Haryana promoting fresh water prawn farming
Fresh water prawn farming projects have been initiated in 12 districts of
Haryana.

Pointing out that Haryana was the only state which had given subsidy for
promotion of prawn culture, Commissioner and Secretary, Fisheries,
Shakuntala Jakhu said the projects have been launched in Yamunanagar,
Karnal, Sonipat, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Jhajjar, Rohtak, Bhiwani, Fatehabad,
Sirsa, Hisar and Jind, She said that three projects for prawn farming were
being implemented by the department and 119 farmers had been given subsidy
and imparted technical know-how to take up prawn culture during the last
financial year.

Jakhu said that the department not only provided technical know-how to the
fish farmers for undertaking prawn farming in fresh water, but also took
them to a study tour to Andhra Pradesh so as to acquaint them with the
practices being adopted there.

Prawn farming is fast picking up in Haryana, an area of 70.06 hectares has
already been brought under fresh water prawn farming as against the target
of undertaking prawn farming in 100 hectares of fresh water area by the end
of next financial year, she said.

Jakhu said that two other projects to develop water-logged areas into
aquaculture estates and utilisation of saline water for fish or prawn
culture were also being implemented with 100 per cent assistance from the
Union Agriculture Ministry.

She said that under the project, 18.7 hectares of area was brought under
fresh water prawn culture by imparting training and technical know-how to
the farmers in the districts of Gurgaon, Rohtak, Jhajjar and Sirsa.


- posted by www.GurgaonBiz.com @ Tuesday, December 07, 2004

 
Haryana to hold diabetic clinics once a week
Haryana's Health Department will hold special diabetic clinics once a week
at all district level hospitals to diagnose and treat those suffering from
Diabetes, a state health service said today.

Instructions had already been issued to all Civil Surgeons to set up special
clinics, Director General Health Services, Dr B S Dahiya said on the
occasion of World Diabetes Day today.

Five regional diagnostic centres had been established at Sirsa, Bhiwani,
Panchkula, Gurgaon and Narnaul for early detection of Diabetes.

He said that diabetes could be controlled and prevented by yoga, becoming
conscious about diet and through stress management as well as control of
obesity.

November 14 is observed all over the world as World Diabetes Day as it is
the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting, who discovered insulin to control
diabetes


- posted by www.GurgaonBiz.com @ Tuesday, December 07, 2004

 
Justine Rose wins Gurgaon Skins
World No. 1 Vijay Singh of Fiji was pushed to third spot as Englishman
Justine Rose made the most of his opportunities to lift the 2nd BILTS Skins
Golf championship here today.

The 24-year-old Rose, playing in his first ever Skins event, was in terrific
form as he won seven of the 18 holes to pocket USD 42,500.

Singh, the defending champion, managed to win only three holes and had to be
content with the third spot behind Swede Daniel Chopra who won USD 35,000.
The Fijian won USD 22,000.

The fourth player in the fray, Todd Hamilton of USA, turned out to be a big
disappointment as he failed to win a single hole with some erratic putting.

Rose was elated with his effort and said today's win was an icing on the
cake after the fun he had in India.

"I just made the most of what came my way. I got into a rhythm and hope I
can do this week in and week out on the tour," he told reporters.

The Englishman, currently ranked 69th in the world with four top ten
finishes in the PGA tour this year, said his dream was to win the US Masters
title atleast once.

"I will be a sad man without a green jacket. That is what we all play for
and work hard for."

Singh praised Rose for his brilliant display at the DLF Golf and Country
Course and said the Brit deserved to win.

"Justin played very well and deserved to win today."

The 41-year-old said the Skins format was entertaining where the players go
for a more aggressive style. It also provides more excitement to spectators.


- posted by www.GurgaonBiz.com @ Tuesday, December 07, 2004

 
M-G Rd only for Delhi bound traffic
In a move that will go a long way in easing the Capital's traffic chaos,
Delhi-bound heavy vehicles will no longer be allowed to ply on
Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road. The decision was taken today after two days of
deliberations between Delhi Police and Gurgaon Police.

Confirming this, Gurgaon's Senior Superintendent of Police Alok Kumar Roy
said, ''There is a Supreme Court guideline saying that non-Delhi bound
traffic should not be allowed to pass through Delhi. Since Delhi was having
a lot of traffic jams because of heavy traffic coming from Gurgaon, the need
to regulate Delhi-bound and non Delhi-bound traffic at Gurgaon itself was
felt.''

Under the new traffic plan, Gurgaon Police will attempt to ensure that
Delhi-bound heavy vehicles use NH-8 and not M-G Road. Also, all non
Delhi-bound traffic coming from Jaipur side will be diverted onto other
roads so as to bypass Delhi. ''Heavy vehicles coming from Jaipur side on
NH-8 and headed towards Punjab or Chandigarh will now be diverted at
Bilaspur towards Pataudi and then to Jhajjar. Similarly, Faridabad-bound
vehicles will now be diverted near Hero Honda Chowk in Gurgaon and go to
Faridabad through Gwal Pahari route,'' said Roy.

''The idea is not only to ban heavy traffic on M-G Road but also reduce
heavy vehicle movement on NH-8. We will also try to divert a major chunk of
heavy traffic from NH-8 to Old Delhi Road passing through Kapashera,'' said
Roy.

