Visit KochiNow

This blog compliments the new initiative KochiNow. We look forward to more activities.

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