger unit exclusively for Airbus 380.


This airport township will be funded by Kerala NRIs, the state government and other financial institutions. Not only will this be the first of its kind in the country, the project will also have a huge employment potential.


“The idea is to capitalise on Kerala's strengths. Employment generation is the key and with the state having such a huge human resource potential it will not be a problem. Instead of people going all the way to the Gulf to find a job let’s have viable employment here,” Bharath says.


The CIAL success story has already become a case study for professionals at the Harvard School of Economics. The Sri Lankan government has also approached CIAL to replicate the Cochin model for them.


Having made a huge successful economic model, the CIAL with its new value added services hopes to make this airport the gateway to Kerala. With plans for an airport township already in place, the Cochin International Airport is all set to change the way one looks at civil aviation in the country.

IBN NEWS
VIDEO LINK

Dubai group to set up ‘MedCity’ in COCHIN( Kochi)

Dr Moopen ... new health facility
Published: Tuesday, 1 April, 2008, 02:13 AM Doha Time
By Ashraf Padanna
KOCHI: The Dubai-based Dr Moopen’s Group has announced plans to set up ‘MedCity’, a complex of hospitals and allied services spread over 30 acres in the Kerala port city of Kochi, targeting a growing number of medical tourists to the southern state.
“We hope to start construction on the Rs15bn project within six months. With 2.5mn sq ft built-up area, the MediCity will have a large 500-bed anchor hospital as the fulcrum and around it some ten smaller hospitals of 100 to 200 beds for specialties in a spacious well-laid master-planned campus,” group’s chairman Dr Azad Moopen said.
The group, which hopes to complete the first phase by 2010, has sought speedy clearance from the state government.
“The availability of comprehensive international quality healthcare in the state will elevate Kerala to a higher pedestal in delivery of advanced hi-tech treatment,” Moopen said yesterday.
The group has set up its Indian arm called DM Healthcare Ltd with India Value Fund Advisers as a strategic partner for the MedCity. About one-third of the investments will come from DM Healthcare while the remaining will be from national and international healthcare operators who will also bring in expertise and technology.
“We have already acquired about 20 acres of land near the Airport-Seaport road and are looking for another ten acres. We are also in talks with major players in India and abroad to run the specialty hospitals in the MedCity,” he said.
The project is expected to generate 15,000 jobs for doctors, nursing and paramedical staff.
Kerala, which is already attracting some 100,000 overseas medical tourists a year, hopes to increase the number to 500,000 by 2012.
“We are already receiving a very good flow of tourists for ayurveda wellness treatment but have not taken off well in illness-related health tourism. The MedCity will act as a catalyst to start this flow and Kochi is expected to become a gateway for medical tourists to the country,” he said.
“Patients from the Middle East, Europe and the US and the rest of the world will start flowing into Kerala once there is a facility available because of the huge cost advantage.”
The group, which registered a turnover of Rs5bn last year, has a network of about 50 establishments in the Gulf, including two hospitals, clinics and pharmacies. It also runs the Malabar Institute of Medical Sciences (MIMS) in Kozhikode and another 300-bed hospital is expected to open at nearby Kottakkal in six months.
The group was also looking at acquiring three hospitals in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra this year.
GULF TIMES

COCHIN(KOCHI'S) REAL ESTATE BOOM Kakkanad and Nedumbassery,cousins going classy

COCHIN(Kochi)
It happened in several major cities like Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad . And now it’s the turn of Kochi to follow suit. Yes, this time around, the real estate boom in Kochi is for real and is here to stay. The prices of land, villas and apartments have gone up significantly and in certain areas it has even toppled the expectations of all. In spite of the prices having gone up steeply, hectic activities in every aspect of realty business is taking place, especially in places like Kakkanad and of late in and around Nedumbassery.




As is evident in every respect, it is the IT sector that has worked as a catalyst for the entire construction sector. This apart, a number of mega industrial projects that are expected to come up centering Kochi have also inspired many to take a plunge into the construction scene in Kochi .