Identifying non-Delhi-bound traffic and diverting it will be a difficult
task. ''We have formed a special team of 105 police personnel to execute
this plan. We are also getting pamphlets printed explaining the routes in
detail. All heavy vehicles halting at the toll-tax plaza at Bilaspur will be
given these pamphlets,'' said Roy.

Haryana is planning to construct a 130-km long Kundli-Manesar-Palwal
Expressway which would rid the Capital of non Delhi-bound traffic. However,
the project has failed to take off so far.

''We have been looking at this plan to stop movement of goods vehicles on
M-G road for a while now and will now formalise it. While no goods vehicles
will be permitted on M-G Road, tempos may be allowed,'' said P.C.Hota, DCP,
Traffic, Southern Range.


- posted by www.GurgaonBiz.com @ Tuesday, December 07, 2004

 
BMW may set up project in Gurgaon: Chautala
Car major BMW has identified Gurgaon in Haryana as one of the sites for its
proposed project in India.

This was revealed in a meeting, which Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash
Chautala had with the top executives of BMW during his visit to its
corporate headquarters in Munich, Germany on Thursday, an official release
said.

The Haryana Chief Minister expressed hope that BMW would set up its
production plant in India during year 2005, which would mark the 500
year-long ties of Indo-German trade.

Chautala dwelled upon the special advantages that Haryana offered to
automobile industry and pointed out that as a result of these, the state was
manufacturing 60 per cent of all the cars, 50 per cent of all the tractors
and 60 per cent of all the motorcycles produced in India.

Earlier, special delegate to the board of directors of BMW, Fridrich Fruth
gave a presentation to the Haryana delegation on the growth of the premium
sector auto major since its inception in 1917.

Senior vice-president Klaus Berning disclosed that Gurgaon was one of the
candidate sites for their proposed India project.


- posted by www.GurgaonBiz.com @ Tuesday, December 07, 2004

 
MarketRx to double India headcount
MarketRx specializes in providing sales and marketing analytic services to
the pharmaceutical industry and is also in the KPO space.

US based MarketRx is planning to double its India headcount by the end of
2005. Currently, the company has employee strength of 100 in India and is
planning to take additional 6,000 - 8,000 sq ft space in Gurgaon in the near
future to further its expansion plans. MarketRx specializes in providing
sales and marketing analytic services to the pharmaceutical industry.

According to MarketRx president and CEO Jaswinder Chadha, "Within 18 months
of setting up MarketRx India, we have registered a quarterly growth of over
30 percent. We feel the growth will come by expanding professional services
and product development. We invest highly in R&D, constantly improving and
developing new products. This enables us to deliver high-end services to
clients worldwide."

Chadha further added that the company is also present in the KPO space. He
also informed that the company plans to invest over $4 million in 2005 and
added, "We plan to continue growing aggressively, while maintaining the
highest quality of people and the profitability. A very important success
metric for us is revenue per employee. We can safely assume that our revenue
per employee is among the top one percentile of all knowledge process
outsourcing (KPO) and BPO companies in India."

"We focus only on the global pharmaceutical industry. In fact, we are at the
high end of KPO business. Our business model is that of product enabled
services and our web-based software products combine pharmaceutical domain
knowledge and cutting edge analytics. This enables us to provide high-end
sales and marketing analytics services to customers, irrespective of the
geographical boundaries," Chadha said.

He added that knowledge is our middle name. "We have a core R&D team, which
builds high-end analytical solutions that, include statistical, econometric
or optimization modeling. We combine advanced analytics with deep
pharmaceutical domain knowledge to provide highly sophisticated solutions,"
he added.

Talking about KPO, he emphasized that the lifespan of a KPO solution is two
to five years. "Thus there is a need to constantly innovate and build
products for the future. The trick is to stay two steps ahead of the
customer. That is exactly what MarketRx specializes in through R&D and
innovation," he concluded.


- posted by www.GurgaonBiz.com @ Tuesday, December 07, 2004

 
Gurgaon girls set sight on sensor cane
When Latika Tanwar and Saroj, Class XI students of Government Senior
Secondary School, Jacubpura, had to come up with a project for a
district-level science exhibition, they turned to their visually challenged
music teacher. He provided them the vital inputs for their special cane,
with sensors to detect fire and water, and, another blind person in the
vicinity.

The cane didn't win a prize but Surinder Kaur Mehndiratta, the Chemistry
teacher who helped the students with the project, believes it could be
patented, with a few changes on the features. ''The idea was to come up with
something that could not only be put to use but would be tailored for the
user,'' says Mehndiratta.

Latika and Saroj approached their music teacher for the details. ''We asked
him about the difficulties he faced day to day,'' says Latika. ''He told us
about the problems caused by water, for instance puddles, or fire. He said
that at times, it became very difficult for a visually challenged person to
identify another visually challenged person in an alien location,'' adds
Saroj.

While the two worked on the special features, the school offered them more
inputs from the recommendations made at a national-level seminar on the
subject.

''First of all, a special alarm was put on the stick that could help one
user locate another in a crowded area,'' says Mehndiratta. ''We also
incorporated moisture and heat sensors that could detect the presence of
water and fire in the path of the user,'' says Latika. ''The water alarm
goes off in various frequencies depending on the depth of water.''

While the sensors were fitted to the base of the cane, the alarms and other
circuits were assembled in a box attached to the cane. A red blinker was a
late addition to ''alert others about the presence of a visually challenged
person in the dark''. The height of the stick was kept at six feet so as to
enable a user ''to detect obstacles at head-level''. The cane cost around Rs
400.

