Construction in Aarey: Metro corporation to file intervention application with NGT for car depot : The Indian Express

The tribunal had recently directed the BMC not to issue no-objection certificate for construction.

The MMRC has proposed to construct a car depot at Aarey Colony in Goregaon for the 33.5-km Colaba-Bandra-Seepz Metro, touted to be the city’s costliest transport infrastructure project.

THE Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) will file an intervention application with the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for building a Metro rail car depot in Aarey. NGT, in a recent order, had banned all constructions in the ecologically-sensitive area. The tribunal had recently directed the Brihanmumabi Municipal Corporation (BMC) not to issue no-objection certificate for construction within the eco-sensitive area in Aarey Colony. In May, the chief conservator of forests had sent a proposal to the Union environment ministry to increase the eco-sensitive area around Sanjay Gandhi National Park to a four-kilometre radius, covering 4,961 hectares, including Aarey Colony. The MMRC has proposed to construct a car depot at Aarey Colony in Goregaon for the 33.5-km Colaba-Bandra-Seepz Metro, touted to be the city’s costliest transport infrastructure project.

The NGT’s order is another setback for the project which is mired in impediments with environmentalists and activists opposing the car depot at Aarey Colony and stiff resistance from project-affected people. Ashwini Bhide, managing director, MMRC, said, “The NGT’s order is not final yet and it says that proponents of construction projects can file an intervention application. We will surely intervene. The government had given us land for the car depot much before this order. We had also sent our proposal to the Tree Authority.” In its order, NGT had directed the BMC, the director of Aarey Colony and the Chief Conservator of Forests to issue notices to all project proponents of any construction work and keep status quo till further orders were passed. The tribunal had also instructed them to direct all such project proponents to file an application for intervention with the NGT if any such construction activity was claimed to be legal or necessary. Bhide said that the construction of a car depot at Aarey would be legal as it had been reviewed and approved by the Union and state cabinets as per the legal framework. “We will present all these points to the NGT. Also, as per the revised plan, now, we will not need to cut as many trees as we had planned earlier,” Bhide added. The MMRC would have had to axe 2,298 trees in Aarey Colony as per the original plan, it will now need to cut 446 trees, as per the recommendations of a panel that was constituted by the chief minister. The committee had recommended constructing a car depot at Kanjurmarg, but also said that a double-deck depot at Aarey would be a viable option in case the state government was unable to free the Kanjurmarg land, currently under litigation.

They wanted a running track but... - Residents find Narmada under Matunga flyover : Mirror

Locals unhappy with project, say the plan focuses only on aesthetics and not utility

A beautification project below the Matunga flyover which comprises a jogging track and garden designed to resemble the Narmada River has stunned residents. They have written to the civic body stating that several of their ideas submitted were not incorporated in the project, which seemed to be aimed just at aesthetics without much utility.

Work on this project (extending from King's circle to Ruia College), the first of its kind in the city, began in May with much fanfare, and is around 40% complete. It is 700 m in length and 12 m in breadth. According to the BMC's plans, a pathway made of blue matte tiles meant for jogging will be constructed in a zig-zag manner representing the flow of a river.

Also part of the project will be palm plantations resembling the sea coast, bamboo clusters, a pathway for walking made of china mosaic, a sand bed, granite benches, flowering plants and bushes, a sand sculpture, an informal stage, wooden bridges to serve as pedestrian crossings and sandstone ghats for sitting. There will be an indoor activity room, emergency park ing space, and watchman cabins as well. Sources said it was being built at a cost exceeding Rs 3 crore.

In their letter to additional commissioner S Srinivas carrying around 3,000 signatures, residents have stated that due to the river theme, the width of the zig-zag walkway has been reduced drastically at many points, leaving very little space for even two people to walk through. They have asked for the track to be made at least 12 feet wide at its narrowest point. The residents have also asked for the design of the security cabins to be changed and the replacement of opaque walls with transparent ones to prevent any misuse for anti-social and illegal activities. “The area is already being used by drug addicts and other anti-social elements at night,“ said Sacheen Mehta, activist and resident. They also want the indoor activity room to be scrapped as they feel it does not serve any purpose. “We fear that this room too may be misused,“ he added.

“We wanted a wide and simple jogging track, provisions for cycling and areas allotted to children and senior citizens. We are not against beautification, but utility is also important. We were very excited about finally getting a jogging track, but now that does not seem to be a priority. The track is made of tiles, which I find very strange,“ said another resident who did not wish to be named.

Another point they highlighted in their letter was a large open space towards the Dadar TT end of the flyover which has been left out of the plan.“This space can be used to create a roller skating rink, which residents are ready to fund,“ said Mehta. The residents also feel that there was no need for two parking provisions, and that one of them should be scrapped.

Residents said that they had submitted a plan to the BMC with their ideas, but the end product seemed to be vastly different from what they had asked for.

Srinivas told Mirror, “The project is basically beautification below flyover, but we are trying to make it functional as much as possible.“

BMC calls for changes to coastal road notification : Hindustan Times

Some of the rules will interfere with the civic body’s plans for BRTS lane, parking, as part of the coastal road

MUMBAI: To allow reclamation of land, the BMC, implementing the coastal road project, has suggested three dilutions to the Union environment ministry’s draft notification. The civic body has suggested the condition in the draft notification, that intertidal zones should not be affected during construction of the project, be removed. MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, which is to implementing the bigticket coastal road project, has suggested three main dilutions and changes to the Union environment ministry’s draft notification amending the Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) notification 2011 to allow reclamation for such projects.

The civic body has suggested that the condition in the draft notification, that the inter tidal zone not be affected during the construction of the project, be removed.

It has also said the condition that reclaimed land should not be used for any purpose other than the coastal road was unreasonable and leeway should be given to use this reclaimed land for other purposes such as parking and even the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS), planned as part of the project.

The civic body also wants the central government to reduce the mandatory transplantation of mangroves hacked from three times to twice.

