Gurgaon

Haryana promoting fresh water prawn farming

2004-12-07T21:18:00.000+05:30

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.

Haryana to hold diabetic clinics once a week

2004-12-07T21:15:00.005+05:30

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

Justine Rose wins Gurgaon Skins

2004-12-07T21:15:00.004+05:30

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.

M-G Rd only for Delhi bound traffic

2004-12-07T21:15:00.003+05:30

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.

BMW may set up project in Gurgaon: Chautala

2004-12-07T21:15:00.002+05:30

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.

MarketRx to double India headcount

2004-12-07T21:15:00.001+05:30

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.

Gurgaon girls set sight on sensor cane

2004-12-07T21:15:00.000+05:30

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.

Pantaloon plans 12 more central stores in 3 years

2004-12-07T21:12:00.000+05:30

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.

Sandcastles in the air

2004-12-07T21:11:00.003+05:30

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.

Honeywell to Bolster Research Muscle in India

2004-12-07T21:11:00.002+05:30

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.

DELHI-GURGAON HIGHWAY : Chautala says no to toll plaza

2004-12-07T21:11:00.001+05:30

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.

Gurgaon's hearty welcome to Escorts' Medicity

2004-12-07T21:11:00.000+05:30

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.

Oracle, HP export e-gov products

2004-12-07T20:44:00.000+05:30

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

Gurgaon,Noida are catching up fast

2004-12-07T20:42:00.002+05:30

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.

High tech healthcare centre to come up in Gurgaon:

2004-12-07T20:42:00.001+05:30

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.

Medical city in Gurgaon @ Rs 1,000 cr

2004-12-07T20:42:00.000+05:30

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.

Gurgaon: Green beginning in concrete jungle

2004-12-07T20:19:00.001+05:30

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.

Fortis to enter overseas healthcare mkt

2004-12-07T20:19:00.000+05:30

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.

Gurgaon sector 57 set for last of the lots

2004-12-07T20:18:00.004+05:30

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.

New models in mall clutter

2004-12-07T20:18:00.003+05:30

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.

These are greats times for architects

2004-12-07T20:18:00.002+05:30

These are busy times for architecture firm Studio U+A. Around the end of
2002 the firm, which is an arm of a British firm, had only three major
projects on its drawing boards.

Today it has 10 major contracts and growth has doubled in each of the last
two years. The company is now working on three office complexes, a five-star
hotel and a giant 3 million sq ft residential complex Vatika City.

It's a similar story at another Delhi-based architecture studio,
Morphogenesis, which has grown four times in the past three years. The
company is currently handling projects worth over Rs 700 crore (Rs 7
billion), including a 500-acre township near Siliguri and the 50-storey
World Trade Centre tower in Mumbai.

Building fever has hit not just the National Capital Region and other metros
but also smaller cities and towns across the country. And among those most
affected by the boom are architects who are being asked to turn out bigger
and fancier structures than ever before.

That's reflected in the plethora of exciting new building projects that
architectural firms and studios have on hand. Take C P Kukreja Associates --
named one of the top four architectural firms in the Australia-Asia region
by the UK-based World Architecture magazine -- which has seen its employee
strength grow from 180 people last year to 225 now.

The firm is working on the Delhi Metro's underground stations and on a new
nine-storeyed 150-bed super speciality wing in Delhi's Ganga Ram Hospital.
"Earlier there was an 'anything goes' attitude to the designing of
hospitals," says Dikshu Kukreja, "but now even these are expected to look
classy."

Other key projects include the jewellery mall Gold Souk, which will open
next month in Gurgaon. "We did some research on similar souks in the Middle
East," says Kukreja, "but the final concept was ours." The interior of the
design, he says, has been done so as to "evoke the image of a pearl in an
oyster shell".

C P Kukreja Associates is also working on The Forest, a high-end residential
complex being developed in Noida by Omaxe, complete with high-rise towers
and penthouses.

Morphogenesis already has an impressive list of glass-and-steel creations
under its belt. It built the Metropolitan Mall and the Apollo corporate
office in Gurgaon, as well as several PVR cinemas in the NCR and other
cities.

Morphogenesis is now handling projects worth around Rs 700 crore -- one of
which is the 500-acre Uttarayon township on the outskirts of Siliguri, on
the site of an abandoned tea garden. The development plans for 1,600
apartments and 300 lower- and middle-income group units for a total resident
population of around 50,000 people.

Around 150,000 sq m will be set aside for shopping, offices, community
halls, health facilities and schools. While the project will take three
years to complete, the first two phases have been sold already. "That's
quite an achievement for the region," says Rastogi.

The Siliguri township is an indicator that the growth is not restricted to
metros and big cities. "B-class cities like Ludhiana and Jaipur are
attracting a lot of attention," says Sandeep Roy, director, Studio U+A
India, explaining that a small group of developers has established an
oligopoly of sorts over prominent suburbs like Gurgaon -- "which means that
the other builders have to look at other areas". Rastogi goes a bit further.

"Metros are becoming less lucrative because of the high property prices," he
says. "In the long run, towns like Jaipur will bring in much higher profit
margins."

"The building boom is percolating to satellite towns like Chandigarh and
Pune," says Kothari Associates' Matisha Kothari. Her firm is working on an
international airport in Ahmedabad over a 22,000 sq m area, and at a cost of
Rs 137 crore (Rs 1.37 billion).

It is also building the terminal for a domestic airport in Dibrugarh. Dikshu
Kukreja speaks of a five-star hotel his company is building in Raipur.

"You'd be surprised at the awareness of people in smaller towns," he says.
"One of our clients in Indore told us expense was no bar as long as we made
something as fancy as what is available in Delhi!"

What are the major changes on the Indian architectural scene? According to
Roy, three notable trends have emerged in recent years. First, he says,
there is an increased consciousness about high quality.

"Clients are demanding better quality and finish for both residential and
office complexes." This view is backed by architect Vijay Kapur of Line and
Form: "People played safe in the old days but now they are better travelled,
have greater media exposure and are more receptive to new ideas."

In architectural terms, says Roy, there has been a big leap in thinking of a
building in environmental terms, not just as an isolated entity. "Greater
attention is paid to landscaping requirements around a building," he says.

"And when an office complex is being planned, one of the first things to be
factored in is where the staff will take their lunch break and the
relaxation options that can be made available."

Third and most important -- at least from the point of view of execution of
ideas -- Roy believes developers are now more open to the idea of putting in
higher capital costs for long-term benefits.

"They are realising that higher capital costs will give a better return in
the long term, since the life of a building is at least 40 to 50 years."

The immediate result of this has been a preponderance of buildings with
longer-lasting aluminium and glass finishes. Matisha Kothari believes
architectural briefs have steadily moved from functionality to aestheticism.
"People demand harmony between the building exteriors and interiors," she
says.

Kukreja says that till recently there was a lacuna in the Indian
architectural scene. "Design was not looked at as an integrated exercise, he
says.

"We have tried to rectify this by having lighting technicians, mechanical
and civil engineering workers as part of our company's in-house staff --
whereas in the past the norm has been to source such work from outside."

But some architects insist there's a downside to all the development. While
conceding there has been a boom, Manit Rastogi says: "Many Indian firms have
agreed to become the back-end for international architecture companies. As a
result, there has been a thoughtless, indiscriminate aping of the West, with
disregard for what is suited to Indian conditions."

Rastogi points to large projects, for instance in the middle of Gurgaon,
where each building is a severe strain on its environment. "Monsters suck
water out of the ground and burn fuel for power, and there are no controls
on emissions."

Morphogenesis has tried to make the Uttarayon township as
environment-friendly as possible. There will be no stormwater drains in the
township. "The slope has been planned in such a way as to create natural
reservoirs," he says. "The sewage will be biologically treated with reeds,
to convert it into drinkable water."

Rastogi also grumbles that there is no coherent architectural identity in
the country. "A thousand years from now, when our civilisation is excavated,
they will be very confused about us!" he quips.

Dikshu Kukreja agrees that while malls need to be modern and jazzy, there
must be some representation of the Indian ethos. "For instance, our consumer
profile dictates that we have bhel puri stands inside the mall. We can't
blindly ape the international template."

Gurgaon's mall mile gears for revamp

2004-12-07T20:18:00.001+05:30

ynonymous with jams till now, Gurgaon's much talked about ''Mall Mile'' (MG
Road stretch between IFFCO Chowk and Sikanderpur Chowk) is set for a
makeover. Routinely criticised for sanctioning mall after mall, Haryana
authorities have finally come up with a plan to make the stretch a totally
hassle-free experience for visitors.

Come 2005, and there will be no overhead wires and cables here, following a
decision taken during a recent meeting at Gurgaon chaired by Haryana CM Om
Prakash Chautala.

''The idea is to beautify the stretch by ridding it of all eyesores. Also,
these overhead cables are being anticipated as a hindrance to the proposed
extension of the Delhi Metro to Gurgaon,'' said a spokesman of the Gurgaon
administration. Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam, Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitaran
Nigam and telephone operators have already been instructed to begin work as
soon as possible, say officials.

Moreover, to ease parking problems, a multi-level car parking area has also
been sanctioned on the Mall Mile. HUDA will shortly put a recently acquired
three acre site near Sahara Mall to auction. The multi-level parking will be
16 m high and will have 3-level basement parking, which will cater to more
than a 1,000 vehicles, say officials.

The government is also considering the construction of another subway, in
addition to the one between MGF Metropolitan Mall and DLF City Centre Mall,
to facilitate movement between the two on both sides of the road. HUDA,
meanwhile, is also set to begin work on constructing service roads on both
sides of the stretch. The 2,500 m long and 14 m wide service roads between
IFFCO Chowk to Delhi-Gurgaon border are being built at Rs 6.46 crore. HUDA
will raise the entire amount from as many as 37 colonisers whose properties
will be touched by these service-roads.

''All these measures will go a long way in easing the existing problems on
the MG Road stretch with malls. Things are being planned in a way that those
coming to the malls should be able to park their vehicles at the multi-level
parking and then use subways, service-roads and pedestrian paths,'' said a
town-planner.

Bed bars, big lounges ignite Indian nights

2004-12-07T20:18:00.000+05:30

With comfy beds in place of chairs and tables, laser-beam-laden dance
spaces, gigantic bars and smart dÃ©cor, India is waking to a whole new world
of nightlife.

Take Bed, for instance. True to its name, it only has beds. Customers park
themselves on the white, super-cushiony beds and stretch to their heart's
content, some even dozing off.

The food appears beside the beds, as do the drinks. Soft, shimmering light
from candles falls on the beds and turns everything a little surreal and
very soothing at this lounge in suburban Delhi.

"No longer do people go to lounges and classy eateries just for food or
drinks," said Prince Chaddha, the owner of Bed, located on the
Mehrauli-Gurgaon highway.

"There must be more to the ambience. It's the feel, the class all over the
place that draws customers."

Bangalore, the original home of pubs in India, is set to add 22 new lounges
by the year-end to its top lounges like Aqua Lounge and Leather Lounge. And
Mumbai has Indigo and the grand Athena.

"Lounging and nightclubs are changing evenings in India," said Vikrant
Chougule, who owns Athena.

That's what the capital's suburban club Elevate, at the Centrestage Mall in
Noida, wants to do. The club is spread across four levels and 14,000 sq ft.
It has hired British light and sound expert Dave Perry to coordinate the
effects and has a unique concept - morning buffet breakfast.

"Here parties go on till four in the morning," said Monty Chadha, director
of Elevate. "And people come in only after midnight. So what they need is
not dinner but breakfast.

"That's when, after a night of dancing, people start feeling really hungry
and voila! We have a breakfast ready," said Chadha, who wants to bring to
Elevate the feel of London's Ministry of Sound.

Next in line, Mumbai's Athena is scheduled to open in Delhi's Park Royale
hotel soon after its successful launch in Bangalore.

"An active nightlife is the only way to counter stress," said Mumbai
advertising executive Jatin Purohit.

So big is the demand for new night haunts that even fashion designers in the
capital are hopping on to the bandwagon.

Rohit Bal, enfant terrible and poster boy of Indian fashion, has lent his
weight to Decibel, the discotheque at Samrat Hotel.

"I have forever been in a disco," smiled Bal, who is credited for bringing
wild partying culture to the city in the 1990s, his blond locks shining in
the laser beams that create whirlpools on the dance floor.

"This is my sort of tribute to the entire disco culture. Today, to go to a
good nightclub, you have to go to Gurgaon (on the outskirts of the city). So
I thought that Delhi must get a good disco."

The 4,000-sq ft Decibel is divided into two floors with a main bar area
stretching 35 ft. The dÃ©cor strikes a balance between black and pink,
juxtaposing wood, leather and steel.

A huge screen, filled with non-stop gyrating numbers, faces the main 400 sq
ft dance floor at this membership-by-invitation-only club whose main area
sprawls 2,600 ft.

"Will this extend my brand? Do I need such extension?" wondered Bal, "Who
knows? I'm not thinking of all that. At the moment, I just wanted a hip,
cool place and this is it."

That's what designer Ashish Soni also says about his association with
Fabric, the gigantic nightclub on M.G. Road between Gurgaon and Delhi.

Fabric swamps two floors and is a haze of black and white. It has a
70-foot-long bar and a couple of mini bars. Spread across 17,000 sq ft, it
claims to be the biggest nightclub in the country.

The club will concentrate on psychedelic trance music and serve only snacks
as it mainly expects clients to pop in after dinner.

"The aim is to provide greater accessible luxury," said Soni.

Incidentally, both Bal and Soni have been termed brand ambassadors for their
respective clubs.

"Partying time is back in full flow in India," said Bal. "On second
thoughts, it never really went away."

Call centre cabs throw caution to wind

2004-12-07T20:16:00.009+05:30

There it goes, zipping through the road, overtaking you from the wrong side.
Thank your stars that you did not succumb to callous driving. The racing
cabs of the call centres are wreaking havoc on the roads of the National
Capital territory region.

Of the total number of traffic violations this year between January 1 and
August 31, the maximum were committed by cabs used for ferrying call centre
employees. As per official records, 185 challans were issued against these
taxis during the period.

The deputy superintendent of police (traffic), Vikram Kapoor, says: "We keep
our staff in place to prevent taxi drivers from overspeeding." However, his
claims fly in the face of the taxi drivers' version. They brazenly admit
that they "skip red lights, violate speed limits and even have close
shaves".

According to a contractor plying taxis for a call centre, he has only "60
taxis and 60 drivers whose duties are fixed in accordance with the
requirements of call centres". He adds: "A driver who leaves Delhi at 4 pm
has to meet the practically impossible deadline of reaching Gurgaon by 5
pm."

One of the overworked drivers ferrying call centre workers says: " I work
from 8 am to 9 pm, making four round trips in which I cover the NCR region.
I pick employees from Delhi, Noida and Faridabad. Though I have never met
with a serious accident, we do have to resort to overspeeding to meet the
stiff deadlines set for us. Employees are late for work by five minutes on
an average. This leaves me with no other option but to drive fast."

These drivers cover about 300 kilometres every day, zipping at 90 kmph at
night. "We are more at risk when we are driving alone. We constantly wash
our faces to stay alert as we are fatigued by the end of the day," says
another driver.

There are two reported instances of drivers dozing off when they were alone
in the car. While one succumbed to head injuries, the legs of the other had
to be amputated. Worse, the contractor they were working for did not give
any compensation.

Talking to Times City, a major BPO's transport administration official said:
"We have a wireless facility in the cars which keeps us updated. We arrange
for an alternative taxi if one breaks down on the way. Along with this, we
have tied up with hospitals to deal with mishaps if they do occur."

The employees, usually belonging to the 18-25 age group, also realise that
they are at risk since a lot of their time is spent on the roads. Despite
this the fat pay cheques continue to lure them to call centres.

"We see cabs overtaking from the wrong side and experience near misses
routinely," says Nisha Singh, a call centre employee.

Significantly, 80% of call centre workers in Gurgaon come from Delhi. They
spend around two hours on the road, thus becoming more prone to mishaps.

Calzini's retail foray

2004-12-07T20:16:00.008+05:30

Hari Shankar Goenka has trawled the apparel supply chain. He's done the
usual exporter-turned domestic brand manufacturer route. And now the
co-promoter of the Rs 300-crore Bangalore-based Sonal Garments, is getting
into retailing.

He is all set to open exclusive garment stores in the major cities to retail
his Calzini brand of men's shirts and T-shirts. The company launched Calzini
shirts and T-shirts late last year after having manufactured premium socks
under the brand for the last seven years.

For starters, at least two Calzini stores will come up in Delhi. "There are
also plans to open two stores in Kolkata, and one each in Gurgaon, Bangalore
and Hyderabad all by the year-end," informs Goenka. He feels that the
exclusive stores will add to the "perceived" value of the Calzini brand.

"Retail is a booming industry and because we have the supply chain in place
it was only logical for us to move into retailing our own brand." To capture
the retail market, Calzini stores will also stock trousers. "We plan to
brand trousers though we will not manufacture them," says Goenka.

Commenting on Sonal's plan to enter the retail business, Raghav Gupta,
associate director, KSA Technopak, says: "It's the trend in the market.
Manufacturers/exporters understand international trends and have the
expertise to develop products." Goenka adds that profits in India are at
least 20 per cent higher than those in the foreign markets.

So for a garment export house that supplied to the likes of Calvin Klein,
Guess, J C Penny, Nordstorm, C&A and H&M in 1990, it seemed only logical to
enter the Indian market in 1997. Sonal Intertrend Ltd, with 12 per cent
equity each from the Swiss Intertrend AG and Calzificio Kim from Italy, was
set up and started making socks.

The Sonal group has 22 manufacturing units in Bangalore and one in
Sahibabad. Sonal Intertrend manufactures 30,000 dozen pairs of socks a month
of which 90 per cent is exported.

Moreover the company manufactures 5,000 pieces of shirts a month and 2,000 T
-shirts. Sonal Intertrend's turnover in 2003-04 touched Rs 10 crore. With an
investment of Rs 1 crore in its future business plans, the company hopes to
touch Rs 15 crore in 2004-05.

Gurgaon unit to corner chunk of Suzuki funds

2004-12-07T20:16:00.007+05:30

A significant portion of the Rs 6,000 crore investment planned by Suzuki
Motor Corporation in India will go into the modernisation and upgradation of
the Maruti Udyog Ltd plant at Gurgaon. The investment is to bring the plant
at a par with Suzuki's flagship plant at Kosai, Japan, within the next one
year.

"Kosai is the existing showpiece of Suzuki worldwide. Maruti's Gurgaon plant
will become the second showpiece by 2005. It will match Kosai in terms of
all measurable parameters such as quality and efficiency," sources said.

Maruti Udyog is a 54 per cent subsidiary of Maruti. To meet this objective,
investments will be made to 'scrap and build' the Gurgaon plant. This will
include replacing old machines with new.

However, sources said, it has not yet been decided how much exactly will be
invested in the exercise, though he added it would be substantial. The plant
can make up to 250,000 vehicles per annum.

The proposed new car assembly plant at Manesar in Haryana, in which Maruti
will hold a 70 per cent stake, would be at a par with the Gurgaon and Kosai
plants in all respects. "This one is going to be right up the ladder,"
sources said adding that senior Suzuki and Maruti functionaries have already
conveyed this to the government. "The government has been told that it will
be a modern and state-of-the-art plant," sources said.

Senior officials in the ministry of heavy industry had indicated that the
equity investment in the new plant could be as high as Rs 1,200 crore. The
plant will have a capacity to make 250,000 cars per annum. It was announced
yesterday that Suzuki would invest Rs 6,000 crore in the automobile business
in India over the next five years in a phased manner.

Sources said this would be in the car assembly plant at Manesar, a new
venture for making 100,000 diesel engines per annum also at Manesar and
replenishing and refurbishing the Gurgaon plant of Maruti.

Gurgaon gets its Metro blueprint, CM upbeat

2004-12-07T20:16:00.006+05:30

Entire stretch to be elevated, to go up to Sushant Lok in Phase I

Gurgaon's Metro dream has revived with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation
(DMRC) submitting the alignment plans and section drawings for the Qutab
Minar-Gurgaon Metro corridor to the Haryana authorities.

The corridor will be 22.05-km long and will have 18 railway stations: Qutab
Minar, Rai Pithora depot, Ambedkar Colony, Chattarpur, Sultanpur, Ghitorni,
Sarvodaya School and Arjan Garh in Delhi and Garden Estate, Sikanderpur, DT
City Centre, IFFCO Chowk, Sushant Lok, Greenwood City, Residency Greens,
Jharsa village, Sohna Road and Sector 48 in Gurgaon. There will be a
stabling depot near Tikri village.

The entire stretch will be on an elevated track. It will come up only till
Sushant Lok in Phase I of construction.

Haryana also seems to have softened its stand on funding. Chief Minister Om
Prakash Chautala told Newsline today: ''We are committed to bringing Metro
to Gurgaon. Haryana has been asked to pay Rs 75 crore as earnest money for
the project which we will do.'' Asked whether this was the only payment to
be made by Haryana, Chautala said, ''No, the total payment may be much more.
''

Until now, Haryana has adamantly argued that it will pay only for the
stretch falling within its jurisdiction.

''The proportion of cost-sharing has to be worked out,'' Gurgaon Deputy
Commissioner Anurag Aggarwal told The Indian Express. ''Delhi Metro has had
funding from Japan so far. Since this will be an inter-state extension, it
has to be ascertained as to whether their involvement will continue,'' he
said.

According to Haryana Urban Development Authority's Superintending Engineer
V.K Gupta, the stretch between Delhi-Gurgaon border and Sushant Lok I will
cost around Rs 750 crore. The stretch between Qutab Minar and Delhi-Gurgaon
border will cost around Rs 1100 crore, he said.