''We plan to make it foldable and lightweight. The box has to go and the
circuits and alarms have to be accommodated in the body of the stick,'' says
Saroj. ''We also want to make the cane solar-operated so as to cut on the
battery cost,'' says Mehndiratta. ''Who knows, this stick may come into
mass-production some day,'' says Latika.


- posted by www.GurgaonBiz.com @ Tuesday, December 07, 2004

 
Pantaloon plans 12 more central stores in 3 years
Developing one of the largest destination stores in the country, its second
after
the Bangalore mall, retail chain major Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd has
commissioned Hyderabad Central and plans to roll out about 12 to 15 such
large format stores across the country in the next three years.

The Director of Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd, Mr Rakesh Biyani, said that
the company is set to grow to about Rs 1,200 crore in revenues by next year
from the current Rs 650 crore following this expansion. The Rs 70-crore
Hyderabad store, of which Rs 35 crore was chipped in by the property
developer GS Builders, would have five restaurants and serve as a
shopping-cum-entertainment complex.

Addressing a press conference here on Friday, Mr Biyani said, "The store
would also see the roll-out of several international brands and the first
one to check in would be Mark's & Spencer in a 4,500 sq ft facility. Soon,
At Leisure, Royal Sports House will join. We have created space for the
entire range of products. Apart from lifestyle products, this store would
also have a floor for domestic requirements."

"Spread across 2,50,000 sq ft on five floors, this is the largest single
centre store for Pantaloon. We are in the process of finalising two more
stores, one at Pune and the other at Gurgaon. Overall, Pantaloon expects to
locate 12-15 such large stores across the country.


- posted by www.GurgaonBiz.com @ Tuesday, December 07, 2004

 
Sandcastles in the air
Real estate prices are rising, and the boom could be for real this time.

Gaurav Bhalla, executive director of real estate developers Vatika Group,
cannot hide his excitement. Within the last 10 months he has raised the
price in his premium residential project in Gurgaon by over 65 per cent.

But that has not deterred the queue of customers wanting to book flats, even
though construction is yet to begin. Exclaims an elated Bhalla, "Fifty per
cent of our flats covering 35 lakh sq ft of space in Vatika Green have
already been sold. We are, in fact, slowing down bookings as we expect
prices to firm up to Rs 3,000 per sq ft by May next year, from Rs 2,250
currently."

In Mumbai, a three-bedroom flat in suburban Powai could be had for Rs 2,300
per sq ft as recently as May this year. But six months on, prices have risen
a stiff 35 per cent to Rs 3,100 a sq ft and are expected to escalate even
further.

Chennai-based builder Vijaya Shanthi had been hawking over 1 lakh sq ft of
commercial space in its high-tech Prakruti project in Perungudi along the IT
corridor at Rs 1,100 per sq ft just six months ago. But the company recently
hiked rates by over 20 per cent to Rs 1,350 sq ft. The reason, says Naresh
Jain, managing director of the company, is growing demand and the rising
cost of construction.

For the country's real estate business, it is boom time again. Spurred by
the IT and call centre businesses, and the easy availability of cheap
housing loans, real estate prices across most parts of the country are
rising. But it has been a long wait. Eight years ago, real estate prices had
hit the roof on the back of furious speculation and shortage of land. The
bubble burst in 1996 as speculators desperately liquidated their holdings
and prices tumbled by 40 per cent to as much as 80 per cent, virtually
wiping out their entire capital.

The first signs of recovery became evident in 2002 when prices started
inching forward on the wave of the BPO boom and a burgeoning middle class
looking for affordable homes. According to Sanjay Verma, joint managing
director of Cushman and Wakefield, "Prices in the last two years have gone
up at an average by 30-40 per cent. But what you are seeing is not a bubble
but an up-trend based on genuine demand." Yet he agrees that prices in the
last six months have been rising faster because speculators, till now
conspicuous by their absence, are again jumping on to the real estate
bandwagon.

Rising prices are straddling both residential and commercial spaces, and
hitting new markets. In Pune, for instance, commercial rental values have
shot up by 20 per cent in the last five-six months as the city has caught
the eye of IT businesses and call centres. Industry estimates indicate that
as much as 1.2 million sq ft may be required in the next 12 months in this
pensioner's haven to meet the demand for upscale commercial space. In
Kolkata, cheaper lease rentals (15-20 per cent lower than in Gurgaon or
Bangalore) are pulling in IT and call centre companies.

In Mumbai, residential prices are moving up firmly. Says ICICI Venture
director investments Kishore Gotety, "There was a growing demand for good
residential space within the city." On average, residential rates have
soared by 20-25 per cent in the last 12 months, he says. "Sixty per cent of
this rise has been in the last six months".

The mill area covering Parel and Mahalaxmi is suddenly awake with numerous
residential projects, with rates going up from Rs 4,500 a sq ft to Rs 6,000
in the last eight months - an increase of 33 per cent. Land values in Mumbai
's growing Bandra-Kurla commercial area have shot up by over 60 per cent in
12 months.

On Delhi's outskirts too, no one is complaining. The Omaxe Group, which
announced the upmarket residential complex Putting Greens in Greater Noida
just a month ago, has hiked rates by 18 per cent within a month of its
launch. Residential values in Gurgaon have risen on average by 30-40 per
cent in the last six months.