“There are three things that have been pointed out to the Centre and we hope that the final notification is out with these changes. Our DPR clearly mentions parking amenities and BRTS as part of the project and if the notification stops us from doing anything else on the reclaimed land, we will be in trouble. The same is the case with the tidal zone. If there is reclamation, the tidal zone will be affected. We are not building a road on stilts that it won’t affect the tides,’’ said a senior BMC official, on condition of anonymity.

The Centre is expected to issue a final notification this month. It remains to be seen whether BMC’s suggestions will be taken into consideration.

The draft notification that was issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change on June 25 was open to suggestions/objections for 60 days, after which the ministry will finalise the notification.

The CRZ 2011 notification was amended as it did not allow reclamation of land for building a coastal road.

The coastal road project is expected to reclaim 33% of the total road length for 11.61 km, which includes a 2.8-km stretch of mangroves.

Additional municipal commissioner Sanjay Mukherjee said, “The deadline for the suggestions/objections on the draft notification has ended and we are now waiting for the final notification.”

BMC wants 3 changes in CRZ draft : Hindustan Times

MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, which is to implementing the bigticket coastal road project, has suggested three main dilutions and changes to the Union environment ministry’s draft notification amending the Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) notification 2011 to allow reclamation for such projects.

The civic body has suggested that the condition in the draft notification, that the inter tidal zone not be affected during the construction of the project, be removed.

It has also said the condition that reclaimed land should not be used for any purpose other than the coastal road was unreasonable and leeway should be given to use this reclaimed land for other purposes such as parking and even the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS), planned as part of the project.

The civic body also wants the central government to reduce the mandatory transplantation of mangroves hacked from three times to twice.

“There are three things that have been pointed out to the Centre and we hope that the final notification is out with these changes. Our DPR clearly mentions parking amenities and BRTS as part of the project and if the notification stops us from doing anything else on the reclaimed land, we will be in trouble. The same is the case with the tidal zone. If there is reclamation, the tidal zone will be affected. We are not building a road on stilts that it won’t affect the tides,’’ said a senior BMC official, on condition of anonymity.

The Centre is expected to issue a final notification this month. It remains to be seen whether BMC’s suggestions will be taken into consideration.

The draft notification that was issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change on June 25 was open to suggestions/objections for 60 days, after which the ministry will finalise the notification.

The CRZ 2011 notification was amended as it did not allow reclamation of land for building a coastal road.

The coastal road project is expected to reclaim 33% of the total road length for 11.61 km, which includes a 2.8-km stretch of mangroves.

Additional municipal commissioner Sanjay Mukherjee said, “The deadline for the suggestions/objections on the draft notification has ended and we are now waiting for the final notification.”

ATS, Logix form joint venture to build housing project; raise Rs 130 crore : The Economic Times

NEW DELHI: Realty firms ATS Infrastructure and Logix group have formed a joint venture to develop a luxury housing project in Noida and also raised about Rs 130 crore from ICICI Prudential AMC to meet construction cost. 

The joint venture plans to develop 9-hole golf course and 100 villas in the first phase and then later would build high-rise apartments.

The project would be developed on about 35 acres of land, being owned by the Logix group. 

"We have entered into joint venture with Logix to develop a golf-course project in Noida," ATS Infrastructure Managing Director Getamber Anand said. 

He said the JV company has raised about Rs 130 crore from ICICI Prudential AMC for development of this project. 

When contacted, Logix Group CMD Shakti Nath confirmed that the company has formed a joint venture with ATS group to develop this project and the JV partners would share revenues. 

Real estate industry, particularly housing, is facing a huge slowdown from last three years, resulting in liquidity crunch to developers and huge delays in execution of projects. 

The sector is witnessing many such partnerships between land owners and developers. 

According to property consultant Cushman & Wakefield, the private equity investments in real estate has jumped nearly three-fold to over Rs 11,000 crore in January-June of this year compared with the year-ago period. 

Knight Frank India report suggested that home launches have declined by 40 per cent to 95,400 units in the first half of 2015 in eight major cities compared with 1.6 lakh units in the same period last year. 

Sales volume fell by 19 per cent to 1,10,300 units from 1,36,000 units during the period under review. These cities are Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad. 

ATS is developing a number of realty projects in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab, while Logix Group has completed more than 4 million sq ft of IT facilities and is developing 23 million sq ft of housing projects and 200 acres of plotted development. Both ATS and Logix are based out of Noida. 

Richa Realtors eyes Rs 1,500 crore revenue in 5 years : The Economic Times

MUMBAI: Riding high on the growing demand for affordable housing, city-based developer Richa Realtors plans to touch 10 million sqft of residential development in the next five years and is eyeing up to Rs 1,500 crore revenue during the period. 

The company, which has presence in cities like Mumbai and Pune is also looking at expanding its footprints in Delhi and Bangalore. 

"There is a huge demand for affordable housing and the supply is less. In Pune and Mumbai we have been focusing on redevelopmet projects apart from few greenfield developments. 

"Taking into consideration the number of projects we will take up over the period, we are confident of achieving up to Rs 1,500 crore in the next five years," company's Chief Executive Sandeep Ahuja told PTI. 

He said the company is planning to touch 10 million sqft of residential space in the next five years, which will also include certain projects in Delhi and Bangalore. 

Ahuja said the company is in talks with few land owners in Gurgaon for undertaking joint development projects and looking at greenfield housing development in Bangalore. 

Ahuja said the company is in talks with few land owners in Gurgaon for undertaking joint development projects and looking at greenfield housing development in Bangalore. 

"There is a huge scope for JDA in Delhi. There is huge scope in Bangalore market as well mainly backed by the growing demand for housing near workplace," he said.

Richa has developed two million sqft over 20 projects so far and are in the process of completing five million sqft with projects under various stages of development. 

DLF appoints Rajeev Talwar & Mohit Gujral as co-CEOs : The Economic Times

NEW DELHI: Realty major DLF today announced appointment of its two whole-time directors Rajeev Talwar and Mohit Gujral as co-CEOs of the company with immediate effect. 