In its Detailed Project Report submitted to DMRC and HUDA, RITES Ltd had
suggested four alternative corridors to Gurgaon. The first three
alternatives had a common stretch from Qutab Minar to the Delhi-Gurgaon
border along MG Road.

The DPR had proposed a fourth alternative that moved along MG Road from
Qutab Minar and turned towards Vasant Kunj from Andheria Morh, going up to
Mahipalpur intersection on NH-8. It then turned on NH-8 towards Gurgaon.

Bangalore not hot for IT: CEOs

2004-12-07T20:16:00.005+05:30

The IT performance of southern states in reality maybe completely
different from the popular perception of south India as the industry leader.

A closer look at revenues does not show a huge lead in IT exports by the
south. However, a Nasscom-KPMG study says that Bangalore and Chennai are
extremely attractive in terms of human resources with NCR
(Delhi/Gurgaon/Noida) and Mumbai far behind.

An ETIG study of the BPO industry for a recently published book did not show
a HR advantage in either Bangalore or Chennai . Sunil Mehta, V-P, Nasscom,
defends the study and its methodology saying it is as much about reality as
about perception.

"I must respectfully disagree with the Nasscom study," says Raman Roy, CMD,
Wipro Spectramind.

He says the company has very few people in Bangalore, yet they have a
significant HR problem in terms of attrition, mainly because supply is
inadequate.

He points to a serious lack of quality manpower, both in terms of the
population that one can target as well as the one that can be recruited.

There is inadequate population in Chennai, which can deliver voice and
technology capabilities for international level operations. Other cities
where Spectramind has presence - Delhi, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Pune and
Kolkata - fare far better.

Zia Sheikh, CEO, Infowavz, said Mumbai is a few notches above Bangalore
when it comes to human resource issues. "Certain accent-related issues put
southern states at disadvantage," he says. Next to Mumbai, he says he would
choose Pune or Gurgaon or even Chennai.

Akshaya Bhargava, MD & CEO, Progeon takes a completely different position.
He agrees with Nasscom that Bangalore is the best ITeS hub primarily because
it has the optimal mix of talent, comparatively lower cost of living and
high work ethics.

Ananda Mukerji, MD & CEO, ICICI OneSource says that the organisation had
operations in Mumbai and Bangalore and that the two cities are comparable in
terms of HR attractiveness.

The only edge Bangalore has over Mumbai is the cost of real estate. In terms
of infrastructure, Bangalore had enjoyed some advantages in the early days,
but its infrastructure is now showing signs of stress.

The perception is that Chennai may be at a disadvantage for voice-based
processes as far as accent neutrality is concerned, but with regard to
back-office, transaction processing and especially accounting, the city
should in fact have some advantages over other cities.

Laser fountains: Gurgaon set for Singapore splash

2004-12-07T20:16:00.004+05:30

Laser Fountain Park proposes water slides, aquariums, along with multimedia
shows on water screens

Gurgaon, November 9: If glitzy malls and endless highrises are beginning to
bore you then here's something to cheer for. Administration in Gurgaon is
planning to construct a state-of-the-art laser fountain, on the lines of
Singapore's Sentosa Island resort park, and a Habitat Centre, much like
Delhi's India Habitat Centre.

Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) is in the process of identifying
a site for the laser fountain. ''In all probability, the Laser Fountain will
come up on a 70-acre site on National Highway 8 near Dundahera,'' said a
government official at the end of a meeting chaired by Haryana Chief
Minister Om Prakash Chautala today.

''All the technical expertise in setting up the infrastructure will be
provided by the same agency that designed the internationally-famous laser
fountain park in Singapore,'' said HUDA's Gurgaon administrator Prem Verma.

The Laser Fountain Park proposes water slides, aquariums, and parks
alongwith multimedia shows on water screens. HUDA is also planning to set up
a Habitat Centre in it's upcoming City Centre in Sector 29. HUDA is
currently conducting a joint feasibility study in collaboration with HUDCO.

The recently-inaugurated open-air theatre with a 1000-strong seating
capacity in Sector 29 is also expected to give a major boost to cultural
activities in the city. A well-furnished Auditorium adjacent to the theatre
will be ready in another six months.

The authorities are also keen to project Gurgaon as a green destination. The
51-acre Bio-Diversity Botanical Garden in Sector 52 A, is HUDA's attempt at
building a consumer-friendly image for itself.

''In a place where land is the most prized possession, we have devoted
almost an entire sector to the Botanical Garden,'' prides a HUDA official.
The construction of an aquarium on the lines of Taraporewala aquarium in
Mumbai is also underway in Sector 29.

Fun after the PGA Tour grind

2004-12-07T20:16:00.003+05:30

Golfers are reticent people on the golf course, all intense concentration.
But at the DLF Club here on Sunday, four PGA stars, led by Vijay Singh, were
all mirth while competing in the Bilt Skins. There was no pressure of
competition and the mood was light. And at the end of the day, the golfers
acknowledged in unison, "we'd a lot of fun out there."

Todd Hamilton, who failed to win a single dollar, still praised the format.
"The Skins is like watching a good movie. It gives you continuous
excitement." Vijay added he enjoyed the Sunday romp since he played with
guys he was familiar with. Well, they deserved some recreation after
grinding out another year on the Tour.

Vijay was floored when asked what would he do with the millions he had made
this year. "I will have a stopover at Las Vegas," he said jocularly before
talking about his newly-launched charity foundation. "It's been started in
Florida (where he lives) and will aid anyone who needs help."

Calling the ranking system in golf a "fair way to judge golfers," Vijay said
he would strive hard to keep his top ranking. He also spoke about his love
of golf courses, saying he would like to design a few in the future. He is
already building one in his native Fiji.

Meanwhile, Daniel Chopra, who spent a decade in Delhi as a young kid, said
playing in Gurgaon exerted a different kind of pressure. "It's like home
crowd for me and they expected me to do well. Thankfully, my game picked up
after the first few holes and I managed to do well."

Both Daniel and Justin Rose stressed that winning a Major was their ultimate
goal. "That is what you play for," they said.

Positive buzz among young Indian golfers

2004-12-07T20:16:00.002+05:30

India-born Swedish golfer Daniel Chopra finds a positive buzz among young
Indian players that he thinks is healthy for golf's future although he
agrees with world no.1 Vijay Singh that new talent is hardly emerging in
india.

"There are a few good Indians playing in big circuits and hopefully more
will catch on," said Chopra who qualified for the USPGA tour from the same
Q-school as Arjun Atwal in December 2003.

Chopra, born to an Indian father and Swedish mother, learnt most of his golf
at the Delhi Golf Course here.

"Indians playing at the world stage will be the idols young children will
try and emulate. These players will be their heroes," said the 31-year-old
Chopra who is admittedly an avid cricket enthusiast.

He is in India to play in the BILT Skins tournament in Gurgaon, adjoining
Delhi, Sunday.

Chopra also played in the Pro-Am preceding the Skins Saturday, which was won
by Pawan Munjal, Manoj Dutt, Suminder Khandari and Bharat Kapur who had 54
points.

On the lack of Indians among the top golfers Chopra said, "some countries
will obviously produce better payers than others".

"However, the buzz we are getting from young Indian golfers is very
encouraging and hopefully we will have more top golfers from this country."

Reigning British Open champion Todd Hamilton, also in India for BILT Skins,
felt players naturally played better in their country and state.

"The success among Indian golfers especially those of Jyoti Randhawa and
Arjun Atwal will make other players feel they can make it too," said
Hamilton.

"The enthusiasm will also hopefully grow."

Mid-market hotels set to double

2004-12-07T20:16:00.001+05:30

Mid-market hotels set to double

After several aborted attempts to enter the Indian hotel market in the last
decade, French hotel chain Accor Asia Pacific has formally sealed a 40:60
joint venture with Gurgaon-based InterGlobe Hotels to develop the mid-market
Ibis brand in India.

Marriott International, which already has five-star and luxury brand
presence with JW Marriott and Renaissance in India, is negotiating to
introduce its four-star brand Courtyard. Several other mid-priced foreign
chains like Traders from the Shangrila group and Spanish brand Sol Melia are
also eyeing the Indian market.

Industry sources say about 100 economy hotel are expected to come up in
Gurgaon, Bangalore and Mumbai followed by Hyderabad and Chennai.

"This will be the first big investment in the hotel sector in India," says
Uttam Dave, CEO, InterGlobe Hotels.

The company, which is a subsidiary of the Rs 790-crore (Rs 7.9 billion)
InterGlobe Enterprises, with interests in airline management and
reservations, has signed up with Accor Asia, a global leader in economy
lodging with a market capital of $11 billion in management and services, to
build seven properties in the next five years. Worldwide, there are 650 Ibis
hotels with a total of 70,000 rooms.

Says Navjit Ahluwalia, Marriott director, hotel development India,
"Currently, we are negotiating with at least 40 parties and close to signing
a few deals."

Given the huge demand, from travelling sales executives and domestic
tourists (according to government sources, domestic travel tourism has grown
by 40 per cent in the last four years) hotel chains are chalking out
expansion plans and scouting for a mix of holiday destinations and business
districts in big and small towns.

Choice Hospitality, which has 26 franchisee properties under the Comfort Inn
and Quality Inn brands plans to be a 50-hotel chain in two years while
Sarovar Park, which operates about 30 properties, wants to open another five
by next year. Lemon Tree, which opened its first property in Gurgaon this
year, plans to open 25 more in the next seven years. ITC-owned Fortune
Hotels similarly wants to be a 50-hotel chain by 2010.

Says Ajay K Bakaya, executive director, Sarovar Park Plaza, "The mid-market
segment has no seasonality and is not effected by global epidemics like
Sars. Since it is linked to domestic economy, even if the number of rooms
double overnight, everyone can still do a decent business."

Mid-market hotel tariff is almost 40 per cent of five-star rates, with
prices falling within the Rs 1,200-Rs 4,000 price band.

Says Rahul Pandit, general manager, operations, Lemon Tree: "What we would
like to do is wean a chunk of the five-star consumers to our product."

Sunil Mathur, COO, Choice Hospitality India, adds that 80 per cent of its
business is driven by the domestic sector. "More and more senior level
executives are taking frequent holidays. While they don't want to
short-change quality, they want friendly rates."

With increased competition, brands like Fortune Hotels are also upscaling
their products and prices. For instance, ITC's upcoming 84-room property in
Gurgaon will be branded as a Fortune Select hotel. Currently, Fortune
operates 14 properties and has an average price of Rs 2,200.

According to hotel consultancy firm HVS International, the revenue per
available room of the three-star category grew at 10.9 per cent while the
five-star deluxe segment grew marginally at 1.2 per cent.
Industry sources put the current mid-price hotel market size at Rs 800 crore
(Rs 8 billion), of which the branded segment is roughly over Rs 400 crore
(Rs 4 billion). But experts reckon that with a buoyant economy, the business
potentials are huge. "The mid-market segment will double every four to five
years," says Mandeep S Lamba, president of Fortune Hotels.

Haryana grounds cyber city plans

2004-12-07T20:16:00.000+05:30

The proposal of setting up a Cyber City in Gurgaon has been killed with the
Haryana government deciding to denotify the 19.5 acres of prime land at
village Nathupur. Controversy surrounding the government's alleged move to
give this land at a throwaway price to DLF also seems to have been put to
rest.

The Cyber City would have been set up as a joint venture between the state
government and DLF - mooted by the controversial former joint secretary
(Information Technology) Ashok Khemka.

A three-page note by Khemka on the file had left the government red-faced
after he refused to handover the land to DLF without entering into a joint
venture.

Incidentally, the agenda item to denotify the land was brought up by the
Department of Town and Country Planning and not the IT Department with whom
the ownership of the land lay.

The controversy first came to light when Youth Congress president Randeep
Singh Surjewala submitted a memorandum to Governor A.R. Kidwai accusing the
state government of causing a loss of Rs 125 crore by seeking to handover
19.5 acres of ''prime commercial land...for Rs 4 crore to DLF''.

Surjewala's memorandum gave a detailed sequence of events from 2002, when
the Department of Town and Country Planning granted a licence for 86 acres
of land to DLF to set up a Cyber City near NH-8. It alleged that the
government granted this licence unilaterally, without floating any tenders.

The memorandum stated that after getting the licence, DLF represented to the
government asking it to acquire and hand over the 19.5 acres to ensure
''contiguity'' and ''to fill up infrastructural gaps'' for Cyber City.

Following this, the Department of Town and Country Planning moved the
Cabinet for acquisition and grant of the land, which the Cabinet approved.
Then the department directed the Electronics and IT Department (E&IT) to
take further action on acquisition without separately going to CoM again.

In 2003, the IT Department acquired the 19.5 acres. The notifications for
the acquisition stated that the land was being acquired to set up a Cyber
City. No mention of DLF was made. After the acquisition, DLF paid a
compensation of Rs 4 crore following which the government instructed the
E&IT Department to handover the land to DLF.

The controversy began this year when officials of E&IT Department pointed
out that before transferring the land to DLF, certain commitments were
required from the company. Department officials added that the land should
be transferred on lease basis and there should be a condition that it will
be used for setting up of Cyber City only.

The documents, which Surjewala attached to the memorandum, show that E&IT
officials on numerous occasions had proposed that Rs 4 crore paid by DLF
should be returned and that a joint venture be set up between the state
government and DLF with the contribution of the state in the form of 19.5
acres of acquired land.

Concerns were raised that after getting the land without any conditions, DLF
will have a total area of 105.5 acres for the Cyber City and it will be in a
position to utilise 6 per cent of this land for commercial use as per
existing government policy.

Now, it's offshoring of presentations

2004-12-07T20:14:00.003+05:30

India has emerged as a kitchen for sourcing power point presentations for
McKinsey's global operations.

The global business consultancy firm is sourcing all its power point and
multimedia presentation for business pitching, out of its IT enabled service
unit Visual Graphics India (VGI) in Chennai's Tidel Park.

The business intelligence major, which advises its global clients to
offshore work to India, has found itself as the biggest beneficiary of
outsourcing.

It is saving work hours of consultants who were spending substantial time on
preparing eye catcing presentations.

VGI is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with 300 professionals who
provide McKinsey's 6,200 consultants with graphics and visuals.

They also create visual communication tools like graphics, charts, exhibits,
overhead transparencies, on-screen animated presentations, and multi-media
products for its 82 offices in 44 countries. Globally, McKinsey works with
over 400 companies and many governments.

Also, McKinsey's knowledge centre in Gurgaon employs over a dozen
professionals - including mathematics doctorates, who do statistical
research for McKinsey consultants around the world.

"Now there is more time for consultancy than preparing for presentations,"
says a senior Mckinsey official. "The actual productivity of consultants are
rising."

The consulting firm's managing director Ian Davis says offshoring doesn't
mean anything for McKinsey as they have 40 different nationalities in their
London office.

"We are as much Indian as we are anything else." McKinsey sees offshoring as
a fundamental shift and it relates to the globalisation of the labour and
talent markets.

Experts say other consultant biggies are looking closely at India.

Ariba opens development center in India

2004-12-07T20:14:00.002+05:30

Ariba Inc. has set up a software development facility in Bangalore, India,
which will work on product development as well as technical support and
services, the company announced Friday.

This is the company's second development center worldwide, said David
McCormick, Ariba's president and director, told reporters in Bangalore. The
other center is in California, he said.

Sunnyvale, California-based Ariba, a vendor of software for online sourcing
and procurement, currently employs about 80 people at the Bangalore center,
and plans to double the headcount by the end of next year. The center has a
capacity to house 300 staffers.

The center's technical team is working on key components of the Ariba
Supplier Network and the Ariba Buyer product in the company's Spend
Management solutions suite.

Besides the development center, Ariba also has a significant number of
customers in India, a figure that rose after the company completed in July
its acquisition of FreeMarkets Inc., a sourcing software company in
Pittsburgh.

India also is an important location for Ariba's "low cost country sourcing"
program, which involves identification and qualification of low-cost
suppliers in various countries, according to McCormick.

"Big multinational companies are interested in doing business in India, and
being in the business of spend management, we help them work out what they
buy and who they buy from," McCormick said.

Services like the low cost country sourcing program are a key differentiator
for Ariba, as it enables it to offer complete spend management solutions to
its customers, McCormick said. "Customers don't want to partner with three
or four people to solve a business problem," he added.

Ariba's Indian operations have the company's largest combined sales,
marketing and development organization outside the U.S. Besides the 80 staff
at the development center, the company also has about 40 employees working
at its sales and marketing office in Gurgaon near Delhi, McCormick said. The
company employs approximately 1,000 workers in the U.S.

A Rs 20-cr school at Gurgaon

2004-12-07T20:14:00.001+05:30

Kartikay Saini spent 15 years in the Indian Navy where he worked as training
commander for IT training and as joint director, Foreign Defence
Procurement. In 1997, he received the CNS (Chief of Naval Staff)
commendation medal.

But a few years later, when his family business, the Hema Group, acquired
Tobu Cycles, Saini became actively involved with the business. Under his
leadership, Tobu saw vast product diversification in the next two years, and
Saini got the impetus to start a dream project of his own -- a day boarding
school that would focus on personality development.

The result is Scottish High, a Rs 20-crore project in Gurgaon, which will
open in April 2005.

"I grew up in Ludhiana and did my schooling at the Sacred Heart Convent
there. Then, at the age of 16, I joined the National Defence Academy in Pune
where I did my engineering; subsequently, I joined the Indian Navy.

"I spent 15 years in the defence service and worked in the fields of
engineering, logistics, information technology, foreign procurement and
training. During my tenure, I helped with the design and development of
online inventory management systems for the naval fleet, as well as
designing ERP systems for the Navy.

"My family had its own business in Ludhiana, manufacturing auto parts. The
business operations were shifted to Delhi in 1986 under the name Hema Group,
and we became an OEM for leading two-wheeler and four-wheeler companies.
Initially, I didn't have much to do with the family business, but a little
over two years ago we diversified into children's products and that's when I
became actively involved with it.

"We took over Tobu India around this time and started to redefine it. At
that time it was only into the manufacture of children's cycles, but over
the past two years we have diversified into 56 other products -- from
walkies to cots.

"With the acquisition of Tobu, the group had started moving towards the
children's segment in a sense. Now I wanted to take that further. I
envisioned an institute that would provide comprehensive education, focusing
not just on academic excellence but holistic development of mind, body and
spirit. Thus the idea for Scottish High germinated.

"We got started on a project plan immediately -- research was done with the
help of the Indian Institute of Industrial Research -- and there was plenty
of brainstorming before work got underway. We wanted to be sure of our
focus, which is to build a personality rather than a person. In keeping with
that USP, the school motto is "Interrogo Percipio Adicio", meaning
"Question, Understand and Apply".

"This will be an integrated school in the truest sense -- for instance, we
don't believe in separate sections for special children; they will study in
the same classroom as the others and the teachers will have instructions to
consider their needs. We are very particular about our staff -- the
student-teacher ratio will be 12:1. Milkha Singh has endorsed our sports
programme and J J Valaya's studio has designed the school uniform. Even our
furniture has been designed on the advice of a psychologist.

"The building is located over a 5-acre area in Gurgaon and our first session
will begin in April 2005. This is going to be a day boarding school -- we
have mapped out a programme wherein the child will be at school between 8 am
and 5.30 pm. With such a schedule, we have to ensure they spend quality time
at home; so no written homework will be assigned.
"Naturally, no expense is being spared. But on the flip side, Tobu Cycles is
growing by leaps and bounds too. The company's turnover is around Rs 8 crore
(Rs 80 million) and we are targeting Rs 16 crore (Rs 160 million) this
year -- a 100 per cent growth.

Do you smell a land scam?

2004-12-07T20:14:00.000+05:30

More than 1,70,000 people were waiting for October 29 when a lottery would
decide which 3,200 of them would get residential plots in Gurgaon's Sector
57. On November 3, however, many of them were participating in a dharna
against HUDA Gurgaon. The reason: the draw for allotment of land was
cancelled at the last minute. Those who'd applied, smelt a scam.

HUDA's official reason for the cancellation was that the government had
decided to revise the land rates in view of an escalation in prices.

The buzz, however, is that the postponement may have something to do with 10
very different applications that HUDA had received after the Sector 57
scheme was announced. These applicants, though not in response to the HUDA
scheme, wanted permission to develop approximately 100 acres of the same
land into group housing societies.

Among these applicants are original landowners from Tigra and Wazirabad
villages from where HUDA had acquired approximately 600 acres for Sector 57.
The applications have been made in collaboration with some well-known
builders in the area and carry both a sale agreement and a buy back
agreement.

Modus operandi

Among the villagers who are supposed to have sold their land to builders
even after receiving acquisition notices from HUDA are Jiya Ram, Jaipal,
Shiv Narain, Giyasi Ram and others. "The modus operandi is that though the
application is made in the name of the original land owner, once the license
is obtained, the builders immediately get the land registered in their
name," said a property dealer. So when Giyasi Ram gets his license, the land
is most likely to be transferred to Heerman Fin and Property Ltd.

An official of HUDA's Town Planning Wing denied that the land for which
applications had been invited was under any kind of dispute. "We have never
released land to any colonizer once it has been acquired. There are
instances where chunks of land have been exchanged to fill infrastructural
gaps, but even these are rare," he insisted.

Official defence

Chief Town Planner K. Surjit Singh, however, told Hindustan Times that he
was checking the records to see if any builder had applied for or been
granted license for developing GHSs on the same land that HUDA had
advertised. "We have heard these allegations and just want to ascertain the
truth," he added.

