July 14-20, 2014 1

Volume 3 l Issue No 28 l July 14-20, 2014 l Price: Rs 100An MMR, Braj Binani Group Publication

Budget to have multiplier effect on economy

The slowdown in the real estate sector and delay in take-off of various infrastructural projects in the period FY11-14 took a toll on the cement demand.

The various schemes announced in the budget would boost infrastructure and housing sectors that will have a positive impact on the cement demand.

“The cement sector can certainly look forward to revival of growth in its consumption which has been languishing for the last 3-4 years at very low levels,” according to an top official at the Cement Manufacturers’ Association (CMA).

However, the increase in custom duty on steam coal to result in marginal increase in cost of production.

The industry was also looking for some rationalization of high incidence of taxes which it had represented as current tax structure works out to almost 50 per cent of ex-factory value of cement. Further the industry was

of sponge iron & pig iron and use steam coal as a fuel in captive thermal power plants.

Construction equipmentWhile commenting on the budget,

Vipin Sondhi, MD & CEO, JCB India Ltd, said, “Given that this government has been in office for less than two months, no big bang reforms were anticipated. The Union Government recognizing the need for revival of investment cycle had already extended the Excise Duty Cut on Capital Goods for another six months in June, 2014 itself.

“The Budget’s focus on the infrastructure sector, encouraging banks to lend long term funds to the infrastructure sector, extending the benefit of investment allowance to Small and Medium Enterprises and emphasis on manufacturing growth should help revive the capital goods sector. While PPP in relation to many new projects has been announced, however, a roadmap for execution of

Improving supply chain for faster transport of goods to various cities would be done by working on select expressways along with development of industrial corridor. The NHAI will be required to set aside Rs 500 crore for project preparation of the same.

This shows continued thrust from the government for the development of roads with the priority on the execution rather than awarding of new projects with the emphasis on EPC mode.

The budget looks to develop more nuanced models of contracting in order to remove the rigidities in contractual arrangements and develop quick dispute redressal mechanism, an institution called 4P India will be set up with a corpus of Rs 500 crore.

The intent is to boost the private participation in the road sector in the long term which has remained subdued in the past one year.

RailwaysThe Railway Budget for FY15

more people, especially the young working class population; to buy homes and this could trigger renewed interest in the real estate market.”

CementThe Indian cement industry, which

is second to only to China, has over 340 million tons of capacity, but the capacity utilization of the major makers of the building material has been far from encouraging.

The industry witnessed a dismal demand growth in the past few years. In FY14, the consumption of cement showed a tepid growth of 3.5 per cent on a yoy basis, the lowest growth over the last one decade.

The government kicked off several initiatives to develop smart cities, airports and highways, and announced big energy investments along with a promise to decontrol diesel in a year.

Infrastructure development, which has suffered due to slow approvals, disputes and scandals in the past, was a key plank of the budget.

The task before me today is very challenging because we need to revive growth, particularly in manufacturing and infrastructure to raise adequate resources for our developmental needs,” said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

The continual increased focus of the government on infrastructure development especially roads, smart cities, ports, watershed development, airway, and waterway would be beneficial for the construction sector in terms of providing increased orders.

In the energy sector, the government plans to expand city gas distribution, where Gujarat has taken the lead, and build a national gas grid.

Further, ensuring funding support from banks through relaxation of norms for lending to infrastructure sector will be an impetus to construction industry.

Real estateThe PM’s vision of developing

‘100 smart cities’ as satellite towns of larger cities and modernizing the existing mid-sized cities would be done through allocation of Rs.7,060 crore. Requirement of built-up area and capital conditions for FDI is reduced from 50,000 sq mtrs to 20,000 sq mtrs and from $10 million to $5 million with a 3 year post completion lock-in period.

To increase impetus to watershed development in the country, a new programme called ‘Neeranchal’ has been introduced with an initial outlay of Rs.2,142 crore in FY15.

The incentives for REITs and low cost housing (allocation of Rs.4,000 crore for National Housing Bank), development of 100 smart cities, increase in deduction of interest on self-occupied properties, and inclusion of slum rehabilitation under CSR will benefit real estate developers as these measures will create a favourable environment that will boost housing sector in the country.

“The opening up of FDI will bring in opportunities for cheaper capital for smaller projects as well, improving quality and delivery of low cost and affordable housing projects,” said Getambar Anand, Managing Director of ATS Infrastructure and President of the Confederation of Real Estate

Developers Association of India (Credai).

Brotin Banerjee, MD & CEO, Tata Housing said, “Extending additional tax incentives by increasing the interest deduction to Rs 2 lakh would help

expecting it to be considered under the category of ‘Declared Goods’ under section 14 of the Central Sales Tax Act to enjoy the tax benefits that other core sector goods like coal and steel are currently availing.

Further, an increase of custom duty on coal would result in marginal increase in cost of production of cement by about Rs 0.15 per bag.

SteelThe increase in customs duty on

coal (bituminous coal, steam coal and coking coal) and metallurgical coke is likely to result in increase in cost of production of steel manufacturers, who import coal & coke for production

existing held up projects could have helped turn things quickly.”

Roads & highwaysA huge investment of Rs 37,880

crore (including Rs 3,000 crore for North East) is proposed in the NHAI and state roads along with measures to reduce maze of clearances as the government intends to construct national highways of 8,500 km during FY15.

The government intends to set up the National Industrial Corridor Authority, with a view to give impetus to transport connectivity which will lead to India’s growth in manufacturing and urbanization.

proposed construction of 1,785 road under bridges and road over bridges and provision of escalators, lifts via PPP route at all major stations. It also focused on expansion of ra i l i n f ras t ruc tu re w i th fas te r implementation of projects planned. The budget proposes construction of urban metros including light rail systems through PPP mode to be supported by the central government through Viability Gap Funding (VGF).

During FY15 government intends to set aside Rs 100 crore for metro projects in Lucknow and Gujarat. Further, a sum of Rs 1,000 crore is provided towards rail connectivity in border areas and an additional Rs 1,000 crore is provided for rail connectivity in North-Eastern states.

PortsTo boost trade, 16 new port projects

are expected to be awarded with a focus on port connectivity. Rs 11,635 crore is expected to be allocated for the development of Outer

Harbour Project in Tuticorin for phase-1. Sezs are also expected to be developed in Kandla,

Gujarat and JNPT, Maharashtra.This is expected to enhance the

overall capacity of the Indian port sector, thereby decongesting the existing ports and improve turnaround time.

Inland waterwaysDevelopment of inland waterways

through construction of Jal Marg Vikas (National Waterways-1) between Allahabad and Haldia covering a distance of 1,620 km. It would enable commercial navigation of vessels with at least 1,500 tons capacity at an estimated cost of Rs 4,200 crore.

Power – focus on renewable energy

With the extension of 10-year tax holiday (u/s 80IA) till FY17, the power firms continue to enjoy lower tax rate till FY2017. Since, the power generation capacity addition is expected at 18-20GW per year in the next two-three years, it will benefit power generators and transmission (PGCIL) companies.

The launch of feeder separation scheme in rural areas is likely to aid distribution sector (DISCOMs) where it would strengthen transmission and distribution in rural areas and is likely to improve the service levels.

Further, the reduction in customs duty and excise on imported machinery and domestic for solar power plants will reduce the costing for solar power plants (per mw cost) thereby boosting the power capacity addition in solar sector.

The increase in clean energy cess from Rs 50 per ton to Rs 100 per ton is expected to raise Rs 30 billion for the purpose of the National Clean Electricity Fund for FY2014-2015.

Finance Minister, Mr. Arun Jaitley

July 14-20, 2014 2domestic

Centre may tweak Land Act to help speed up key projects

The NDA government is set to tweak the Land Acquisition Act 2013 which was brought in by the previous UPA government to redress some of the issues regarding compensation and rehabil i tat ion of owners of land acquired for industrial or other purposes.

The minist ry has at var ious meetings sought state chief ministers’ advice on the proposed tweaking since many of them expressed dissatisfaction with the present Act

as discouraging for industry. Sec t ion 40 s ta tes tha t the

government would be empowered to acquire land on an urgent basis with a notice of just 30 days for the purposes of defence and national security, and for reasons arising out of national calamities.

State governments have said that land acquisition for the purpose of road building and government or public-private power projects are added to this list of purposes for which

Rail Budget 2014: ‘Highest ever’ plan outlay

for railwaysThe Centre proposed ‘highest

ever’ plan outlay of Rs 65,445 crore to the railways for the current fiscal, with a budgetary support of over Rs 30,000 crore. Presenting the Railway Budget for 2014-15, Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda said the ‘highest ever plan outlay’ would include market borrowing of Rs 11,790 crore and internal resources of Rs 15,350 crore.

Another Rs 6,005 crore would be mopped up through public private partnerships (PPP) mode, while the railways would create a safety fund of Rs 2,200 crore. As per Budget Estimates for 2014-15, total receipts

are projected at Rs 1, 64,374 crore, while total expenditure at Rs 1, 49,176 crore.

Operating ratio would be 92.5 per cent, which is an improvement of 1 per cent over the last fiscal. While passenger traffic grew by 2 per cent, passenger earnings stood at Rs 44,645 crore after revenue foregone of Rs 610 crore on account of rollback in monthly season ticket fares, Gowda said.

He added that freight earnings are estimated at Rs 1,05,770 crore for this fiscal. The expenditure on pension is pegged at Rs 28,850 crore, while Rs 9,135 crore would

be spent on dividend payment. On the challenges facing the railways, Gowda said, “Surplus revenues are declining. There is hardly any adequate resource for development works. The surplus resources, which stood at Rs 11,754 crore in 2007-08, are estimated to be only Rs 602 crore in the current financial year, he added.

He also said Rs 5 lakh crore was required to complete the ongoing projects alone as only 317 of the 674 projects sanctioned in the past three decades could be completed. Completing the unfinished projects would require Rs 1, 82,000 crore, he said.

Reliance Infra to restructure `7,000 cr

projectA Telangana government entity

has approved a restructuring plan by consultancy firm EY for a project that includes a 100-storey trade tower in Hyderabad. Reliance Infrastructure which was to implement the Rs 7,000-crore project is hoping that the government will give the plan its go-ahead to the stalled venture.

Rel iance In f rast ructure had proposed to build the project on 76.2 acre at Manchirevula on Hyderabad outskirts, involving 20 million sq ft of built-up area. The Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (IIC), a government arm, will have 11 per cent equity holding in the special purpose vehicle executing the project.