IT centre
Due to a number of favourable factors, Kochi is fast becoming an important IT hub in the country. And in Kochi it’s Kakkanad that’s hogging all the limelight. With several IT and ITES companies having already come up in Kakkanad more such players are planning to make Kochi as one of their predominant operational centres.




Finding a very prospective market, several nationally renowned realtors have also joined the existing city-based builders with plenty of projects. All these have further enhanced the fortunes of not only Kakkanad but also several other areas surrounding it. In the real estate segment, if one is to evaluate the growth rate, it would not be difficult to find that most of the towns enveloping Kochi have witnessed amazing growth in more ways than one.




International airport
For instance Nedumbassery which, till the other day, was rather a sleepy village is now in the midst of hectic construction activities. Several projects have been announced centering Nedumbassery and according to market men more are in the offing. They are working overtime to meet the ever spiraling demand for quality housing and in the process; the skyline of this otherwise rustic region is witnessing a revolution in the true sense of the word.

Factors like huge growth prospects, serene ambience, easy availability of drinking water and good connectivity are just some of the reasons that are prompting people to buy properties in places like Nedumbassery. Realising the immense potential for growth, several leading builders have announced their upcoming projects centering Nedumbassery.




And in the process, the fortunes of the entire region surrounding Nedumbassery will take a turnaround in near future. For more reasons than one, Nedumbassery surely is going to be one of Kochi ’s trump cards in the days to come.




Taking a definite cue from the likely developments that will take place in future in and around airport, numerous housing projects are in the offing. And if the responses to the already announced projects are any indication, the future looks too bright. IT boom has changed the fortunes of Kakkanad, in the case of Nedumbassery it‘s the presence of the Cochin International Airport.




Set for takeoff
The CIAL having become one of the busiest airports in the country in terms of both traffic and turn over, the entire region of Nedumbassery and its neighbourhood areas are on a fast developmental track today.With the pendulum of fortunes increasingly swinging in its favour not only Kakkanad but also Nedumbassery is all set for a great take off.




It is believed that in almost all spheres of entrepreneurship like housing, information technology, healthcare and tourism, Nedumbassery has immense growth potential in its fold. Resultantly, along with Kakkanad, Nedumbassery is also fast turning out to be the fountainhead of all developmental activities in the city.

KERALA.COM

COCHIN(KOCHI) suburbs a hot destination for land developers& Individual and Corporate Investors

Kerala - Kochi

Investment in real estate makes sense





Finding it difficult to find ample space to live, more and more number of people are heading for the suburbs and the land developers have also moved away from the city limits to more greener pastures.










The number of people willing to make investments in land is increasing by the day and both individuals and corporate buyers are eyeing Kochi as one of their most sought after destination. Reason, Kochi is a place where one can have the best bet for the money invested. And with every factor becoming quite conducive, both the land developers and builders in Kochi are enjoying the feel good factor. With the industrial scenario changing rapidly, the horizons of Kochi are fast expanding and the growth is getting reflected both horizontally and vertically.

"With the IT based employment opportunities rising in Kochi, the housing sector is bound to grow by leaps and bounds", says a leading Kochi based builder. Truly, the enthusiasm is not only felt in the buying of apartments and villas but also in plots of land. The sudden enthusiasm in buying plots of land can be attributed to the fact that the prices of land have multiplied several times within a very short span of time in Kochi. Many of those who have bought plots in and around Kochi a couple of years back for few lakhs have become millionaires today.

"Of late, Kochi has turned out to be one of the safest places in the country to invest", observes Victor of UXL Marketing. According to him premium townships with standard infrastructures is the latest trend in real estate segment and there are ready takers for the same. UXL Marketing with years of experience in the realty segment has several completed projects to their credit. He is also of the opinion that since the city has saturated it’s the suburbs that’s going to witness hectic activities in the days to come.