HUDA Estate officer in Gurgaon, N H Bangar, stated "administrative and
technical" reasons for the postponement of the draw. But it is believed that
Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala wants HUDA to carry out fresh appraisal
of rates for these plots

But the applicants for the residential plots, who have put in Rs 1300 crore
with the applications, feel that if that is the case, why can't the
government go ahead with the draw of lots and charge the allottees according
to the revised rates instead of postponing the draw and returning their
earnest money. "We don't want our money back, we want land to build homes,"
says R K Sharma, an applicant.

Others, like Congress leader Karan Singh Dalal, allege that the actual plan
is to revise the scheme and offer fewer residential plots after
accommodating the builders. Principal Secretary to CM B. D. Dhalia flatly
denied these charges. "The government just wants to bring some sort of
parity in rates to avoid black marketeering," he said.

The reassessment excuse

If this argument is to be given credence, then the draw of lots for Sector
51, carried out earlier this year, should have been scrapped to. This sector
has a better location but was sold at the same rate. A couple of years ago,
when the sectors close to the DLF Golf Course road were sold by HUDA, the
rate charged by them was Rs 4,500 per sq yrd while the DLF rates were Rs
20,000 per sq yrd.

In any case, the HUDA credo is to facilitate organized urban development on
a no-profit no-loss principle. HUDA officials also add that market prices
have never been the primary criteria for fixing rates for plots. Financial
Commissioner, Town and Country, Bhaskar Chatterjee said that the prevailing
market price was not the sole criteria for determining the rates at which
plots were floatedHUDA "There are several other factorHUst of acquisition.
The market rates keep fluctuating depending on demand-supply ratio and
cannot be the basis of price fixation by HUDA," he stressed.

Chatterjee said the Chief Minister just made a suggestion and no decision
had been taken so far on it. HUDA, meanwhile, has taken a view that there
was no justification for revision of rates at this stage. An IAS officer,
who remained in-charge of HUDA, said that the draw of lots had never been
deferred on the day of the draw. "Nor has the price been revised just when
the draw of lots was due taking the plea that the market rates are higher.
This is a big blow to the credibility of HUDA and makes applicants doubt the
intentions behind these decisions," he said.

Gurgaon plots auctioned at throwaway prices

2004-12-07T20:13:00.001+05:30

In a huge scam in Gurgaon in Haryana, more than 20 acres of land has
recently been sold at rates far below its market value.

Gurgaon, on the outskirts of Delhi is one of the most thriving suburbs of
the country. The satellite township is the hub of the outsourcing industry
and commands amongst the highest property prices in the country.

Prices slashed

But on May 24, in the biggest ever auction of commercial sites measuring
more than 20 acres, plots in this A-Class city were sold at rates far below
the rates of B-class cities like Faridabad, another Delhi suburb in Haryana.

In Gurgaon, commercial plots were sold at Rs 18-19,000 per square metre to
companies that were unknown till now like Sundrop Farms and Dhariwal Pvt
Ltd.

In Faridabad, commercial plots are priced at Rs 31,000 per square metre.

Officers of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) have prepared
notes which clearly refuse to endorse the auction, saying that the Gurgaon
plots need to be re-auctioned.

The Governor, AR Kidwai has already demanded a report on the sale records
for the Gurgaon plots.

CM under scanner

The opposition, scenting a scam, has alleged that Chief Minister Om Prakash
Chautala, over-ruling objections by HUDA, is forcing officers to validate
this auction, in what is perhaps Haryana's biggest ever scam.

"There is a minimum price variation of Rs 150 crore. The Chief Minister, in
an unprecedented move has ordered the auction officer, who is the
administrator HUDA, to confirm the auction," said Congress leader Randeep
Surjewala.

But the Chief Minister defends the auction.

"The government gets auctions done. It doesn't get them investigated. Is the
government useless? What allegations are you talking about? Who has made
these allegations? I've only heard of them through newspapers," said Chief
Minister Chautala.

Eye on polls

The formalities for completing the sale of the Gurgaon plots are yet to be
completed.

But with assembly elections likely in about six months' time, the opposition
is cashing in on this sale, alleging a scam of hundreds of crores of rupees.

But the ruling INLD is trying its best to play down these allegations of
corruption.

Metro survey causes panic in Sikanderpur

2004-12-07T20:13:00.000+05:30

Gurgaon's dream of getting Delhi Metro extended to the heart of the city
received a rude shock today when angry residents of village Sikanderpur took
to the streets and blocked the Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road for over an hour today.
Villagers were protesting the Haryana government's move of getting a survey
done in the area without taking them into confidence.

Hundreds of villagers blocked traffic near the Sikanderpur junction causing
a major jam on MG Road that extended upto Arjangarh. The protestors also
pelted stones on passing vehicles. It was only after they were assured of a
meeting with Deputy Commissioner that they lifted the siege.

The agitation was precipitated by the unannounced appearance of a team of
surveyors from Haryana Town & Country Planning Department and Haryana Urban
Development Authority (HUDA) to conduct a survey of the area for the Metro
line. The team was to survey the width of the existing road to see how much
land needed to be acquired for the Metro.

The team, led by senior town-planner Dhare Singh, had to literally escape
from the spot when angry villagers tried to gherao and manhandle them. ''The
manner in which these officials started taking measurement of the area
agitated the villagers,'' said Shiv Narayan Yadav, a resident. ''We were not
taken into confidence by the authorities. When we asked them about it, we
were told that the government wanted to acquire portions of the village and
construct shopping malls there,'' he added.

Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner Anurag Aggarwal assured the villagers that the
Haryana government had decided to extend the Delhi Metro through MG Road to
Gurgaon but the consent of the village would be taken.

Aggarwal later said: ''We don't want any legal hassles. If there is a need
to acquire areas where construction has already taken place, we would
rehabilitate the affected in a planned manner.''

''The government would need at least 30 metres of space on both sides of the
road passing through Sikanderpur. That is what set the alarm bells ringing
for the villagers who already have built-up areas adjacent to the road,''
said a Town & Country Planning official.

Haryana to foot own bill only
All confusion over Haryana's stance over the funding of Delhi Metro's
extension to Gurgaon was set to rest on Thursday when Gurgaon Deputy
Commissioner Anurag Aggarwal said that Haryana would only pay for the
construction that takes place in it's territory.

''There is no problem as far the feasibility of the project is concerned and
RITES has already submitted its Detailed Project Report to Delhi Government.
As for the funding, Haryana will only pay for the stretch falling within its
jurisdiction,'' said Aggarwal. According to sources, the proposed Delhi
Metro to Gurgaon would be on an elevated track all along.

Agilent to ramp up operations in India

2004-12-07T20:12:00.000+05:30

Agilent Technologies Inc, the $6.1-billion diversified technology solutions
provider, plans to ramp up Indian operations which will see the company
doubling its headcount in about 18 months to 2,500 and expanding the scope
of R&D work. The company is evaluating various options, including the South,
for supplemental growth.

Anita Manwani, Vice-President and General Manager, Global Sourcing, said
that Agilent's R&D capabilities from India have doubled over the past nine
months.

"We are excited about our growth so far and confident that over the next
year, our team in India will make significant contributions as well as
contributions to Agilent's IP capital. Agilent is evaluating options for
supplemental growth."

Agilent provides R&D for ASIC (application specific integrated circuit)
development, development and release of advanced design systems for RF
(radio frequency) and mixed signal environments and device drivers and user
interface development for RF and electronics instruments.

Manwani said, "Since inception in November 1999, Agilent's Indian presence
has grown significantly and today it is considered an important part of the
company's Asia-Pacific strategy. The Asia-Pacific is the largest market for
us, contributing 41 per cent of global revenue and employing about 30 per
cent of global headcount.

"India's contribution to Agilent's global revenue is scaling upwards and
moving with the customer base. We are gradually but surely increasing our
presence in India."

In terms of manpower strength, the company has more than 1,000 professionals
today and expects to double it over the next 18 months.

Agilent recently established a system-on-chip (SOC) design centre in
Gurgaon, its first integrated chip design centre in India that provides ASIC
and system design services to customers of its ASIC Products Division, part
of the Semiconductor Products Group.

The SOC design centre covers design, logic and physical design, verification
and system firmware design for industries such as networking, computing,
imaging and storage applications.

The centre complements existing ASIC design centres in the US, Malaysia and
Singapore.

"Agilent handles software development for communications and some test and
measurement product lines and expects to expand its R&D contributions from
India in wireless and other solution offerings," she said.

"Specifically, R&D work is expected to be in the areas of wireless solutions
systems and billing software for telecom service providers and device
drivers for electronic products. These are some of the activities we are
looking at for expanding our R&D base in India."

As a corporation, Agilent is helping accelerate technological progress in
aerospace and Defence globally and in India.

Therefore, as a technology innovator and enabler, Agilent is investing more
in new products and technology.

"Development of key modules for electronics instruments, which are used in
aerospace research, is one of the areas that Agilent anticipates providing
from our operations in India."

Agilent's existing centre in Gurgaon employs over 1,200 professionals
working on back-end financial processing, intranet development, engineering
support, IT support and R&D.

The company's separate aerospace and Defence applications division handles
test and measurements applications.

NGO proposes 3-pronged security plan for Gurgaon

2004-12-07T20:09:00.001+05:30

A three-step security plan has found favour with residents welfare
associations from all over the city, though they are still divided on the
Gurgaon SSP's proposal to deploy policemen instead of private security
guards in residential areas for a fee.

It was pointed out to nearly 35 RWAs at a meeting called by People's Action
that, according to crime records, the most crimes were being committed by
strangers and service providers who were not permanent residents. The first
step in the plan will be the identification of such service providers who
are not permanent residents of Gurgaon, including migrant labour.

The second step will be the verification process which will be handed over
to the Gurgaon Police. The third step would be to issue temporary work
permits and identity cards to such verified persons.

The meeting also discussed concerns of some members of the fallout of such
an exercise on prospective service providers.

For the identification campaign to be carried out by RWAs, a pro-forma will
be sent by People's Action. While residents will be liable to provide
information on their employees, RWAs will collect data on dhobis, kabari
wallahs, garbage collectors and vendors.

People's Action has offered to collect this information and computerize the
data in a prescribed format for giving it to the police on a CD. The NGO is
also working with security agencies to develop an ID card based on
fingerprint encoding.

The 3-step security campaign slated to start in the first week of September.
Col Bharat Singh, Patron, Sector 4&7, RWA has been nominated to lead this
campaign and coordinate the exercise with the Gurgaon Police. M.M. Bhalla,
ex-secretary, Hamilton Court RWA, will be the other member in charge of this
campaign.

At the meeting of the People's Action Gurgaon Council (PAGC), DSP Abhay
Singh apprised the RWAs on the Gurgaon police's offer to replace private
security in colonies with Haryana State Industrial Security Force personnel
for a fee. The Federation of RWAs, which includes 19 societies, had met SSP
P.S Ahlawat earlier and said they were not very enthusiastic about the
proposal. Even at this meeting, the RWAs had reservations, with the costs
for the service remaining the main sticking point.

Members of Sector 40 RWA suggested that this may be enforced by HUDA, while
Sushant Lok and Palam Vihar RWAs preferred that the proposal was made to
private colony developers.

Real estate booms in Delhi

2004-12-07T20:09:00.000+05:30

If you are planning to buy a house in the Capital, don't go too far. No, not
even to the National Capital Region.

For, 2004 has so far proved to be a roadrunner one for the real estate
sector in the National Capital Region (NCR) as the residential market alone
has seen a price rise of 25 per cent to 30 per cent in the last seven
months. And it seems that this phase is here to stay.

Construction activity has gathered pace in the last one year in Delhi and
its suburbs like Gurgaon and Noida. Even other areas like Greater Noida,
Indirapuram and Faridabad, which were not so active till recently, have seen
a substantial spurt in activity. A new development witnessed over the last
one year was the robust demand in the premium segment.

Multinational real estate consultancy firm Cushman and Wakefield (C&W) has
said in its report that in the last six to eight months, supply and demand
dynamics in the market have reflected a complete turnaround with demand
outstripping supply.

Rohtas Goel, chairman & MD, Omaxe Group, said: "In the premium segment in
particular, huge new demand has come from upwardly mobile double-income
families that can very well afford a flat of Rs 40 lakh and above. In
response to demand, builders have also improved the quality of construction
and the specifications within their projects so that many of the apartments
being constructed in the NCR today would well match international
standards."

In Gurgaon, Noida and Greater Noida, there has been a spurt in development
activities in the premium segment. A number of premium products like Aralias
and Pinnacle of DLF, Uniworld City and World Spa of Unitech, Belmonte of
Vipul, The Forest of Omaxe and Jaypee Green of Jaypee among others have
received a good response from the market. Some of them were completely sold
even before construction was completed.

Interestingly, the maximum price rise also took place in the premium
segment. Many of the premium projects were launched at Rs 1,600 to Rs 1,800
per sq ft in 2003. Today, they are quoting Rs 2,200 to Rs 3,000 per sq ft.

SK Sayal, CEO, Alpha Buildtech said: "The availability of premium quality
housing has led both NRIs and affluent domestic investors to put their money
into the real estate sector.
Supply has also geared up to meet increased demand. The effect of this rise
in supply will be felt over the next one year. This year supply would match
demand, and hence the price rise that has been witnessed over the last one
year would get moderated. Construction activity in the not so premium
segments is also happening at a brisk pace."

A large number of projects are coming up along the Sohna Road in Gurgaon and
along the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway. Developers like DLF, Unitech,
Ambience, MGF, Eldeco, Parsvanath, ATS, Omaxe and Vipul have either launched
their projects or are in the process of doing so. Prices here vary between
Rs 1,500 and Rs 3,500 per sq ft.

As demand grew, construction activity increased in areas like Greater Noida,
Faridabad, Indirapuram, Vaishali and Ghaziabad as well. These were areas
where till about a couple of years ago developers found it difficult to sell
their products even at Rs 1,000 per sq ft. But now the going rates range
from Rs 1,200 to Rs 1,500 per sq ft.

A new development that has taken place in the last six months is strong
demand in the Vaishali and Indiarapuram area. As prices in Gurgaon and Noida
rose above Rs 1,500 per sq ft, buyers turned towards these areas where homes
are more affordable.

Furthermore, being only 12 to 15 kilometres from Connaught Place, Vaishali
and Indirapuram emerged as favourite destinations for those who can shell
out Rs 12 lakh to Rs 15 lakh for a two bedroom flat, and Rs 16 lakh to Rs 20
lakh for a three-bedroom flat.

T Chakravarti, head, India Property Research said: "There are two key
trends - there is a steady increase in the number of off-plan sales in the
residential segment in NCR, which had almost petered out in the post-slump
era, and high-end residential developments are back on the scene. Market
indications suggest that the favourable housing finance rate regime, coupled
with attractive packages tailored by housing finance companies, is prompting
the end-users to consider purchasing for their own use or even sometime for
investment."

Anuj Puri, managing director, Chesterton Meghraj Property Consultants,
added: "Best performing real estate markets are the ones that have a
sustainable balance of properties held by end-users and properties held by
investors, to offer better returns on investments. This rate of return is
also governed by the growth in the activities for which the property is
being used. In the last few years NRIs have shown a lot of interest in the
NCR market."

They say money, like water, finds its own level. With the stock market
marking time at pretty high levels, money is said to be finding its way into
the property market. This would bring in an element of speculation in
property. Besides, easy availability of cheap home loans, coupled with the
expectation of further rise in prices, have been driving real estate rates.

Bollywood - Dilemmas of Delhi in Bollywood bilingual

2004-12-07T20:07:00.007+05:30

Bollywood director Rakeysh Mehra says his new bilingual film starring Aamir
Khan is about the trials and tribulations of New Delhi, a city "perched to
take off".
"The film is about life in Delhi. This is a city poised to gain
international fame," said Mehra.
"It's about to take off. And the youth in Delhi have all sorts of issues --
that's what my film is about," Mehra told IANS on the sidelines of the
opening of his Delhi restaurant Baujee's late Wednesday.
The restaurant is located in the Metropolitan Plaza mall in suburban
Gurgaon.
"Rang De Basanti", being made in Hindi and English with the English version
called "Paint It Yellow", stars Aamir Khan, Arjun Rampal, Atul Kulkarni and
Kunal Kapoor.
Kunal was last seen in painter-director M.F. Husain's "Meenaxi". Shooting of
the film would begin later this year in the capital and it would be released
late 2005.
This is Mehra's second film after almost three years. His debut "Aks" was a
supernatural thriller starring Amitabh Bachchan and Manoj Bajpai.
"Rang De Basanti" is the first venture of MPD Films, a new company formed by
Rakeysh Mehra, Nilesh Dadhich and Angad Paul.
Angad Paul, son of British Indian tycoon Lord Swraj Paul, was also executive
producer of the British films "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" and
"Snatch".

Nilesh Dadhich is the grandson of late lyricist Pandit Indra, and has
returned from the US to set up a film company.
"We believe that Indian stories need to be told across the world. And for
that you cannot only be dependent on subtitling Hindi films, so we are
shooting the film twice -- every dialogue once in Hindi and once in
English."
The film would also have two British actors, a man and a woman. "We want to
give it perspective and place it in a modern Indian context, where a
brimming city is a mix of many cultures," said Mehra of the $8 million film.
His next film would be a comedy and the script is now being finalised. Till
then, Mehra would concentrate on "Rang..." and his first love, food.
His family has another restaurant in Delhi Bauji Ka Dhaba, which was run for
many years by his father.

Suzuki Makes Indian Motorcycle Company Subsidiary

2004-12-07T20:07:00.006+05:30

Tokyo (JCNN) - Suzuki Motor (TSE: 7269) has announced that it has acquired a
controlling 51% stake in Integra Overseas Private Limited of India, and has
made the New Deli-based motorcycle company its subsidiary.

The move is to produce and sell Suzuki-branded motorcycles in the local
market. Suzuki plans to newly construct a 150,000-square-meter plant in
Gurgaon, Haryana, and begin operation by the end of 2005

Fortis To Add 3,600 More Beds In 5 Yrs

2004-12-07T20:07:00.005+05:30

Fortis Healthcare, a Ranbaxy promoters' group company, plans to have more
than 4,100 beds under its management over the next five years involving a
fresh investment of over Rs 800 crore. Apart from having a presence in the
north India's health delivery system, the company is also setting up a
medical and allied science college in Gurgaon, which will come up along with
the two multi-speciality hospitals having facility for 500 beds.

The company has already spent over Rs 300 crore in bringing over 570 beds
into operation at three hospitals in Mohali, Amritsar and Jessa Ram Hospital
in central Delhi.

The additional Rs 800 crore fund requirement will be met through a
combination of debt, equity, initial public offer (IPO) and internal
accruals and will help add another 3,600 beds at various locations in north
India, including Delhi, Gurgaon, Jalandhar and Ludhiana.

In the National Capital Region (NCR), Fortis plans to have over 2,000 beds
spread across six different hospitals. The 350-bed Noida hospital, involving
an outlay of Rs 100 crore, will be operational soon.

"We plan to come out with an IPO not before two years and will offer the
equity to public only once our operations stabilise fully," Shivinder Mohan
Singh, joint managing director, Fortis Healthcare told FE.

The Gurgaon facility would be like a Fortis Medicity called Fortis
International Institute of Medical and Biosciences (FIIMBS) with two
multi-speciality hospitals having 750 beds along with a medical college for
500 students.

Cincom to recruit 500 people in India

2004-12-07T20:07:00.004+05:30

Cincom Systems India Pvt Ltd, the Indian arm of software major Cincom
Systems Inc, is to add another 500 software developers and Business Process
Outsourcing (BPO) personnel in the country even as it has set up a
subsidiary in the US for outsourcing and Application Service Provider (ASP)
services.

"We are stepping up recruitment in India and would extend its global
employee-friendly culture to India," Cincom Systems India Pvt Ltd president
Ashish Paul said.

The company intends to recruit software developers and programmers with a
broad range of skill sets, including Java, .Net and Oracle DBA among others,
he said adding, they would be based at its India Development Facility,
Gurgaon.

At present, Cincom has over 125 software developers and a miniscule presence
of around five BPO staff in the country, he said adding, the ramp up would
help the company in getting a major presence in the country.

The Indian arm has also established a wholly owned subsidiary in US for
outsourcing and ASP services, he said.

This subsidiary would help in garnering outsourcing contacts from the US to
India

Gurgaon dreams: Time for a reality check

2004-12-07T20:07:00.003+05:30

It's not just in posh lifestyle that Gurgaon is giving competition to south
Delhi but also in the urban hazards of a modern city. The township is faced
with regular water and power problems and internal transport is almost
non-existent.

With a growth rate of 18-20 per cent every year, the satellite town's future
can only be worse if present situations are not improved and proposed plans
not executed at a faster pace.

Unlike Delhi where the population rise is pegged at a mere 30 per cent over
a decade, the estimates for Gurgaon are a whopping 89-90 per cent. National
Capital Region Planning Board estimates that by 2010, over 1 lakh families
will be living in Gurgaon and sub-cities in its vicinity and the township
will steadily expand towards Sohna and Faridabad.

"With travel time likely to reduce drastically between Delhi and Gurgaon
after the expressway and proposed metro line are completed, Gurgaon will be
the next destination for Delhiites. We are coming up infrastructural
facilities but we require special funds for quick execution of the
projects," a HUDA official said.

Developers have sought permissions for construction of about 20 shopping
malls - in addition to the existing four - and five multiplex cinema
complexes. A wedding mall, the first of its kind in the city, is coming up
at Sohna road. The mall would have various types of banquet halls for theme
marriages. Gold Souk, a mall for international-standard jewellery shops will
be operational by this year-end.

An auto mall is expected to be ready by 2006 on the Delhi- Jaipur Highway
where all types of cars will be available with finance and insurance
facilities. Modern test ride facility will be available inside the mall
itself.