A similar trend is reflected in Bangalore and Hyderabad. Rental values in
Hi-tech City built to house tech-savvy companies in Hyderabad, have zoomed
by 17-20 per cent over 15 months. Says a senior spokesperson of
Bangalore-based Puravankara Projects, "Appreciation in price has been almost
70 per cent in residential apartments, and land values have gone up by over
100 per cent in some cases." Residential prices of new projects have been
upped as many as three times in the last 12 months, despite which 60 per
cent space is already pre-sold.

Interestingly, even as prices rise, properties continue to be sold out or
leased out in a jiffy. In Bangalore, over 5.25 million sq ft of space has
been built this year of which over 85 per cent already has takers. In
Chennai, 2 million sq ft of space was absorbed primarily by IT and IT-ES
companies this year though only 1.8 million sq ft of new space was built.

Spurred by growing demand, real estate developers are pushing aggressively
by kicking off new projects or buying fresh land wherever available. In
Noida, prices of land in auctions conducted by the government have shot
through the roof; last month successful real estate developers paid four
times more (a whopping Rs 22,000 a sq metre compared to Rs 5,000 in 2002)
than the highest bid just two years ago.

Says Kunal Banerji, senior vice president-marketing, Omaxe Group, "At these
prices, developers have to get customers who would pay virtually Delhi rates
(which in many places are at Rs 5,000 a sq ft) if they want to make money."

Developers are building at a frenetic pace to take advantage of this growing
demand. Mumbai-based K Raheja, for instance, is adding 5 million sq ft this
year, of which 60-70 per cent will be commercial. That is a 40-50 per cent
growth in capacity over last year. Even Chennai is not being left behind in
this frenetic commercial activity.

Says A L Jayabhanu, executive director, Arihant Foundations and Housing, "We
are in talks to acquire land and build about 4 lakh sq ft along the IT
corridor." Meanwhile, Bangalore-based RMZ Corp is building its second
facility of 5 lakh sq ft there.

How different is this boom from the 1996 bubble that burst? Developers say
the new boom is driven by end-user sales, and though the speculators are
back, their numbers are limited. V Hari Krishna, Jones Lang LaSalle's
associate director-corporate finance and investments, capital markets, says,
"The existing boom is occupier demand led and more sustainable compared to
the mid-nineties when it was monetary in nature.

Adds Knight Frank India chairman Pranay Vakil: "The big difference is that,
unlike in 1996, there is no shortage of land availability. The growth of
suburbs has ensured that."

But most experts agree that the speculators are back in business in the last
six months - one key reason why prices have been moving up more rapidly than
before. Cushman and Wakefield estimate that about 20 per cent of the sales
currently are speculative. Vatika's Bhalla says that 20-25 per cent of his
sales derives from speculators.

Of course, different markets have different reasons for growth. Says Vinod
Rohira, director-sales and marketing of the Mumbai-based K Raheja Corp,
"Delhi has a large investor market, whereas elsewhere in the country demand
is being fueled by end-users." He says there is real demand only in the
major metros because there is nothing else left to buy there, thereby
escalating real estate in alternate city suburbs such as the National
Capital Region's Gurgaon and Noida. Rohira adds: "We expect to see 16-18
million sq ft of commercial space being added because of this demand all
across the country."

There are also new players entering the market, chief among them the
non-resident Indians (NRIs) who're back to buy with a vengeance. Knight
Frank estimates that already 10 per cent of all properties with a price tag
of over Rs 1 crore are bought or funded by NRIs.

ICICI Venture's Gotety points out that NRIs from the UK, US and the Middle
East who had lost faith in the Indian retail market are diverting their
investments into Indian real estate once more. Thirty per cent of Omaxe's
buyers are NRIs. Just last week, company executives organised road shows to
buy their property in Dubai and for the first time, also in Singapore and
Hong Kong.

Back home, the easy availability of finance has been key to the boom in the
housing sector. There are also income tax incentives offered should you take
a housing loan. Home loan disbursements have been growing at a rate of 25
per cent per annum.

Even more fundamental changes have taken place in the last two years in the
way real estate projects are being financed, making it easier for developers
to build more capacities. Says Verma, "Banks are ready to finance projects
at 7-9 per cent interest rate as compared to 12-14 per cent a couple of
years ago. Earlier, 90 per cent of a project was financed through equity,
today it down to 50 per cent and we think it will settle at 30 per cent."

If the banks are more forthcoming, it is because the nature of real estate
transactions has changed and risks have reduced. The success of a project
now depends on the quality of tenants, and that in turn depends on the
quality and maintenance of a building. Another change is adopting the
increasingly popular built-to-suit module where the entire building is
tailored to the need of a company. In markets like Hyderabad and Chennai,
over 50 per cent of space is in the built-to-suit category. The advantage?
Explains Bhalla, "Your entire project is pre-sold from day one, so you are
secure."

The boom has also been spurred by new sources of funds entering the fray.
Equity funds, banks and financial institutions are discovering that returns
on real estate can be stable and attractive. Banks have been in on it for
years, buying out properties with tenants as a source of income, but now
equity funds are getting into the fray: ICICI Venture and international
funds like Fire Capital are planning to set up specialised real estate funds
to finance projects as well as real estate companies.