According to many Kochi based land developers, small square plots of land ranging from 4 to 7 cents have the maximum number of takers. "Plots of 4 cents always have ready takers in Kochi", says a leading Kochi based land developer. And today, with numerous land developers having surfaced in the real estate scene, the competition has become very intense too. Each and every land developer has their own schemes to offer. Some arrange free trips to their sites while others arrange for home loans and assists in getting a legal clearance.

Nishad of Tercel Developers is also of the view that Kochi has huge investment prospects and as such the land prices are all likely to go up further. Tercel Developers, a relatively new entrant in the realty sector has come up with their maiden project at Aluva and has ambitious future plans to launch apartment and villa projects soon. "We will be announcing two more gated colony projects - one at Pallikkara and the other one at Kakkanad – soon and are also into the construction of customised villas", reveals Nishad of Tercel Developers.

The ongoing project of Tercel Developers is located at Asokapuram near Aluva and is spread over more than 6 acres of land. The project has 67 plots and 10% of the total area is allocated for common amenities like club house, children’s play area and party area. The 6 meter wide tarred road is said to be one of the major attractions of the project. The developers are also making provisions for round-the-clock security, compound wall, provision for water supply, rainwater harvesting and electricity connections for every owner. The project is located quite close to the proposed Seaport-Airport Road and lie in close proximity to places such as KINFRA, Cooperative Medical College, Cochin International Airport and Infopark at Kakkanad.

Projects like International Container Transshipment Terminal and LNG terminal getting streamlined in a row and several such projects set to flock Kochi, the city has hit the big league, feels many. And as such, Kochi is witnessing tumultuous activities in the sale and purchase of land. Already scores of IT majors and other multinational companies are planning to begin their operations in Kochi and are in the lookout for large measure of land which has again resulted in the escalation of land prices.

Aurora Developers is yet another land developer who has made a mark of its own in the real estate scenario of the state. With almost a decade of existence in the industry Aurora has several successful projects to its credit. In the recent past, they have developed a number of residential colonies in cities like Mumbai, Bangalore and Coimbatore. "With Kochi having become a major destination, of late, we are putting much focus to projects in and around Kochi", remarks Dairish of Aurora Developers. Kochi is a place from where we took off with a project called Santi Nagar at Tripunithura way back in 1999 when the very concept of land development and housing colonies was at its infancy", adds Jojus of Aurora Developers.

Apart from developing gated colonies Aurora also undertakes to build villas on being asked by the clients. The ongoing project of Aurora is located at Sasthamugal near Thiruvamkulam. Spread over 3 acres of land, the project titled Golden Enclave has 38 plots and comes with all standard amenities like common boundary wall, rubble foundation for each plot, security, well-designed garden, clear tittles, children’s play area, club house, tarred roads, provision for water and electricity among others.

It is the factors like affordable pricing, abundance of water and good connectivity that are giving the suburbs too many takers. Home finance companies are also contributing their bit with schemes that allows one to buy a piece of land other than buying an apartment or a villa.
The Hindu

Image makeover in COCHIN(KOCHI) and the rest of KERALA

Wipro Technologies is a global services provider delivering technology-driven business solutions that meet the strategic objectives of our clients. Wipro has 40+ ‘Centers of Excellence’ that create solutions around specific needs of industries. Wipro is fast progressing with the development and setting up of their private IT campus inside Infopark. On completion Wipro’s campus at Infopark would be approximately 1 million sq ft with 8000 seats. The construction activities are expected to be completed by the year 2010.

R. KRISHNAKUMAR


As IT moves out of the metros to Tier-II cities, Kerala emerges as the most attractive destination for the knowledge industry.
MOVE over spice merchants, Gulf emigrants, tourists from around the world: Kerala is shedding its traditional image and gearing up for a grand makeover. Its epithetic slogan, “God’s Own Country”, is passé and may soon give way to another, symbolising the distinction – man-made, no doubt – of its coming into being as a knowledge hub.