A senior IIC executive, who did not want to be identified, said Reliance Infrastructure paid a little over half of agreed amount of Rs 527 crore

through debentures and cash, but could not pay the rest. It is now seeking waivers for the remaining payments and penal charges and wants to first execute a business district project and take up the tower project later.

Touted as India’s largest public-private real estate project that was comparable to skyscrapers such as Burj Dubai and Petronas Towers, it could not get off the ground because of the global economic downturn and the Telangana statehood agitation.

With a stable government in place and an improving global economic environment, Reliance Infrastructure evinced interest in reviving the project while seeking some relief. The company has also initiated steps towards critical project clearances, including environmental approvals.

Lodhas eye third of profits from London market

Mumba i -based rea l es ta te developer Lodha Group has bought two landmark properties in central London in the past seven months, and plans to derive about 30 per cent of its annual profit mainly from Britain’s capital in the next 10 years.

“We are committed to our London business and we would look forward to expand it as opportunities keep coming our way... we would ideally want 30% of our annual profit to come from markets other than Mumbai and

mainly from London,“ said Lodha Group’s Deputy Managing Director Abhinandan Lodha.

T h e deve lo p e r, w h i c h has expanded its footprint in the south Mumbai market with several marquee launches, has 37 projects in all, including in Pune, Hyderabad and London. Some of its big assets include The Park, World Towers, New Cuffe Parade and Palava City in and around Mumbai. The overseas business will help increase the depth

of the company, which derives all of its profits from Mumbai and Pune projects, Lodha said.

In November 2013, Lodha Group acquired MacDonald House in prime central London that housed Canadian consulate in UK for over £306 million or Rs 3,120 crore. In February this year, it furthered its expansion plan there by picking up one more property on Carey Street close to London School of Economics for over £90 Rs 1,000 crore million or so.

land can be thus acquired. Sources also said the PMO has made it very clear to the rural development ministry that neither compensation, nor the mode of acquisition which protect the rights of landowners and those who derive a living of it can be touched.

The Land Acquisition Act of 2013 was cleared after many hurdles and had bipartisan support in Parliament with the standing committee on rural development discussing the Bill threadbare.

Hero Honda Chowk to get 8-lane flyover

After a long wait, a proposal to construct a flyover at Hero Honda Chowk, along the Delhi-Jaipur Highway in Gurgaon, was passed during a meeting of the Public Works Department (PWD) (B&R) Haryana, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and the Gurgaon district administration.

The junct ion at Hero Honda C h o w k w i l l b e i m p r o v e d b y providing a three-tier facility for traffic movement — a flyover along the highway, an underpass below the highway and a ground level

road, according to PWD Principal Secretary Sajeev Kaushal.

The state government has also agreed to provide land for ‘Right of Way’ for the flyover. It has also approved to hand over a portion of land belonging to the Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) free of cost to the NHAI.

The land would be required to build the flyover towards the left side along the Delhi-Jaipur route, from the main carriageway, which would then be merged with the existing road, officials said.

ADB invests $50 m in Welspun RenewablesThe Asian Development Bank

(ADB) has invested part of a $50 million commitment of equity capital into Welspun Renewables Energy Pvt Ltd (WREPL). This deal wil l help demonstrate that profitable investments are achievable in the renewable energy space and will help catalyze more private investments.

Vineet Mittal, Vice Chairman, Welspun Renewables Energy Pvt Ltd said, “With a vision aimed towards securing energy security for the country, Welspun Renewables has emerged as one of the leading independent developers of renewable energy projects in India within a short span of time.

“W i th th i s i nves tmen t , t he renewable energy sector has got a much needed shot in the arm, it shows the promise that this sector can realize and ADB’s investment is a testimony to that. With this deal, we

can only hope that India becomes a shining example of focusing on clean energy to meet its energy security needs and help build a cleaner, greener India for the generations to come.”

WREPL’s power plants are among the highest generating projects in the country and have been built ahead of committed timelines, thereby helping the country meet its renewable energy targets. WREPL operates one of the world’s largest solar projects which is located in Neemuch district of Madhya Pradesh with a nameplate capacity of 151 mw (DC).

Spread across eight states, it has 328 mw (DC) operational capacity of renewable energy generation till date. The company plans to set up a total renewable capacity of 1,750 mw in solar and wind in next three years with an incremental capital outlay in excess of INR 11,000 crore.

July 14-20, 2014 3ARcHitectURe

After being the first Indian firm to win at the WAF awards, Morphogenesis gets awarded with the SIA-GETZ Architecture Prize 2014.

Sonali and Manit Rastogi, of Morphogenesis, one of India’s leading award-winning Architecture and Urban Design practices based in New Delhi, have been awarded the SIA- GETZ Architecture Prize 2014 at a luminous ceremony recently held in Singapore.

This prestigious prize seeks to bring recognition to Asian architects, who ‘ through thei r v is ion and commitment have made a significant contribution in shaping the changing landscape of Asia, and to honour a living architect’s remarkable career that is in progress’.

Previous Laureates of the SIA-Getz Architecture Prize are Chan Soo Khian (Singapore), Dr Hitoshi Abe (Japan) and Wong Mun Summ and Richard

Yet another global first for young

Indian architectsHassell (Singapore) and Prof Jimmy Lim (Malaysia).

The jury at SIA GETZ Prize ceremony felt their works are very much rooted into the culture, climatic, social and economic conditions of India. Their work has put India’s architecture on world stage. The jury felt that their work will be an inspiration to not only young Indian architects but also other Asian architects.

Receiving these accolades, Sonali Rastogi said, “The SIA Getz award is a hugely significant award for any architect to be honoured with. Based on an entire body of work, reviewed by peers, it brings emergent Asian architecture to the forefront of global discourse.”

“This recognition has converted their lifetime of commitment into a conviction. A conviction which will go a long way in building ‘Brand India’ which is their vision,” said the jury.

Manit & Sonali Rastogi of Morphogenesis honored with SIA GETZ Prize in Singapore

Team Shunya

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Pluss Polymers, the leader in r e s e a r c h , d e v e l o p m e n t a n d manufacture of specialized polymers and phase-change materials (PCMs) aided Team Shunya, India’s entry at the Solar Decathlon Europe 2014, get closer to their goal of a zero energy house.

The project of Team Shunya is to demonstrate zero energy homes at the Solar Decathlon Europe 2014 in France. Team Shunya is the first team from India to be selected for this prestigious event. This inter collegiate platform will witness 20 international teams competing to design, construct and demonstrate full scale houses with minimal energy consumption and powered by renewable energy.

The partnership between Pluss and Team Shunya is to integrate Phase Change Material (PCM) into its solar thermal system for water heating contributing to other solar powered sustainable solutions in the house. The participating teams will be judged across 10 categories, each carrying different weightage; hence the name Decathlon.

The hot water requirement of such houses is usually up to a temperature of 45-50 degree celsius. However, in conventional solar thermal systems, the water is heated up to 60-70 ^C. This excess heat can rather be stored in Phase Change Materials (PCM) which can be tapped when enough solar energy is not available.

Pluss Polymers has provided extensive support and technical assistance during trials to help choose the right PCM which effectively eliminates the need of a back-up electric heater.

Samit Jain, Managing Director, Pluss Polymers commented, “It is a matter of pride for us to be associated wi th Team Shunya that shal l be work ing towards safeguarding the environment at an international platform. It has been our constant effort to contribute in the preservation of nature and the energy resources derived from it and therefore this alliance is another initiative towards the same. We couldn’t have asked for a better platform than the Solar Decathlon to highlight this cause.”

IIT Bombay and the Academy of Architecture joined hands in November 2012 to form interdisciplinary teams of architects and engineers working hand-in-hand to find the perfect synergy for homes.

The team, named Shunya to reiterate the goal of a zero-energy

house, became the first team from India to ever be selected in the Solar Decathlon, whose previous participants include MIT, Purdue, Cornell, CMU, TU Darmstadt, among others. The team consists of over 70 students.

The Solar Decathlon was started as a biennial event by the US Department of Energy in 2002 and has since expanded to Europe and China. Collegiate teams from across the world will build solar energy powered houses, complete with all amenities from a dish washer to a building automation system.

The houses are judged on 10 extensive criteria namely architecture, engineering and construction, energy efficiency, electrical energy balance, comfort conditions, urban design, transportation and affordabil ity, sustainability and innovation.

Pluss Polymers & Team Shunya promotes Indian participation

at Solar Decathlon Europe 2014

July 14-20, 2014 4iNFRAstRUctURe

Highway contracts to become flexible

The Centre, to expedite highway projects, has decided to make award contract rules flexible allowing changes even after the agreement is made. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has prepared the draft which makes provisions for making changes in the model concession agreement (contract between government and road developer) if the project gets stuck due to unforeseen reasons.

In i ts p resent fo rm, model concession agreement (MCA) has no provision for adding changes, thus making contracts very rigid and tight-fitted, inconveniencing both the government and the developer even as it added to project delays.

“In the newly drafted MCA, the NHAI has provided clauses to give

The Ajay Piramal Group is close to finalizing transactions to purchase controlling stakes in six road assets spread across the country, signaling the emergence of cash-rich investors to infuse life into the stressed road sector and boost infrastructure development in a big way.

The real estate to financial services group has signed non-binding preliminary term sheets to acquire four projects and is in advanced negotiations to do it for two more. The combined valuation for these proposed transactions will be close to Rs 2,000 crore.

“We have signed term sheets to acquire four road projects. Two

L&T construction wins orders worth `1,459 cr

Larsen & Toubro has informed stock exchanges that its construction business has won orders worth Rs 1,459 crore. Among the major orders received were an order for the construction of Kannur International Airport in Kerala, involving an integrated terminal and an air traffic control tower complex.

The airport is expected to have a domestic and international terminal

of 75,000 sq m with 48 check-in counters, 32 emigration counters, and 16 escalators to handle a peak capacity of 2,000 passengers an hour.

Apart from this order, there were orders from an educational institution in UP, and another order from an automobile manufacturer for the construction of a regional stockyard and a spare parts distribution centre in West Bengal.

Gammon Infra to raise `500 cr to fund projects

Lower toll rates for bad roads hinted

Gammon Infrastructure Projects, the infrastructure arm of Gammon India, plans to raise Rs 500 crore through a qualif ied institutional placement (QiP) to facilitate fund requirement for some projects and retire part of its debt.