Will the boom last? Opinions vary, though most say it is here to stay. But
Charanjit A S Budhiraja, a Delhi-based broker in Gurgaon, warns that
speculative activity is spurring the market. "Prices are being artificially
pushed up and at least 50 per cent of sales are speculative. Prices should
fall in February, just before the Haryana elections." Most others are less
worried. Verma points out that with speculators in the market it is safe to
assume that they will hold on to their positions for at least six months to
two years.

Developers too continue to remain bullish. Says H S Bedi, managing director
of Bangalore-based IDEB Construction Projects, "The boom in commercial space
will continue for another year or so, after which prices will stabilise. But
the residential boom will stay for another two years." There are others like
Gotety who think the price peaks have been reached and the market will now
stabilise.

Analysts in India estimate that about Rs 12,000 crore will be needed in the
next three years to feed the IT sector's insatiable hunger for space in the
country. That, in turn, will push the need for more residential complexes (1
sq ft of commercial space leads to a demand for over 7 sq ft of residential
space). Clearly, the fate of the real estate industry is inexorably linked
with that of the IT boom.


- posted by www.GurgaonBiz.com @ Tuesday, December 07, 2004

 
Honeywell to Bolster Research Muscle in India
Aerospace and high-tech manufacturer Honeywell International Inc. will hire
1,000 software programmers and invest US$10 million (euro 7.85 million) in
India over the next 12 months, an company official said Monday.

"We are growing and getting to do several important projects," Krishna
Mikkilineni, managing director of Honeywell Software Solutions Lab, a
subsidiary of the Morristown, New Jersey-based company, told reporters at a
technology conference in Bangalore, the country's technology hub.

Honeywell, which makes a range of products from airplane parts to home
thermostats, began its Indian operations with a manufacturing unit in
Gurgaon, a satellite town of India's capital, New Delhi.

It now has research units in Bangalore and the southern town of Madurai. The
centers currently employ around 3,000 people.

"Our headcount will go up by 1,000 (in India), in a year that is. ...And we
are looking at investing 10 million dollars," said Mikkilineni.

Scores of Western companies farm out software development, engineering
design and routine office functions to countries such as India and China,
where labor costs are lower. The move helps the companies cut costs, but
entails job losses in the West in some cases.

India earns US$12.5 billion annually from outsourcing.

Honeywell's research centers in India cater to the group's software and
product design needs in aerospace, transportation, power systems and
automation sectors.

Mikkilineni said Honeywell's overall experience in Bangalore had been good.

"There are challenges in doing business here, such as the pressure on
infrastructure, but if we had to do it all over again, we would still choose
Bangalore," he said.

Honeywell employs around 100,000 people across the world and had revenues of
US$19 billion (euro 14.9 billion) in the first nine months of 2003.


- posted by www.GurgaonBiz.com @ Tuesday, December 07, 2004

 
DELHI-GURGAON HIGHWAY : Chautala says no to toll plaza
Thirteen months after construction began on the 27.7-km long Delhi-Gurgaon
Expressway, the Haryana government has told National Highways Authority of
India (NHAI) that it would ''not allow'' the setting up of a toll plaza near
Haldiram's Resort, the point where the Rs 555-crore Expressway is proposed
to end.

Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala is learnt to have expressed his
reservations. ''The matter came up during the Chief Minister's visit to
Gurgaon on October 29. The CM felt that setting up so many toll plazas would
make it very expensive for commuters,'' said Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner
Anurag Aggarwal.

''Since there is already a toll plaza near Bilaspur on NH-8, the
construction of a new toll plaza near Haldiram's resort would mean three
toll plazas at a distance of around 20 km from each other,'' said Aggarwal.
''In such a scenario, anybody travelling from Delhi to Dharuhera would have
to pay toll tax three times for using the same road,'' he added.

The DC said NHAI had to seek consent from the state government before
setting up any toll plazas. The Haryana government is learnt to have
suggested to NHAI that the existing toll plaza at Bilaspur may be shifted to
the point near Haldiram's resort.

NHAI officials refused comment. ''The Haryana government wants some
clarifications on the strategy for toll tax collection and we are taking up
the matter with them. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is also
taking up the matter with Haryana,'' said a senior NHAI official, requesting
anonymity.

The official, however, added that the contract signed between NHAI and
Jaypee DSC Ventures Ltd ''cannot be changed at this stage''. Once the
Expressway is ready, Jaypee DSC Ventures Ltd, the executing company, will be
allowed to collect toll tax for a period of 20 years. Officials of Jaypee
DSC Ventures Ltd declined comment.


- posted by www.GurgaonBiz.com @ Tuesday, December 07, 2004

 
Gurgaon's hearty welcome to Escorts' Medicity
Dr Naresh Trehan, Executive Director and Chief Cardiac Surgeon at Escorts
Heart Institute & Research Centre announced the launch of a project that
promises to change the course of global medicine. Christened as Medicity,
this initiative will usher in a state-of-the-art medical venture in Gurgaon,
Haryana.

The ceremony took place in the presence of Om Prakash Chautala, chief
minister of Haryana and his son, Abhay Singh Chautala. The CM affirmed that
Medicity is the solution to the country's healthcare needs and added it
could prove to be a pathbreaker in the medical history of India.

With an investment of about $ 250 million, Medicity promises to bring in a
new era of medicine. It plans to integrate super specialties like
cardiology, neurosciences, oncology, high-end orthopedics among others.