“The State has quietly established an efficient IT [information technology] infrastructure and has become one of the most sought after IT destinations in India,” Kris Gopalakrishnan, CEO of Infosys, said recently at a ‘Kerala IT.Com 2008’ valedictory event in Thiruvananthapuram. He should know. Infosys, a world leader in consulting and IT services that employs over 17,000 people in 30 centres worldwide, has been operating in a leased facility at Technopark in Thiruvananthapuram since 2004. A 30-acre (1 acre is 0.4 hectare), Rs.306-crore, state-of-the-art Infosys campus is under construction nearby and is set to start functioning very soon.

Kerala’s IT Secretary Ajay Kumar told Frontline: “Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi have been ranked as the most attractive IT and ITES [IT-enabled services] destinations in India. CIO.com [United States] recently captioned in an editorial relating to outsourcing from the U.S., ‘Bangalore out, Kochi in’, highlighting the movement of IT outsourcing industry from the metros to Tier-II and Tier-III cities in which both Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram stand out. Many nationally and internationally renowned companies have already come forward with requests for built-up space and land. We are also developing hub-and-spoke model [IT] parks in all districts of Kerala – the hubs in the three major cities, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode, and the spokes in the remaining districts so that there would be even growth throughout the State.”

No doubt Kerala has earned every bit of its new-found popularity with IT and ITES companies. In December 2007, when UST Global, a leading provider of IT services and business process outsourcing (BPO) solutions for Global 2000 companies, announced that it was opening a new office in Kochi, in addition to Thiruvananthapuram, it listed four reasons on its choice for expansion of its services.

It said, almost echoing the State IT Department’s everyday mantra: “Kerala is the only State in India that has a 100 per cent literacy rate; Kerala is home to a significant number of IT professionals in South India. There are more than 15 top institutions in Kerala offering quality education and specialised IT degrees that make this an ideal region in which to base offshore development centres. In terms of climate and lifestyle, Kerala offers one of the best environments in India. The State is ranked as one of the top 50 places to visit in the world by National Geographic. The standard of living in Kerala is among the finest in the country and its civic, health and social services are highly rated, which makes it an attractive destination not only to work in, but also to live in.”

The company website quotes its chief operating officer Sajan Pillai as saying: “For IT service providers such as UST Global that are in a growth mode, there are a multitude of cities in India in which to choose from. Yet with so many cities plagued by limited bandwidth, we consciously avoid those areas and instead choose cities that will support our, and our clients’, best interests. Kochi is one of three cities in India that are hubs for the undersea cable, which gives UST Global better connectivity and less competition for that bandwidth. This location aligns well with our client-centric Global Engagement Model by helping us expand our services in an economically viable way for our clients.”

UST Global’s new office is located at a 24,000 sq ft development centre at Infopark, a 100-acre, rapidly growing IT park established by the State government in Kochi in 2003. Already 39 companies, including several IT majors, have started operations at Infopark, employing 5,000 people.

No doubt Kerala was blessed with the most critical factors required for knowledge-based industries – quality manpower and social infrastructure. As any IT professional would vouchsafe, it has efficiently built on them, brick by brick, a state-of-the-art IT infrastructure and physical and digital connectivity.

It is today one of the best networked States in the country. The State’s tele-density is double the national average and all the 988 telephone exchanges are digital and connected to the National Internet Backbone (NIB). All the 1,468 village panchayats in the State are within 3 km of a digital exchange and connected to the NIB. Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited’s (VSNL) International Communications Gateway, with two high-speed submarine cable landings (SEA-ME-WE-3 and SAFE) offering 15 Gbps bandwidth support, is in Kochi, currently handling more than two-thirds of India’s data traffic. Optical fibre connectivity up to the village level makes high-quality, reliable bandwidth available in all parts of the State.