The decision to appoint Gujral and Talwar as co-CEOs was taken in a meeting of the board of directors held yesterday. 

In a BSE filing, the country's largest real estate firm said the board has "entrusted additional responsibilities upon Mohit Gujral and Rajeev Talwar, both of whom are whole time directors of the company, by re-designating/appointing them as Chief Executive Officers of the company with immediate effect".

In February last year, Talwar and Gujral were appointed as whole-time directors of the company for a period of 5 years. 

After the retirement of DLF's Managing Director T C Goyal on March 31 this year, Gujral and Talwar were made responsible for signing of all statutory and regulatory filings. 

Talwar, who joined DLF in 2006, completed his master's degree from St Stephen's College, Delhi University. He started his career as a Probationary Officer in State Bank of IndiaBSE -0.58 % and was selected for Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1978. He held many important positions in the central and state governments. 

Gujral, who is an architect, has a diverse experience of more than 25 years in developing real estate. He got his degree in Architecture from CEPT, Ahmedabad. He joined DLF in 2010. 

DLF has a land bank of about 300 million sq ft, of which nearly 50 million sq ft is under construction. 

The company has commercial assets, which includes office buildings, shopping malls and SEZs, comprising of about 30 million sq ft with an annual rental income of Rs 2,200 crore. 

In 2014-15, DLF posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 540 crore over revenues of Rs 8,168 crore. 

Mumbai set to have India's tallest commercial building : The Economic Times

NEW DELHI: India's tallest commercial building is set to come up in Mumbai, with the Nitin Gadkari-led Ministry of Shipping proposing to construct a towering 'business district' on Mumbai Port Trust land to monetise the asset and ease the space crunch in the country's financial capital. "It will be a 130-storey building and will house mostly offices along with other amenities. We are working on the plan and it's still in initial stages," Gadkari told ET.

The project, which may cost more than .`10,000 crore, is likely to be developed without costing the government asingle penny, financed with funds raised from pre-booking of space from public sector units and private companies. The proposed building would be in the vicinity of Nariman Point, once considered Mumbai's leading business district, and the Fort area in south Mumbai. 

Other business districts in the city include the Bandra Kurla Complex, which was set up in the suburbs to decongest the commercial areas of south Mumbai. Apart from the number of floors, little else is known about the building. The contours of the project, including the location of the building in the port trust premises, are yet to be finalised. The ministry is engaging an international consultant to prepare the blueprint for the project. "A separate master plan for the port land would beprepared and this building would be a part of it. We are yet to finalise the land parcel and the area for this building," a senior government official said. 

The government is likely to undertake the project on its own — land won't be given to private builders for redevelopment. "If the logistics issues of evacuation of people without stressing the cargo-laden port roads are addressed, the proposed 130-storey building will have a demonstrative effect on a mechanism for monetising land assets owned by ports," said Jaijit Bhattacharya, Partner-Infrastructure at KPMG.

Govt Fast-tracks Rs. 5,100-cr Railway Overbridge Project : The Economic Times

New Delhi:



ON TRACK Roads ministry to build 100 overbridges in a year & another 125 by March 2017; most to come up in Bihar, Haryana, MP

The roads, transport and highway ministry has fast . 5,100-crore project to tracked a ` build 225 overbridges on major railway level crossings, which account for 40% of all train accidents and 66% of fatalities. The ministry will construct 100 overbridges in a year from now and another 125 in the year to March 2017, a senior government official said. The decision followed a review by Roads, Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday.

Most of these overbridges will be built in Bihar, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh. “We'll be appointing consultants for every state and the detailed project report (DPR) would be prepared after that. It will take at least four months to award the consultancy work and six months will be required to prepare the DPR,“ the official said.

There are 250 major level crossings on the National Highway network, which are not covered under any programme. The government plans to complete the civil construction work of bridges in five years on all the projects.

Safety at level crossings came under the scanner earlier this week when six people, including a Congress legislator from Karnataka, were killed when a truck carrying granite slabs crashed into the Ben galuru-Nanded Express at a level crossing in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh.

The official quoted earlier said the land for the overbridges is being acquired at all locations and coordination has been sought from the railway authorities.

“Land acquisition cost is being kept at four times of the circle rate, leading to a very high cost. In some cases, it is also surpassing the cost of civil work but still we are going forward with the project, keeping road safety in view.“

The high-level committee on railway safety, headed by Anil Kakodkar, has recommended elimination of all level crossings (manned and unmanned) within five years by setting up a special purpose vehicle (SPV). The responsibility to remove all unmanned level crossing on the National Highways network has been given to the roads ministry .

ET VIEW

Invest in Rail & Road Safety

It makes perfect sense to fast-track motor-able over-bridges at the major rail-crossings. And especially so, as the railways plan to increase average train speeds soon. It would boost rail and road safety and summarily reduce accidents and casualties. The railways also need to fast-track and phase-out unmanned level-crossings. In parallel, we need regular and systematic safety audits for rail bridges. What's desirable and indeed essential is a more holistic approach to rail and passenger safety.

Gammon Infra to Sell 9 Projects for up to Rs. 3k cr : The Economic Times

Mumbai:

INTEREST REVIVAL Brookfield-led consortium has agreed to buy debt-hit Gammon's 6 road & 3 power projects; deal to be one of the biggest in infrastructure space

A consortium led by Brookfield Asset Management has agreed to buy the MumbaiNashik highway and eight other projects from debt-laden Gammon India for about ` . 3,000 crore, in one of the biggest deals involving infrastructure projects.

The proposed transaction, comprising debt and equity , is one of the first in the roads sector after the government eased exit rules for developers. This could also be the beginning of numerous deals in infrastructure projects as the Canadian firm's investment shows foreign investors are interested in the sector and that promoters are ready to accept reasonable valuations, analysts said. Such deals will also help revive the interest and ability of Indian companies to bid for more infrastructure projects.