Dr Trehan said that the this new global centre will help integrate and
explore the new frontiers in the field of medicine and healthcare on the
lines of a Mayo,Cleveland,Harvard,Johns Hopkins in its basics and will go
where no conventional medical institute has gone before.

Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) has allotted 43 acres of land for
the project. The project will also provide for a cluster of buildings each
for a super specialty facility. Research laboratories, education,
residential facilities and attendant accommodation facilities will be an
integral part of the city.

He further said that medical treatment in India has made great progress over
the years but lacks high-end delivery and critical care except in a few
pockets. Medicity aims to add the highest end of modern medicine to
traditional forms of medicine and holistic therapies.


- posted by www.GurgaonBiz.com @ Tuesday, December 07, 2004

 
Oracle, HP export e-gov products
The Indian operations of Oracle and Hewlett-Packard are exporting some
e-governance products jointly developed at Gurgaon to Pakistan, Sri Lanka
and the Philippines. Oracle plans other centres of excellence to localise
products for new environments.

These centres are in the planning stage in the three countries and will come
up under the guidance of the centre in India, which has been working since
2003, Oracle's V-P (Asia-Pacific) Keith Budge said here. "This is a
collaborative effort," Oracle India MD Shekhar Dasgupta said. Budge said the
list of countries that can be included in the initiative would grow.

In the last 15 months, the e-governance centre for excellence has localised
a number of applications


- posted by www.GurgaonBiz.com @ Tuesday, December 07, 2004

 
Gurgaon,Noida are catching up fast
Satellite townships like Gurgaon and Noida are shining and Delhi is set to
lose its premium over them sooner or later. The current trend of faster
price rise in Gurgaon and Noida, than in Delhi, proves this point.

Corporate addresses in Gurgaon are emerging as prestigious as those in
Delhi, according to Anshuman Magazine, MD of CB Richard Ellis, a consultant.
And, same is happening in the residential segment. For the upwardly mobile
looking for quality space, Gurgaon has emerged as a preferred destination.

Over the last couple of years, Magazine feels, Noida's residential market
too has turned attractive. This is mainly due to non-availability of quality
space in Delhi. DDA, the sole owner of land in the city, neither constructs
quality residential space, nor allows private builders to do so. This has
created a huge gap in demand and supply.

With availability of easy funding from banks, people have started aspiring
for homes, right at the beginning of their careers. This younger lot is not
satisfied with the shabbily built chalta hai kind of constructions. They
want high-quality, hassle-free, habitation.

Private builders like DLF, Unitech, Eldeco, ATS, Omaxe and Parsvnath sensed
this demand and started constructing quality spaces.

In real estate, supply generates demand. When more people start moving into
these apartments, they create a good neighbourhood, which gives further
fillip to demand, says Pankaj Bajaj of Eldeco. Now, it has become a trend to
move from Delhi to upmarket neighbourhoods in Gurgaon and Noida.

Sanjay Chandra, president of Unitech, says apartment living has become very
popular among the young, upwardly mobile double-income families. As road and
Metro rail infrastructure for connecting the satellite townships with Delhi
improves, more people would move out of congested Capital, he adds.

To cater to this demand, builders are constructing super deluxe, centrally
air-conditioned apartments with swimming pools, carrying price tags of Rs 1
crore and above. These super deluxe apartments like Aralias and Pinnacle of
DLF, World Spa of Unitech and Forest of Omaxe, among others, have generated
a lot of interest.

These flats in Gurgaon have become a style statement. Rohtas Goel, CMD of
Omaxe Construction, says those who buy these apartments, have already lived
in bungalows in South Delhi. But they are attracted by the ambience, luxury
and standard of living.

Pankaj Bajaj of Eldeco Infrastructure says this has happened all over the
world. High class residential areas were developed outside the town after
the central township become very crowded. So what is happening in NCR is
inevitable.

So, the bottomline is demand for high quality flats in Gurgaon, Noida and
other regions around Delhi will continue to grow.


- posted by www.GurgaonBiz.com @ Tuesday, December 07, 2004

 
High tech healthcare centre to come up in Gurgaon:
Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala Monday laid the foundation stone
of an integrated healthcare complex called Medicity, slated to be one of the
largest in the country, in the suburb of Gurgaon adjoining Delhi.

With a slew of international and national players joining the fray, Medicity
would come up in a sprawling 150 acre area in Gurgaon and would house
multi-speciality hospitals, research labs and training institutes.

With a massive initial investment of $250 million, the complex is expected
to start within three years.

Among the major players would be the Escorts Heart Institute and Research
Centre (EHRC), which would open a super-speciality Asian Institute of
Advanced Medical Sciences and Holistic Therapies.

According to EHRC director Naresh Trehan, the hospital would pave the way
for increased medical tourism and at the same time cater to the growing
demand for high-end medical services in the country.

"India has a lot of potential in medical tourism since the cost of treatment
is much cheaper here when compared to international standards," Trehan said.

"In EHRC alone, 15 percent of the patients come from countries like
Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Iran. Patients have now even started
coming from the US and Britain," he added.

The Asian Institute of Advanced Medical Sciences and Holistic Therapies
would be on the lines of renowned hospitals in the US with highly equipped
labs conducting high end research on fields like genetics, stem cell culture
and cancer.

"We would also be carrying out research on ayurveda, unani, homeopathy,
Chinese medicine and other traditional forms of medicine, so as to provide
the idealistic care pattern for the patients," Trehan said.