The company will use the proceeds to complete those projects over the next six to nine months that require funds and to retire around Rs 100 crore of debt, said KK Mohanty, MD, Gammon Infrastructure Projects.

The projects where funds from the QiP will be infused include the Godavari Bridge project in Andhra Pradesh, the Pravara co-generation project in Maharashtra and the Patna Highway Project, a 63.17-km annual annuity road project of the National

The Economic Survey 2013-14 talks about the need to evolve cont ract mechanisms to have lower toll rates for bad roads, when users do not get requisite quality of service.

Going by international practice, concepts such as ‘traffic trigger’ and ‘re-equilibrium discount’ could be examined to see whether they can be applied to address some of the problems of the Indian road sector, said the Survey.

“The ‘re-equilibrium discount’ is used to reduce tar i f f when performance parameters are not being met. A table of discounts is pre-defined in the contract. The discounts represent the resources that are not invested as a result of a failure to meet performance parameters.” In India’s toll roads, such concerns have usually been addressed by political interference or by legal interventions.

The survey has also commented on the need to look at the level of tolls being levied. “…toll should have correlation with users’ capacity to pay as well as reasonable payback for the financing entities,” it said. A

Highways Authority of India. Part of NH-77 connects Hajipur (Patna) to Muzaffarpur.

The first quarter of FY15 has witnessed a 10-times rise in the amount of capital raised through QiPs. The QiPs of two other infrastructure companies, GMR Infrastructure and JP Associates, hit the capital market earlier this week, raising around Rs 3,300 crore.

The amount of capital raised through QiPs in Q1FY15 stood at Rs 12,151 crore against Rs 1,222 crore in the corresponding period last year, according to Prime Database. The total capital raised through institutional placements (QiP + IPP) in June quarter stood at Rs 12,569 crore.

‘traffic trigger’ clause in the contract implies that if a certain volume of identified traffic is reached, the developer is obligated to increase the roadway’s capacity in order to maintain a minimum level of service for users.

The survey also stresses on the need to have a regulatory body in the highways sector. An independent organizat ion wi th specialized expertise in contracting is required, it said. At a time when the Roads Ministry is considering a proposal to allow developers to exit the road sector, the Economic Survey has reiterated the need to allow developers to exit road projects.

At present, there are limits on the extent to which road developers can exit projects. This issue had been flagged by the earlier Economic Survey as well. “Of late, financing of road projects has also run into difficulty as leveraged companies implementing road projects are unable to raise more debt in the absence of fresh equity. In the current market conditions, these firms are unable to raise new equity,” stated the survey.

powers to change bidding documents if the projects are stuck midway,” said a senior NHAI official. The NHAI has already forwarded the proposal to the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways for approval.

At present, road projects worth Rs 60,000 crore are awaiting completion. “The purpose is to create space to make adjustments in the project costs due to delays that happen at various clearances level (forests and environmental permits, land acquisitions) and steeply increase project costs,” said the official.

Due to the economic slowdown in the past couple of years, awarding of contracts for national highways has slowed down. Besides, issues related to environment and forest clearances,

and land acquisitions have been major impediments in the completion of Rs 60,000 crore worth of highway projects.

Many road projects were halted as developers were cash strapped and lenders were shy of putting in money in the sector, forcing the government to allow them to reschedule the payment of premiums.

“Highways Minister (Nitin Gadkari) is also keen that that we make provisions for making changes to the contract rules to ensure that projects are not stuck in red tape. He had said that there was a need to add provisions which allow changes in the MCA if the nature of the project requires it for any valid reasons,” said a senior official of the Road Ministry.

more are in the offing. In all these cases, we are looking to buy more than 51 per cent to take management control with an investment horizon of six years. We expect to close these transactions by the end of this fiscal,” said Parvez Umrigar, co-head, structured investment group, Piramal Enterprises.

T h r e e H y d e r a b a d - b a s e d companies--NCC, Gayatri Projects and IVRCL--are already negotiating with potential buyers to sell road assets to retire debt and infuse money into fresh projects. Around 200 road projects wi th equi ty investments of Rs 60,000 crore are up for sale as promoters face

liquidity problems after the economic downturn squeezed toll collections significantly.

The value of total roads and bridge infrastructure is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 17.4 per cent to reach $ 19 million by 2017, according to a report on the road sector by India Brand Equity Foundation.

Around 189 projects out of a total 332 projects, with an outlay of Rs 27,209 crore, are stuck in various disputes. The money involved in disagreements between private road developers and the NHAI has more than doubled to Rs 27,201 crore from Rs 11,000 crore in 2011.

The Cabinet Commit tee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved four- and six-laning of highways covering over 676 kilometres in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh at a total cost of about Rs 13,987 crore.

“The CCEA has app roved development of four-laning of the Kazahakkottum-Mukkola section of NH-47 in Kerala at an approximate cost of Rs 587.49 crore and the length

Centre okays expansion of highways in five states

is 26.79 km,” according to sources. The 95.38-km long Ambala-Kaithal section (four-laning) of NH 65 in Haryana will be undertaken at a cost of about Rs 1,176.48 crore.

Likewise, four-laning of Yadgiri-Warangal section of NH-163 in Andhra Pradesh will be done. After the completion of this phase, the Hyderabad and Warangal stretch covering a total length of 99.10 km will be developed into four-lane at a cost

of around Rs 1,487.95 crore.Four-laning of Sultanpur-Varanasi

section of NH-56 in Uttar Pradesh, spreading over 146.22 km, will also be completed at a cost of about Rs 1,975.83 crore. The CCEA also approved four-laning of 159.30-km long Bikaner-Falodi section of NH-15 in Rajasthan at an estimated cost of Rs 903.40 crore.

On the Delhi-Meerut expressway, construction of connected roads would be undertaken.

There will be six- to eight-laning of NH-24 (Hapur bypass), six-laning of NH-58 (Delhi-UP border), six-laning of NH-235 (Delhi-UP).

Ajay Piramal Group set to buy six road projects

July 14-20, 2014 5coNstRUctioN

The occurrence of building collapse of occupied and

underconstruction buildings should

prevented at all cost and durability should be the

buzz-word

A case for durable buildings

On Saturday, June 28, 2014 a four-storey building collapsed in Inderlok area of Delhi, killing 10 occupants. On the same day an 11-storey building, under construction in Chennai collapsed. The tragedy left over 60 workers dead, and 40 were trapped.

One evening seven years ago, on July 18, 2007, a wing of Lakshmi Chhaya housing society at Borivli in Mumbai came down crashing like a pack of cards, killing many innocent lives. The list of building collapses over the years can be very long.

What was the fault of occupants and workers who lost their lives in the above instances and many other similar mishaps across the country? Because of someone else’s irresponsibility the properties were destroyed and people lost their precious lives. The above unfortunate incidents caught the attention of the respective state governments – Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. It was too late, however.

There are other incidents where people are killed due to collapse

to construct bui ldings that are earthquake-resistant.

Again, on July 26, 2005 and on June 30, 2007 ground floors of many buildings in many suburbs of Mumbai were flooded due to continuous heavy downpour. Underground tanks, including pumps, were submerged in contaminated water. It took a few days to restore water supply.

Now there is another cause for alarm – we are told that the level of sea water is going to rise, eventually inundating regions near the coast.

All the above points need to be considered and a policy framed for buildings, but the most important fact

This necessitates early restoration of structures. Many a time this is delayed. Even if it is taken up, it is not done in totality and as per the latest scientific methods.

The second major cause is misuse of the building and RCC members for which they are not designed.

The third major cause is our indifferent attitude to housekeeping and regular maintenance of buildings.

The fou r th ma jo r cause i s indiscriminate renovations.

The fifth major cause is violation of instructions, precautions by owners and builders of the neighbouring plot.

The following are a few suggestions for consideration of all concerned.

New costructions Buildings (all new structures) must

be built durable. My simple and straightforward definition of durable building is this – buildings in which there is no leakage, seepage or dampness and ducts (where plumbing lines are housed) are accessible easily for a life time of the building for inspection, regular maintenance, repairs and replacement when required.

Every construction should have a durability consultant to co-ordinate with the architect, designer, civil engineer, contractor and other specialized agencies like plumbing, electrical, etc. Durability parameters need to be included in the tender document itself. This ensures proper implementation.

Financial institutions should not approve loan to a new project unless durability parameters are included in the project report.

From decades codes are available for design of buildings to cater to forces generated by earthquakes. The BIS code is mandatory. Even then the Government of Maharashtra thought to bring in a legislation that every building should be designed for earthquake impacts.

The Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Prithviraj Chavan, has declared Draft

State Housing Policy. Let us request him to include a clause in the state housing policy, making it obligatory on the part of builders to construct durable buildings.

It is high time something is done to in-built durability into every new construction.

Should there be a separate institution to monitor durability parameters for every project? Should there be a legislation to specify durability parameters in every project?

In any case, something has to be done urgently on a war footing as we cannot afford constructions which are not durable -- requiring heavy funds for repairs during the lifetime of buildings.

Upgrading buildingsAfter the collapse of Pushpanjali

building in Khar, Mumbai, many years ago, corporators in Mumbai demanded to set up independent ‘Repair Board’ for repairs of buildings in suburbs as suggested by the then Afzulpurkar Committee of the Maharashtra government. It is felt that the idea of setting up an independent ‘Repair Board’ is good. Such a board can take up various aspects connected with astronomically increasing repair work.

Structural audit: Now all buildings are to have structural audit. This will require a large fleet of civil engineers. However, We must not insist for engineers registered with MCGM. Civil engineers who are members of any civil engineering institution, such as the Institution of Engineers, ACI, ICI, ISSE, etc be roped in for this job.

Renovation: Housing societies must ensure that none of the RCC frame members such as columns, beams, slabs are touched. All changes must be done with permission of a civil enginner.

MCGM/Repair Board Permission: This should be made simple. In fact if socities are going in for upgrading their buildings, they should be given incentivies.

Drinking water supply to flats: At times there is no water supply for a day or two. Hence loft tanks should be made compulsory and slab on which they are placed should be designed accordingly.

Jayakumar Jivraj shah Civil Engineer and expert in durability, repairs, waterproofing

How to avert building collapseThe col lapse of s t ructures,

including buildings, may result in death or serious injuries to occupants, labourers, employees and general public. There have been numerous incidents where structures have collapsed. This has been due to:

Rough, stormy inclement weather, especially strong wind; the foundations or temporary supports of the structure being undermined; lateral supports of the structure being removed; the structure receiving a heavy impact, or any combination of these and other factors.