The hospitality industry is also trying to cash in on the boom. In addition
to two five-star hotels, five more will open over the next two years and
number of discotheques is expected to double.

Connaught Place will not be the only area with a revolving restaurant.
Builders are constructing one near the Golf Course. Builder Hemant Vashist
says it will start by this Diwali.

Food and liquor might soon be available throughout the night with several
malls seeking permission to serve round the clock. The city might also be a
destination for gamblers in the future with then Haryana government toying
with the idea of a casino in Gurgaon.

Information technology giants like Wipro and NIIT plans to open their
northern Indian headquarters in Gurgaon. The Haryana government has planned
two IT parks, to be built at a cost of Rs 200 crore, over the next five
years.

MCD out to make professionals pay

2004-12-07T20:07:00.002+05:30

Soon, it could be time to loosen purse strings. This time, the MCD is
proposing a professional tax on anybody working in Delhi - whether a
resident of the city or NCR towns like Noida, Gurgaon, Faridabad and
Ghaziabad.

Depending on your salary, you could pay between Rs 10 and Rs 2,400 as tax
deducted at source for the salaried. The self-employed will have to fill
self-assessment forms. MCD hopes to raise at least Rs 120 crore in the
initial stages through the tax.

"The Delhi cabinet has already cleared the proposal and we will soon table a
preamble in the MCD standing committee," said MCD commissioner Rakesh Mehta.
Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit, however, denied the cabinet had cleared any such
proposal.

Metro not going places for four yearsAdd to Clippings

2004-12-07T20:07:00.001+05:30

Waiting for the Metro to zip past your house? If you live in Noida, Gurgaon,
beyond Qutab Minar, or Jahangirpuri, you might just have to wait another
four years.

Negative feasibility studies and the reluctance of neighbouring states to
cough up the money have forced the Metro to consider changing course in the
second phase, which is to start in January 2005.

The earlier proposed routes have been altered. Dwarka-CP Metro Line 3, which
will be extended beyond Yamuna depot to connect the Commonwealth Games
village, is likely to stop at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border and not go into
Noida for the time being.

Similarly, Line 2, which was supposed to go right up to the apartment hubs
in Gurgaon, will stop at Qutab Minar and will not reach Andheria Modh. In
the north, the line is likely to stop at Jahangirpuri and not reach Sanjay
Gandhi Transport Nagar.

The decision could have a major impact on property prices in all these
areas. East Delhi is all set to see a boom as Metro runs through it to Mayur
Vihar. However, Noida and Gurgaon real estate could tumble.

Metro Rail's Director (projects and planning) C B K Rao said: "Delhi
government had given in-principle approval to these routes over two years
back. Some parts were not under our government, like the extension to
Gurgaon and Noida. So these routes will be modified."

India : Latest Machines for Wrinkle Free Shirts at Welco

2004-12-07T20:07:00.000+05:30

If innovation is the name then Welco leads all the way. The company has its
warehouses in Delhi and Gurgaon from where it supplies complete range of
linings, interlinings and garment accessories on ready stock basis.

Welco Garment Machinery now introduces a new range machines for manufacture
of wrinkle free shirts. Jobs such as arm hole fusing, back yoke fusing,
centre placket fusing, sleeve seam, side seam fusing and sleeve vent fusing
can be done in no time with the help of these machines.

"These are specialised machines for seam fusing/ yoke seam fusing which
eliminates seam puckering and some of these machines would be on display at
Garmentech 2004, New Delhi," said Mahesh Pahwa, Partner of Welco.

"The machines are useful in vertical press designing and also for specially
designed air bags to prevent strike through. These machines are fully
controlled by a microcomputer and have a PCL touch screen control panel for
easy operation. They also have a synchronised dual press button, which
ensures operation safety. The machines can be connected to either an
individual vacuum pump or the centralised vacuum pump. The pressure and
temperature can be adjusted absolutely to cater to different fabric
materials," informed Pahwa.

Reputed labels like Tommy Hilfiger, Polo, Hugo Boss, Smart Shirt and many
others use these machines.

S&P owner acquires Hyderabad centre of US firm Capital IQ

2004-12-07T20:01:00.000+05:30

The US-based publishing firm McGraw Hill, which owns Standard & Poor's, has
made its entry into India by acquiring the Hyderabad development centre of
US-based Capital IQ.

McGraw Hill, which holds stakes in Crisil and in a Tata publishing company,
(Tata McGraw Hill), through Standard & Poor's, has acquired Capital IQ (said
to be again through Standard & Poor's), a leading financial and capital
market information provider with a major presence in Hyderabad in September
this year.

Following the acquisition, Capital IQ operations in Hyderabad and Gurgaon
have become 100% subsidiaries of McGraw Hill and will continue to remain as
Capital IQ till the US major decides to change so, according to sources here
on Thursday.

When contacted, a senior official of Capital IQ here told eFE that the
company was acquired by McGraw Hill (through Standard & Poor's) in
September. The Hyderabad centre has over 750 associates while the Gurgaon
operation has 120 associates. "The Indian operations will become 100%
subsidiaries and continue functioning under the Capital IQ name till such
time the acquirer decides to change the name." He, however, refrained from
disclosing the nature and details of the deal.

It may be recalled that the US-based Capital IQ is a provider of financial
and capital market information to over 700 clients across the globe. The
company, a few months ago, had announced plans to ramp up its Hyderabad
operations with an investment of $3 million.

Last November, Capital IQ had acquired Smart Sandiego and its Indian
operations, Smart Software in Hyderabad in a stock-swap deal and converted
the Indian operations into a subsidiary of Capital IQ of the US. Since then,
the Hyderabad operations have grown rapidly from 250 professionals to 750.
The company is said to have invested $7 million in the last one year,
including acquisition of Smart Software.

Capital IQ collects the data of all the companies from leading stock
exchanges like Nasdaq, New York Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange,
Luxembourg, Canada and processes it with its analytical software tools and
presents it with more value addition by way of analyses in a format
beneficial for investors, fund managers, investment bankers and private
equity firms to enable them to decide on the investments in a particular
company.

Earlier, Capital IQ raised $50 million in three tranches and some of the
major investors/strategic shareholders include Bank of America, Bear
Stearns, Credit Suisse First Boston, Dresdner Kleinworth Wasserstein, JP
Morgan Chase & Co, and Merill Lynch.

Earlier, top officials including Deven Sharma, executive vice-president of
McGraw Hill Companies along with Kathleen A Corbet, president of Standard &
Poor's and Madan Mohan of Capital IQ met Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S
Rajasekhara Reddy and informed him of establishing an IT enabled services
operation through the acquisition of Capital IQ worldwide.

Amex may sell Gurgaon BPO unit

2004-12-07T20:00:00.000+05:30

US banking and credit card major American Express is said to have embarked
on a reappraisal of the future role of its captive Business Process
Outsourcing (BPO) units in India. One of the options being considered is
the induction of an outside investor.

Company officials refused to comment on the issue, terming it as market
rumours. "Through our global, distributed service network business model, we
already have world-class proprietary operations, supplemented by leading
vendors, partners in many markets around the world, including in India. We
have absolutely no plans to change our business model," an American Express
spokesperson said.

The spokesperson did not directly answer queries relating to the possible
divestment of the Indian BPO operations .

American Express has two different captive BPO units in India. It also
outsources work to several local BPO and software vendors. Its first captive
BPO unit is a financial delivery centre and was set up in 1995. It is also
one of the oldest captive centres set up by an MNC in the country. It
carries out internal back office work related to financial accounts and
balance sheets. This centre employs accountants and is located in Delhi.

The second centre is a global sales delivery centre, which supports customer
calls from all over the world for various products and services sold by the
company. This centre carries out both voice and non-voice related
transactions.

According to sources, American Express has taken a strategic decision to
disinvest the second entity, ie, its global sales delivery centre in
Gurgaon, over a period of time. The planning department in the centre has
been instructed to identify steps needed to carry out the process of
disinvestment.

The sales delivery operation has a very impressive infrastructure with
dedicated telecommunication links and a five-storey building on one of the
main highways leading out of Delhi. It is spread over an area of 137,000
square ft and offers voice and data-based customer services, fraud risk
modelling and financial processing services, to American Express customers
world-wide.

According to sources, there are several reasons as to why the company is
considering a disinvestment, which have nothing to do with issues like
attrition at the top and middle level and rising costs. MNC captive centres
are more expensive than third party service providers.

Moreover, as American Express follows the concept of comparison with its
vendors carrying out the same tasks, it is well aware of the rising cost
difference. The rising salary and cost levels do not compare well with the
rates offered by third party service providers for similar services,
according to sources.

American Express also seems to be concerned about the backlash in the US
against outsourcing. Further, the recent tax circular on MNC BPO companies
has also been a cause of concern.

American Express is very sensitive about the backlash potential and has
never publicly announced the number of people employed in India. It is also
very careful about its offshore vendors and prefers them to work onsite
first before taking any work offshore. The company is so careful about its
offshore presence that till date there are no numbers available for the
total cost saving attributable to its back-office operations in India.

India's first gold souk promises Dubai experience

2004-12-07T19:57:00.000+05:30

Promising the same experience as shopping in Dubai, India's first gold souk
is set to open Friday in Gurgaon, on the outskirts of the capital, offering
lifestyle accessories.

"So far around 65 percent of the souk's

"Alongside branded jewellery we have some of the established names in the
business from Kolkata, Mumbai, Jaipur and the capital setting up shop in the
souk," said Gupta at a press conference.

Designed by Oliver Vidal of US-based Swanke Hayden and Associate and built
at a cost of around Rs.400 million, the souk in Gurgaon is to be followed up
with nine more in the country over the next three years with an estimated
Rs.1 billion investment in each of the other souks.

"We are in the process of finalising land in Ludhiana, Kochi, Chennai and
Jaipur to start construction of souks by next year. The next project in
Ludhiana will be launched by mid-December followed by one in Kochi early
next year," Gupta said.

In the next phase, Aeren Group, which has been pioneering several speciality
malls, is planning gold souks in Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and
Kolkata.

"We are also in the process of doing viability study for setting up a gold
souk in Chicago in the US and also in Britain, Bangladesh and Nepal among
other nearby countries," Gupta told IANS.

The multiple location gold souks "will provide jewellers opportunity to
expand without investing too much into real estate development. Many of the
big jewellers planning expansion have already committed to take space in our
next ventures," said G. S. Pillai, president of Aerens Gold Souk.

Leading brand names set to occupy space in the gold souk include Hammer
Plus, Espirit, Hugo Boss, Citizen, Celeste, Asmi, Sangini and Nakshtra.

Promising a full shopping experience, the gold souk is aiming to score with
comfort levels for all members of a family be it adults or children with a
play area, beauty salon and food court.

Two major names in the Middle East, Alukkas and D'Damas from Dubai are also
opening outlets at the souk.

"In addition to jewellery and branded products including watches and
lifestyle accessories, we will be providing a platform for young budding
graduates of the jewellery designing institutes," said Pillai.

The opening of the souk has been timed to coincide with the peak gold and
silver buying season in the country from September to January that sees a
large number of festivals and weddings. There is expectation of more
purchases in the rural areas soon after harvest.

With an annual consumption of some 800 tonnes of gold, India is the largest
gold jewellery market in the world, valued at $14.5 billion.

"With people from nearby cities coming routinely to the capital to shop for
gold, we are targeting customers within 300-400 km of Delhi for an enjoyable
shopping experience without car parking hassles," said Gupta.

Designed to look like a "pearl emerging from a oyster, the souk will have
all facilities to make shopping for gold a pleasure. Our main selling point
will be ambience, quality and variety with one or two special events being
organised every month," said Gupta

Freehold for all in Gurgaon

2004-12-07T19:56:00.002+05:30

Buying realty in Gurgaon and Faridabad keeps investors free from at least
one hassle. They don't have to worry about the ownership title to the land.
For unlike archaic Delhi, property in these two NCR property magnets is
freehold, irrespective of whether it's being offered by a coloniser or by
the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA).

So while in Delhi you may still be dithering about when to get your
leasehold property converted into freehold, depending on what the DDA
advertisement for that day announces, Delhi's country cousins do not have
any such regulations. In other words, there is complete freedom from the
procedure of converting the property from leasehold to freehold.

That's because unlike Delhi, where most of the development has been done by
DDA - which owns a sizable portion of Delhi's real estate - in Gurgaon and
Faridabad, the land is not tied up. This attracts quite a few takers to
these areas. Said Rakesh Chaudhry, property consultant: "My clients consider
it an advantage, for they get the property directly in their name, without
the legal hassles of conversion."

In Delhi, most of the property being leasehold, people generally get it
converted into freehold before selling it further or pass on the rate of the
conversion to the next buyer as part of the price. "I didn't have to do
anything like that when I bought my plot in Gurgaon," said Vinod Pathak, a
resident of Sushant Lok. In Delhi, incidentally, the conversion - which is
being made mandatory - would cost between Rs 30,000 and 45,000 for an
average three bedroom flat.

What you do pay in these NCR regions is an 'enhancement' fee. This, too, is
limited to HUDA sectors. Said Prem Verma, administrator, HUDA: "The fee is
to offset the cost that HUDA incurs while paying the farmers' escalation
charges for their land."

Periodically, the court directs HUDA to pay farmers escalation charges for
the land that HUDA acquired from them. This cost is passed on to the owners
as enhancement fee.

"The very fact that the house is mine gives me satisfaction," said Pathak.
What more could you ask for.

Hoardings still dot MG Road

2004-12-07T19:56:00.001+05:30

As one drives down the Mehrauli Gurgaon Road, one would see numerous
hoar-dings throughout the stretch. What is surprising is the fact that in
2002, the Punjab and Haryana High Court, following the mandate of the Apex
court directed the Gurgaon administration to remove all signboard hoardings,
neon signboards, advertisement boards facing the highways, main roads and
the side roads.

Although it was mentioned in the judgment made by Justice Swatentra Kumar on
November 7 that all hoardings be removed within one week, the removal is yet
to take place.

V K Malik, secretary, Municipal Council, Gurgaon said: "The area from the
Iffco Chowk towards the city is under the jurisdiction of the municipal
council and the area from Iffco Chowk towards Mehrauli is with district town
planning and enforcement." An official at the district town planning and
enforcement said: "We have removed the cloth banners, hoardings haven't been
removed due to political interference."

Deputy commissioner of Gurgaon, Anurag Agarwal was of the same view: "We did
initiate a huge drive against all hoardings and have been successful in
removing them."

Gurgaon Man Wins Nokia Challenge

2004-12-07T19:56:00.000+05:30

The six week long nation-wide hunt for India's first mobile gaming champion
ended with Sachin Sapra from Gurgaon winning the title of India's first
"mobile gaming icon" in the N-Gage QD Challenge Mobile Gaming Championship.
He won the grand prize of Rs 10 lakhs.

Sapra competed against 62 mobile gamers from around the country in the final
round for the first place and recorded a score of 4240 while playing "Hero
Commando" on the N-Gage QD. Over 26,000 gamers from more than 40 cities in
India participated in the N-Gage QD Mobile Gaming Championship, which was
launched on September 14, 2004.

The second place prize of Rs 50,000 went to Mohammad Abdul Rahim Akbar
(first runner up) from Chennai. The third prize of Rs 30,000 was awarded to
Raman Sapra, from Gurgaon and the fourth place and Rs 20,000 went to Devesh
Sahai, also from Gurgaon.

The final was held at Priyadarshini Park, Napean Sea Road, Mumbai on October
31. The final round play off was conducted with attractions like BMX bikers
from Kuala Lumpur, martial arts experts displaying Karate and Taekwondo,
skate boarders from Australia, live performances from DJ Ryan and Edwin &
the Bandwagons.

Sachin Sapra, the winner, said, "When I first heard about the championship,
I was sure I wanted to participate but did not expect to become the ultimate
winner."

"It feels great. 10 lakhs is good money. I have not yet decided as to what I
want to do with this amount.

HUDA defers draw of plots

2004-12-07T19:55:00.005+05:30

A furore was created at the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA)
office on Wednesday when it was announced that the much-awaited draw of the
plots in sector-57 has been deferred indefinitely.

HUDA's estate officer, N S Banger, incharge of the draw, said, "We received
the orders that it will not be held as scheduled.

No reasons have been cited for the decision." A record 1.78 lakh
applications were received for the plots in 568 acres of land in sector 57

And you thought only the elite play golf

2004-12-07T19:55:00.004+05:30

You have to pay anything between Rs 1,500 and Rs 2,000 per day to play golf
at the Noida club or something between Rs 1,500 and Rs 3,000 per day at the
posh Gurgaon club. The fee increases on weekends in metros. In Patna Golf
Club, however, non-members can play for only a sum of Rs 100 per day, which
includes a day's fee of a caddie.

Cool cheap, isn't it? "Yes, golf is no longer a game for the elite only,"
said Roshan Sharan, captain of the only golf club in Patna. The 88-year-old
club has in fact extended an open invitation to the school and college
students of the city to play golf here. "We want to make the game popular,"
Sharan, a passionate golfer who has been the state's Golfer of the Year for
ten years, said. The award is given by the local golfers' association.

The 18-hole course at the Patna Golf Club is considered one of the best golf
courses in the country. "Educational institutions can directly contact us
for sending their students to the club. We will give them lessons in the
basics of the game," Sharan said.

Incidentally, the only golf club in the entire Buddhist tourist circuit in
Bihar has a number of foreign visitors as well. A host of Japanese pilgrims
can be seen playing golf here during their periodic visits to Buddhist sites
in the state.

Established in 1916 on a plot of 165 acres of land leased out by the then
government of the province of Bihar and Orissa, the club has 600-odd
members, including 200 permanent ones.

A few years back, a move was initiated to terminate the lease, which expires
in 2008, for converting the premises into a tiger safari park. "The matter
is pending in the high court," another golfer said.

Confident of a favourable verdict after all, club members are meanwhile busy
making preparations for a national golf tournament to be held at the club
from December 1 to 5.

Some top Asian golfers, including Jyoti Randhawa, Jeev Milkha Singh and
Arjun Atwal are expected to participate in the tournament, which is being
revived here after a gap of three years.

HECL announces 10,000 VSAT installations

2004-12-07T19:55:00.003+05:30

Hughes Escorts Communications Ltd (HECL) has announced 10,000 VSAT
installations on a shared hub in its Gurgaon facility, emerging as the first
service provider in the Asia Pacific to reach this milestone.

The HECL shared hub base grew 55 per cent in the last fiscal.

Shared Hub VSATs have been the prime driver of growth in the Indian VSAT
space. ''In keeping with the increasing demand in this space and to ensure
business continuity for its customers, HECL is already setting up a second
hub in Bangalore. It has also upgraded its DiRECWAY Hub to be IPoS (IP over
satellite) compliant,'' HECL President Partho Banerjee said in a statement.

Shared hub services address the needs of segments such as Bank ATMs, Oil and
Gas, Lotteries, Broking and Manufacturing.

''The achievement at Gurgaon is significant, given that we have been at the
centre of driving the growth in the Indian market since the inception of the
VSAT market. Our DiRECWAY offering was launched in March 2002, and we have
been seeing tremendous growth in the satellite broadband space ever since,''
he said.

Some of HECL's customers on the Shared Hub include HLL, Nestle, Playwin,
HDFC Bank, UB Group, Coke, ITC, HPCL and Asian Paints.

HECL is the premier satellite services operator in India. Three consecutive
industry reports (Comsys 1999, 2001, 2003) have rated HECL as the largest
satellite services operator in the Asia Pacific region.

Real women, real clothes

2004-12-07T19:55:00.002+05:30

Fashion shows leave you with a pang - the realisation that you'll never fit
into those beautiful clothes worn by the figure-perfect models on the ramp.
It makes you feel outsized more often than not.

Not this fashion show. It was a show with a difference - one that saw
applause, appreciation and whistles from a crowd that largely comprised
women. The reason: Revolution, the brand that designs clothes for real women
(read, large and plus-sized women) showcased its winter collection, with
real women including a pregnant lady walking the ramp. It was cute. What's
more, it was something women could relate to.

"I wanted to try my hand at women's western wear but discovered that there
was too much competition in that area. Also, it's a disorganised sector. I
wanted to try children's wear but since I don't have children I couldn't
really get down to it. Then I looked at myself and thought that I love
wearing western clothes but couldn't find the right sizes. That's when I
decided that I wanted to design for the plus-sized women," said Nisha Somaia
of Revolution.

It was a decision that paid off. Beginning with one small store in Shahpur
Jat, she now has one at Gurgaon, three in Delhi and two in Mumbai. Ready to
launch one more Mumbai at a new suburb and one in Bangalore, she is laughing
all the way to the bank by designing for real women.

What she showcased at the fashion show consisted of kaftans with embroidery,
trendy ponchos, pants, skirts, and tops that can be worn for formal or
informal occasions. "The clothes are beautiful and they complement women,"
said Romi Dev who sat throughout the fashion show and encouraged the women
on the ramp. There is another cause to be happy - the clothes are reasonably
priced. So, real women - just go for it.