"A patient would be able to walk in, and we would try to chart out an
individualistic form of treatment based on his ailment, medical history,
symptoms etc," he said.


- posted by www.GurgaonBiz.com @ Tuesday, December 07, 2004

 
Medical city in Gurgaon @ Rs 1,000 cr
In what is being described as the first project of its kind in Asia, Naresh
Trehan, the well-known cardiologist and executive director of Escorts Heart
Institute and Research Centre, is planning to build a 'medical city' in
Gurgaon near Delhi.

"It will be called the Asian Institute of Medical Sciences and will be on
the same lines as the Johns Hopkins Hospital in the US," Trehan told
newspersons on the sidelines of the Confederation of Indian Industry's
Annual National Conference, 2004.

"It is the first of its kind in this part of the world. There are a few in
the US and one or two in Europe," sources close to the development told
Business Standard.

To be spread over 50 acres, the complex will house a 2,000-bed
multi-speciality hospital, a hotel, service apartments, a research and
development centre, a medical college and a residential colony.

Though the exact investment is still being worked out, the medical city
could easily cost upwards of Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion), the sources
added.

As a result, Trehan is known to be looking at "major" foreign participation
in the project. "What is certain is that it is not possible for one investor
to put in all the money for the hospital complex. So there could be other
investors as well," the sources said.

The proposed hospital will specialise in various therapeutic segments and
not just in the cardiovascular area, for which EHIRC is renowned.

"It will be anchored by the Rajan Nanda-promoted Escorts Group, though the
entire project is being driven by Trehan," the sources said. Nanda has
identified healthcare delivery as a growth area for the future and is
investing in a clutch of hospitals in the north.

The proposed project will cater to well-heeled Indians as well as foreigners
who would be drawn by the comparatively lower price of treatment.

Trehan, who is the personal surgeon to the President of India since 1991,
started EHIRC, a state-of-the-art heart institute located in south Delhi, in
1988. Over 35,000 open heart operations have been performed at EHIRC till
date.


- posted by www.GurgaonBiz.com @ Tuesday, December 07, 2004

 
Gurgaon: Green beginning in concrete jungle
Gurgaon's concrete jungle is set to breathe fresh air with the city getting
a first-of-its-kind Bio-diversity Botanical Garden of its own. Billed as the
''lungs of the city'', the garden is located in Sector 52 A and is being
developed by Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA).

Spread over 52 acres, the Tau Devi Lal Bio-diversity Botanical Garden will
cost Rs 2.46 crore. The landscaping for the garden has been done by HUDA's
Horticulture wing and almost 27 acres of land has been landscaped so far.
Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala will inaugurate the garden on
October 29.

Besides basic facilities, the garden will also have a library and book shop.
''Sites have been earmarked for a conference hall and a museum as well,''
said a town-planner. The garden will have butterfly-house, fern-house, a
variety of greenhouses, mist chamber, an artificial rain feature, arboretum
and an orchid-house, say HUDA officials.

''Separate sections will display plants found only in Haryana - those with a
religious value, rare and endangered plants, medicinal plants, aromatic
plants and curiosity plants,'' added another HUDA official.

With this move, HUDA plans to improve its image as a developer of the city.
''HUDA has often been criticised for not developing green areas in Gurgaon.
That is now set to change,'' said a town-planner. A few months back, HUDA
removed around 2.61 acres from it's Leisure Valley in Sector 29 and gave it
to government departments to build an Energy Park and an Aquarium.

The botanical garden in Sector 52 A is surrounded by Sectors 52, 53, 56 and
57 and is also in close to Sectors 42, 43, 45, 50, 51, 54 and 55. It is also
not very far from Sector 29, being developed as a City Centre.


- posted by www.GurgaonBiz.com @ Tuesday, December 07, 2004

 
Fortis to enter overseas healthcare mkt
Ranbaxy group company Fortis plans a foray into overseas healthcare markets
by setting up hospitals in the Middle East and UK.

The company has also put off its initial public offering (IPO) plan and has
decided to fund Rs 1,100 crore projects in north India through a mix of debt
and equity. The company has devised different growth strategies for the
companies. Fortis will follow its sister concern SRL Ranbaxy in
international markets. But in the domestic market SRL will expand and be
located at each Fortis hospital. SRL Ranbaxy already has a presence in the
Middle East. The company is in an advanced stage of negotiation with UK
authorities for undertaking pathology tests. Fortis intends to get
integrated with the global healthcare industry. The target is to emerge as a
global healthcare institution in the next 12-15 months. On the domestic
front, Fortis has an ambitious Rs 1,100-crore plan. It plans to set up an
integrated healthcare complex in Gurgaon with an investment of around Rs 900
crore. It also plans to set up hospitals in New Delhi, Ludhiana and
Jalandhar.

They have already taken land in Shalimar Bagh (New Delhi), where they plan
to set up a 300-600 bed hospital with an investment of Rs 100 crore. The
Gurgaon complex will be developed in phases. There will be a medical
college, a dental college, one nursing college, two hospitals and one
research lab. The company will join hands with international players for
creating various institutions in Gurgaon. The company, which has submitted a
proposal in this regard to the Haryana government, is awaiting allocation of
land.