But perhaps the biggest advantage Kerala provides to IT companies is the cost factor. According to the State government, the start-up and operational costs are less than 50 per cent and the rentals/real estate costs are less than 60 per cent of those in other major IT parks in India. Business space is available at Technopark and Infopark at rates that are nearly half of those in cities such as Chennai and Bangalore. Power and water tariffs are among the lowest in the country. Kerala sells itself today by arguing: “A low cost of living means lower cost to company per employee.” Employee attrition is very low in the State.

Nothing better illustrates Kerala’s success story today than the glint in the eyes of the top executives of the State’s home-grown IT companies, which have hugely benefited from these unique advantages and the State government’s policies. S. Sasi Kumar, president of NeST, perhaps the first software company in Technopark, which was established as a modest initiative providing network solutions to the government, told Frontline: “When we started in 1995, indeed, we had a ‘locational disadvantage’. Nobody had heard of Thiruvananthapuram as a product development destination. R&D outsourcing was then not considered a popular or profitable venture. But with our roots in Kerala, we have now spread globally as a total solutions provider across the IT spectrum, designing, manufacturing and building systems and support, especially in four key areas, health care, industrial automation, embedded communications and automobile technology. Today we employ over 3,000 people in Kerala alone; we have high-tech manufacturing units in the Cochin Export Processing Zone, Bangalore and Mysore; our worldwide revenue has exceeded $200 million. We are contract manufacturers for some of the world’s leading companies such as GE, Hitachi, HP, Brooks Automation, Toshiba, Fujitsu, Areva, Roboticsware, and so on, and it has been so for the past 10 years. We have several customers that are in the Fortune 500 list.

“In 2001, we also acquired a U.S. company, AM Communications, a provider of high-technology system level products for the broadband communications industry, and have moved the product development activities of that company, too, to Technopark. Our disadvantages have become our advantages. Our competencies are all home-grown. We became the first CMM Level 5 company in Technopark and the 18th in the world to have the Level Five rating.”

There are several such exciting success stories in Technopark, the first such electronic park in the world established with 100 per cent government equity, home today to 140 IT and ITES companies, together employing 17,000 IT professionals. Over 30 per cent of the companies are U.S.-based, 40 per cent are from Europe, 5 per cent are from West Asia, 20 per cent are based in Kerala and 5 per cent in other States. From small beginnings on a 50-acre campus, Technopark, too, has grown along with the companies to a bustling, beautiful campus spread over 228 acres, with more than 3.2 million sq ft of built-up space.

But the real Kerala IT story is in the demand it has created. The State government is, therefore, preparing a master plan to develop an IT infrastructure to match the growing demand for space and has established the Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure (KSITI) Company. “It is a private-public partnership company and is expected to mobilise Rs.2,000 crore on IT investments in the next five years. It would have 49 per cent private participation and 51 per cent participation from the government,” IT Secretary Ajay Kumar said.

One of the first commissions of the new company would be to build the government’s prestigious ‘Technocity’, a global IT/ITES/Knowledge township project proposed to be developed as several SEZs on nearly 507 acres, close to the Technopark campus. This is in addition to Technopark’s own expansion plans on about 100 acres adjacent to the existing campus.

In addition to the government initiatives, several private sector electronics parks are also being built. On March 16, Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan inaugurated the latest of the private ventures, Phase One of the ‘L&T Tech Park’ on leased land inside Infopark. Construction will begin soon in Kochi for one of India’s largest business parks, the 246-acre Smart City, a joint venture between the Kerala government and the Technology, Electronic Commerce and Media Free Zone Authority (TECOM), Dubai.

The government expects the Rs.17,000-crore project to make Kerala the leading IT destination in the country and Kochi, particularly, a member of the global network of knowledge-based industry townships that its Dubai-based developers seek to create.