Control measuresDuty holders should monitor the

structures under their management and control for adequate stability to ensure employees and members of the public are not put at risk from structural collapse.

Structures should be able to resist extreme weather including high winds and surface water or run-off. They should be capable of withstanding dynamic forces and have solid foundations.

If unstable or likely to become unstable, a suitable large exclusion zone should be established around the structure until rectification works are completed.

Tempora r y b rac ing shou ld be considered if the structure is incomplete or works may affect stability. Where lateral support from piers, cross-walls, floors and roof framework is missing or being altered, temporary bracing should also be used.

Temporary bracing or other stability controls should be designed by a competent person who is experienced in such works eg professional engineer.

To ensure work will not compromise stability, a competent person should be consulted before adding or making changes to or undertaking any structural work on the structure, or before excavating near the structure.

Temporary bracing checkA competent person should inspect

the temporary bracing arrangements and verify in writing the stability of

the structure when the bracing is first installed.

A competent person should regularly assess the stability of the structure while temporary bracing is required. Inspections should be done at regular intervals, based on a risk assessment that takes into account the structure’s condition, environmental factors and length of time the bracing has been in place.

In addition, an inspection should occur as soon as possible after an extreme weather event or other incident that could affect stability.

No part altered or removedDuty holders should ensure no

part of the structure that provides structural support, including temporary bracing, is altered or removed unless specifically approved in writing from a competent person. If the competent person requires additional bracing to be installed to ensure stability, the changes should be made in the sequence specified by the competent person

Credai to cull safety, quality manual for

buildingsThe Confederation of Real Estate

Developers Association of India (Credai) will compile a safety and quality manual to ensure structural stability of buildings and work with state government to incorporate i t in to const ruct ion c learance procedures.

The apex body of real estate developers has initiated this process after an 11-floor building under

construction in suburban Porur near Chennai collapsed claiming over 60 lives.

Ajit Chordia, President, Credai-Chennai, said that the industry body has constituted an eight-member expert team to suggest the standard operating procedures to be incorporated in the manual. This will be obligatory for Credai members and be part of the clearance process.

of just a compound wall or when the earth caved in and people are buried alive.

A few years back there was a severe earthquake in Gujarat and in Latur, Maharashtra when hundreds of buildings collapsed and thousands of lives were lost. However, it should be noted that people died not because of the earthquake, but because the buildings collapsed.

Af terwards, the government decided to bring in a legislation

is that there has to be an agency to implement them.

Root causesLet take a look at the root causes

for building collapse. The first major cause is seepage

and dampness in buildings. However, these days many buildings are not properly planned, designed and built so that there is no leakage. Water corrodes reinforcement in the RCC frame members, deteriorating the same and reducing their life.

July 14-20, 2014 6

UK must invest in B’luru-Mumbai economic corridor: Hindujas

The Hinduja brothers, have called on Brit ish Prime Minister David Cameron to invest in India’s ambitious Bengaluru-Mumbai economic corridor (BMEC) to be the best link between the two countries.

Speaking about the ongoing high-profile India visit of two of Britain’s most senior ministers — Foreign Secretary W i l l iam Hague and Chancellor the Exchequer George Osborne — Gopichand and Srichand Hinduja believe that an investment in the mega infrastructure project would undoubtedly boost Britain’s economic ties with India.

“The Prime Minister has visited two

or three times which is a good sign of his intentions, and his new counterpart has a great vision to build India,” stated Gopichand Hinduja.

The Mumbai-Bengaluru industrial corridor could be the spark for a new economic partnership which could finally deliver the returns Cameron has hoped for, he said.

“By deputing his chancel lor (chancellor the exchequer) and foreign secretary gives a further good signal the Mumbai-Bengaluru industrial corridor would be the best link between the countries, but they have to take a financial package with them,” he said.

“Even if Britain does not have funding like Japan, London is a financial centre, they can at least create a fund. They should go with something concrete ... Mr (Narendra) Modi is looking for foreign funding and our interest is that India-UK trade and industry grows,” he added.

The Indian government hopes to generate more than $50 billion in investment and 2.5 million jobs with the project and Britain is working with it on feasibility studies. The corridor will connect India’s financial and IT capitals with Pune, Belgaum, Dharwad and other growing towns in between.

The Asian Development Bank has made financial commitment of $350 million in loan and equity investment for two energy projects in India.

“The ADB has approved a multi-tranche loan facility of $300 million to help India’s Assam state continue its drive to eliminate power sector inefficiencies that are hurting consumers and the economy,” the multilateral lending agency said in release recently.

In an equity investment of $50 million in a renewable energy company ReNew Power Ventures Private Ltd, it would help India meet clean energy targets.

“The ADB has made an equity investment of $50 mil l ion in a leading Indian renewable energy company ReNew Power Ventures Private Limited, underscoring ADB’s commitment to help India meet its clean energy targets,” it said in a

separate release. The three tranches $300 million

loan facility will fund generation and

distribution upgrades as well as contribution of a 120-megawatt hydro power plant.

PRoJects UPdAte

ADB clears $350 m funding for 2 projects in India

Govt mulls greenfield airports within 150 km of

existing ones Operators developing greenfield

airports (bui l t f rom scratch on undeveloped land) are likely to face increased competition with the Ministry of Civil Aviation considering tweaking the norms to allow such airports to be developed within 150-km radii of existing ones.

According to norms in the ‘policy on airport infrastructure of India’, the government will approve the establishment of greenfield airports in

places where an existing one is unable to meet the projected requirements of traffic or in case a “new focal point of traffic emerges with sufficient viability”. This could either be as a replacement for an existing airport, or for simultaneous operations.

The current policy states, “No greenfield airport will normally be allowed within an aerial distance of 150 km of an existing airport. Where it is allowed as a second airport in

the same city or close vicinity, the parameters for distribution of traffic between the two airports will be clearly spelt out.”

A senior ministry official said, “In the case of existing airports that are operated by private players, we will honour the concession agreement. If there is a need to develop a second airport within a 150-km radius, we will take the stakeholders into confidence and look at ways to resolve the issue.”

Navi Mumbai Metro project may become operational by 2017

Adani’s AUS$16.5 b mine, rail project awaiting final nod

`1 lakh cr funds for highways in a year: Gadkari

The first phase of the ambitious 23.4-km Belapur CBD to Khandeshwar Metro project in the neighbouring Navi Mumbai is now expected to begin operations only by 2017 after missing the original deadline of 2014.

The project deadline is extended as the implementing body, Cidco, has decided to increase the width of the coaches so as to align with the Mumbai Metro.

Accordingly, the first phase of the over Rs 2,500 crore 11.1-km corridor from Belapur CBD to Pendhar has missed the deadline of 2014 and will hopefully be launched by 2017 as Cidco has to give time to its rolling stock vendor, Ansaldo to rework the coaches.

The proposed AUS$16.5 billion mine and rai l project of Indian mining major Adani Mining Pty Ltd in Queensland is awaiting the final nod from Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt and is expected to be taken by August 1 this year.

The Carmichael mega-mine project, which was subject to 190 conditions at the time when Adani launched the proposal, was approved by the Queensland’s co-ordinator general two months ago, paving the way for Adani to develop one of the biggest coal mines (in the Galilee Basin) in the world.

T h e p r o j e c t includes a 300 km rail line connecting Adani’s planned Carmichael Coal Mine, Northwest of Clermont, to the Abbot Point Coal port, near the Great

The Narendra Modi-led government will initiate measures to turn-around the highways sector in two years’ time by garnering funds to the tune of Rs 1 lakh crore in a year, said Road Transport & Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari.

“I will prepare a blue print for road sector reforms in a month. I will arrange funds to the tune of Rs 1 lakh crore in a year... The results will be out in two years,” stated Gadkari.

His statement comes a day after the new government in a White Paper blamed the previous regime’s policies

“We had to make certain changes in the original structural plan. We have decided to increases the rail car width to 3.2 metres from the original plan of the 2.9 metre keeping in mind that in future the Mumbai Metro, which uses the standard gauge rolling stocks, may be integrated with our metro. This resulted in a delay as we had to rework on our plan,” said a senior Cidco official.

On the construction side, he said that 73 per cent of the civil work of the viaduct is completed, while nearly 55-60 per cent work on the 11 stations, proposed on the corridor, is still pending. Besides, 15-20 per cent of the civil work of the metro depot at Taloja is also completed.

Barrier Reef.Adan i in a s ta tement sa id ,

“After receiving the Queensland Coordinator General’s approval on May 8, Adani’s Carmichael Coal Mine was deemed a prescribed project by the Queensland Minister for State Development & Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney, another step towards the project’s timely commencement.”

such as awarding of projects without proper land acquisition for the poor performance of road sector wherein about 60 per cent of the NHAI’s scheme are embroiled in disputes.

Gadkari said that “good days” were on the anvil for the people of India as the new government has understood the problems of the nation, including impediments faced by the highways sector and was working hard to solve it.

He said the contractors working in the highways sector will have their payments within a month.

July 14-20, 2014 7iNFRAstRUctURe

Lifts or elevators have boosted the growth of the construction

industry with which the lift industry’s fortunes are closely bonded

Vertical headway

The late 19th century saw a whole new dimension added to transportation – vertical transportation and since then vertical transportation has become a part and parcel o f modern u rban commut ing experience.

Getting to office therefore is often not only about commuting from point A to point B by bus, train, etc but also taking the elevator to the final destination to cover the last lap in the race to beat the clock.

But the woes of commuting apart, to which lifts make at worst only a marginal contribution, the rise and rise of lifts has continues to drive the upward growth of human civilization.

Boost to construction industry

Lifts or elevators as they are called in the US have not only spawned an entire industry by themselves, but have also boosted the growth of the construction industry with which the lift industry’s fortunes are closely bonded.

Lifts have indeed come a long way from the cage-like structures that trundled up and down in their shafts, tucked away in some dark corners of buildings at one time, to their sleek, almost chic avatars that glide up and down in swank malls and shopping arcades.

Lifts today come in a variety of shapes, sizes and technological sophistication from the unpretentious strictly functional contraptions one f inds in mid-market residential complexes to those that not only serve the basic purpose of vertical transportation, but also make a statement while doing so.

Whatever the end application, there are no free lunches, there is a cost to everything and lifts are no exception.