Lower fees vs. U.S. jobs

2004-12-07T19:55:00.001+05:30

On its recruiting Web site, Fidelity Investments details scores of jobs for
software engineers and other high-technology workers. There are 36 openings
in the Boston area, 34 in Merrimack, New Hampshire, and four in Covington,
Kentucky - plus 54 in Bangalore, India.
.
The numbers provide a window on the brisk pace of growth at Fidelity
Investments India, which has hired 756 people in two years. The technology
operation is quickly on its way to becoming the biggest international
outpost for Fidelity, the Boston-based mutual fund giant. And it is
emblematic of the new wave of expansion in India by U.S. corporations, with
fewer layoff notices at home, but a quiet building of offshore offices to
handle work that may never cross an American desk.
.
Fidelity has moved into India more cautiously than many of its Wall Street
rivals, but it is facing market pressures to take advantage of lower-cost
labor abroad, said Stephen Jonas, its president for enterprise operations
and risk services. "On the institutional side, we have clients who require
an offshore strategy," Jonas said, "and those who prohibit it."
.
Fidelity can accommodate both, he said. That means handling some technical
functions in Bangalore, to keep costs low for large corporations that hire
Fidelity to manage retirement plans, or to run payroll and benefit plans.
.
For clients who oppose moving jobs offshore, Jonas said, Fidelity can offer
service by Americans only - but that could cost more.
.
Eventually, he said, "Those customers may have different pricing available
to them."
.
Several executives who work with large pension funds and unions expressed
dismay that their quest for low fees might help push jobs offshore.
.
William Patterson, director of investment at the AFL-CIO, said the U.S.
labor organization did not want to pay high fees, but "we feel that service
providers should make every effort to make sure that this work is not a race
to the bottom, and their standards are compromised by this competition."
.
The Massachusetts state treasurer, Timothy Cahill, said the state pension
fund could not afford to insist on U.S. workers. "Philosophically, our goal
is to always get the best fees possible. How a money management firm
achieves that is really up to them."
.
Fidelity's mutual fund customers may be the last to notice the India
expansion. So far, the company has no call centers in India. While American
consumers are getting used to calling India for help with a broken computer,
Jonas said, he's not sure they're ready to talk about personal finances with
someone half a world away.
.
"I wouldn't rule it out as a long-term possibility," he said. "There isn't
anything inherently different about human beings in India or Indiana. Over
time, the world gets used to people with an accent."
.
As a private entity, owned by the family of Edward Johnson 3d and by
employees, Fidelity is largely shielded from the pressures many companies
feel from investors to cut costs. The company employs 31,181 people, 93
percent of them in the United States, and last year hired 1,500 Americans,
Jonas said.
.
Setting up shop in India, he said, is part of staying competitive.
.
"Our India experience has been all about a growth strategy for Fidelity,"
Jonas said. "Every major Western business is in India." Fidelity first set
up a handful of software developers there in 2002, to work on back-office
technology, particularly for a burgeoning benefits and payroll business. As
that business surged, so did the hiring, he said.
.
This year, in late summer, Fidelity leased 125,000 square feet, or 11,600
square meters, of new space in Bangalore to house the group and has options
to expand into an additional 75,000 square feet.
.
Fidelity International, which is run out of London and whose largest
investors also are the Johnsons, has been in India since 2001. The group
employs about 600 people in Gurgaon, a growing suburb of Delhi, in systems
development, desktop support, and back-office administration for European
funds.
.
Last year, the office started handling financial customer service for
European fund investors, too. "We took our first customer call into India in
June 2003," said Simon Haslam, chief administrative officer of Fidelity
International. "For the most part, the reaction from customers has been to
be perfectly happy."
.
The hiring continues in Gurgaon. Employees work eight-hour shifts, get three
weeks of vacation, free transportation to and from work and free lunch.
Meanwhile, Colt Telecom Group, a publicly traded company that Fidelity
started and still holds a large stake in, is moving several hundred
phone-representative jobs to India from Germany and England.
.

DT Cinemas Ltd - Total entertainment

2004-12-07T19:55:00.000+05:30

DT Cinemas Ltd, the wholly-owned subsidiary of construction company DLF
Universal Ltd, is thinking big and different. It wants to leverage its
two-year experience in the film screening business to move into the
entertainment sector.

Opening today at Gurgaon's Mega Mall is a cineplex together with a food
court. Come November, a family entertainment centre (FEC) will also be a
part of the complex.

"Entertainment is a sunrise industry with huge potential," says Pia Singh,
director, DLF. "With our experience of running DT Cinemas we have the
expertise to move into similar businesses like running food courts and FECs.
The skill-sets for managing these are the same. Our plan is to provide
all-round entertainment under one roof."

Most industry watchers regard entertainment and leisure as one of the most
exciting sectors. With disposable incomes rising and a growing "young"
population, it is estimated that the sector will be worth Rs 5,000 crore in
a few years time. Investments in the FEC segment alone is expected to touch
Rs 2,000 crore.

Besides a three-screen cineplex, the entertainment complex will have a food
court that will have outlets of Ritu Dalmia, McDonald's, Barista, Subway and
Simply South, among others. The entertainment centre will have flight
simulators, joy rides, bowling alleys, video games arcade and carousels.

DLF officials are looking at an average of 6,000 footfalls a day with a
minimum spend of Rs 250 per head. "Our aim is to capture the mass market and
draw in the crowds. Our price points have been decided keeping this in
mind," says Singh. Cinema tickets will be around

Rs 150 while the average price at the food court will be Rs 60. Prices at
the entertainment centre will start at Rs 10 and reach Rs 100.

At an initial investment of Rs 22 crore, Singh says that she is looking at a
five-year payback period.

DT Cinemas wants to take its concept of a cineplex, food court and an
entertainment zone to other cities. Apart from its Gurgaon venture, the
company plans to open similar "total entertainment complexes" at Savitri,
Saket, Shalimar Bagh and Vasant Kunj (all in Delhi).

It is looking at real estate in cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, Chandigarh,
Amritsar and Hyderabad. The company wants to have a total of 70 screens by
2006.

Fortune Park checks in at Gurgaon hotel

2004-12-07T19:52:00.001+05:30

Fortune Park Hotels, ITC Hotel's wholly-owned subsidiary, will soon start
commercial operations at its first hotel in Gurgaon (near Delhi) -Fortune
Global.

The hotel originally owned by a company called Mab Finlease, an arm of Vipul
Group which is into real estate business, will be run by Fortune Park Hotels
Limited (FPHL) under a management contract.

"The hotel is coming up very fast and will see a soft opening by October
end," said Fortune park president Mandip S. Lamba.

Punit Beriwala, promoter of the hotel, said, "Mab Finlease is a special
purpose vehicle company created to own the hotel. It is a natural extension
for us to enter into the hotel business. However, the management will rest
with Fortune Park Hotels as we don't intend to digress from our main
business."

The company has spent close to Rs 25 crore in setting up this hotel, largely
targeted at the mid-segment traveller.

The building is divided into two parts having separate entries - the front
gate leads to the retail shopping centre; the rear part will run the hotel.

While Mohit Gujral, nephew of former Prime Minister I. K Gujral, is the
architect, interior designing of the hotel has been done by Singapore-based
Total Integrated Design.

The hotel will have 84 rooms, two restaurants, including the multi-cuisine
branded restaurant Orchid, bar, health club and a swimming pool. The hotel
follows the pattern of other structures in global corporate park complex in
Gurgaon - a combination of pale sandstone and green tinted glasses.

The estimated turnover of Fortune Park Hotels for fiscal 2004-05 is expected
to touch Rs 80 crore, said Lamba. This will be Rs 30 crore more than the Rs
50 crore notched up by the chain in the last financial year.

With a total of 14 operating hotels located across 13 different destinations
under the chain, it is set to add another three properties in the next
calendar year. "Calcutta, Vijaywada and Goa are the other destinations where
we will have our presence. The agreements have been signed and the hotels
will be operational by next year," Lamba said.

Call centre helped nail rapist

2004-12-07T19:52:00.000+05:30

Perhaps, now, BPO-baiters in Britain will have kind words to say about
Indian call centres. For it was a Gurgaon-based call centre which helped
police in faraway Darjeeling hills nail Hannah Forster's rapist-killer and
UK's most wanted criminal, Maninder Pal Singh Kohli.

Today , an afternoon daily, reported on Thursday how a Gurgaon-based call
centre was responsible for managing a toll-free number that Hannah's parents
had announced along with a reward of Rs 50 lakh to trace their daughter's
rapist and killer.

The Fosters had travelled to India and announced the reward and three
hotline number on July 13. The call centre, which Today says didn't want to
be named, received over 100 calls on the first day itself.

The call centre received a total of some 2,000 calls. Among these were 10
calls from Kalimpong, from where Maninder was eventually arrested.

The daily says some of the callers from Kalimpong gave precise details of
Maninder, including his "activities, his place of residence and other
backgrounds".

The hotline was set up by British Gas, where Hannah's father is employed.
The call centre has now shortlisted the 10 calls from Kalimpong, received
on July 14, for the Rs 50-lakh reward.

A committee of four people - the Forsters, a family sympathiser and
detective Allen Betts, who had travelled with Hannah's parents to India -
will decide who is to get the reward, Today , reports.

The call centre, which had passed on the lead to Detective Betts who in turn
reported to the police, reportedly has precise details about the callers.

Among the calls from Kalimpong, termed 'important', was one that said
Maninder had been seen around the area 'giving injections', while another
caller claimed he had married his friend.

Soon after the arrest, all 10 callers called the call centre saying they
reported Maninder first, an employee said.

Whoever gets to claim the Rs 50-lakh bounty eventually, it is certainly the
Gurgaon-call centre that gets the kudos.

MNCs Push Office Space Demand In Gurgaon

2004-12-07T19:49:00.001+05:30

Driving demand for office space in Gurgaon, MNCs like Nokia, Microsoft and
Convergys occupied over 200,000 sq ft during January-May 2004, a global real
estate consulting firm said.

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"The trend of the IT/ITES sector driving occupier demand in Gurgaon
continued in May 2004," said consulting firm Jones Lang Lasalle in its
latest updates.

Major transactions in Gurgaon included Fidelity Investment leasing 50,000 sq
ft in 'Unitech Business Park' and Convergys leasing 40,000 sq ft in 'Unitech
Trade Centre'.

DLF Cyber Greens, which is under construction, also witnessed strong
absorption with Nokia leasing 50,000 sq ft, Microsoft leasing 55,000 sq ft
and merchandising company Redcats leasing 12,000 sq ft.

Out of 219,000 sq ft absorbed commercial space during the review period
across all business districts of the National Capital Region, Gurgaon
accounted for 94 per cent of the total absorption.

The capital's central business district (CBD) Connaught Place witnessed a
major transaction at Birla House with it major IBM taking 12,000 sq ft space
on lease.

Vacancy levels in Gurgaon declined to 13 per cent against 31 per cent
overall level in the prime office locations in the capital.

Rental and capital values in Gurgaon, however, remained stable till May
2004.

The rental values are expected to remain firm at current levels, even though
800,000 sq ft office space would be added by the end of this year.

The rental values might further come down with the additional 1.5 million sq
ft of office space, which is likely to be ready for occupation by 2005.

Now, Haryana dreams of twin IT complex

2004-12-07T19:49:00.000+05:30

After its cyber city project failed to take off, prompting it to hand it
over to private hands, the Haryana government has come up with another grand
plan - to build two multi-storeyed Information Technology and
Telecommunication (ITT) complexes in Gurgaon. The complexes would be located
in Udyog Vihar and Electronics City, considered IT hotspots in Gurgaon.

The proposed complexes, hyped as the largest-ever government initiative in
the IT sector, were given the go-ahead in the meeting of the board of
directors of the Haryana State Electronics Development Corporation (Hartron)
on Thursday. They would be spread over an area of seven acres and are pegged
to cost Rs 200 crore.

The state-owned Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC) and
Hartron have agreed to pool in to make it a joint venture project on 50:50
equity share. Under the same board of directors, a new company, the Haryana
Cyber City Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd, has already been
formed in this regard, and the project would soon see the light of day, said
R.K. Rao, Managing Director, Hartron.

''Besides the two corporations, funds would be sought from the National
Capital Region fund and term loans from financial institutions in developing
this prestigious venture,'' Harbaksh Singh, Commissioner (IT), told Express.

The project would be home to IT, bio-technology, software development and
BPO majors. The architectural designs submitted are under scrutiny and a
decision to finalise the design is expected anytime. Besides corporate
offices, the complexes will provide facilities to run full-fledged
industrial units in software development. The project will also put to good
use the seven acres allotted to Hartron more than two decades ago.

''We have received overwhelming responses from top architectural
consultants... Since we are committed to complete it in two years' time,
decisions are taken on a fast track basis,'' said Rao.

The company said architectural firms with a turnover of Rs 2 crore will be
eligible for bidding. Some of the companies will be giving their
presentations on July 6. Tenders for construction will be floated
immediately after the steering committee gives its nod to the architectural
design, said Harbaksh Singh.

The corporation plans to sell 60 pc of the project area, whereas the rest
will be leased out. The company does not seem worried about the buyers.
''Good locations are a big problem in Gurgaon, where companies are compelled
to run their business in raw areas. When they have a world-class
state-of-the-art option, they'll jump to grab it,'' said a confident Sandeep
Kapoor, General Manager (Projects), Hartron.

The proposed complexes would be centrally air-conditioned with high-speed
lifts and multiple parking to facilitate investors,'' Rao said, adding that
they would also have spacious conference halls of international standards.

Interestingly, earlier too, the state government had planned the cyber city
project with much fanfare only to realise later that it would be unable to
tackle it. The project was later handed over to private hands, the DLF.

Keane India may set up a fourth ADC

2004-12-07T19:48:00.003+05:30

Keane India is weighing its options for setting up a fourth advanced
development centre (ADC) in India subject to the completion of a $25 million
expansion at its three existing ADCs. Keane currently has ADCs in Hyderabad,
Gurgaon and Noida, with a focus on outsourcing (application outsourcing and
BPO), development & integration services, and other IT services. The current
headcount of Keane India's IT division is over 1,300, and is expected to
touch 3,000, while its total headcount will reach 5,000 by 2005. This figure
includes staff of the recently acquired BPO company Woldzen, in which Keane
has a 62 percent stake. The BPO company is engaged in data processing and
voice services. The manpower in the BPO division will be enhanced to 2,000
people from 300 today. The Hyderabad ADC accounts for about 50 percent of
the company's manpower.

"We are considering Chennai or Pune-among other cities-to set up our fourth
development centre. Since the proposed centre will be need-based, we have
not set any timeframe. Once our headcount at each centre reaches 1,000, we
will opt for a fourth centre, presumably in 2005. There are three reasons
behind the strategy of going in for a fourth centre. When a large number of
people work at one centre, we lose focus. By expanding to other cities we
can tap local talent and ensure business continuity. Our preference for a
limited number of people at a particular centre will ensure total clarity
and control over operations, and smooth functioning of HR policies. The
Hyderabad centre will continue to be the largest centre for Keane in India,"
Parmindar Miglani, managing director, Keane India said.

Keane has recently announced that the company has been assessed at CMMI
Level-5 across its three centres

Haryana's 6-lane expressway to ease Delhi traffic

2004-12-07T19:48:00.002+05:30

THERE'S some good news for drivers in Delhi who are fed up with the heavy
traffic of goods carriers that use the city for transit at night. Haryana's
plan to construct a 130-km expressway connecting four national highways will
give Delhi a badly needed breather.

The project, commissioned by Haryana State Industrial Development
Corporation (HSIDC), in collaboration with the Malaysian government,
envisions the construction of a six-lane Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway
passing through districts Sonepat, Jhajjar, Gurgaon and Faridabad.

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''Serving as a significant artery, the expressway will facilitate smooth
flow of heavy traffic coming from West and South India and going to Haryana,
Punjab and UP,'' said an HSIDC official.''It will also save Faridabad and
Gurgaon-bound traffic the trouble of passing through Delhi,'' he added.

''It will, of course, open up opportunities for the development of trade and
industry in areas like Bahadurgarh and Badli,'' he said. Kundli, an
important business hub, is expected to benefit in a major way.

Topographical surveys are being conducted by a private agency, Modmap
Consultants, in villages on the proposed route. HSIDC has invited
applications for preparation of a Detailed Project Report (DPR) after which
a time-frame will be fixed. Chief Town Planner, HSIDC, K Surjit Singh says
''things will be clearer once the DPR comes out.''

A 100-metre wide stretch will be acquired along the route. Notification for
acquisition of land will be made under an emergency clause, beginning with
villages in Sonepat by July-end.

In September 2003, a delegation of Malaysian officials, led by Minister of
Works Dato Seri S.Samy Vellu, had met Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala and
showed interest in executing the project on a Build-Operate-Transfer basis.

The meeting was attended by representatives from Foreign Investment
Promotion Board, Public Works Department (Building & Roads), Town and
Country Planning and HSIDC.

House prices flare up in Delhi, Mumbai

2004-12-07T19:48:00.001+05:30

House prices have flared up in Delhi and Mumbai since the beginning of the
year. And after remaining stagnant for the past year, commercial rents are
up in these cities
Prices at a residential park being built by Mahindra-Gesco Properties in
Gurgaon have almost doubled from Rs 1,400 per sq ft in January to Rs 2,600
now. DLF's Trinity Towers has seen a jump from Rs 1,200 to Rs 2,000 per sq
ft during the period.

Houses in prime Delhi locations like Prithviraj Road, Aurangzeb Road,
Chankayapuri, Golf Links, Jor Bagh, Shanti Niketan and Vasant Vihar are
10-15 per cent costlier than six months ago, but Cushman & Weikfield says
prices will keep climbing. In Mumbai, apartments in Powai and Goregaon are
50 per cent costlier than six months ago, with prices rising to Rs 2,700 per
sq ft. House prices in central suburbs like Mulund have also climbed from Rs
1,800 to Rs 3,000 per sq ft. Apartment prices in Bandra, Kandivli and
Borivli have risen from Rs 3,000 per sq ft to Rs 4,000.

"There is a revival of investor interest. As 80 per cent of most residential
projects are booked before construction, the recent rise in demand has
pushed prices up considerably," said Anurag Munshi, associate director of
Jones Lang Lasalle, a real estate consultancy.

The glut in the market has been sucked out. Developers like Ansal Properties
& Industries and DLF said house prices would keep climbing because demand
was much higher than the national supply of 7 million dwelling units a year.
In contrast, commercial property prices have inched up 1-2 per cent over the
last six months. But Jones Lang Lasalle pointed out that commercial property
rents in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore were up 10 per cent in the last three
months.
Decreasing vacancy and rising demand for Grade A space in the central
business districts are pushing rents higher. In Delhi, buildings like DLF
Centre, Meridien Commercial Tower and Birla House are quoting rents in the
range of Rs 120-140 per sq ft. The demand for upcoming office space was
strong in May 2004 with 219,000 sq ft being absorbed across all Delhi's
business districts, of which Gurgaon accounted for 94 per cent. Around 1.8
million sq ft office space is coming up in Gurgaon by the fourth quarter of
2005.

The trend is replicated in Mumbai where buildings like Maker Chambers VI are
quoting 10 per cent higher rents in May 2004 at Rs 140 per sq ft than at the
beginning of the year. With office stock static and steady demand, rents are
expected to rise in Grade A buildings in the central business district.

In Bangalore, rents in the central business district are up 5 per cent from
the beginning of the year and are likely to climb on continuing demand from
multinational corporations.
The secondary and peripheral business districts are also expected to see a
flurry of leases.

Gurgaon giant steps in with super city

2004-12-07T19:48:00.000+05:30

The real estate company that transformed Gurgaon on the outskirts of Delhi
into one of the hippest towns in the country is keen to develop a city off
Calcutta.

The group, which is setting up the state's biggest information technology
park at Rajarhat in association with the government's nodal infotech agency,
Webel, is toying with the idea of an integrated city on Calcutta's eastern
fringes.

"We have just submitted our expression of interest with the government. We
are really keen on rolling out a project, which will include commercial,
residential and recreational facilities on more than 100 acres. The
investment would not be less than Rs 1,000 crore," said Yogesh Verma, the
director of DLF Infocity Developers.

Verma was in the city today for the launch of the IT park project on a
10-acre plot at Rajarhat. Information technology minister Manab Mukherjee
and housing minister Goutam Deb were present at the formal inauguration of
construction at the site.

"The Calcutta venture is our first project outside north India. The
perception about Calcutta is changing very fast and that's why we are here,"
Verma said.

The result of roadshows, organised across the country under Buddhadeb
Bhattacharjee's leadership, seems to be streaming in with industry's
interest in the state showing signs of an upward swing.

"The IT park, with around 1.3 million square feet, will be the biggest such
facility developed at one go. By April 1, 2005, we will complete 300,000
square feet and the Rs 280-crore project will be ready in 24 months," Verma
said.

The company has sealed deals with some "major clients", who will start
operating from the complex by April 2005. The growth of IT and IT-enabled
services industry will make the project viable, Verma said.

Reiterating the "growth" factor, Webel managing director S.K. Mitra said
export earnings from the Software Technology Park in Sector V, Salt Lake,
surged 130 per cent in the first quarter in comparison with the same period
last year. "Not just the big companies, even smaller outfits are growing. We
have reasons to believe that they are drawing up expansion plans," Mitra
added.

The Rs 1,000-crore DLF Group is one of the leading real estate developers in
the country and the company has created over 2.5 million sq ft of commercial
space. DLF City, the 3,000-acre township in Gurgaon is its flagship project.
DLF Cyberciti, also in Gurgaon, is in the final phase.

"With saturation in cities like Bangalore and Mumbai, our client companies
are looking at tier-II cities and that's why we are exploring opportunities
outside north India. We have started marketing the Calcutta project and the
feedback is satisfying," said Verma.

Designed by eminent architect Hafeez Contractor, the IT park will have three
towers and a landscaped garden at the centre. Besides central
air-conditioning with air-handling units on each floor, the facilities at
the complex will include 100 per cent power back-up, a modern fire detection
and suppression system, 24-hour security and ample parking space.

Verma declined to mention the exact lease rent the company would charge
occupants but said the average rate would be between Rs 30 and Rs 35 a sq
ft. Industry's interest in Calcutta, Verma said, has prompted the company to
propose the integrated city.