The government's reform measures signal its flexibility in boosting infrastructure projects and this is giving comfort to investors, said Vishwas Udgirkar, senior director at Deloitte in India. “Infrastructure companies have been in a stressed financial state and international investors have been looking at India with interest.“ Deals which have been in talks will now fructify , he said.

Gammon India's infrastructure development arm, Gammon Infrastructure Projects, said it will sell six road projects and three power projects to the consortium in a deal which pegs the enterprise value at around ` . 3,000 crore. The cash flow on account of the divestment would be ` . 563 crore, while another ` . 100 crore could flow in if certain undisclosed milestones were reached. Gammon Infrastructure managing director Kishor Kumar Mohanty called this a game-changing deal for the company . “Government's decision to relax exit norms for projects has helped us in closing this deal and we expect many more such deals to happen,“ he told ET. “For us, this deal would be a game-changer as it helps us from becoming a buyer, rather than a seller. We now hope to acquire some distressed assets and also bid for new projects, something that we haven't been able to do for the last two years because of our financial stress.“

The government has allowed developers to sell 100% of road projects two years after completing them. The previous limit of 76% had acted as a big hindrance for deals as investors eyeing these projects wanted full control. The government's move could unlock investments worth about ` . 4,500 crore in the sector. “The merger and acquisition environment is changing positively but investors continue to be selective. If the policy stability continues, we expect many more deals in the infrastructure space,“ said Rahul Mody , head, infrastructure at Ambit Corporate Finance, the advisor for the deal.

Gammon India, the parent, has been in severe cash crunch amid huge debt and mounting losses.The company has been on the lookout for investors, particularly for divestment in its subsidiaries, for almost three years. Gammon India had set up Gammon Infrastructure Projects in 2001 to take up infrastructure projects as a developer under the public-privatepartnership model. The deal with Brookfield includes Gammon's prized Mumbai-Nasik Expressway project which has been on the block for over three years.

Anuj Ranjan, managing partner at Brookfield, said: “This transaction represents Brookfield's first major investment in Indian infrastructure, and provides us a great platform to participate in the Indian growth story over the long-term.“

The nine projects that Gammon is selling have a total project cost of `. 6,750 crore-. `2,935 crore on six operational projects and ` . 3,815 crore on remaining three. Of this, the company has capitalised . 3,097 crore till March 31. The out` standing debt for the projects totalled ` . 1,718 crore, which will be taken over by the new owner. This will reduce the consolidated debt of Gammon Infrastructure Projects to ` . 2,229 crore.

Most infra developers had stopped bidding for new projects since they are cashstrapped with severely leveraged balance sheets. The number of companies bidding for each BoT road project had slipped to as low as three to five from about 20 during 2011-12.

Residents say illegal RMC plants major cause of pollution : Hindustan Times

MORE THAN 150 RESIDENTS OF DAHISAR (EAST) AND MALADMARVE ROAD STAGED A SILENT PROTEST OUTSIDE THE MPCB OFFICE IN SION

MUMBAI: More than 150 adults and children, residents of Dahisar (East) and Malad-Marve Road staged a silent protest outside the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board’s (MPCB) office in Sion on Friday against illegal ready-mix-concrete (RMC) plants belonging to private companies that caused air and noise pollution in the area.

Children were seen holding placards that read, ‘cement pollution kills slowly’. The placard had images and slogans describing how families in the area were experiencing health problems owing to the RMC plants.

Representatives from the residents’ welfare associations from the two areas, along with members of non-governmental organisation Watchdog Foundation, presented a bag to officials of MPCB that contained the dust collected from outside the RMC plant located at Dahisar (East).

“We wanted the MPCB officials to know that the plants continuously generate very high respirable suspended particulate matter (RSPM)- tiny particles can be inhaled into the lungs - and suspended particulate matter beyond permissible limits and had been all flouting various norms under the Air and Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act,” said Godfrey Pimenta, trustee, Watchdog foundation.

A senior official from MPCB told HT that they were upset and affected by the residents’ protest, as they were not given even 10 days to investigate the matter. “We received the complaint on August 21 and the residents should have given us time to issue show-cause notices to the plant. After seeing requisite documents, if we find a pollution problem, we would be taking action immediately,” said the official.

HT had reported on July 19 that three RMC plants on Malad Marve Road received closure notices from MPCB on July 8 after receving a complaint on June 25 this year. One of the plants was dismantled soon after while the other two have halted all work at the site. However, residents of the area are worried, as two RMC plants have planned to restart at the site.

Local doctors from the area told HT that there had been a gradual increase in the number of cases regarding respiratory diseases, cough and cold in the area over the past year.

Shivaji sea memorial project back on track : Hindustan Times

MUMBAI: The tenders for the ambitious Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj memorial project will be finalised by September 5, Vinayak Mete, the legislator and chairman of a committee formed to oversee the project, said on Friday.

This assurance comes after the last three attempts to float tenders for the project failed. The third attempt, which involved the Canada-based NORR group t hat oversaw Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, fizzled off following differences with Indian counterpart Pentacle.

“Pentacle lost its deposit and we have also barred the firm from participating in the next bid,” Mete added.

“September 5 is the last date for receiving fresh bids. We are expecting a lot of bidders and if all goes well, we should have a project consultant by September 20,” said Mete.

According to sources, while NORR was almost finalised, it had agreed to design and consult and had quoted Rs44 crore.

Pentacle I nfrastructure, however, wanted NORR only for design and not for the entire project, which the government did not approve of. After this, the government asked the second bidder to come down to the lowest price that they did not agreed with, leading to the fourth attempt.

The project estimated to cost over Rs2,000 crore and will be built on a 16 hectare rock, identified at 1.5km away from the Raj Bhawan and 4kms from Nariman Point in the Arabian Sea.

Apart from the equestrian statue of the warrior king, a restaurant and a garden will also be built.

Payments banks can unlock ` 14L cr funds : Hindustan Times

INFRA PUSH People hold a lot of cash that can be channelled through these banks to fund ailing sectors, an SBI report says

NEW DELHI: With the setting up of 11 new payments banks in the country, an incremental amount of at least ` 14 lakh crore per annum may be freed up for funding the infrastructure sector, an internal study by the State Bank of India (SBI) said.