Maintenance programmeThe tightening economy is forcing

many, whether they are faci l i ty executives or the management committee of residential societies to cut costs, to ensure continued running of lifts which is always a high priority.

This can often be successfully a c h i e v e d b y d r a w i n g u p a c o m p r e h e n s i v e p r e v e n t i v e maintenance programme.

Lifts are, in the final analysis, e l e c t r o - m e c h a n i c a l d e v i c e s and require ongoing consistent maintenance to offer a level of safety and operational efficiency.

In many countries it is mandatory for the building/facil i ty owners/managers to have an ongoing maintenance programme under relevant building codes.

Test performanceThe starting point, of course,

should be to regularly test the performance of l i f ts. A fair ly good idea of this can be had from keeping note of the wait times of the user’s experience after pushing an elevator’s button.

In most buildings, w a i t t i m e s a r e expected to be about 20 to 30 seconds from the time a button is activated.

Another attribute that should be checked is how the lift comes to a stop. The car should stop level or within a quarter-inch of the floor so that the risk of tripping as users enter or leave the elevator is minimized.

Lifts in most upmarket facilities have phones which also should be checked to ensure they are in working order and that they connect to the monitoring entity.

Smooth and slow paceThe operation of the doors should

be smooth and these should not open and close so quickly as to create a fear in the minds of the occupants that they might be caught between the closing doors if they move too slowly when exiting and entering the elevator.

Though there is at times pressure on facility managers to increase the operating speed of the doors, to reduce trip times, occupants mostly prefer a slightly slower pace.

Facility executives should also check out the callout rate, or the number of unplanned service outages during a set time period.

This is often expressed either as the number of calls experienced during a quarter or year, or as the ‘mean time between call outs’.

So, in case an elevator requires maintenance about once each quarter, the mean time between failure would be 90 days.

Technical causeI t is often required for those

charged with the maintenance of the lift to separate service calls into those that are controllable arise from

a technical cause, and those that cannot be controlled from an elevator maintenance perspective.

The second group includes calls due to mishandling or inappropriate elevator use, such as a call to repair a door that was knocked off track due to abuse by tenants.

It is a rule of the thumb that those tasked with the maintenance of the facility should reduce the rate of

Preventive maintenance comprises scheduled

appointments during w h i c h e l e v a t o r t e c h n i c i a n s c a n check whether the elevator is running as it should be.

C a l l - b a c k m a i n t e n a n c e ,

o c c u r s w h e n t h e building engineer or

facility executive calls the elevator company to report

elevator malfunction. While the technicians focus

on investigating and resolving the immediate problem and getting the lift back in service again, the possibility of a deeper underlying issue with the system should not be ignored.

Service pacts There was a time when most

elevator maintenance was handled by companies that actually manufactured elevators.

However, the picture is different today with companies offering service contracts entering the marketplace, adding competition.

While this opens up options for facil i ty executives, what should not be lost sight of is whether the stakeholder is getting the bang for his buck.

It generally makes more sense to go with the manufacturer’s service agreement even if this comes with a small premium.

Given that the company’s expertise in building the elevator, its employees can be expected to be experts.

As regards the length of the contract period, though this is best left to the concerned parties, before signing on the dotted l ine past experience can be an excellent guide.

Referrals may also come in handy where there is no first-hand experience. Generally a longer term contract may be taken a sign that the company is serious about the business.

The company would be more likely to make the required investments in people and equipment.

Experts point out that the contract should be tailored to equipment type, age and usage, rather than simply follow a generic maintenance plan.

The exact maintenance schedule would however depend on the type of lift as also its age and the level of use it experiences. Maintenance requirements may differ across towns and cities as per stipulations of local municipal authorities which might range from annual, or even quarterly or monthly testing.

Provider service needs As part of its services, the providers

should develop and maintain a database that identifying all the elevator equipment, along with their age, condition, usage patterns and maintenance records.

Providers would do well to assign a team to each building, so that the facilities team knows who to call when problems occur.

It is imperative on the part of the facilities executive to understand how the contract sets the boundaries of elevator maintenance, and where it expects building maintenance to start. For example, the contract might call for facility executives keeping the machine room door locked, so to block unauthorized entry and potential disruption/tampering with the controls.

Safety factorElevator systems today incorporate

a variety of features designed to offer accident proof operation to the extent possible and users get a quick, dependable ride.

It should be the endeavour of all concerned to strictly follow the manufacturers’ guidel ines and directions to ensure that this critical piece of equipment functions to the highest level of safety at all times.

Lifts today incorporate safety brakes along with a speed-sensing governor that acts to stop an elevator in case it over speeds during descending.

Elevators today make use of sensors to detect passengers or objects in the door opening, preventing the continued closing of the doors. More sophisticated systems use light rays for detecting people or objects in the doorway and reverse or stop the doors without requiring physical contact.

Hoistway doors are interlocked in such a manner as to render the elevator non-operable unless the doors are fully closed and secured. In case of forced opening of the doors, the interlock circuit is broken, causing the elevator to immediately stop.

Switches installed in the elevator shaft detect the presence of the car at different stages during its movement and trigger slowdowns or stops at the proper points, and help prevent further travel in the up or down direction.

Elevator cabs have several items installed to help increase safety. An emergency alarm switch can be activated by passengers in an emergency.

Many elevators feature emergency telephone or intercom to serve a link to assistance in case of stalling of the car.

Further in the event of a power failure, emergency lighting systems kick in to provide illumination for hours if needed.

Some systems a lso ensure availability of emergency power to permit movement of the elevator and evacuation of the passengers.

Vivek dev Electrical Engineer and freelance writer

controllable outages to about one call per quarter.

This by no way means that facility executives can ignore the manner in which tenants use (or abuse) the lift.

For instance, acts like use of the lift for heavy equipment beyond the stated service weight, marking or denting of the sides, of the lifts should warrant prompt action on the part of facility executives.

This could call for posting signs, or talking with the concerned authorities as per discretion.

Frequent service calls for the same lift/elevator should be taken as a pointer to deeper malfunction and should be raised with the service company.

Also, increasing wait times that should be a good enough reason for a proper in-depth investigation.

There could be many reasons ranging from a large tenant changing work hours, affecting traffic flow in the building to problems with the elevator controls.

Lift performanceWhile keeping a watch on lift

performance is cr i t ical , proper main tenance usua l l y requ i res professional assistance.

According to experts a strong focus on preventive maintenance pays off much better in the long rather than call-back maintenance.

July 14-20, 2014 8

Cidco to build 3,000 low-cost houses for poor

The City & Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) plans to develop over 3,000 affordable houses for lower income groups and economically weaker sect ions. “To ful f i l l the objective of shelter for all, Cidco has decided to develop the houses for economically weaker sections and lower income groups,” said Cidco Chairman Pramod Hindurao in an official statement.

The yet-to-be-named affordable scheme, slated to be completed by March 2016, would have 2,590 houses for the lower income group segment and 704 flats for the marginalised.

ReAL estAte

The scheme is set to be launched on July 22 and application forms along with an information booklet, which costs Rs 50, would be available on the same day for a month.

“To make it more feasible to buy a home in the scheme, the applicant has been given the facility to pay the amount in six equal installments,” he said.

A flat meant for economically weaker sections of around 28.55 square metres would cost Rs 15.78 lakh, while lower income group flat of 34.36 square metres would cost Rs 23.93 lakh.

Indian real estate’s long-term potential is wholeheartedly acknowledged by

investors across the globe. Investor interest

is expected to grow multi-fold in future

Investment sale route

Real estate is a business that requires regular funding, be it at the acquisition or execution stage. To raise funds, developers in India opt for modes like joint venture, pre-sale and construction finance. Construction finance can work out cheaper but is difficult to obtain because of the strict guidelines laid down by the Reserve Bank of India. Other routes are relatively easier but cut into a developer’s profits, since they involve sharing approval as well as execution and marketing risk for the project.

C o n s i d e r i n g t h e t i m e a n d complexity involved in the approval processes in India, coupled with delays in execution due to various reasons, a new option is becoming popular among developers and inves to rs . Th is op t ion i s the investment sale route.

In this mode, investors acquire a stake in partially or fully-leased properties rather than entering at early stage of construction. This eliminates the execution risk for investor and provides regular rental income along with possibilities of capital appreciation, and developers enjoy better valuations for their properties.

Distinct advantage Since the objective is to hold

the property for a longer term to earn regular rental income while retaining an option to exit later, the quality of development as well as the project’s tenants become very important. This puts commercial

Modi government is likely to remove most of policy roadblocks that prevent the velocity of

the housing sector

What Govt can do for real estate

The dust has sett led on the elections drama and the BJP is now firmly in the driver’s seat. By and large, this is being seen as the best possible news for the Indian real estate sector - and rightly so. Narendra Modi has the business mind-set, background and also determination which are called for to bring India’s entire economy back on track. What the real estate sector now awaits is his policy approach to the issue of housing in India.

Now, as the country stands poised on the verge of a major change in economic climate, it is a good time to reflect on why boosting the housing sector is so important for the country. Economists typically measure economic health on various different parameters, including Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the momentum of the manufacturing sector, inflation rate, etc. However, in India, the appetite for home ownership can and must be included as an important variable.

Forward momentumThe heal th of the economy

influences people’s desire to either

invest or hold on to their money. Since real estate is an investable asset class, forward momentum in the real estate sector depends heavily on economic climate.

In fact, real estate is also a priority investment route in India, because the desire to own homes is extremely high in this country. It is also an extremely important vertical from an economic viewpoint, because the transacting of real estate generates massive revenue for the government. This revenue can, in turn, be used for the creation of infrastructure, reducing national debt and generally uplifting the country.

These aspects are extremely important from the point of view of the country’s ability to attract more investments from abroad. The Modi government is quite aware of this fact, and - in the interest of overall economic growth - is likely to remove all or most of the policy roadblocks that have been prevent ing the velocity of the housing sector in India.

This process will involve better incentives towards first-time home ownership, quicker approvals for residential projects, a sharp focus on the creation of affordable housing, boosting rental housing schemes, unlocking government-held land for development, putting infrastructure

properties at a distinct advantage, since a commercial lease transaction is, in most cases, an agreement with a corporate for a longer tenure of between 3 - 9 years.

A residential lease arrangement, on the other hand, is with an individual and invariably for a shorter term that usually does not exceed 11 months. Also, while office or retail assets provide higher yields of 10-12%, the yield for residential properties rarely exceeds 3-5%. Hence, residential - while indubitably the most popular asset class in India - is not preferred for investment sales transactions.