The government’s target is to create over two lakh new job opportunities by 2012. For every direct employment opportunity created in the IT/ITES sector, it believes, three indirect employment opportunities will also be generated. That will be the way out for Kerala from the jinx of low investments, low growth, and low levels of employment opportunities, which have forced Malayalees to leave their beautiful State in large numbers even as tourists from all over flock in.
FRONTLINE

The Cochin Special Economic Zone boasts one of the best infrastructure facilities among its peers in India.

K.K. MUSTAFAH
The Cochin Special Economic Zone is relatively small but artistically laid out.


SPECIAL FEATURE: KERALA FUTURE PERFECT

Free territory


R. KRISHNAKUMAR


The Cochin Special Economic Zone boasts one of the best infrastructure facilities among its peers in India.
WHAT strikes visitors at the 103-acre, artistically landscaped Cochin Special Economic Zone (CSEZ), about 6 km from Kochi, is perhaps its small size compared with the six other special economic zones (SEZs) established initially by the Central government.

The CSEZ is one of the single largest employment destinations in Kerala, with a diversified export product catalogue, including software, hardware, garments, processed food, rubber products, gems and jewellery. It started functioning as an export processing zone (EPZ) in 1986, about the same time as the EPZs in Noida, Madras and Falta (near Kolkata) and long after the Kandla Free Trade Zone in Gujarat (1965) and the Santa Cruz Electronics Export Processing Zone (near Mumbai, in 1974) were established. The seventh such zone approved by the Central government became operational in Visakhapatnam in 1994. The Cochin Export Processing Zone became an SEZ in 2000.

The Centre has so far invested Rs.95 crore, out of which Rs.55 crore was invested in the zone in the past five years. The CSEZ pioneered public-private participation in developing infrastructure for information technology, and a Rs.40-crore software park, Technopolis, is nearing completion on its premises.

The CSEZ has its own power station, an integrated water management plant with a 1.5 mld (million litres per day) water supply system and a 1 mld common effluent treatment plant. VSNL’s 15 Gbps (Gigabytes per second) gateway provides internet connectivity; the zone has a state-of-the-art telephone exchange, a video conferencing studio, a “foreign” post office, an off-shore banking unit and a dispensary.

Special economic zones are primarily meant to provide an operating environment free from legal hassles relating to import and export, boost manufacturing and augment exports, earn foreign exchange and generate employment opportunities. SEZ units are allowed to import construction material, capital goods and raw materials without paying duty or import licence. They are exempt from Central and State sales tax and service taxes.

SEZ projects have only to ensure that their export earnings exceed foreign exchange outflows (by way of imports and import content of sales to the Indian market). There is no need for prior approval to bring in foreign equity. SEZ units in manufacturing are exempt from paying corporate tax on their export income – 100 per cent for the first five years and 50 per cent for the next two years. Fifty per cent of profits reinvested in the SEZ for the next three years also enjoys such exemption.

CSEZ units can also import plant and machinery (including second-hand equipment), the only stipulation being that they have to be utilised within five years. Indian-made capital goods and raw materials meant for the SEZ are exempt from duty. Supplies from within India are considered “exports”, allowing domestic suppliers to obtain export-related benefits.

SEZ units are permitted to maintain foreign currency accounts and hold the entire export proceeds in foreign currency. There is no time limit to bring export proceeds to India. These units can resort to external commercial borrowing for funding and running projects without prior approvals, and have preferential access to the Indian market for their products and services.

According to a 2006 study, the nature of major exports from the CSEZ was as follows: electronics hardware, 28.3 per cent; food and agro products, 22.3 per cent; plastic and rubber goods, 10.3 per cent; engineering goods, 8.3 per cent, gems and jewellery, 6.2 per cent; textile and garments, 5.9 per cent; and electronics software, 3.4 per cent. The CSEZ (then not an SEZ) registered only $0.2 million in the first five years of its establishment but the average investment rose to $58.6 million during 1998 to 2003. Average employment generated during the same periods were 1,050 and 4,962, respectively.