The report said that at present people hold a significant amount of cash with them for their dayto-day transactions. “It is expected that the payment banks will accelerate India’s journey to a cashless economy. In a simple arithmetic, even if the cash with public gets reduced by 1%, this will increase the deposit base of banks by around ` 15 lakh crore,” the report revealed.

The payments banks would not offer full banking services and confine its operations to acceptance of deposits, remittance services and other specified services. They have also been allowed to hold a maximum deposits of ` 1 lakh per customer in the initial phase.

At present, the outstanding deposit of small banks in India is about ` 1 lakh crore. The report said that if each payments bank mobilises one fourth of such deposits in a year, with an assumption of a penetration rate of 25% and given that the Jan Dhan Yojana mobilisation is around ` 20,000 crore in a year, 11 payment banks would thus mobilise around ` 2.75 lakh crore.

“Given that payments banks can only invest in government securities, this entire amount will thus be freed up for credit needs towards the infrastructure sector,” Soumya Kanti Ghosh, chief economic adviser, SBI told HT.

Ghosh also said that the payments bank model will primarily run on digital mode and given that the credit profile and transaction history of customers will be easy to build, there is a huge opportunity for banks to unlock retail business potential.

`32 cr to `16.25 cr: Nerul duplex sold for half the asking price : DNA

Mumbai: Here’s the big proof that real-estate prices in Mumbai are falling.

A 13,000 sq ft sea-facing duplex apartment in Palm Beach Road in Navi Mumbai has been sold for Rs 12,500 per sq ft against the Rs 20,000-Rs 25,000 per sq ft quoted a few months earlier. That means a Rs 32 crore flat selling for Rs 16.25 crore.

The apartment in Akshar El Costillo at Sector 6, Nerul, was bought by Paradise Group managing director Manish Bhatija a few days ago. He bought the property on the 21st floor in the 28-storey building, along with five parking slots.

Though Bhatija confirmed the transaction, he didn’t disclose the details. “It was a really reasonable deal in recent times,” is all that he said.

Industry insiders agree that the property market is really scaling down. “If this fall continues, end-users will be able to buy their dream homes,” said an industry insider. He said Palm Beach is the Nariman Point of Navi Mumbai.

“At Palm Beach, most apartments fall in the luxury segment. If rates are plummeting in this segment, it means property rates are likely to slide further. Because high-segment houses always face the first hit,” said Pankaj Kapoor, MD, Liasea and Foras, a property research firm.

Kapoor said that the holding capacity of developers cannot stretch beyond a certain period. They have to pay high interests to banks, he said.

“Investors are the first set of people to exit during a downfall. Currently, most investors are exiting because there is no significant growth or appreciation in the property market. People feel investing in mutual funds or parking money in banks are better options,” Kapoor added.

But Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry (MCHI) Navi Mumbai unit general secretary Manohar Shroff had a different opinion.

“If one deal has taken place at a lesser rate, that doesn’t reflect the entire market. We sometimes read about south Mumbai apartments being sold for Rs 1.25 lakh per sq ft, but that doesn’t mean that it is the rate for the whole of south Mumbai,” he said.

Anand Sherawat, MD, Bhoomi Anand Group, however, said that the property market is going through a turbulent situation. “We thought that after the Lok Sabh elections, market sentiments will improve. Virtually, there are no buyers now,” said Sherawat.

Another developer from Navi Mumbai blamed the government. “There are constant changes and amendments in government policies. There is no clarity as to where the housing sector is moving.

He also said that the Palm beach deal was a desperate sale. “There are very few buyers in the market to purchase such high-end and ultra luxury properties. Therefore, that particular flat was sold at a low price,” said Arvind Goel, president of of MCHI, Navi Mumbai.

After spending `142 cr on 1.5-km road, BMC gets wiser : DNA

Belated wisdom | Municipal commissioner’s latest circular says no increase above 5% of the original cost will be allowed now onwards

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) just got wiser – on awarding road contracts.

Now on, no contractor will be allowed to escalate the cost of contract above 5% of what was originally agreed.

What got civic chief Ajoy Mehta’s goat was what happened during the construction of the Ramdev Peer Marg in Vidyavihar. The contract for constructing the 1.5-km road in cement concrete was awarded to RPS Infra in 2010 for Rs 128 crore.

However, its costs escalated 13% and the civic body had to shell out Rs 142 crore so far. The project, though yet to be completed, has already got the tag of the costliest road in the city.

Officials attributed the escalation to a massive delay in clearing a bottleneck in one location of the road, connecting Kurla (West) and Vidhyavihar (West) railway stations.

Though the road was marked in the city’s Development Plan (DP), the plan never took off and it remained a mud road for years. A parch of land earmarked for the road was with the state transport corporation. That was the hurdle.

Mehta has now issued a circular capping cost escalations at 5%.

Congress legislator Aslam Shaikh, who had exposed several irregularities in road-work contracts, hailed the move. “This is a good move since contractors loot the BMC by escalating the cost of the work after bagging the contract. The municipal commissioner must now clean up the entire tendering process. The roads department should be cleaned up first since it sees maximum irregularities in tendering,” he said.

Worry not Shaikh, officials are waking up. Listen to this. “Here on, once the work order is awarded, no extension will be given. All work will have to be completed in a time-bound manner. In case there is a delay, officials have been asked to prepare a new tender in advance, so that another contractor will be available,” said a senior civic official.

That may not convince Shaikh. For, widespread variation in costs is nothing new. In fact, the Comptroller and Auditor General had, in 2012 itself, alerted about contracts without invitation of tenders leading to cost variations.

Between December 2009 and October 2011, the CAG report had revealed that 147 works of concreting and asphalting were awarded to the same contractors without calling tenders. Of these, 59 works recorded cost variations of Rs 750 crore. The cost of CC works surpassed the original estimate by 62% and of asphalting works by 57%.