Choose the route: Gurgaon gets 2 new roads to Delhi

2004-12-07T19:47:00.000+05:30

ONE OF THE ROADS WILL CONNECT PALAM VIHAR AND DWARKA WHILE THE OTHER WILL
JOIN A POINT CLOSE TO THE DELHI-GURGAON BORDER ON MG ROAD

Gurgaon may have lost out on the Metro for the present but the Haryana
government has proposed to construct two more roads between Gurgaon and New
Delhi. This will help in a big way in easing the congestion on NH-8 and
Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road.

Haryana Town and Country Planning Department, Gurgaon, has conducted
detailed studies on the proposed routes and is in the process of preparing a
report to be submitted to Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner.

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Town and Country Planning Department officials said one of the roads will
connect Palam Vihar and Dwarka while the other will join a point close to
the Delhi-Gurgaon border on Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road and the intersection where
Nelson Mandela Marg meets Abdul Gaffar Khan Marg near Vasant Kunj.

The new 3-km road between Palam Vihar and Dwarka will begin from Palam Vihar
's sector road and end at the Bijwasan-Najafgarh road at a point where
Dwarka's Sector 25-26 road meets it. The plan includes a flyover over the
railway line passing through Palam Vihar.

''If the proposal goes through, commuters between Gurgaon and Delhi will
have more alternative routes to use,'' said District Town Planner (Planning)
Dinesh Chauhan.

The three main road links between Gurgaon and Delhi - Old Delhi Road, NH-8
and Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road - are reeling under traffic congestion. MG Road
is, of course, a major artery and NH-8 is now under tremendous pressure
because of the construction work for the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway. ''Once
the Expressway is ready, many commuters will look for newer routes to avoid
paying toll tax. These roads will go a long way in dealing with the
situation,'' said Chauhan.

However, there are some hurdles to be cleared. ''The forest area lying on
the proposed MG Road-Vasant Kunj route is a problem,'' said Gurgaon Deputy
Commissioner Anurag Aggarwal. ''We are talking to Delhi government on this,'
' he added. Officials said since this area is rocky and will require
blasting, which has been banned by Supreme Court, it was a difficult
project.

''Also, Delhi will need to acquire and provide us land on both routes,''
said Chauhan.

Faridabad looks at perfect past, tense future

2004-12-07T19:40:00.000+05:30

The National Capital Region's oldest township is waiting to be turned
around. Fifty-five years after it came up, Faridabad is grappling with bad
roads, overflowing sewers and a high crime rate. The result: a township that
has a 15 per cent population of senior citizens is no longer a sought-after
place, losing out to the relatively better off Gurgaon and Noida.

"When I came in 1950, the roads were wide. Everything looked perfect,"
recalls T.D. Talwani, one of the oldest residents. But that is past. Over
the years, Faridabad has become a victim of poor planning, rampant
encroachment and misuse of public funds.

Its population is projected to go up to nearly 17.5 lakh by 2011. It was
25,000 in 1950. Water and power demand is expected to increase by about 60
per cent. But absence of concrete plans to tackle problems has residents
worried.

Neglect of industries: What was once its greatest strength - the 60,000-odd
industries - is getting a raw deal. Many units have shut down; several
others are on the verge of closure. "The annual revenue generation from
these industries is about Rs 1,000 crore but the corporation gets only Rs
120 crore, most of which is spent on routine jobs," an official admitted.

Rising crime: According to Faridabad Police, unemployed youth from nearby
villages and workers, rendered idle following the closure of mines, have
taken to crime. Faridabad has also seen the emergence of organised crime.
The police claim a floating population and migrant labour working in the
industries resort to petty crime, thefts, chain snatching and auto-lifting.

Development promise: The Municipal Corporation of Faridabad says it has
several development projects lined up. Senior town planner S.C.Kush said
there are plans to upgrade infrastructure for employment and economic
activities, provide recreational facilities, resettle slum dwellers, extend
urban areas and lay inter-city road network.

Among the major projects likely to be taken up soon are the
Ghaziabad-Noida-Faridabad Express Highway, over-bridges and underpasses on
railway lines, bridges over Agra and Gurgaon canals and creation of new
residential and industrial areas. There are plans to open 17 new colleges
and hospitals.

HUDA officials, however, admit that funding will be a problem.

Germany smart card maker sets up Indian subsidiary

2004-12-07T19:38:00.006+05:30

A new Indian subsidiary opened by Germany's Giesecke & Devrient Group aims
to tap into the huge market here for smart cards for mobile phones and other
card applications.

The Munich-based group will invest over $10 million in a subsidiary in the
northern Indian city of Gurgaon. The investment follows a similar move by
France's Axalto, which is also expanding its Indian operations to target
smart-card applications.

The German company said is creating a card personalization operation, and
may also look at manufacturing smart cards here.

It will nearly double it Indian staff from the current 100 workers.

Most of the world's card manufacturers are expanding their Indian operations
to reach its expanding wireless, banking and identity card markets along
with driver's license projects planned by private companies and state
governments.

Riding high on low interests

2004-12-07T19:38:00.005+05:30

The residential real estate market in and around the Capital continues to
witness one of the sharpest appreciations in the last decade.

If experts are to be believed, the current trend is likely to continue in
the medium term over the next six to nine months, particularly in the
satellite towns of Gurgaon and Noida.

This is mainly because supply of fresh capacity in Delhi is unlikely to
happen due to multiple regulatory restrictions.

Boom time

Is it a bubble that will burst? Will history repeat itself? In 1997, boom
turned to bust after the east Asian contagion. Experts vehemently deny.
There is no comparison between the two.

In India, most of the demand is from end-users and supply is far short of
demand particularly in some of the pockets, T. Chakrabarty, head of India
Property Research, a subsidiary of Chesterton Meghraj told the HT.

Low interest rates have been a major driver. As such the current trend is
based on three fundamental factors:

* Attractive housing finance rate with tax benefits

* Good offerings in terms of quality of product

* End-user demand

Chakrabarty feels that while no pundit can predict the saturation point in
terms of period of the boom and the spike in the price levels, sooner than
later supply has to outstrip demand.

This is when correction will set in, he said.

What we have seen (price rise) in India is peanuts in comparison with
international realty market trends, said Anshuman Magazine, head of CB
Richard Ellis.

"We are witnessing incremental demand as more and more people are graduating
from lower income to middle income category," he added.

Demand & supply basics

The sustainability of the demand is primarily going to depend on economic
growth keeping other factor as constant.

For instance, if the interest rate remains at this level barring a minor
fluctuation, and the government continues with tax benefits, good GDP growth
will increase the number of buyers substantially.

A world in a home

In fact, Delhi is also witnessing a transition in term of choices, where
high net worth individuals or corporate big-wigs are moving to condominiums.

"We have witnessed residential flats of more than Rs 1 crore being sold
regularly and that too in the suburbs. Such pricing is primarily driven by
the quality of construction, amenities and ambience being provided by the
builders," said another expert.

Good investment flow

In the premium segment, there is huge demand coming from NRIs and high net
worth individuals, said a DLF spokesperson.

Some of the investments are primarily in long-term real estate, considered
to be the safest investment in India. Apparently, demand is much more than
supply even in the suburbs, he added.

BPO rush driving demand for `built-to-suits' real estate

2004-12-07T19:38:00.004+05:30

In the commercial real estate arena, developers are now delivering
"built-to-suits" at a pace which is unmatched even in the more advanced
western countries. This is happening across the country, driven largely by
the technology services sector.

Built-to-suits are being delivered at a rate of over 1000 square feet per
day, which means that a standard 120,000 square feet building for a call
centre client can be provided, fully fitted out, in under four months.

Knight Frank, in its commercial report for the third quarter of the fiscal
has commented, "this is unheard of even in the west."

According to the consultancy company, one of the factors driving this new
phenomenon is the need to provide space for the rapidly burgeoning IT, BPO
and call centre sector, where the ability to meet demand on time is a key
success factor. This sector makes up for 80 per cent of the total demand for
office space in Mumbai.

The forecast is that by the end of 2005, an additional five million square
feet of space will be made available for these sectors in Mumbai alone. A
new trend emerging is the an increase in lease rentals at Nariman Point in
South Mumbai.

At present, office lease rentals in Express Towers are around Rs 115 per sq
feet against Rs 90-95 per sq feet a year back. This is expected to increase
by 5 to 10 per cent in the next one year as more demand for office space
crops up.

Central Mumbai is also expected to see an increase in rentals by 10 to 12
per cent in 12 to 15 months again owing to demand from corporate and
high-end IT and ITES sector. There is also expected to be an increase in
demand for space in Bandra Kurla complex in the western suburbs.

According to the Knight Frank report, around 3 million sq ft will be ready
for occupation by the first quarter of the next year. Incidentally, land
prices have increased by 60 per cent in the last one year.

In Delhi over 5.5 million sq ft of office space is expected to be added in
12 months, with Gurgaon alone is responsible for 69 per cent of the
estimated supply.

In the capital's centre business district (Connaught Place), rentals are
expected to increase in the range of 10 to 15 per cent by end of 2005,
though rates will be stable for the next six months owing to lack of fresh
supply.

Delhi seems to be the hub for built-to-suit facilities. Those offering such
facilities are DLF Universal, Unitech, Vatika among others.

In Gurgaon, for instance, out of the four million sq ft of office space
coming up around 20 per cent will be built-to-suit. These types are being
leased by developers at an average Rs 28-30 per sq ft.

Current demand in Gurgaon is at the rate of 2 million sq ft per annum. But
with demand expected to outstrip supply there might be a fall in retnals of
10 to 15 per cent over six months.

In Bangalore, home to the IT revolution, vacancy rates are in the range of
12 to 15 per cent and over the next 12 months more than four million sq ft
of stock will be added.

Here, there is a strong preference for corporate campuses and
built-to-suits. Hyderabad is expected to see fresh supply of 3.65 million sq
feet in the next one year and some areas are expected to see a dip in lease
rentals by 5 to 10 per cent.

Ambassador means business

2004-12-07T19:38:00.003+05:30

Clara Gaymard has strict instructions not to return home without presents.
Though the Ambassador at Large Special Representative of France for
International Investment is here on a packed schedule, she hopes to pick up
something for each of her eight children.

"Indian toys and clothes are very fashionable. In fact, Indian motifs in
furniture and furnishings are also very much in demand back home," she says.
"I hope I can make a visit to Gurgaon to do some shopping," she says.

But before that, her mission. "After China, it is France which has the
greatest foreign investment. One in every three of the French population is
working for foreign companies. In fact, of the $ 54 billion we got in
foreign investment last year, $ 5 billion was from India. Inviting foreign
investment is very important for our economy," Gaymard informs.

"We already have a good infrastructure, enough labour and cheap real estate.
In addition, our government has also announced tax incentives for companies
involved in research - especially biotech and nanotech," she says. The
schemes offer option of no taxation if 15 per cent of the earnings are
reinvested in R&D.

Apart from tax benefits, Indian companies developing products and
technologies benefit from the advantages of getting European Union standard
certifications. "EU rules and specifications are very different and working
in France, industries can benefit from knowledge and access to EU rules,"
she says.

Another area where Gaymard sees great scope for exchange is in education.
"Most of our high schools and technical colleges have evolved syllabi in
English so even if you do not know French, you can study in France. We
realise that going to the US has become more difficult now, and see this as
an opening," she informs.

This is her second trip to India, having come earlier in 2000 with an
exhibition of French Technology. "I had been really looking forward to
coming back to India. On my last visit, I had made it a point to go to Agra
and Fatehpur Sikri. I had heard so much about it. I took the train to Agra
and visited both places. The Taj was more beautiful than I had imagined,"
she recalls.

"But this time, it seems to be only business," she says, looking forward to
her next visit.

India's soaring realty market

2004-12-07T19:38:00.002+05:30

Frustrated with a mercurial stock market, low returns on small savings
schemes and instability in mutual funds, Indians are investing in real
estate like never before. After remaining dormant for years, the property
market is on fire again with prices of plots and apartments almost doubling
in the past year.

The government has allowed 100% foreign direct investment in real estate,
subject to certain restrictions, and may soon allow housing finance
companies to float mutual funds to invest in real estate. This comes at a
time when fixed-deposit interest rates are down to below 6% while rental
returns are pegged at 9-14%. The surge in housing loans is due to the low
interest cost at 7% as well as tax benefits on the interest component. "This
means there isn't much of a difference in cost between hiring a flat and
taking a loan to buy one. So why wouldn't one buy one?" says Sanjiv Sethi, a
property dealer.

In 2003-04, non-resident Indians (NRIs) made a big splash in the market, but
2004-05 is turning out to be even better, and the investment more
widespread. Whether in the political or financial capitals of Delhi or
Mumbai, information-technology (IT) hubs of Bangalore or Hyderabad, Kolkata
or Chennai, the property market - commercial or residential - is witnessing
huge inflows from NRIs, high-salaried and high-net-worth individuals.
High-end housing is now considered the hottest item in the real estate
business, with expected growth pegged at more than 30%.

Consider this: apartments that were quoting $20 per square foot six months
back in the suburban township of Gurgaon (near Delhi) are now being sold at
$50. Translated into a three-bedroom, 2,000-square-foot flat, the price
difference works out to be $60,000 - a capital appreciation unmatched by any
other investment. In 2000, the number of outstanding home loans by
commercial banks exceeding $200,000 stood at 279, in 2001 it was 109 and in
2002, 124. In 2003, the number has shot up to 1,690.

The demand has triggered a mad scramble among builders to come up with plush
villas and housing complexes. Omaxe Construction is setting up an exclusive
NRI City at Noida near Delhi. The company has also launched a $24.2 million
project for high-net-worth Indians, both resident and non-resident. Named
"The Forest" and adjoining a 132-hectare green belt, the project is already
under way, with 105 ultra-luxury apartments priced between $250,000 and
$350,000, complete with features such as a personal health club for each
apartment, high-tech security and glitzy facades in glass and metal. DLF,
Unitech, Vipul, Eros, Zee, Parsvnath, Balaji are among the other biggies
involved in the frenetic construction activity.

The interest in real estate comes at a time when India is already witnessing
a construction boom to meet the soaring needs of the country's high-tech
sector. It's a building boom where 70-80% of the demand comes from software
services and business and process outsourcing companies. Properties with the
potential of being leased out to multinational companies (MNC), large
corporates, banks or embassies are the most in demand. In Mumbai and Delhi,
lease rentals are as high as 10-13% of the value of a residential property
and 13-14% for furnished apartments and offices. "The investments are being
made after closely studying the markets and taking an informed decision,"
says a recent report by property consultants Cushman & Wakefield.

In the next 12 months, it is reckoned there will be about 8 million square
feet (743,000 square meters) of new offices in cities such as Bangalore,
Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai. That will increase to about 24 million
square feet in the next 36 months. The construction boom is evident in all
major metros with almost equal frenzy - though Bangalore leads the way,
followed by Gurgaon. This is perhaps because Bangalore is fast moving from
an IT back-office location to a full-fledged IT hub, with cutting-edge
research combined with low value-added services. The Prestige Group is
building 2 million square feet of office blocks here. In Gurgaon, DLF
Universal is putting in place about 2 million square feet for blue-chip
corporate clients; in Hyderabad, Larsen & Tourbo and the K Raheja group have
major plans in place. In Bangalore, Intel, SAP, Texas Instruments and
Motorola have taken over 28 hectares, while in Gurgaon BMW and Maruti have
ambitious designs.

The Confederation of Indian Industry has said Mumbai is rapidly losing out
to Delhi and Hyderabad as the preferred location of big corporate houses.
Even the low-cost housing in Kolkata is seen as a role model. Global
research conducted by real-estate consultants Jones Lang LaSalle and LaSalle
Investment Management has predicted that Mumbai and Delhi will face
increasing competition from India's second-tier cities - Bangalore, Chennai,
Hyderabad and Pune. According to the Cushman & Wakefield report, much of the
buying interest is focused on the suburbs for prime apartments and
penthouses. In Delhi, NRIs are attracted to farmhouses, followed by retail
space in malls and offices.

"In the last few months, bookings by NRIs, high-salaried and self-employed
have gone up threefold," says T C Goyal, managing director of DLF Universal,
which has developed several properties at Gurgaon, including the recently
announced Icon luxury apartments priced close to $200,000.

Experts say the interest in buying property was never more, barring a period
between 1993-96 when speculation was at the highest. In the early 1990s,
many investors were drawn by the zooming real-estate prices with the
intention of booking quick profits. The market went bust, with many
incurring huge losses, the way it also happened in the stock markets during
the same period. But this time, the story is likely to be different as the
boom is driven by the end-users rather than suppliers.

A combination of indirect factors and genuine structural amendments is
behind the current spate. The most important of course is the fact that
Indians are earning more than ever before: abroad as high-tech workers, in
the country manning back offices as well as Indian global software firms
doling out dollar-equivalent salaries, as MNC employees, and as
beneficiaries of the boom in hospitality, tourism, health, education and
banking sectors.

As the economic scenario in the US began to get dismal after September 11,
2001, with an increasing number of foreign employees handed pink slips and a
stiff cap imposed on H1-B visa quotas, many NRIs began to invest in property
in India as a backup if the situation worsened in the US. This has pushed up
the demand for residential premises, and prices.

Others who have actually shifted have invariably managed lucrative jobs or
substantial savings, and seek out comfortable apartments to match their
lifestyle abroad. Earlier, developers would focus on middle-class apartments
in the range of $15,000-$20,000. With the demand increasing for housing in
the $100,000-$200,000 range, developers have shifted focus to this high-end
segment.

However, this is only part of the big picture. Experts point to the genuine
maturing of the real-estate market. The surge in demand follows the decision
to allow NRIs to move their investments freely in and out of the country.
The government has permitted repatriation of rental income every year
(announced in the 2003-04 budget) as well as proceeds from the sale of
property purchased through overseas sources, without a lock-in period.

However, there is still a long way to go. Strong fundamentals are backing
the real estate boom now, but more needs to be done. Experts say that
although the government has allowed flexibility in rent and dividends, there
are still bottlenecks - capital gains cannot be repatriated, which means
there is no real capital account convertibility. Others fear oversupply can
lead to property prices crashing, as happened in Southeast Asian countries,
and warn that since the boom is driven largely by the high-tech industry,
it's important to ensure that not too much is created. However, most
industry players agree that the real-estate spurt is genuine and not a
speculative burst that should be calibrated for further gains.

Fidelity plans investor education thrust

2004-12-07T19:38:00.001+05:30

To use call centre in Gurgaon to provide support to banks and intermediaries

Fidelity Investments, the world's largest mutual fund, is planning a
blitzkrieg in India for investor education, which would include seminars and
internal training programmes.

It is also planning to utilise its call centre in Gurgaon near Delhi as a
'wholesaler' providing support to banks in India as well as market
intermediaries.

Richard Wastcoat, managing director, Fidelity Investments International,
said, "We are excited about the Indian markets and the trends in demography,
savings rate, the equity cult and the liberalisation happening."

Fidelity is set to launch its mutual fund schemes in India. Also in
consonance with its equity focus elsewhere, its initial offerings will all
be equity-oriented schemes. Wastcoat said they were confident of a decent
response from the market.

He, however, said that the size and assets were not so important as
performance and making available the right sort of products for the Indian
investing public.

He said there would be a lot of emphasis on investor education, with a
commitment to acquisition of new skills.

The call centre operation in Gurgaon at present operates as a captive base
for Fidelity's back-end operations worldwide.

According to Wastcoat, the plan is to expand it further and make it a
wholesale hub encompassing the entire financial sector on a global scale.

Incidentally, the company is bringing to bear its influence on the
regulators - the Securities and Exchange Board of India and Reserve Bank of
India - so that it can bring its global products and sell them in India.

Wastcoat said, "We are working with the Association of Mutual Funds of India
to get India recognised so that we can get the Luxembourg funds to India."

It may be recalled that the Centre had raised the investment limit for
resident Indians abroad to $25,000. Wastcoat said after the announcement by
Calpers - the California-based pension fund - that it was planning to invest
in India, there has been a definitive interest from other such pension and
retirement funds for investing in the Indian markets.

"There is higher confidence level," he said. Fidelity's unique selling
proposition, according to Wastcoat, would be in brining in new products,
international best practices into India and set the way for investors to
look at mutual funds as long-term growth-oriented products.

While existing players like Franklin Templeton have already led the way in
investor education, Fidelity's job would be to take it forward and to
increase the share of the asset management business in the total investment
pie.

At present the total investments in the equity assets of mutual funds is to
the tune of $6 billion, which is roughly around three per cent of the total
market cap of the Indian stock markets.

When asked what would happen if they found themselves with a modest asset
size after spending five years in India, Wastcoat gave the example of the UK
where the company took 20 years to become the largest fund company "two
years back".

Gurgaon auction for 7 sites to be conducted again

2004-12-07T19:38:00.000+05:30

Singed by the controversy over the alleged underpricing in the auction of
prime commercial property in Gurgaon, the Haryana Urban Development
Authority (HUDA) has decided not to confirm the auction of seven sites
located in Sector 29. This is HUDA's most prime location being developed as
city centre.

Confirming this, HUDA's Gurgaon Administrator Prem Verma told Newsline:
''After going through the records, I found that the bid prices we received
for commercial sites in Sector 29 are comparatively on the lower side
vis-a-vis other HUDA estates and prevailing market rates. In such
circumstances, keeping in view the revenue stakes of HUDA, I had to take an
analytical, judicious and fair view.''

''In HUDA's interest, I have decided that the bid prices of big commercial
sites - five shopping mall sites, one multiplex site and a commercial tower
site - may not be accepted and these may be put for re-auction at a
subsequent date after due publicity so that HUDA may avail prevailing market
rates,'' Verma said. He, however, made it clear that shop-cum-office and
booth sites auctioned on the same day will not be re-auctioned since they
had fetched good prices.