According to State government figures, export earnings of the 85 units employing over 7,800 people in the CSEZ during 2006-2007 amounted to Rs.1,037.52 crore as against Rs.696 crore the previous year, a growth rate of 49.07 per cent.

Union Commerce Ministry figures indicate that in India, after the notification of the SEZ Act, 2005, 439 SEZs have been given formal approval, 138 SEZs have in-principle approvals, while 195 are notified SEZs. The current investment in SEZs is Rs.67,347 crore and the employment generated is 61,015.

In Kerala, the CSEZ was the only such zone before the SEZ Act, 2005, came into being. After the Act came into force, 11 SEZs received formal approval, two got in-principle approval and eight were notified.

Of the eight SEZs that have already been notified, two are port-based (under the Cochin Port Trust in Puthuvypeen and Vallarpadam islands); three are IT/ITES SEZs (two under the Electronics Technology Park in Thiruvananthapuram and one under Infopark, Kochi) and three are under Kinfra (one each for animation and gaming in Thiruvananthapuram, for food processing in Kakkancherry near Kozhikode, and for Electronics Industries in Kochi).

On March 21, the Board of Approval for SEZs of the Union government also announced the granting of SEZ status to 136 acres (of a total of 236 acres) of the Kerala government’s prestigious joint venture IT project in Kochi, Smart City.






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http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/stories/20080411250711400.htm

COCHIN(KOCHI) in Kerala is expected to have 13 malls by 2010 just one less than a shopping hub such as Bangalore.

Bangalore: Some 328 new shopping malls are expected to come up in metros and so-called tier II and III smaller cities over the next two years, forcing developers to find innovative ways to attract stores and maintain foot traffic from shoppers.
A report titled Upcoming malls—2008 and beyond, compiled by real estate consultancy firm Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, says northern India will lead the retail boom, with 136 new malls by 2010.
While New Delhi is expected to get 15 malls, its suburbs, Faridabad and Ghaziabad, will get seven new malls each. Mumbai leads the pack among individual cities with 30 malls planned in the next two years. Real estate firms, such as DLF Ltd, Akruti City Ltd, Nirmal Lifestyle Ltd and Oberoi Constructions all have retail plans in the western and central suburbs of the country’s financial centre.
Kolkata, probably one of the last metros to be hit by the retail boom, has 18 malls lined up. The landmark Statesman House in central Kolkata, which would be turned into a 2 million sq. ft shopping destination by Emaar MGF Land Ltd, is one of the biggest malls coming up in India.
“This new breed of malls is expected to have facilities that were lacking in the earlier malls. Developers will now give more importance to determining factors like parking, mall design and soft strategies like customer relationship to make these malls work,” said Bappaditya Basu, a vice-president at Jones.
Some experts are sceptical about the numbers.
Retail consultants note only 22 new malls became operational in 2007 nationally. For example, just three of the slated 15 malls opened in Mumbai last year, because the others are still in various stages of completion.
Still, the Jones report points out a large number of emerging hot spots—smaller cities and towns that will get their first malls by 2010.
For instance, with 15 new shopping malls being set up by film director Prakash Jha, who has ventured into mall development, several areas in Bihar and Jharkhand, such as Patliputra, Sitamarhi, Hazipur and Bettiah, would soon feature for the first time on the Indian organized retail map.
In southern India, Kochi in Kerala is expected to have 13 malls by 2010, just one less than a shopping hub such as Bangalore.
With huge townships and residential ventures, such as Sobha Developers Ltd’s largest township in Maradu, Kochi developers are upbeat about the city prospects.
The study forecast both local and national developers setting up malls in previously unlikely places. The business strategy of EWDPL India Pvt. Ltd, a three-year-old developer, revolves around setting up first-time malls in small towns.
“We are finalizing a deal in Kottayam which would be the smallest town to get a shopping mall, and scouting for land in Alleppey in Kerala,” said Avnish Hasija, a director. The firm is developing malls in Belgaum (Karnataka), Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh) Kolhapur and Nanded (both in Maharashtra).
“Organized retail in India constitutes only 2% of the global retail industry. So new mall developers here are still going through the learning curve and trying not to repeat past mistakes,” notes Jones’ Basu.
http://www.livemint.com/2008/03/24002940/328-new-malls-by-2010-retail.html