Mehta’s latest circular states that only in case of an emergency will the contractor be allowed to escalate costs from now onwards. But will the BMC tell us whether action will be taken against erring officials and contractors, especially after the CAG alert?

EAST-WEST LINK - Thane-Borivli tunnel project report in a yr : The Times of India

Mumbai:



A detailed project report (DPR) and feasibility study for the 10-km Thane-Borivli road tunnel network that will pass under the Sanjay Gandhi National Park will be completed in 12 months.

“The consultant will be appointed in a month to prepare the DPR and undertake the feasibility study ,“ public works department minister Eknath Khadse said. “Its report is expected in 8 to 12 months. We have already begun the process for its appointment.“

The Rs 1,500 crore project is expected to be completed in three months once the DPR is prepared. The proposed alignment for this corridor will start at Tikuji-ni-Wadi (Thane) and end at Ekta Nagar, Borivli, on Western Express Highway (WEH) with a twin tube tunnel. The underground road will have six lanes.

“The work will be carried out without affecting the ecology and wildlife,“ said Thane guardian minister Eknath Shinde. “Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar has also given an assurance that environment clearance will be given for this project.“

A study carried out by the MSRDC says that 65,000 cars travel between Thane and the WEH via Ghodbunder Road.

“The completion of the tunnel will cut the distance between Thane and WEH to just 10 minutes, besides reducing congestion on Ghodbunder Road,“ he said.

The existing alignment connects Thane and Borivli via Ghodbunder with length of 23 km. As of today it takes between one and two hours to travel between these two points, depending on the traffic density.

The MSRDC says that this corridor will bring down the distance between Thane and Borivli by about 13 km.

An official said that the financial model for the project would be decided by the state government. All options, including build-operate-transfer model and cash contract through loans from the World Bank or the Japan International Cooperation agency (JICA) would be comsidered.





REALTY NOW!: The Times of India

Slowdown or otherwise, a home-buyer has immense opportunities in store. This Mangal Parv, we give you tips to make your home-buying experience fruitful in the ongoing real estate scenario

THERE ARE SEVERAL RE PORTS, which suggest that property prices have touched an alltime high mark and at the same time, there are also other reports suggesting that the demand for houses has come down, thus resulting in an increase in unsold inventory. Real estate experts explain why the slowdown is the best time to buy a property and how it ensures that you get the best bargain for your home. As per a report published by Liaises Foras, a real estate research firm in Mumbai, there is an invento ry of around 1.5 lakh unsold flats in Mumbai. This year, 176,666 housing units could not find any buyers, as compared to 146,729 units last year. With the current rate of buying, it will take over 41 months to dispose off this inventory, the report states.

Pankaj Kapoor, MD, Liases Foras, reveals that only 46,000 houses were sold in Mumbai this year, against a demand of 20 lakh houses in the city. “People cannot afford to buy a house at the current rate. They prefer to wait for prices to correct,“ he says. Devang Varma, director at Omkar Realtors & Developers Pvt. Ltd, explains that many developers at the time of a slowdown, become a bit flexible with their asking rates. “During a slowdown, the customers tend to bargain harder. Developers who have a price spread, do at times, become a bit flexible to close the deal,“ he says.“You would have developers offering incentives like a car park at a preferential location or a stamp duty and registration charge included in the price that they would be offering to the customer,“ he adds.Yashwant Dalal, chairman, Estate Agents Association of India says, “During a slow down, the potential buyer anticipates the rates to come down further. If the seller doesn't get back quickly and closes the deal, the potential buyer may even lower his offer price later. “There have been instances where the buyer, after giving his offer, has even dropped his offer rate further, when the seller got back to him a month later.The buyer feels that the seller has gotten back to him after a month, which means that he doesn't have any other buyer in the market and prefers to lower the rate further.“ The reverse happens in a bull market. “If the buyer goes back to the seller after a month, he would have increased the price by around 10 per cent,“ he concludes.

THE ALIBAUG-VIRAR CORRIDOR: SLOW AND NOT-SO-STEADY? : The Times of India

The Alibaug-Virar Multi Modal Corridor is slated to change the infrastructural landscape of the MMR. However, it can only be achieved if its development takes place at a more rapid pace

The Alibaug-Virar Corridor is probably a classic case study as to how a grand vision to transform an urban infrastructure can be jeopardised with a slow pace of execution.Forget execution! The planning itself seems to stretch the possible execution timelines for the project. Added to that some changes mid-way due to logistical reasons and land acquisitions hurdles, threaten to prolong the project even further.

This 126 km long, Virar-Al ibaug Multi Modal Corridor will connect NH-8, Bhiwandi bypass, NH-3, NH-4 and NH-4B, Mumbai-Pune Expressway, NH-17, etc. Out of this 126 km corridor, the 79 km long Virar (Navghar) to Chirner (JNPT) corridor has been declared financially feasible and has been approved by the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) in March, 2012.

The Government of Maharashtra, with financial assistance from the World Bank and through the MMRDA, under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project, has prepared the Comprehensive Transportation Study (CTS) for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, in the year 2008 known as TRANSFORM (Transportation study for the region of Mumbai). The premier objective of this study was to identify the travel modes and patterns of the residents in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and recommend a long-term Comprehensive Transportation Strategy for MMR upto 2031. The final report was submitted in July, 2008.One of the major recommendations of TRANSFORM is the development of a Multi Modal Corridor in the MMR to take care of the varied travel demands of the region for the horizon period upto 2031. One such corridor is planned from Virar to Alibaug. Ms. Louis Berger Group Inc., was appointed for the preparation of Techno-Economic and Financial Viability Study, which began in August, 2010. However, problems in acquiring the land from the locals in Navi Mumbai have forced the MMRDA to alter the Virar-Alibaug Multimodal Corridor (VAMC) plan. The Multi Modal Corridor will be a crucial step towards the development, thus strengthening and creating job opportunities in seven growth centres in the MMR such as Virar, Bhiwandi, Kalyan, Dombivali, Panvel, Taloja and Uran.