Fortis' proposed initial public offer (IPO) to finance its expansion has
been put on the backburner. The proposed investment of Rs 1,100 crore will
be made in five years. They have several options to fund these projects. It
will be through a mix of equity, debt and internal accruals. The option of
an IPO will exercised only when all the three options are exhausted. Ranbaxy
holds a 17 per cent stake in Fortis Healthcare, the balance 83 per cent is
held by Shivinder Singh of Ranbaxy. In the past three years, Fortis has set
up four hospitals with over 600 beds. Its plan is to increase the number of
beds to over 4,000 in the next five years. The hospitals will have centres
of excellence in areas like orthopaedics, neuro sciences, oncology and
cardiac sciences.


- posted by www.GurgaonBiz.com @ Tuesday, December 07, 2004

 
Gurgaon sector 57 set for last of the lots
Earlier this year, it was billed as the last chance to own ''residential
prestige'' in Gurgaon. On October 29, Haryana Urban Development Authority
(HUDA) will conduct the much-awaited draw of lots for residential plots in
Sector 57, probably the last ''complete'' sector to be floated here.

A record 1.78 lakh applications have been received for the draw. Confirming
this, HUDA's Estate Officer N.S. Banger said: ''The draw of lots will be
held at HUDA's Gymkhana Club in Sector 29 under standard prescribed rules.''

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For the first time, such a draw is being conducted at a venue other than
HUDA's office in Sector 14. ''As we are expecting a huge crowd, the Gymkhana
Club was selected,'' Banger added.

The entire process will be videographed. HUDA's Gurgaon office is also
learnt to have requested the chief administrator to appoint an observer for
the draw.

Spread over 568 acres, Sector 57 is one of the biggest here, land for which
was acquired in 2003. As many as 2,953 residential plots are up for sale.
Its proximity to Modern Institutional Complex in Sector 44 and City Centre
in Sector 29 have been marketed as the biggest selling points. Moreover,
HUDA plans to develope the adjoining Sector 52 exclusively for parks. HUDA
had extended the last date for receiving the forms by a month.

Going by the availability of land in Gurgaon, it may take a while before
HUDA comes up with any new residential sectors. Officials reveal that in the
current masterplan, this is the last of the biggest sectors to be floated in
Gurgaon. While saying that some pockets of land were already under
acquisition and would be floated as sectors, HUDA officials admit that none
of these will be as big as Sector 57.


- posted by www.GurgaonBiz.com @ Tuesday, December 07, 2004

 
New models in mall clutter
In a frenzied bid to cash in on the 'Great Indian Retail Boom' developers
across the country had rushed in with plans to set up more than 300 new
malls over the next few years.

But now many of them are finding the mall market so cluttered that they are
having to go back to the drawing board to change their business models with
new and innovative plans such as specialty malls.

As of now, there are two specialty malls operational in India - Gold Souk
and the Home-mall and both of them are in Gurgaon. Two more that are in the
planning stage include the auto-mall and wedding-mall.

These are also planned for Gurgaon which is not a coincidence, given the
fact the Gurgaon is expected to see the largest number of new mall
developments in the near future.

It is estimated that more than 15 million sqft of retail space will be added
in Gurgaon by 2007. In addition to these projects, another Gold Souk is
planned for Mumbai.

Specialty malls are a new concept in India - but in the West it is a popular
and most common concept says Anuj Puri, MD, Chesterton Meghraj.

"With the retail market boom in India we will slowly see a big emergence of
specialty malls first in major metros and then in other smaller towns.
Popular categories in the international market include home-malls - that
feature all kinds of home products ranging from tiles, fittings, furniture
etc. or the toy malls for the kids."

"The plethora of new malls being proposed to be developed across the country
has inevitably led some of the developers to look at new positioning for
respective developments that may have a competitive advantage or a USP as
compared to the huge numbers of others. As a result, the specialty mall has
arrived on the retail development scene. In Gurgaon for instance, it is
estimated that 10% of the new mall projects announced are specialty malls,"
adds T Chakrabarti, head, India Property Research.

Another category doing well is the outlet malls which sell branded clothing
products which are one season old and hence out of fashion at discounts of
up to 40%to 50%.

The size of specialty malls in the West is up to 0.5 million sq ft. But the
malls in India would be small in size - 125 to 150,000 sq ft because there
isn't the depth of retailers.

The main reason for this is that there aren't large anchors or chains like
Shopper's Stop and Pantaloons for such products in India. But with more than
25 million sq ft of space up for grabs, there is bound to be a big and
happening niche malls market. From wedding malls to auto malls,mega malls,
highway malls and the rural malls.

The Omaxe Group plans to set a niche wedding mall on the Gurgaon-Sohna road
which is the first ever mega mall dedicated to the theme of marriage. After
this, the group is looking at other markets for specialty mall. Says Rohtas
Goel, CMD, Omaxe Group: "Our Wedding Mall will take away the hassles of
frequent and numerous market visits. The focus is on maximizing customer
comfort and providing complimentary products under one roof. Our study of
consumer buying patterns reveals that during weddings people prefer
indulging in a pleasant shopping experience."

Besides niche malls, the culture of having mega malls which have large
format space and entertainment facilities built-in is also catching up. In
Noida, the Unitech group is coming up with a mega mall, measuring 1.6 m sq
ft and in Bangalore the Mantri Mall measuring 1.8 million sq ft is also in
pipeline.


- posted by www.GurgaonBiz.com @ Tuesday, December 07, 2004