Long-term potential Real estate in India is currently

at an interesting juncture. While it remains impacted by an uninspiring economic scenario that is likely to prevail for some time to come, Indian real estate’s long-term potential is wholeheartedly acknowledged by investors across the globe. With the government taking active steps to

improve transparency in the sector, investor interest is expected to grow multi-fold in the future.

The Ind ian o f f ice sector in the top seven cities is currently valued at around USD 72 billion. Completed office space accounts for approximately USD 45 billion, while under-construction stock accounts for USD 27 billion. In terms of area, completed A Grade office stock in the top seven cities is as high as 376 million square feet and is highly concentrated in Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and the NCR region, which together constitute more than 80% of the total area.

Out of this A Grade office stock, nearly 45% is FDI compliant which, combined with higher rental yields, has made India an automatic choice for global investors.

Weak currency The country’s weakening domestic

currency has made investment in India all the more lucrative. If an investment of $1 fetched a foreign investor an asset worth INR 49 two years back, it fetches an asset worth of INR 59 today. While this is a double-edged sword, the advantages of a good entry point can certainly not

be ignored. If the REIT commences in India, it will also provide easier exit with better valuation.

Uncertainty While India offers interesting

i nves tmen t sa le op t ions , the challenges it presents remain. The restriction on investments into specific asset classes, ever-changing policies on FDI, taxation and development, coupled with a lack of transparency in the system and high amount of friction in approval mechanisms, have led to an uncertainty in yields and tenure of lock-in for investments in real estate. This has affected investor sentiment and as a result, FDI in real estate and infrastructure in India dropped considerably from $5.8 billion in FY10 to USD 1.3 billion in FY13.

Foreign investmentThe new government at the Centre

and its various ministries have been distributed with focus on ‘minimum government, maximum governance’. By giving high importance to good governance and development in his mandate, India’s new Prime Minister has made it clear that he will go the extra mile to encourage foreign investment into the country and, in turn, improve the country’s business environment and prospects.

With massive real estate stock available at high rental yields, India’s excellent investment opportunity will multiply exponentially. If FDI regulat ions are re laxed going forward, investment sales as a market vertical will grow substantially in years to come.

creation on the fast lane, and many more initiatives that the previous government had failed to address.

Tangible benefitsAt the citizen level, these changes

are going to bring very tangible positive benefits. With the increased viability of home ownership, more and more people will finally be able to live in self-owned rather than rented homes. Home ownership is not only a matter of pride and financial security,

but is also an important fulcrum for social change.

People who live in self-owned homes are more responsible citizens - they are personally invested into their neighbourhoods, become actively involved in maintaining law and order and generally see themselves as stakeholders rather than detached audience members. Such citizens tend to join hands with the government as agents of even greater change at all levels.

The effect that the policies and actions of a government which is dedicated to boosting the economy with real estate as an important card in the deck can have at a city, state and finally national level must not be under-estimated. We are now looking at the real possibility of a revival in the

economy, the infrastructure, home ownership and interest by foreign companies who have been waiting to invest into India.

Apart from an increase in national pride, this can result in significantly reduced loss of valuable talent to other countries, meaning a sustained growth in home sales within the country. The increased attractiveness of real estate as an investment class will also result in a major revival of the second homes market.

The statement said that applicants would have to pay a refundable deposit. They would have to deposit Rs 25,000 for the economically weaker section flat and Rs 50,000 for the lower income group flat.

Monthly income of the applicant for the economically weaker section applicants should be under Rs 16,000 and the lower income group applicant should earn between Rs 16,001 and Rs 40,000.

“We have also decided to give special reservation for Navi Mumbai project affected people. Cidco is committed to provide quality houses at affordable prices. To make the dream of owning a house a reality for economically weaker sections like housemaids and autorickshaw drivers, the ‘Nano’ housing scheme is in the pipeline,” he said.

Arvind Jain Managing Director, Pride Group

shobhit Agarwal Managing Director, Capital Markets, JLL India

July 14-20, 2014 9

SDLG celebrates 10th year in Russia

Caterpillar India launches new backhoe loader

Shandong Lingong Construction Machinery Co Ltd is celebrating its 10th anniversary of doing business in the Russian market. To mark the special occasion, the company invited Moscow municipal government officials, the China Construction Machinery Association and related industry bodies to toast a long and

Caterpillar India announced the launch of its new backhoe loader at the Chennai Trade Centre. Over the past few years, the Cat 424B Backhoe Loader designed for the India market and customer requirements has been recognized as the best in class performance, productivity and durability. In this new product, further design improvements have been made in the machine to deliver significant improvement in fuel consumption.

“We continue to invest and improve on our 424B to better serve our customers in India which continues to be the largest backhoe market in the world. Fuel cost represents nearly 50 per cent of the operating cost for customers here. Imagine what a 20 per cent reduction in fuel consumption will deliver to the bottom line,” said Silvana Godelaine, World Wide General Manager for Caterpillar Backhoe Products. While Ramesh Tipirneni, Country Manager, Caterpillar India said, “We are the global leader in the construction equipment and mining products and have developed wor ld c lass R&D and product development center and factory operations here in India. We have been actively leveraging our capability in India to support our global business.”

eQUiPmeNt

New Secretary General at CECE

The Committee for European Construction Equipment (Cece) industry has hired a new Secretary General as of the first of July. It secured the commitment of Sigrid de Vries, partner in the public relations agency Quick Communications, to represent the sector towards the EU institutions and manage the association’s Brussels office.

The new Secretary Genera l succeeds Ralf Wezel who leaves after a 12-year tenure with Cece in order to undertake new responsibilities within the industry association VDMA in Frankfurt.

Eric Lepine, President of Cece and Managing Director of Caterpillar France SAS, welcomed the new Secretary General to Cece. “I firmly believe Sigrid will do an excellent job. She has a strong management experience and a very solid knowledge of both our industry and the Brussels’ political environment. I am looking forward to working with her.”

Lepine thanked Wezel for his commitment, adding, “Ralf has strengthened the role and influence of Cece throughout his time with the association. We wish him all the best in his new challenge.”

Eric Lepine, CECE President (left) with Sigrid de Vries, New Secretary General (right)

successful partnership at Crocus Expo International Exhibition Centre in Moscow.

Since ramping up investment in infrastructure over the past few years, Russia has seen an influx of construction equipment manufacturers all vying for a piece of the action. However, one Chinese manufacturer

On the occasion, H Jayaram, Managing Director & CEO of GMMCO Ltd, Caterpillar dealer for South, West and Central India commented, “We at GMMCO are extremely happy that the new backhoe loader with product improvements will further help customers in reducing the cost of operation. GMMCO with its best-in-class product support capabilities will be able to significantly help our valued customers improve their productivity and profitability. The wide network of GMMCO branches with experienced technical personnel and parts back up will help us in positioning CAT 424 as the first choice of customers, thereby

– Shandong Lingong Construction Machinery Co Ltd (known as Lingong) – has shown that longevity and strong relationships are the keys to success in this market.

Lingong’s well-known and trusted SDLG-branded equipment was first introduced into the Russian market 10 years ago, and since then the

significantly growing the sales of Cat 424 Backhoe Loaders in our market.”

Furthermore, Sunil Chaturvedi, Managing Director & CEO of Tractors India Pvt Ltd (TIPL) Caterpillar dealer for northern and eastern India, said, “The expectations of Indian customers have transformed with time. Customers expect much more than a product – and we at TIPL are fully geared to provide extraordinary customer experience and serve as a one-stop-shop for all the customer needs. I am confident that the new 424B will scale very high on customer satisfaction levels.”

Amit Bansal, Head of Marketing

The appointment of the new Secretary General was taken by the Cece Steering Group and confirmed by the association’s Presidents’ Committee in May 2014.

De Vr ies commented, “The construction equipment industry forms an important part of the machinery manufacturing sector in Europe, and EU legislation has a direct impact on its abil ity to stay competitive. I look forward to promote the interests of this industry towards the European Institutions and work together with the Cece members, partner associat ions

and other stakeholders to achieve common goals.”

Sigrid de Vries, a Dutch national, is an experienced EU governmental a f f a i r s a n d c o m m u n i c a t i o n s professional, who served many

company has gone from strength to strength, becoming the country’s largest importer of wheel loaders.

At the 10th anniversary celebration held in Moscow on June 4, 2014, Lingong’s CEO, Yu Mengsheng, said, “Dealing with overseas markets can pose challenges, not to mention dealing with a country as vast as Russia. But over the past 10 years, we have grown from the ground up to achieve the number 1 position for wheel loaders. This is thanks to the support of our loyal customers and dealers who have helped us create a mature parts-supply network. With more than 30 sales and service centres throughout Russia, we are well positioned and committed to serve this market through continuous proven technology and improved aftermarket support. We are not only here to grow, we are here to stay.”

“The market has picked up gradually after a sluggish winter and we are seeing increased demand for construction machinery in the housing sector,” Yu continued. “We have plans to bring new equipment to the country -- and since 2013, we have successfully introduced our backhoe loaders, compact equipment and excavators – and as a result, we’ve seen rapid growth in the number of

(L-R) Vivek Chandrashekaran, Sales & Marketing Director, Asia Region, Building Construction Products, Caterpillar; Ramesh Tipirneni, Country Manager, Caterpillar India; and H Jayaram, MD & CEO, GMMCO Ltd

India CE market to grow 18.5 pc CAGR during 2012-16

& Sales Caterpillar India Building Construction Products Division, added, “My team is so excited to have this new and improved product in the market. Our customers will be absolutely delighted. At this launch we are also pleased to announce attractive offers to our customers who book now and take delivery shortly. They can enjoy further 20 per cent reduction in their EMI during the monsoon season or

SDLG and RBA senior management line up in front of the newly delivered LG944MSK wheel loader model, custom-made for GBU Zhilishnik Moscow

The India construction equipment market is to grow at a CAGR of 18.52 per cent over the period 2012-2016, as per a new market research report.

One of the key factors contributing to th is marke t g rowth i s the increasing investment in infrastructure development. The construction equipment market in India has also been witnessing an increasing focus on R&D.

However, the fluctuation in raw material prices could pose a challenge to the growth of this market.

The construction industry in India includes a large number of small construction companies, which prefer low-cost products from China. These Chinese products are priced competitively about 5-10 per cent cheaper than the Indian construction equipment products.