The corridor will also be useful for the development of the Navi Mumbai International Air port, the JNPT Port, the MTHL and the Dedicated Freight Corridor. This corridor will carry all the traffic from JNPT towards Navi Mumbai and Thane, outside the city and will help reduce traffic congestion within the city.The travel time between Virar to Alibaug required today will also be reduced by 50 per cent.

The corridor will join the proposed Vadodara -JNPT Expressway near Matheran and will continue as a single highway for 22 kms before ending at JNPT. At first, both the highways were planned to run parallel for 20 kms. The VAMC would cut through the middle of the Navi Mumbai Airport Influence Notified Area (NAINA), which is being developed by City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra (CIDCO).

However, authorities later said that they cannot construct the VAMC through NAINA, not only because of some technical issues but also the locals were opposed to it. Even as the state government is pushing for the Virar Alibaug Multi-modal Corridor that will be instrumental in creating new growth centres outside Mumbai, a key public transport element of the metro that will make the project genuinely `multi-modal' has been put on the backburner for now, owing to ridership concerns. Like with the proposed Sewri-Nhava Sheva Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, the MMRDA is now concentrating on building just the road portion of the multi-modal corridor, keeping the development of a Metro line along the route for a later date. Brotin Banerjee, MD and CEO of Tata Housing points out that the multi-modal corridor will enable expansion of Mumbai, as it aims to connect all the small satellites around the city. It will not only reduce the travel time but also open doors to trade developments as it passes through Navi Mumbai, Uran, Alibaug, Thane, Dombivali, Kalyan, Bhiwandi, Ulhasnagar, Mira Road, Bhayandar, Vasai, Nallasopara and Virar, to name a few.

“The connectivity of the cities will flourish, given that the corridor is deemed to be Mumbai's largest and will have scope for the Bus Rapid Transit Systems (BRTS) that will boost the transportation module strongly. As Mumbai gets more saturated with the influx of the working population, townships surrounding the city prove to be the perfect living destinations with commercial developments, upcoming infrastructure and affordable residential projects,“ says Banerjee.

Subhankar Mitra, head ­ strategic consulting (west) JLL India, highlights that the Alibaug-Virar Corridor is still in the planning stage. Getting land to implement the project might pose a challenge in certain stretches of the corridor. “However, if it is implemented in the way it is envisaged, there will be a significant boost to the local economy and transportation.“

Abhay Kumar, CMD of Griha Pravesh Buildteck, is even more critical when he says that the time for the Alibaug-Virar Corridor is now or never. It is one of those infrastructure projects that can turn the urban landscape of the region. However, planning and the cost-benefit evaluation are taking time. Also, issues like land acquisition threaten to derail the very purpose for which the corridor has been envisaged. “This is the new growth corridor in the entire MMRDA region,“ says Kumar.

In a nutshell, there is no denying that the development of infrastructure will aid the remote, yet budding townships to be better connected and while the growth centres planned in distant suburbs such as Kalyan, Virar and Navi Mumbai, are intended to de-congest Mumbai, the corridor will provide the fastest connectivity between the two ends of the metro region.

NERAL, a realty tale : The Times of India

Neral today is boasting of a township equipped with all the amenities available at one's disposal

In the last decade, Neral has undergone a massive transformation and is turning rapidly into a developing city. Once known as an area that lacked infrastructure and connectivity, today, it boasts of residential township, hospitals, schools and social infrastructure, thus making it one of the fastest developing districts for housing. Many migrant families from areas like Dadar and Parel, have bought houses in Kalyan because of the con nectivity and affordable flats available in the area.Ragini Mhatre, who works in the hospitality sector, says, “I have bought a 2-BHK apartment in this area at a price that I would get a 1BHK apartment in Kharghar. The lush green environment as well as proximity to office, which is situated in Panvel are benefiting factors.“
PUSHING TOWARDS GROWTH
Talking about the area and new developments, Bhavin Patel, MD, Tulsi Estates says, “Neral is the next big residential hub after Badlapur and Kalyan on the same rail track. Many affordable projects are coming up in this area, given its easy connectivity to Mumbai via the road-rail network.“ Also, the state government of Maharashtra has initiated several mega infrastructure projects, which will catalyse the growth of property in Karjat and Neral.This, in turn, has and will push real-estate projects in the region to develop low-cost residential property in Karjat.
The potential of these projects is immense, as the corridor is poised to be a real-estate hub.Some of these projects are like the Badlapur­Karjat road where the highway is being developed into a 4-lane highway and Karjat­Murbad road where the highway is being developed as a part of the Virar-Murbad-KarjatKhopoli-Alibaug outer ring road.Prabhat Ranjan, CMD, Olympeo Infrastructure Pvt Ltd says, “The area is well-connected with in dustrial and commercial areas of Kalyan to Badlapur by roads and the Mumbai suburban rail network. The Ambernath-Badlapur region has four industrial areas (4 MIDC) where it is home to nearly 1,000 big and small companies. Apart from this, there are three central government establishments falling under the Ordnance Factory Board and Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO). In near future, Ambernath is expecting about 1,200 pharmaceutical companies in the MIDC area. All these factors will propel employment opportunities in the region, thus further creating the demand for real estate in the surrounding locations like Neral-Karjat.“ Recent studies on the property market of the area, which encompasses Karjat, Neral, Shelu and Khopoli, predict that prices are expected to double by 2017.
THE RESIDENT'S CHECKLIST
According to Girish Shah, EVP, marketing and sales, Godrej Properties Limited, “While the traditional view on home-buy ing was restricted to factors such as convenience and shorter travelling distance from home, today, the customers look for a holistic living experience. Some of the most important factors that the buyers keep in mind is the location's accessibility and infrastructure around the location, accessibility to major CBDs, airports and stations.“
Local developers from the area are also of the view that Neral is popular among property buyers for its strategic location and proximity to commercial hubs such as Navi Mumbai, Belapur and Vashi. Besides, amenities like regular supply of water and popular food joints, open parks and libraries, have also become features of the area. With its close proximity to the Shelu railway station and the four-lane Badlapur-Khopoli highway, the connectivity of the area to Mumbai's suburban rail network and industrial areas of Badlapur-Ambernath has been enhanced.
Hence, Neral has all the attributes to be your next home!