Infrastructure Kerala Ltd may double paid up capital

The board of directors of Infrastructure Kerala Ltd (InKel), a new infrastructure company that has been formed under public-private partnership, is likely to double its paid up capital from Rs.1 billion to Rs.2 billion. Chief of InKel C.G. Gopala Pillai told IANS that this would come up in the next full board meeting of InKel to take place here next Monday.

“It would help more and more individuals especially non-resident Keralites (NRKs, who live outside India) to invest in Kerala through us. There are many NRKs who have taken shares in the company,” said Pillai.

InKel is different from the state-owned Kerala State Industrial Infrastructure Ltd and Kerala State Industrial Development Corp.

The Kerala government currently hold 26 percent stake in InKel.

InKel has already identified locations in capital Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and other places, where it would set up basic infrastructure for investors interested in starting sunrise industries.

“In the meeting I will be presenting a few business proposals for consideration, which would help us to go forward with our plans,” said Pillai.

In the board are five leading NRK businessmen including M.A. Yusuf Ali (UAE), Galfar Mohammed Ali (Oman), C.K. Menon (Doha), Varghese Kurian (Kuwait) and C.M. Rappai (Doha). There are four government nominees.


Source : IANS
http://finance.indiainfo.com/2008/03/11/0803111414_infrastructure_kerala.html

Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat) to host Seminar on logistics management

Business

Seminar on logistics management



Staff Reporter






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Cusat to host seminar on

March 28, 29

Logistics management vital in international trade


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KOCHI: The School of Management Studies, Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat), will organise a national seminar on Logistics Management on March 28 and 29. Top managers and professionals from CIAL, Railways, Cochin Port Trust, DP World and Reliance Retail will discuss logistics issues in their respective areas. Vice-Chancellor of Cusat Gangan Pratap will inaugurate the seminar.

The performance of a logistic system depends on the effective collaboration and integrated functioning of many elements and service providers. There is need to bring the professionals working in different areas of logistics to share their knowledge. This is one of the areas in which academics have a lot to learn from practice.

Logistics management is an interconnecting function that helps move materials from one department to another or one firm to another in a supply chain. It consists of a network of storage, handling and transportation systems.

A decade back we would not have expected to see Californian oranges, and Australian fruits in our supermarket shelves. In international trade, the share of logistics is around 28 per cent of the final product cost. In large countries like India, the domestic logistics cost for agricultural products is in the range of 20 to 25 per cent of the final cost.

Logistics has long been handled by small and less organised set-ups. Hence its efficiency has been poor. There is need to improve logistics system performance in terms of speed, response time, flexibility, cost and reliability. A lot of attention is being devoted in recent times to improving logistics system performance, by improving infrastructure, carriers and collaboration between different agencies providing different logistics services.

The School of Management Studies, Cusat, has been involved in teaching and research in the area of Logistics Management for over a decade now. Courses on Logistics are gaining popularity in Management Schools in Kerala.

Development in the area of logistics in Kerala has been tremendous. Projects such as the Cochin International Airport, Vallarpadom transshipment terminal and LNG project have changed the level of logistics-related activities in Kerala.

For registration and details, contact M. Bhasi, Professor, Coordinator: National Seminar on Logistics Management, School of Management Studies, Cusat, Kochi 682 022, E-mail: mbhasi@cusat.ac.in, drbhasi@yahoo.com, Phone 9447419863. Details are also available on the web site of Cusat: www.cusat.ac.in

http://www.hindu.com/2008/03/21/stories/2008032151731900.htm