As reported by The Indian Express earlier, HUDA's biggest auction of
commercial property in Gurgaon on May 24 had got mired in controversy
following allegations of under-pricing, thereby causing a loss of Rs 150
crore to the public exchequer. Haryana Governor A.R Kidwai had asked for a
report on the matter from the Haryana government following a complaint by
Indian Youth Congress President Randeep Singh Surjewala. The government is
to submit the report in a day or two.

When asked about the allegation that the auction was not well-publicised,
Verma said: ''There should have been a gap of around three weeks between
advertisements in newspapers and date of auction. This time, we will ensure
that advertisements are carried in four English and as many Hindi dailies on
alternate days.''

Asked about any changes in the reserve price for re-auctioning these sites,
Verma said, ''Minor re-calculations on account of interest rates may be
done. However, now we will not accept any bid that is less than the bids
that have been rejected.''

Boney M performs in Gurgaon

2004-12-07T19:36:00.002+05:30

Germany-based Eurodisco group of the 1970s Boney M performed to a swinging
and swaying audience in Gurgaon on Saturday night.With hits like Rasputin,
Rivers of Babylon and Daddy Cool under their belt, this was Boney M's first
ever performance in the country.

Liz Mitchell,the only surviving member of the group, played on the golden
library of songs that made the group a rage during the disco era. Mitchell
said she was earlier worried of the tepid audience involvement,but later the
crowd started enjoying.

"The audiences were amazing.There were so many die hard fans.They wanted
songs I hadn't sung in years.I will always take it back. Specially when we
were going to stage they were not sounding so enthusiastic.I was little
worried because he was trying to get them to sing.They did not applaud, but
later on it was great and they all were wonderful," said Mitchell.

In the late '70s when Daddy Cool made it to No.1 in the UK charts,Boney M
rivalled ABBA as one of the most successful group of its times. Audiences
said they were enthralled with the performance. "It was an awesome
experience. It was amazing. The best was By the rivers of Babylon ,"said
Nikita, a fan.

Meeta,another fan, said: "It was incredible because we were reliving moments
as we have grown up with Boney M and ABBA.It was wonderful and I wanted it
to continue longer." Boney M was formed by Frank Farian to cash in on the
European dance sound pioneered by Giorgio Moroder on albums with Donna
Summer. Having a stable vocal quarter- Marcha Barret,Bobby Farrel, Liz
Mitchell and Mazie Williams, Boney M recorded its first single in Munich in
1971 in a local disco.

Their biggest hit to date has been an old Jamaican nursery rhyme Brown Girl
in the Ring which ran to number 1 slot for 40 weeks in a row in U.S. music
charts.

The group separated in 1979 after the death of Farian, the lead male
singer.Boney M also appeared in a Hollywood movie Rappin co-starring Mario
Van Peeples

GECIS sets up Kolkata centre

2004-12-07T19:36:00.001+05:30

After Wipro-Spectramind starting its operations, GE Capital International
Services - GE's BPO arm and the biggest ITES operations in India - has
quietly kick-started its fifth facility in Kolkata.

This big-ticket BPO operation has gone live with 12 staffers at the city's
Bengal Intelligent Park. The entire remote processing operation will run on
full steam by March, 2005. While GE has already set up shop, WNS, the
country's largest third-party BPO firm, is scouting for land to set up a
centre.

While sources confirmed the move, a GE spokesperson contacted by ET neither
confirmed nor denied it, saying, "GE is currently evaluating various cities,
including Kolkata to set up its next IT-enabled services centre. While we
are finalising our plans, Kolkata is our preferred destination."

The new centre envisages an investment of Rs 80 crore and will have a total
employee strength of 1,500. GECIS right now employs over 12,000 people and
works on 700 processes across four locations: Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Bangalore
and Jaipur. It has four sites in Gurgaon, two in Hyderabad and one in
Bangalore. The processes are structured under 10 Centres of Excellence.

The first steps towards the new GECIS centre had been taken in the first
week of June, 2004, when a high-level West Bengal government delegation led
by the state IT minister had met GE honchos in Delhi.

GECIS had then given an in-principle agreement to set up its newest centre
in Kolkata and had set up a camp office in the city in July to facilitate
the ops.

And to boot, HSBC is setting up its fourth group service centre in Kolkata
by August 2005 which will handle complex back-office processing functions
for its global subsidiaries across the US, UK, West Asia and Far East.

The centre will staff 500 people to begin with. The BPO complex will be
commissioned by HSBC Electronic Data Processing India (HDPI), the
wholly-owned subsidiary of the HSBC Group.

HSBC already has captive service centres in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Vizag
with a combined staff strength of 6,000. HDPI, in the middle of August, has
signed two separate MoUs with the West Bengal government and L&T InfoCity to
establish the centre. The floor area of the centre would be 180,000 sq ft
spread over a 3.5-acre plot.

Gurgaon auction waits for nod

2004-12-07T19:36:00.000+05:30

It has been four months since the Haryana Urban Development Authority
(HUDA) held one of the biggest auctions of commercial sites in Gurgaon,
raising an amount of Rs 218 crore. Following allegations of underpricing, it
is still waiting ''confirmation'' by a competent official.

What has brought things to a boil is the Indian Youth Congress President
Randeep Surjewala's recent memorandum to Haryana Governor A.R.Kidwai
alleging a loss of over Rs 150 crore. The Governor has asked the Om Prakash
Chautala government for a report.

''The auction will be approved by a competent authority,'' an official
spokesman told Newsline. ''And we will definitely send the report to the
Governor,'' he said.

The auction took place on May 24. Since July 26, HUDA's Gurgaon
Administrator Prem Verma, IRS, hasn't reported on duty - he first went on
medical leave, then on training and then again on leave. Gurgaon's
Additional Deputy Commissioner Balraj Singh, the officer who was handed over
Verma's charge, went with India's Olympic contingent to Athens without
taking a decision. Incidentally, he had earlier been asked to conduct an
inquiry into the auction and recorded the statements of various members of
the Auction Committee.

The Haryana government then decided to give the Administrator's charge to
SDM Gurgaon Vivek Padam Singh. When asked about the matter by Newsline, he
said: ''I am yet to go through the case and won't be able to comment.''
Other officials have made themselves scarce.

Rumour mills are working overtime now. A few days back, HUDA's Chief
Administrator N.C Wadhwa was transferred as MD of Haryana State Industrial
Development Corporation. This too is being seen as part of this chain of
events.

Surjewala has alleged that ''goons clad in kurta pyjama'' openly threatened
those who had turned up for the auction to keep them out of the fray. He
also pointed out that though HUDA's Gurgaon Administrator is competent to
confirm the auction, the Auction Committee (including HUDA Administrator,
Gurgaon) referred the matter for ''approval of pricing'' to Chief
Administrator, HUDA, Panchkula, on June 2. ''The comments made by members of
the Auction Committee are a strong indictment of the auction proceedings,''
he said.

Faridabad fared better
A HUDA office note (The Indian Express has a copy), signed by auction
committee members - Senior Accounts Officer, District Town Planner, District
Revenue Officer (a representative of Deputy Commissioner) and Estate
Officer - says that ''the Estate Officer in his statement to the Deputy
Commissioner, Gurgaon, and comments submitted to Administrator HUDA Gurgaon,
wherein he has stated that rates achieved in cities like Panipat and Hisar
are in the range of Rs 19,900 per sqm to Rs 22,000 per sqm while the cities
of Faridabad and Panchkula are of the same class as Gurgaon and their land
value is also comparable.

''The rates achieved for shopping mall in Panchkula is Rs 41,666 per sqm and
in Faridabad it is Rs 31,603 per sqm. The rates achieved in (the) Gurgaon
auction for similar sites are in the range of Rs 18,000 to Rs 19,700 per sqm
only...The complainants' view seems to be justified in view of the
comparison.''

The note adds that ''it would be desirable and in public interest to bring
these facts to the notice of Chief Administrator HUDA, Panchkula, for
reconsideration/ review of the auction price quoted for Gurgaon...we are of
the view that the price offered during the auction in respect of the site
mentioned at Sr 1 to 10 of Annexure A be not accepted and these sites be got
reauctioned in order to refurbish the image of HUDA/Government.''

Gurgaon finds a site for multi-level parking

2004-12-07T19:31:00.001+05:30

Parking woes on Gurgaon's 'mall mile' (the MG Road stretch where shopping
malls are located) may soon be over. After much deliberations, Haryana Town
& Country Planning Department has finally identified and earmarked a site
for the construction of a multi-level parking there.

The three-acre site acquired recently is located on the Mehrauli-Gurgaon
Road adjacent to Sahara Mall. ''Since most traffic congestion occurs on the
MG Road, we wanted to have a multi-level parking on the same stretch,'' said
District Town Planner (Planning) Dinesh Chauhan. ''The site will be put up
for auction by Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) shortly,'' added
Chauhan.

The parking will be 16-meters high and will also have a three-level basement
parking. ''A certain percentage of the building housing the multi-level
parking will be reserved for commercial shops and showrooms. This would
ensure that the building is maintained properly and doesn't suffer neglect.
The move is a result of experiences from other cities where similar parkings
have often been at the receiving-end of neglect and bad maintenance,'' said
a town-planning official.

According to other department officials, the multi-level parking will have a
Floor Area Ratio of 175. This means that the builder will be allowed to
construct a total of 5.25 acres on the three-acre site (3 multiplied by
1.75). Also, there is plan to construct a subway in front of the multilevel
parking linking it to the other side of the MG Road.

Mission to retrieve 4 bodies from Himalayan glacier

2004-12-07T19:31:00.000+05:30

A 22-member team on Friday left Lahaul for Kangla Jot glacier in the
Himalayas to look for the bodies of four foreigners who went missing 22
years ago.

A trekking team from a Gurgaon-based company had spotted the bodies, at a
height of 18,000 feet where the minimum temperature would be around -14
degree Celsius, and informed the district administration.

One of the bodies is that of a woman. Documents found next to her body
suggested that she was a Swedish national but her identity is yet to be
confirmed.

According to the Swedish embassy in Delhi, a woman by the name of Marcot
Lydia had gone missing in 1981-82 while on a trek in Himachal Pradesh. She
had been accompanied by some other foreigners whose identity is not known as
yet.

On Thursday morning, a helicopter took off on a recce mission.

"It could not land on the spot. We can reach the exact spot only on foot.
Hence, a team was assembled to bring back the bodies. It is expected to
reach the spot on September 13. After that, it would take at least two days
to fish out the bodies, provided it does not snow. The area receives very
heavy snow fall throughout the year," Lahaul district Deputy Commissioner B
R Verma told rediff.com on phone from Lahaul.

"The team is led by Thakur Jagat Singh, a retired army man and an expert
mountaineer, and comprises 16 persons from the Manali-based Institute of
Mountaineering and Sports. Never before have we mounted such a operation,"
he said. The team includes three Himachal Pradesh police personnel, one home
guard and another person.
It will be supported by a medical team. Verma will supervise the operation
from Lahaul.

New-age NCR jobs attract all religions

2004-12-07T19:20:00.001+05:30

NCR: No one ever doubted the cosmopolitan character of a city like Delhi -
melting pot of cultures and religions. The high literacy rates, high
proportion of working population among all religions did not come as a
surprise. Ever wondered how would your neighbouring townships - Gautam Budh
Nagar (Noida), Gurgaon, Faridabad and Ghaziabad fare? Trust the Census 2001,
it's not as bad as you thought.

One, people from all religions lives there - Hindus, Muslims, Christians,
Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains. Naturally, one would think. Thanks to
new-economy employment opportunities, people from all religions and strata
migrate into Delhi first, and then trickle down to NCR townships in search
of jobs. Since opportunities exist in these areas, there is a tendency among
working people to eventually shift their residences. While the lure of a
place like Delhi do pull them for a little while, commuting costs and time
force many of them to review their decisions.

Hindus are in majority at all the NCR townships. Muslims have a significant
presence in Gurgaon - 37% as against 11% in Faridabad, and 13% in Noida.
Interestingly, the sex ratio (women per 1,000 men) among Muslims is a high
of 903 in Gurgaon. Jains, with the highest literacy rates of 96%, also have
the highest sex ratio of 909 here.

In the entire region, the highest sex ratio of 1,022 is registered among
Christians of Noida. In simpler terms, in Noida out of a population of
4,881, 2,413 are men and 2,468 are women. A deeper look into figures reveal
and not surprisingly - that not many Christians go for traditional jobs such
as agriculture and household industry. The numbers are as low as 8 and 27
respectively. Above 2,000 persons or almost 50% of total Christians here,
are registered under 'other workers' category. This would include
opportunities such as secretarial, BPO, customer service in shops and malls,
healthcare and industries.

What adds to the cosmopolitan character of NCR cities is the high levels of
literacy rates of most of the religious communities. Across cities and
religions, barring Muslims, communities register a very good average of over
83% literacy rate. Muslims have low literacy rates of 19.7%, 36.3%, 40.7%
and 49.1% in Noida, Gurgaon, Faridabad and Ghaziabad respectively. The last
figure may seem surprising, as on an all-India level UP does'nt fare too
well in literacy rates. This can be attributed to the pull factors here.
Good educational institutions at Ghaziabad and the facilities of both
training and jobs in nearby areas such as Noida and Delhi, pulls people
towards education. Psychologists attribute such trends to demonstration
effect - since others are doing it so shall we. However, literacy rate in
nearby Noida is a low of 19%. One reason for this could be relatively larger
rural Muslim population in Noida as compared to Ghaziabad.

Even though Buddhists are present across cities, their numbers are very
low - 838 - in Gurgaon.

The boom in opportunities coupled with real-estate surges will continue to
add to the new face of the NCR townships and their religious demography.

Rico Auto to acquire 2 European companies

2004-12-07T19:20:00.000+05:30

Leading auto components maker Rico Auto Industries on Wednesday said it is
currently in talks to acquire two component firms based in Germany and the
UK.

"Both companies are manufacturers of niche products. We should take a
decision about the purchase in the next two months," Arvind Kapur, Managing
Director of Rico Auto Industries, said.

In recent months, many Indian component firms, including Amtek and Bharat
Forge, have make acquisitions outside India, mainly in Europe.

Incidentally, Rico is also in the fray for the purchase of Daewoo India's
engine, transmission and axle unit at its Surajpur facility.

Meanwhile, Rico also intends to spend about Rs 70 crore this year to expand
capacity at its Gurgaon and Daruhera (Haryana) plants and also plans to set
up a greenfield project in Thailand at an initial cost of about $3 million.
The company expects its 2004-05 sales to grow more than 30 per cent on the
back of growing domestic demand and exports

15-yr-old limit for vehicles in Gurgaon

2004-12-07T19:03:00.003+05:30

VEHICLES more than 15-years-old will no longer be registered in Gurgaon.
This follows a Haryana government decision to ban registration of vehicles
older than 15 years in the NCR towns of Gurgaon, Faridabad, Bahadurgarh and
Kundli.

In a recent notification, the Haryana Transport Department has fixed the age
of operation for various types of transport vehicles plying under different
kinds of permits.

Under this notification, the age of buses plying as educational
institutional vehicles, buses plying as private service vehicles,
three-wheelers and auto-rickshaws and goods-carriages (except those plying
on national permits) has been fixed at 15 years.

The age of stage carriage buses and motor cabs (taxis) has been fixed as
seven and eight years, respectively. ''The idea is to reduce vehicular
pollution as well as to provide better transportation on roads in NCR areas,
'' said Gurgaon District Transport Officer Pradeep Godara.

''The number of over-age vehicles plying in Gurgaon cannot be very high
since Gurgaon started registering vehicles only in 1998. As far a private
vehicles like cars are concerned, only Euro II vehicles are being registered
here,'' Godara added.

Transport officials say that the government was also considering the
introduction of authorised private motor garages to grant fitness
certificate of motor vehicles.

''Till now, fitness certificate for transport vehicles was being granted by
the Board of Inspection constituted by the department at the district level.
With this new move, there will be a qualitative improvement in granting
fitness certificate to motor vehicles,'' said an official.

Three private garages of vehicle manufacturers based in Faridabad are being
considered for the purpose

Gurgaon Fast Becoming The Ultimate Office Address

2004-12-07T19:03:00.002+05:30

Gurgaon is going great guns, it is clear. According to real estate
consultant Knight Frank, Gurgaon alone will supply 69 per cent of over 5.5
million square feet of commercial space expected to be added by 2005 across
major cities.

New construction will lead to a fall in rentals by 10-15 per cent over the
next six months, it said, adding that the additional supply of 4 million sq
ft would be double the prevailing demand. However, there is no doubt that
the boom will continue, as the present government of Om Prakash Chautala
clearly knows it has a good thing going, and is going all-out to make sure
the dream doesn't sour.

The commercial property market of Gurgaon has been upbeat for the last two
years with many information technology (IT) and IT- enabled service (ITES)
companies opting for Gurgaon.

Ninety per cent of the space in a new building like Vatika Triangle (108,000
sq ft) already commands a lease rental of Rs 38 per sq ft per month, and
bears signboards like Axel Construction and Louis Berger.

Consultant CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) (South Asia) Anshuman Magazine adds that
3 million sq ft will be added to the total stock in the next 21 months.
"This suburban market witnessed high levels of corporate interest for large
space occupiers, specially in the ITES sector, with net absorption of over
200,000 sq ft in the last quarter and current vacancy levels hovering around
10 per cent," he says.

As demand is keeping pace with supply, values are expected to remain stable
in the short to medium term, CBRE predicts. Vertex, Canon, Nokia, May
Departmental Stores, Astra Business Services and Western International
Universities have signed for about 200,000 sq ft space.

"Accelerated demand is likely to help in building healthy supply positions
across the NCR," says global real estate solution provider, Cushman &
Wakefield. The NCR includes Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Greater Noida and
Faridabad. It forecasts that values are expected to be stable at current
levels. The consultant quotes the capital value of office space in prime
Gurgaon area at $80 per sq ft (Rs 3,664 per sq ft). Which is about 0.6 per
cent less than the price six months ago. It quotes rental value of prime
Gurgaon office property at $10 per sq ft per month, 3 per cent less than six
months ago.

"It is estimated that over 475 acres changed hands in private districts of
Gurgaon and along the Noida-Greater Noida expressway over the past two
quarters. This translates into 25 million sq ft of potential supply in
addition to the existing licensed lands," it added.

Explaining why his company had opened an office in Gurgaon, Knight Frank
executive director (north) Suvir Ahuja said: "With big corporate moving to
Gurgaon, it has become a potential market for various services of Knight
Frank such as agency, facility management, project management and advisory."

NCR is also witnessing major retail developments. The country is expected to
have over 220 malls by 2006 of which NCR has a big chunk.

The total mall space in major metros - Delhi (including Noida and Gurgaon),
Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyd-erabad, Chennai and Kolkata - is expected to increase
to over 21.1 million square feet by next year. About 5.1 million square feet
of mall space is likely to be ready by 2005 in seven non-metro cities -
Pune, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Ludh-iana, Jaipur, Chandigarh and Indore. The
total mall supply is expected to reach 26.2 million sq ft by 2005.

But India Property Research head T Chakrabarti sounds a note of caution:
"The retail segment is under pressure as demand exceeds supply. Gurgaon
alone is witnessing the development of 30-35 malls. It is certainly a case
of oversupply."

Everything Official About It

. Half of the new built-up area will be added by DLF Universal while the
other half will be by Unitech, Vatika, Ansals, etc.
. Eighty per cent of this supply will consist of multi-tenanted buildings
with floor plates as large as 38,000 sq ft.
. The other 20 per cent, built-to-suit developments, are being leased by
developers at an average rate of Rs 28-30 sq ft per month. For example,
Ericsson recently leased a built-to-suit development (150,000 sq ft) at an
average rental of Rs 30 per sq ft per month.
. Palam Triangle has boosted the available supply by 50,000 sq ft. This
project is the brainchild of the Ansal Group.
Commenting on the better supply scenario, Cushman & Wakefield says, "The NCR
seems to have broken free of supply constraints, which in turn has eased
demand pressures and ensured price stability. Developers have found buying
land a powerful competitive strategy from the medium and long-term
perspective as they look to capitalise on strong demand over the next 7-10
years."

Gurgaon colony goes to court: vanishing green

2004-12-07T19:03:00.001+05:30

Green spaces seem to be vanishing one after the other in Gurgaon.

After South City residents took on their coloniser to save a green area near
their houses, residents of Sushant Lok are fighting a move by the Ansals to
construct a dispensary on a 1.2-acre site in Block C where a park exists
now.

The matter has reached the courts. Over a dozen residents have got together
and filed a writ petition in Punjab and Haryana High Court to stop the move.

''A few weeks back, huge boards announcing 'Site for Dispensary' were put up
inside the park by Ansals,'' said Shashi Sharma, a corporate consultant who
moved from Delhi to Gurgaon in September 2003 and lives in a house facing
the park.

''We, and many like us, were lured by the promise of green surroundings. The
irony here is that the houses facing the park, including mine, are called
the Green Meadows,'' said Sharma.

Counsel for the petitioner advocate Madhu Tewatia said, ''When the case came
up for hearing on July 12, the counsel for Ansals told the court it wanted
to file a reply to our petition. Counsel also said they would not undertake
any construction during the period of adjournment. Following this, the court
granted an adjournment.'' The case will now be heard on September 14 as it
couldn't be taken up today.