New metro plan to bring city closer THE AMBITIOUS PLAN THE CM APPROVED WILL COST RS35,400 CRORE, AND STATE IS LIKELY TO SEEK AID FROM THE WORLD BANK AND JICA : Hindustan Times

The 118-km plan approved by the CM will bring Colaba and Dahisar closer, with several stops and crossovers

MUMBAI: The 118-km metro plan that got CM Devendra Fadnavis’ nod on Wednesday is likely to be mostly elevated and crisscross the city in such a way that travelling between Colaba and Dahisar will no more be a pain.

(along Link Road) While the Mankhurd- BKC and DN Nagar-Dahisar parts will be taken up soon, work on the stretch from BKC to Andheri is facing several hurdles, including land acquisition and permission issues from the Airport Authority of India The 33.5km line will establish connectivity between south Mumbai and western suburbs. It will be connected to central and western railway line along with Metro one, two and the monorail. While, actual construction is likely to start by the end of this year, services are expected to commence by 2020. It will provide commuters from the eastern suburbs a new travel option. The 32-km long line was planned as an underground line and partly elevated. This is being reconsidered, and may now become a fully elevated line. The ColabaBandra-Seepz line will meet Metro 5 at the airport. The MMRDA has planned another 17-km corridor from Andheri to Dahisar along the Western Express highway (WEH). The corridor will be identified as the Andheri EastDahisar East metro line. This is likely to be extended up to the airport The MMRDA has extended the proposed Seepz- Kanjurmarg corridor to the WEH, which will be along the JogeshwariVikhroli Link Road (JVLR). This 12-km corridor will be known as the JVLR- Kanjurmarg metro line. A MEGA PLAN KASARVADAVALI DAHISAR COST The the MMRDA has split the 40-km long Metro 2 project — Dahisar-Charkop-Bandra-Mankhurd — into three parts Metro 2: Mankhurd-BKC BKC-Andheri (DN Nagar) DN Nagar-Dahisar Metro 3: Metro 4: line ` 12,000 CR ` 12,000 CR ` 8,100 CR ` 3,300 CR (Metro 5) Andheri EastDahisar East line Metro 2 (W) ( E) Metro 4 THIS WILL INCLUDE MUMBAI (12km) (10km) Metro 5 (18km) JVLR THE HURDLES Metro 6 Versova KANJURMARG DN Nagar ALSO IN THE PIPELINE SEEPZ ANDHERI (17km) Colaba–Bandra-Seepz Ghatkopar Bandra BKC Mankhurd Wadala JVLR-Kanjurmarg (Metro 6) (12km) Wadala- Ghatkopar-ThaneKasarvadavali Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar Colaba

Plus, there will be an airport stop. Authorities said the Metro 3 line (Colaba-BandraSeepz) will meet the Metro 5 line (Dahisar East to Andheri East) at the airport.

The ambitious metro plan the CM approved on Wednesday will cost Rs35,400 crore, and the funding is likely to be aided by institutions such as the World Bank and the Japan I nter national Cooperation Agency.

“The aim is to build a metro network across the city. We are contemplating connecting Metro 5 with Metro 3 for better connectivity between the southern and northern parts of the city,” a senior MMRDA official said.

Further, the Dahisar eastAndheri east line will meet the Jogeshwari- Vikhroli line or Metro 6 at the JogeshwariVikhroli Link Road (JVLR). It will also connect to the VersovaAndheri- Ghatkopar ( VAG) Metro 1 at Western Express highway (WEH).

Metro 1 will connect to Metro 3 at Marol station and Metro 2 (Dahisar-Charkop- BandraMankhurd) at DN Nagar station.

Officials said the move to make all lines elevated was to speed up the implementation of the different projects and make it more affordable.

Except Metro 3, all other metro lines will be elevated.

This means the DahisarCharkop-Bandra-Mankhurd metro and th e Wadala - Ghatkopar-Thane-Kasarvadavali Metro 4 line will be constructed as elevated corridors.

“We are revisiting the plans of these metro lines to check if they can be completely elevated. We will carry out studies to decide the alignment,” said the official.

P D'Mello Rd to Girgaum Chowpatty in 10 mins? : The Times of India

Mumbai



The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) will prepare detailed project report for an elevated eastwest corridor that will link P D'Mello Road, near the Eastern Freeway , to Girgaum Chowpatty.

The 4km link is proposed over Sardar Vallabhai Patel (SVP) Road and will cross the JJ flyover. It is expected to reduce travel time from around 40 minutes to 10 minutes via Fort and Marine Drive.

The proposed link will provide integration with the coastal road, that is being planned between Kandivli and Nariman Point.

An MMRDA official said, “We will appoint an agency to prepare the report in two months. The agency may take six months to prepare the report.“ The estimated cost of the project is likely to be less than Rs 300 crore for the 2+2 lane road.

The official said, “It will be a challenging project due to paucity of space on the narrow stretch of SVP Road.The agency will have to identify hurdles and challenges for execution of the project in this part of the city , where land acquisition is an expensive and tedious process. Besides, there will be a compli cated maze of utilities from the British era.“

Also, work will have to be carried out above Central Railway and Western Railway tracks. He said there were also environmental hurdles too as the western arm of the flyover will emerge very close to Girgaum, where coastal regulatory zone (CRZ) regulations are in place.

MMRDA has already formalized plans for another east-west connector in south Mumbai between Sewri-Worli. The project will begin at Narayan Hardikar Marg in Worli and meet the planned Mumbai Trans Harbour Link at its Sewri interchange, near Sewri railway station.

He said, “The report will help provide us the estimated costs, challenges and tentative time required to execute the project.“