20per cent reduction in their initial maintenance cost. In addition we are also offering a free motorcycle for the customers who buy the machine before July 15.”

To be manufactured at the new facility in Thiruvallur, Cat backhoe loaders bring together reliable and time-tested features with unique and market leading technologies at competitive rates.

Chinese equipment manufacturers have a strong presence in some segments such as wheel loaders and dozers, where they hold a market share of more than 10 per cent. Therefore, due to the availability of low-cost products from Chinese vendors, the construction equipment market in India is witnessing an increase in imports of construction equipment from China.

One of the major growth drivers in the market is increasing investment in infrastructure development. The Government of India is increasing i ts investment in infrastructure development to provide better roads and bridges across the country; this has led to an increase in the demand for construction equipment in the country.

orders customers are placing thanks to a more diverse product range.”

Over 150 guests attended the 10th anniversary event including customers, SDLG’s Russian dealer –Rus Business Auto Ltd – senior management from SDLG in China and officials from the Moscow municipal government.

The event took place during the CTT Russia trade show in Moscow and the company showed a range of SDLG construction equipment including a wheel loader – the SDLG LG953N – a compact road roller SDLG RS8140, the SDLG LG6225 excavator and the customer-made SDLG LG944MSK wheel loader.

Among those in attendance were GBU Zhilishnik, Chief Technical Officer Alexey Sharin; Rus Business Auto (RBA) CEO Taraskin Yuri Aleksandrovich; Purchase Director Alexey Tsepenkov; Bank of China Moscow Manager Shao Jin; Secretary-General of the China Construction Machinery Association Su Zimeng; General Manager of SDLG Export Company Wang Xiaohui; and Chief Technology Officer at Lingong, Zhi Kaiyin.

“We have remained loyal to SDLG over other brands because of the machines’ reliability and versatility,” said Alexey Sharin.

years as director of communications at Acea (the European Automobile Manufacturers Associat ion) in Brussels and later led the institutional relations activities of CNH Industrial in Europe.

July 14-20, 2014 10ReAL estAte

Tata Housing to invest `600 cr in Gurgaon

Tata group firm Tata Housing will invest Rs 600 crore over the next four years to develop a new luxury residential project in Gurgaon. With expanding presence in the Delhi-NCR market, the company launched fourth project in this region, all in Gurgaon, to develop about 150 villas in a price range of Rs 3-8 crore.

Ta ta Hous ing Deve lopment Company strengthened its presence in the high-end luxury segment in

NCR by launching its fourth project Arabella. It did not mention project cost, but sources said the investment on development of this project would be around Rs 600 crore over the next four years, including land cost.

The project, to be designed by architects Perkins Eastman, USA, is spread over 35 acres on Gurgaon-Sohna Road. Tata Housing is a subsidiary of Tata Sons Ltd, which has 99.86 per cent stake in the realty firm.

The company has 70 million sq ft under various stages of planning and execution and an additional 19 million sq ft in the pipeline. Tata Housing has presence in Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Goa, Gurgaon, Chandigarh, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata and Bhubaneswar. The company has also ventured into foreign markets such as Maldives and Sri Lanka.

HDIL to sell 1 m sq ft commercial space

in Mumbai R ea l t y d e v e l o p e r H o u s i n g

Deve lopment & In f ras t ructure (HDIL) has put its nearly 1 million sq ft commercial complex at Kurla in Mumbai on the block as it seeks to reduce debt. HDIL is looking to raise over Rs 500 crore through the sale of this under-construction property called Premier Commercial.

“The developer is currently in talks with two entities including a private equity fund, that has already started due diligence for the property,” said one of the people quoted earlier. The transaction is expected to be completed in the next 45 days.

HDIL has already completed around 70 per cent of the project for

which construction had started in late 2010. It was earlier considering converting the commercial project with large floor plate area of 2 lakh sq ft into a residential project.

But it has now shelved the plan and decided to completely offload the project to support its debt-reduction strategy. We are looking at reduction of debt by Rs 700-800 crore this financial year and various options are being considered for this, said Hari Prakash Pandey, Vice President (finance) at HDIL. Recently, the developer sold its 45 per cent stake in its subsidiary that owned a hotel property at Juhu in Mumbai for Rs 290 crore.

Kolkata consortium buys realty firm for `150 cr

DDA to auction plots to private developers in Rohini

A Kolkata-based real estate consortium has acquired 100 per cent stake in realty firm Keppel Magus Development Pvt Ltd for Rs 150 crore.

The consortium, comprising Sureka Group, Merlin Group and JB Group, has bought the entire stake in the company, a special purpose vehicle set up to develop 25 acre township in Kolkata, Elita Garden Vista.’ After completing the first phase of the project, Keppel Group decided to divest 100 per cent of its stake to the consortium for Rs 150 crore, said the release.

The group of developers now plans to execute the remaining two phases covering 13 lakh sq ft, which will comprise multiple towers of 15-32 storey and 1.6 lakh sq ft of developed commercial space, besides speeding up the remaining few deliveries from phase-1, it said. Around 850 apartments of 2/3BHK configurations are slated to

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) plans to auction plots to private developers for the first time in Rohini’s Sector 40 and 41 for constructing group housing societies, a step aimed at meeting the demand for high-end flats in the capital.

In all, 33,600 flats will be built on these plots — 17,400 high-end flats and 16,200 flats for economically weaker sections spread over 131 hecta res . The group hous ing societies, which will be high-rises, will come up on plots of five hectares each.

“This proposal to sell land to private developers for constructing group housing societies is being considered for the first time. We felt that private players can offer quality high-end flats,” said DDA Vice Chairman Balvinder Kumar.

“These will be high-end flats.

be constructed in phase-2. “We were comfortable dealing

with Keppel Magus because of their commitment to quality and customer satisfaction. It fits our Group’s core values of delivering quality products and dealing with transparency and fairness,” said Sureka Group Director Pradeep Sureka.

Commenting on the deal, JB Group Head Rajendra Bachhawat said, “Our group of developers has a strong financial foundation and real estate know-how. Being debt free, we have enough strength in the group balance sheet to fund the 13 lakh sq ft development.”

In addition to the Kolkata venture, Sureka and Mer l in are jo in t ly developing 15 lakh sq ft of residential space in Odisha under two projects -- Springville Homes and Springville Greens. Individually, they have projects in Hyderabad, Raipur, Chennai and Ahmedabad.

Group housing societies similar to the ones being developed in Noida and Ghaziabad will come up here. Around 15 per cent of extra floor area ratio will be provided for housing for the economically weaker sections,” he said.

There will be 4,500 one-room flats for the elderly, which will be spread over 24 acres with common kitchens, canteens, medical and recreational facilities. The DDA is also planning to develop around 15 secondary schools. “There is a requirement for good schools in the area. So, we are looking at that also,” he said.

The DDA has been struggling to provide adequate housing in Delhi. It is planning to roll out housing scheme 2014, which is expected to offer 26,000 flats across various categories. The scheme is now expected to be rolled out by August.

Prestige buys land from Siemens for `345 cr

ASK exits Pune realty investment

Prestige City Properties, an arm of real estate company Prestige Estates, has bought 8.5 acres in Bengaluru from Siemens for Rs 345 crore.

The land parcel is located at Koramangala, across the Forum Mall, built by the Prestige group. In a stock exchange notification, Siemens said it sold the land as part of a continuous asset optimization exercise.

“We have sold the land parcel in Bengaluru on July 3, 2014 to Prestige City Properties. The proceeds of the sale are approximately Rs 345 crore.” The Prestige group is planning a mixed-use development, but mainly residential.

The group has 171 completed

projects aggregating 52.39 million sq ft and 63 ongoing projects with 59.47 million sq ft of developable area. Twenty-eight of its upcoming

projects aggregate 31.96 million sq ft and span residential, commercial, retail and hospitality sectors in major South Indian cities.

Financial services group ASK, a player in the real estate private equity business, is exiting from Liviano, a project by Darode Jog Properties, in Kharadi, Pune. The phased investment in this project was made between September 2010 and March 2011, from ASK’s

first Rs 326 crore worth Special Opportunities Portfolio.

The investment of Rs 37 crore has given a multiple of 2.35 amounting to an exit value of Rs 87 crore. ASK raised its maiden fund in 2009 and has fully deployed the same by March 2012, in seven projects in

Pune, Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai. For this fund the group has

partnered developers like Darode Jog, Paranjpe Schemes and Amit Enterprises in Pune, ATS in Noida, Real Value and Mantri Developers in Chennai and Godrej Properties in Mumbai.

July 14-20, 2014 11

Limitless gets nod for Halong Star

development in Vietnam

iNteRNAtioNAL

Midgard to begin Croydon Gateway

in S London

Solairedirect – one of European Cleantech

Companies of the Decade

Borehamwood contractor Midgard, a unit of JRL Group, will begin work on long-awaited Croydon’s massive £500m Ruskin Square development soon. Work under the first phase includes construction of the 161 flats under a £34m contract with joint venture developer Stanhope/Schroders.

These new flats will be arranged over two high-rise blocks, 22 storeys and 9 storeys, accommodating a mixture of one and two bedroom

apartments. Developers Stanhope and Schroders secured planning approvals in 2013 for the first phase of the development.

The project includes hundreds of flats, offices, shops and restaurants on wasteland by East Croydon station. The nine-acre site, dubbed as ‘East Croydon gateway’, has been empty since for 15 years and completely derelict after the closure of the Warehouse Theatre in 2012.

Dubai developer Limitless will now move forward with the plans to build a residential and tourism project in Vietnam, following the approval from Quang Ninh state authority.

The authori ty has issued an investment certificate for Halong Star, which allows Limitless form a joint venture for the project, on which infrastructure work is anticipated

to begin later this year once the land lease has been obtained. Halong Star’s master plan includes homes, retail facilities and a hotel, all overlooking the Unesco World Heritage Site of Halong Bay on Vietnam’s north-east coast. In May 2013, Limitless had signed a new joint venture deal for the construction of Halong Star.

Saudi Aramco to build 11 sports stadiums in S Arabia

Saudi Aramco, a national petroleum and natural gas company, will build 11 sports stadiums across the country. The stadiums will come up in regions including Madinah, Qassim, Eastern, Asir, Tabuk, Hail, Northern Borders, Jazan, Najran, Baha and Jouf.

Minister of Petroleum & Mineral Resources Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Naimi said the projects will be established within King Abdullah programme for establishing main stadiums in the different regions of the country. Each of the stadiums will have capacity

for 45,000 spectators. Aramco has started forming special teams for taking initial steps in implementation, planning and supervision of the stadiums. Further, Saudi Arabia is constructing three more stadiums than Qatar, which will host the football world cup in 2022.

Presently, the Kingdom has 23 large stadiums in different regions of Saudi Arabia including the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh that has one of the largest stadium roofs in the world.

Solairedirect, a global pioneer of competitive solar power generation, was named by Cleantech Group (CTG), developer of the i3 market intelligence platform, as one of CTG’s five picks as a European Cleantech Company of the Decade.

“As solar power now becomes competitive around the world, we are very proud to see Solairedirect’s model, resilience and achievements recognized by this prestigious Award,” said Thierry Lepercq, Chairman of Solairedirect.

This one-off award was made in connection with the 10th anniversary Cleantech Forum Europe, held in Stockholm this year. The award was

made in Stockholm’s City Hall, the venue of the annual Nobel Prize ceremony.

“We set out to select private companies that got started and have achieved impressive results in the timeframe since we first conceived of a Cleantech Forum Europe. We sought companies whose stories are illustrative of the collective journey we have all been on, and whose promise for 2014 and beyond is exciting and speaks to the sustainable innovation opportunities in front of us,” said Sheeraz Haji, CEO, CTG.

“Solairedirect was picked to represent the roller coaster that

has been the solar market these past years,” explained Richard Youngman, Managing Director Europe & Asia, CTG.

“To survive the turmoil required not only perseverance, but also ingenuity in adapting fast to changed circumstances and the need to pivot on business models and plans. Now with 500 mw on five continents, they look well set for the grid parity phase of solar,” he added.

Solairedirect is a global pioneer of competitive solar power engineering and generation. The company was founded in 2006 with the mission of making solar power accessible to all and fully competitive with other sources of energy.

Solairedirect industrializes the downstream photovoltaic processes with a cost-driven, risk-controlled and grid-compatible approach: project development, design and EPC (engineering, procurement, construction), structured financing and legal engineering, etc. The company has operations in France, India, South Africa, Chile, Thailand, China and the USA.

July 14-20, 2014 12

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Editor : Bina VermaEditorial Team: Dilip Phansalkar, Paresh Parmar, Remona Divekar Designer: Rajen Mistry

Business Team: Shantanu Baraskar (9820904795), Seema Kohli (9820904931)Email: contact@konstructionreview.com, editor@mmronline.com

No part of the contents of Construction Industry Review, in abridged or unabridged form, can be reproduced without the written permission of the Editor. CIR does not accept any

responsibility for statements and opinions expressed by the authors.

eVeNtsJuly 25, 2014

5th Annual Seminar on ‘Metamorphosis in Building & Construction Industry 2014’Hilton Mumbai International Airport Hotel, Andheri (East), Mumbai The Seminar has been designed to create an interactive platform for business associates, connected with the building, construction & infrastructure sector, to discuss crucial issues pertaining to changing dynamics of building materials, reviewing methods and techniques and delivering long term development plan. Contact: contact@konstructionreview.com editor@mmronline.com Telephone: 022-22660623

August 9, 2014ManexeITC Kakatiya, HyderabadManexe is a 1-day event being held on August 9, 2014 at the ITC Kakatiya in Hyderabad. This event showcases various products and services related to the manufacturing industry and more, etc in the building construction industry. Contact: The Confederation of Indian Industry, 203-204, Sears Tower, Gulbai Tekra, Near Panchwati, Ahmedabad

August 15-17, 2014BACE Expo (Building Architectural Construction & Engineering Symposium & Trade Show)Milan Mela Ground, Kolkata BACE Expo will be held for three consecutive days at Milan Mela Complex, Kolkata. The key industry players and market leaders will discuss about modern tools and technology associated with the building and construction sector. Participants will discuss about growth of the real estate sector and build strategic business alliances with manufacturers and dealers. The prospects of some of the major construction projects in Kolkata will be highlighted. Some of the products that will be displayed include ceramic and stones, elevators, escalators, bath and sanitation. Contact: Ask Trade & Exhibitions Pvt Ltd, Flat 307, Alsa Towns Ville,170/38 Arcot Road, Valasaravakkam, Chennai

August 15-18, 2014Construction Architecture & Interior ChennaiChennai Trade Centre, ChennaiThe show is a 4-day event being held from August 15 to 18, 2014 in Chennai. This event showcases various products and services as well as equipment related to construction, architectural firms and interior design, latest designs and technologies and more in Building Construction, Architecture & Interior Designing. Contact: I ads and events Pte Ltd, 61, 1st Floor, Gold Towers, 50 Residency Road, Bengaluru.

September 11-13, 2014The Big 5 Construct IndiaBombay Convention Centre, MumbaiIt will provide the ideal platform for influential architects, contractors, consultants and engineers to share ideas about innovative construction tools and services. Contact: DMG: Events. PO Box No 33817 Dubai, UAE

October 4, 201419th One Full Day WorkshopThe Institution of Engineers (India), Mahalaxmi, Mumbai Workshop on Jirnoddhara of RCC buildings which contains Structural Audit, Upgrading (House - Keeping, Regular Maintenance, Repairs, Rehabilitation); Fixing Leakage and Waterproofing of existing RCC buildings and a total new concept to construct RCC durable buildings without leakage with practicals on acrylic polymer-based flexible membrane waterproofing system. Contact: Jayakumar Jivraj Shah, Single Faculty Course Conductor, 203, Wing-B, Lakshmi Apartments, Corporation Bank Building, Behind Anand Nagar, Dahisar (East), Mumbai 400068. Cell: 919819242649 Phone: 28483541/9819242649 jjshah123123@rediffmail.com The Institution of Engineers (India), Mahalaxmi, Mumbai Phones: 022-23543650/23542943 Mobile: 09820392726

December 4-6, 2014Ceramics AsiaGujarat University Exhibition Hall, Ahmedabad This event will be organized to enhance that potential by bringing industry professionals from different corners of the world under one roof. Ceramics Asia is going to be organized for three days at the Gujarat University Exhibition Center in Ahmedabad Contact: Unifair Exhibition Service Co. Ltd, Room 802-804, Daxin Building, 538 Dezheng North Road Guangzhou, China

December 15-18, 2014bC India ShowIndia Expo Centre and Mart, Greater Noida The International Trade Fair for Construction Machinery, Building Material Machines, Mining Machines and Construction Vehicles-provides the international construction industry with a professional platform for the construction industry. Contact: B C Expo India Pvt Ltd, Lalani Aura, 5th Floor, 34th Road, Khar (West), Mumbai

Metamorphosis in Buildings & Construction Industry meet calls for modern methods to drive high-performance in the sector

Outlining the metamorphosis in the country’s urban and infrastructure developments, the publishers of Construction Industry Review through its events arm MMR Events will be organising the fifth annual seminar on ‘Metamorphosis in Buildings & Construction Industry’ at Hotel Hilton Mumbai International Airport, Andheri, on July 25, 2014.

said, “The Indian government has identified Infrastructure as one of the key drivers of economic development in the country. Investment in Infrastructure has increased from about 5 per cent of GDP in the 10th Five-Year Plan period to 9 per cent in the 11th Five-Year Plan period. The Planning Commission has projected an investment of $1 trillion for the infrastructure sector during the 12th Five-Year Plan, with 40 per cent of the funds coming from the private sector.

“At the minimum, 45 per cent investment in inf rastructure is towards construction and 20 per cent of the infrastructure spend will be for modernization of the construction industry. In order to attract such investment, the Indian government has eased foreign direct investment (FDI) norms for quite a few sectors of infrastructure development. We see a convergence of some of the best names participating this year’s annual meet and discussions and debates would throw light on the subject ‘Metamorphosis in Buildings & Construction Industry,’ considering the growth in this sector ahead.”

The 2014-15 Union Budget has reflected strong winds that would drive growth in India’s building and construction sector and is likely to see a renewed momentum in 2014-15, with realty developers lining up numerous mega construction projects and government stepping up infrastructure investments, which eventually calls for adoption of modern methods and construction techniques for faster completion.

The seminar’s resourceful content will blend together new trends in buildings &construction industry – right from policies, budget analysis,

production, markets, etc to project management, latest technologies, environmental role, and building material, among others.

A panel discussion on rebuilding c i t i e s w o u l d s t r e s s o n t h e transformation of horizontal space to vertical expansions of buildings and effective land use.

Speaking at the 5th Annual meet on ‘Metamorphosis in Buildings & Construction Industry’ will be industry stalwarts from Tata Housing, Kalpataru Ltd, Talathy & Panthaky,

Jones Lang LaSalle, CIDC, Pidilite, Omkar Realtors, CIDCO, Rustomjee Group, Godrej & Boyce Ltd, Bureau Veritas, L&T, Lafarge, Binani Cement and many more.

The event being a prestigious one will be attended by leading g o v e r n m e n t r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s , leading architects, developers, contractors, infra firms, cement manufacturers,building material suppliers, and consultants, providing a vital platform to network with fellow professionals and overcome challenges confronting the industry.

For invitat ion passes please contact Ms Seema Tawde on 022 2266 0623, 7738192375 or write to seema@constructionreview.in

The neo-liberalization efforts of the past two and a half decades have piqued the curiosity of international community towards opportunities in the country. During this period, India has grown at twice the global rate, showing that it can sustain the momentum.

Speaking on the forthcoming annual seminar, Bina Verma, Managing Editor,

The Centre announced setting up of a National Industrial Corridor Authori ty (NICA) with an ini t ia l corpus of Rs 100 crore to coordinate deve lopment o f a l l i ndus t r ia l corridors.

To boost manufacturing, the government has proposed several corridors including Amritsar-Kolkata Industrial Corridor, Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor, Bengaluru-Mumbai Economic Corridor and Vizag-Chennai corridor.

“A National Industrial Corridor Authority, with its headquarters in Pune, is being set up to coordinate the development of the industrial

corridors, with smart cities linked to transport connectivity, which will be the cornerstone of the strategy to drive India’s growth in manufacturing and urbanisation,” said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley while presenting the Budget 2014-15.

The minister has provided an initial corpus of Rs 100 crore for this purpose.

He said the Amritsar-Kolkata Industrial master planning would be completed expedit iously for establishment of industrial smart cities in seven states -- Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.

Govt to set up NICA to look at development of Industrial corridors