But Ansals insist the site was always meant for a dispensary. ''The site in
question was sanctioned as a dispensary in the original layout approved in
1992,'' said N.K Sehgal, vice-president of Ansal Properties and Industries.
''Also, we never got the layout changed. We didn't begin construction all
these years as there was not enough habitation in the area. Since the area
is well-inhabited now, we plan to go ahead with our dispensary plan,''
Sehgal added.

Sehgal also said residents were not charged a preferential location charge
due to the park. ''Only corner houses were charged a premium and not because
they were facing a park,'' he claimed.

The petitioners have, however, submitted before the court that in the
sanctioned layout plan, the site is shown as a park.

Living it up in the `burbs

2004-12-07T19:03:00.000+05:30

Delhi`s developers are betting big on crore-plus condos far from the heart
of the Capital

Will middle-class Indians pay a crore or two to live 30 km from the heart of
Delhi? A clutch of fast-moving real estate developers led by companies like
Vatika and the giant DLF - which owns large tracts of land in Gurgaon - are
betting they will.

The attraction: plush, sprawling condominiums or villas surrounded by acres
of forests and lush greenery. Other upmarket accessories like jacuzzis and
health clubs are, of course, mandatory.

Take a look at DLF's super-premium Aralia complex, scheduled to be ready in
a year's time. The complex overlooks the DLF Golf Club and will have
spacious 5,575 sq ft apartments and 9,600 sq ft penthouses. The apartments
(about 250 of them) are selling for around Rs 2 crore and the penthouses for
around Rs 4,3 crore.

Or, look at Vatika City, an upmarket cluster of 1,600 apartments and villas
that will stretch over a giant 60-acre spread. A few independent villas
which the group plans to sell to celebrities are priced at around Rs 3.5
crore. And about 200 of the bigger apartments are retailing for over Rs 1.5
crore.

What will Rs 1.5 crore buy in Vatika City? Key features of the crore-plus
apartments include central air-conditioning (and that includes the
balconies) and Italian marble.

There will also be sandwich glass windows for soundproofing and, of course,
the obligatory jacuzzis and saunas. Security features will include swipe
card access and video intercoms.

The days when buying a flat meant buying an empty shell and little else are
over. These new, upmarket projects are selling partly on the add-ons they
offer. So, Vatika City is planning to have ATM facilities, and a supermarket
in the complex.

Inevitably, there will be a club house, a health club, an outdoor sports
complex, an amphitheatre and a community hall. For the next generation there
will be a staffed crÃ¨che. Vatika City will be completed only by December
2006, but Gaurav Bhalla, director, Vatika Group says that around 550 of the
apartments have already been sold.

DLF and Vatika don't have the field to themselves when it comes to upmarket
accommodation. Take Unitech Builders, which is erecting several projects
aimed at upmarket urban dwellers. For a start, there's the Rs 500-crore
World Spa, spread over 21 acres and divided into separate complexes on two
sides of the highway.

"This will be the most exclusive and luxurious residential development in
the NCR," claims Sanjay Chandra, director, Unitech, adding that around Rs
400 crore of the property has already been sold.

World Spa East and World Spa West will each have a luxury fitness centre and
spa in addition to two-level underground parking. The design and landscaping
is being done by the Seattle-based Callison. "We are using international
architects for all our projects," says Chandra.

Unitech also has the Rs 1,000 crore Nirvana Country, a complex of high-end
apartments and villas being developed over 300 acres of land in Gurgaon.
This project will offer single floor and duplex villas in various sizes.

The highest-end villas will cost around Rs 1.2 crore each. Construction on
the first few blocks has already begun and the blueprint includes a
landscaped park, with sand pits, splash pools and gazebos.

DLF began constructing its complex of super-premium apartments, the Aralias,
in November 2002. Key facilities in the complex will include a car-calling
system, a car washing and water softening plant, and 100 per cent power back
up to 30 KVA.

The Aralias also conform to Zone-V earthquake specifications and will
include a crÃ¨che, laundromat and club. The 250 apartments will be ready in a
little over a year.

Who are the target customers for such high-value property? Understandably,
with apartments and villas in the Rs 1 crore-plus bracket, the builders are
targeting high net worth individuals.

"We have a large customer base of senior executives and NRIs," says Unitech'
s Chandra. That explains the attempt to create an international feel -
through fancy tower and block names like Deerwood Chase and Cedar Crest.

Naturally, attention to detail is a must. "Buyers of high-end products are
looking for a great design and ambience," says Chandra. Other factors, he
says, are the lifestyle features and amenities offered as well as the right
kind of neighbours.

"Creating a good neighbourhood was high priority," says Chandra, "so many of
our top-end projects were sold by invitation only to like-minded people of
similar profiles." These include senior and top management employees of
large corporations.

All this means the promotion has to be equally fancy. And when bucolic
builders let their inner poets loose, the results can be amusing. Unitech is
promising buyers a place where "the sky above and the earth below belong
only to you, and nature is but a window away" - that's Nirvana Country.

Meanwhile, in Noida, Omaxe is enticing wealthy house-seekers by promising
them "shimmering lagoons, colourful flowers and friendly animals" as part of
the experience of residing in The Forest apartments, surrounded by 325 acres
of greenery.

Omaxe Construction is promoting The Forest as "poetry in glass and steel"
and intends it to be a self-contained mini-town. Located in Noida's Sector
92, the actual construction site occupies six acres but this is bordered by
around 325 acres of jungle. "It enables us to promise permanent greenery,
something few others can offer" says Kunal Banerji, vice-president,
marketing, Omaxe.

As if that isn't enough, the company's blueprint for the project includes a
rivulet winding sinuously around the complex and seven towers, with names
like Ridgewood and Tennessee. Each tower will house 15 apartments - making
105 in all - priced at between Rs 1.25 crore and Rs 2.4 crore.

Some of the towers will be bridged to create sky gardens and private
terraces. What can you expect if you buy a 6,500 sq ft penthouse here? Well
a terrace garden with a swimming pool for one.

The master bedroom will be almost like a mini-health club with a sauna,
steam bath, jacuzzi and massage chair. The open kitchen will have imported
modular cabinets, a granite counter and flooring, and the exterior finish
will be of aluminium panels cladding. And don't forget the lily pond in the
family lounge.

Then there's Senior Builders, which is promising a "lime lighted lifestyle
where privacy is highlighted". The group is building a township with luxury
apartments and penthouses over 14 acres in Sector 15, Gurgaon. While the
apartments' prices will start at Rs 60 lakh, the penthouses will fall in the
Rs 2.5 crore to Rs 3 crore bracket.

"We will provide high-end technical specifications to make the township
ultra-modern," says Vijay Dixit, managing director, Senior Builders. The
amenities will include high-security equipment such as CCTV.

While Gurgaon and Noida are the locations of choice for many builders, Ansal
Properties sees promise in Delhi's posh Palam Vihar colony.

Ansal has recently launched Celebrity Stars, a condominium of
air-conditioned apartments and penthomes at Palam Vihar. The Rs 45-crore
Celebrity Stars is the top-end part of a fully functional complex called
Celebrity Complex where around 35 families are already residing.

The penthomes available in Celebrity Stars will be between 4,170 sq ft and
5,090 sq ft in area, and will sell for Rs 1 crore upwards. Each unit is
being planned over three levels and will include a private pool and a
terrace garden.

"Palam is a good location because it is closer than Gurgaon and Noida to the
heart of the city," says Aditya Wadhera, general manager, marketing, Ansal
Properties.

"Besides, it is very close to the international airport." That's an
important consideration given that the buyers will certainly be highflyers.

Another deadline revised, this expressway not in the fast track

2004-12-07T19:02:00.001+05:30

If you go by the website of National Highways Authority of India
(www.nhai.org), the much-awaited Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway would be completed
by April 2005. Visit any section of the 27.7-km stretch and talk to the
people executing the project to do a reality check.

There is no way that this Access Controlled Expressway, linking Dhaula Kuan
with Rajiv Chowk, will be ready before December 2005. ''We are trying to
keep as tight a schedule as possible,'' says NHAI's Chief General Manager
SPS Bakshi. ''We had initially hoped to complete it by June 2005. Now, we
plan to complete it by December 2005,'' he adds.

Jaypee DSC Ventures Ltd, the company constructing the Expressway on
Build-Operate-Transfer basis, is non-committal. ''We have not come out with
any new dates,'' says senior general manager P Ahluwalia. ''However,
considering the kind of problems we have been facing, the project may get
delayed.''

One of the major problems is encroachments. ''NHAI was supposed to provide
us with a clear corridor. However, because of excessive urbanisation of many
areas on the route, this condition is not being honoured,'' says Ahluwalia.

''Certain sections near Mahipalpur, Rangpuri and beyond Rajiv Chowk have not
been properly demarcated. When we go there to take physical possession, the
land is nowhere to be found,'' he says.

NHAI denies this vehemently. ''We got all the encroachments removed, even
the ones made by high-profile people,'' says Bakshi. Jaypee DSC officials,
however, insist that on the 27.7-km long stretch, portions adding upto 6-7
km are still not clear.

Gurgaon's master sewer line, beginning near the Delhi-Haryana border and
running right upto Rajiv Chowk, is another problem. ''Very little work has
been done to shift this line so far. NHAI wants us to shift this line by
adhering to HUDA rules,'' complains Ahluwalia. A similar problem is being
faced over the shifting of the main water-supply line.

NHAI officials say there are other problems too. ''We have had to deal with
underground cables, optical fibre cables and gas pipelines. We had to be
extremely careful in shifting them since many defence operations and
hotlines were being run on those cables,'' says Bakshi.

The Rs 555-crore Expressway, with 9.7 km in New Delhi and 18 km in Haryana,
will have 11 overpasses and underpasses and four toll tax plazas. It will
make driving red-light free on NH-8 and reduce the travel time between
Dhaula Kuan and Haldiram's Resort in Gurgaon from one hour to 20 minutes.

Gurgaon set to Malltiply its troubles

2004-12-07T19:02:00.000+05:30

The call of the mall is ringing out loud and clear for developers in
Gurgaon. But residents - or anyone who has to drive through the
Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road - are more likely to complain of mental mauling.

Today, with just three malls in operation, people already find it faster to
walk than to drive along the two-km stretch during peak hours. Now, try to
picture the scene three years hence, when 12 malls jostle each other along
this narrow strip.

The rest of Gurgaon will not escape either, with 60 malls being planned.
Never mind that many residents already complain bitterly that this upscale
suburb is literally straining at the seams as basic infrastructure lags far
behind explosive, runaway growth. Developers believe they have spotted a
golden goose. Only, nobody seems to remember what happened to the
unfortunate bird in the fable.

Three malls - Sahara, Metropolitan and Plaza, are already up and running on
MG Road. Construction on five others - DLF, MGF, Senior Builders, Vatika and
Vipul, has started, while four more are in the pipeline.

While the Guptas of MGF group may have been the first to cash in on the
cash-rich MNC and call centre crowd, others soon followed suit.

But will the gold rush last? No, say industry experts. Not with so many
players fighting for the same slice of a limited pie.

"There's no way so many malls are going to survive," emphasises Avneesh
Sood, director of the Eros Group. While the big ones like DLF and MGF may
just manage to survive initially, the others don't have a chance, he claims.

Bangalore 'stagnating', Wipro to spread wings

2004-12-07T19:01:00.000+05:30

Wipro Ltd, after witnessing an increase in attrition and on the lack of good
infrastructure that has resulted in increased commuting time for its
employees, is now looking at growth beyond Bangalore. Currently, Wipro has
11,000 employees in Bangalore alone.

"Bangalore is a zero-sum game. In terms of infrastructure, there has not
been any material improvement in the last five years. As a result, it is
becoming difficult to sustain growth here. As part of our retention
management, we want to move for an incremental growth outside Bangalore as
much as possible," Vivek Paul, vice-chairman, said.

Centres that will receive increased focus include Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune,
Gurgaon, Powai, Kolkata and Kochi.

According to Azim H Premji, chairman, "We are starting our operations in
Kolkata from next month. We will start with taking new accounts as well as
shifting some existing accounts to this centre.

"We are going to be setting up centres outside Bangalore rapidly as we go
along. The key reasons include increased commuting time and high attrition.

"Qualified engineers and graduates are coming up in other cities and states.
We will take our business wherever there is opportunity for our employees.
The reality is that there is opportunity outside Karnataka and outside
Bangalore. We have to be present where talent is available and
infrastructure is superior."

Wipro feels that expanding to other cities will help it to reduce attrition
and also manage increasing wage pressures.

The company factored a wage pressure in the range of 15-18 per cent in its
first quarter results. It is yet to finalise the wage increase for the IT
business for the current fiscal.

"However, one way to compensate wages is by hiring younger engineers so that
the average wage bill continues to be contained," Paul said.
Wipro hired 3015 people during the first quarter, taking its total headcount
to 31,517 by the end of June 30, 2004, including 20,768 engineers in the IT
services business and 10,749 people in IT-enabled services.

Crown-less Pandit overshadows reigning queens

2004-12-07T19:00:00.000+05:30

A few months back, she had to surrender her Miss India World 2004 crown
amidst a controversy over her marital status.

It was a sort of sweet revenge today when former Miss India Laxmi Pandit
pushed the three current Miss India 2004 to the margins and hogged all the
attention at an interaction with the media.

''I am over with the fact that I had to surrender my title. Life has to move
on,'' said a confident Pandit. She also chose to set the record straight
over the controversy.

''I was accused of hiding the fact that I was married prior to winning the
crown. The allegation was not true,'' she said.

Asked about the reason behind surrendering the crown then, Pandit said:
''The emotional trauma that came with the controversy had become too much to
handle. It had started affecting my family.''

Pandit, however, said that she had got over it courtesy the support of her
family and friends.

''I have to look forward in life and stay focussed,'' she said. Pandit also
added that she had received a few offers from Bollywood but hadn't yet
decided to take the plunge.

Reigning beauty queens Miss India Universe 2004 Tanushree Dutta, Miss India
2004 Sayali Bhagat and Miss India Earth 2004 Jyoti Brahmin alongwith models
Nikita Anand, Apoorva Jha and Laxmi Rana were interacting with the media
prior to National Institute of Fashion Design (NIFD) Gurgaon's Annual
Fashion Show.

As Pandit fielded a plethora of queries, all the other beauty queens could
do was to flash smiles and wait for some questions to come their way.

Even when it came to photo-ops, Pandit was the cynosure of all eyes. She
later admitted that the controversy had given her more popularity than even
winning the crown did.

Delhi hosts world's longest dance party

2004-12-07T18:54:00.001+05:30

The dance floor was set alight on the evening of July nine and has since
seen thousands of Delhiites jumping on to it to shake a leg. Going on and
on, it is all set to win back for India the record of hosting the world's
longest dance party.

Around 40 youngsters have been dancing non-stop except for the small
breathers allowed under the regulations of the Guinness Book of World
Records at the event here and have been joined by scores of denizens eager
to be part of the record-breaking endeavour.

Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium is the setting of the event, which aims at breaking
the Guinness record of a party in Cleveland, US, which lasted for 52 hours
and three minutes.

Incidentally, the Cleveland party had broken the record of an MTV party in
Gurgaon, Haryana, in 1999, which had gone on for 50 hours.|Discuss: Now who
said Delhiites can't party? |

"There are around 40 dancers on the stage, who are the real heroes of the
dance party as they are the ones who have been dancing non-stop for more
than two days. But Delhiites have been given a chance to join the party for
some time and be part of the record-breaking event," said Rajlakshmi
Bhattacharjee of Consultants Pvt Ltd, one of the event managers.

Gurgaon builds new road to DLF

2004-12-07T18:54:00.000+05:30

After construction of a bypass at Sikanderpur eased the traffic situation in
Gurgaon to some extent, another road will soon enable a large chunk of
Gurgaon-bound traffic from Delhi to avoid the crossing.

A 3-km long road will be constructed from a point near the marble market on
Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road and will bisect the Gurgaon-Faridabad Road before
ending at a point touching Sector 42 near DLF's Golf Course.

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This new road will touch Sector 26, 26A and 42. An existing road in Sector
42 will enable the traffic on this new road to reach Sectors 53, 54, 55 and
56.

''Around 35 acres of land has been acquired for this,'' said Land
Acquisition Officer V.K Sharma. ''The acquired land has already been handed
over to Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA),'' he added. Sharma said
a 60-meter wide stretch had been acquired, indicating that this could be the
width of the road. The land originally belonged to the panchayats of
Chakarpur and Sikanderpur.

''Tenders have already been invited for the project,'' said Executive
Engineer Randhir Singh. ''Construction may begin in a couple of months,'' he
added. ''The road should be operational by the end of the year.''

''Those coming from Delhi and headed for Faridabad will not have to come up
to Sikanderpur Chowk since the new road will connect with the
Gurgaon-Faridabad road as well,'' said a town planning official.

DLF areas are set to gain from this since many of its upcoming projects are
located in DLF City Phase V. These include superpremium apartments Aralias,
overlooking DLF Golf Course, Westend Heights, The Pinnacle and Royalton
Tower.

NIIT Tech to raise headcount by 800

2004-12-07T18:22:00.002+05:30

IT solutions provider NIIT Technologies Ltd (NTL) will add about 800
knowledge professionals over the next 12 months as part of its expansion
plans, entailing an investment of Rs 40 crore.

"We will grow our knowledge professionals' headcount by adding 200 people
every quarter, and so we will add 800 professionals in the coming 12 months,
both in India and outside," Arvind Thakur, CEO of NIIT Technologies, said.

As part of its expansion drive, NIIT is moving into a 25,000-sq.-ft software
development facility in Salt Lake, Kolkata. The facility would be
inaugurated by West Bengal's IT Minister in mid-July.

The company also plans to expand its business process outsourcing (BPO)
facility in Gurgaon. "We will set up new software development centres and
expand our existing facilities and expect to invest Rs 40 crore in the next
12 months," Thakur said.

NTL's existing headcount stands at 2,453. The company's offshore development
centres are located in Bangalore, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai. It also has a
near-shore centre at Atlanta and Charlotte in the US, London and Stuttgart
in Europe and Bangkok and Singapore in South-East Asia.

MNCs throng Gurgaon, take 200,000 sq ft space

2004-12-07T18:22:00.001+05:30

Driving demand for office space at Gurgaon in Haryana, multinationals like
Nokia, Microsoft and Convergys occupied more than 200,000 square feet during
January-May 2004, a global real estate consulting firm said.

The trend of the IT/ITES sector driving occupier demand in Gurgaon continued
in May 2004, said real estate consulting firm Jones Lang Lasalle in its
latest updates.

Major transactions in Gurgaon included Fidelity Investment leasing 50,000 sq
ft in Unitech Business Park and Convergys leasing 40,000 sq ft in Unitech
Trade Centre.

DLF Cyber Greens, which is under construction, also witnessed strong
absorption with Nokia leasing 50,000 sq ft, Microsoft leasing 55,000 sq ft
and merchandising company Redcats leasing 12,000 sq ft.

Out of 219,000 sq ft absorbed commercial space during the review period
across all business districts of the national capital region (NCR), Gurgaon
accounted for 94 per cent of the total absorption. Connaught Place, the
Capital?s central business district, witnessed a major transaction at Birla
House with infotech major IBM taking 12,000 sq ft space on lease.

Vacancy levels in Gurgaon declined to 13 per cent as against 31 per cent
overall level in the prime office locations in the Capital. Rental and
capital values in Gurgaon, however, remained stable till May 2004.

The rental values are expected to remain firm at current levels, even though
800,000 sq ft office space would be added by the end of this year. The
rental values might come down with the additional 1.5 million sq ft of
office space, which is likely to be ready for occupation by 2005.

The rental value for office space recorded a 10 per cent rise in grade a
areas in the NCR and ranged from Rs 120-140 per sq ft, while the rental
values for grade B buildings remained stable at Rs 50-60 per sq ft.

Rs 200 cr infotech complex in Gurgaon

2004-12-07T18:22:00.000+05:30

The Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation and Hartron have joined
hands to set up a Rs 200 crore information technology and telecommunication
complex over an area of seven acres at Electronic City in Gurgaon.

The decision was taken at the 95th meeting of the Hartron board here on
Thursday. A new company Haryana Cyber City Infrastructure Development
Corporation Ltd had been formed to take up the project, said Hartron
Chairman Akram Khan.

He said that the project envisaged construction of infrastructure in terms
of multi-storeyed complexes with world class facilities. The complex would
be promoted as one of the best complexes in the country.

Khan said the board had decided to reduce the rates of licence and renewal
fees for the franchise centres.

The licence fee in case of 'A' category (state Capital), 'B' category
(district headquarters, sub-division, tehsil, block level, municipal area)
and 'C' category (villages) was Rs 3 lakh, Rs 2 lakh and Rs 1 lakh,
respectively, which had been reduced to Rs 2 lakh, Rs 1.25 lakh and Rs
50,000.

As per the new policy, the licence fee would be charged in three instalments
instead of the earlier lump-sum amount. The board also cleared new
initiatives for export of software.

Khan said the board appreciated efforts made by Hartron in developing
infrastructure for national projects relating to the breeding of cattle
called Pashudhan. This project had been chosen by the Centre for adoption at
the national level.

He said Hartron had also taken up the task of computerisation of libraries
in universities, colleges and institutions of the state.

The corporation has also started a training programme for various district
libraries in the state.

He said that the corporation had decided to further expand the network of
its franchise and study centres within and outside the sate to strengthen
human resource development in the information technology sector by providing
quality education to its citizens.

At present, Hartron has 76 franchise and study centres, out of which nine
are located in Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab.

He added that Hartron had also expanded its activities to other States. It
had prepared Electoral Photo Identity Cards in Madhya Pradesh and supplied
the software to prepare such cards for Chhattisgarh.

Khan said new IT projects had also been taken up for various departments.
The corporation had started designing and developing a number of websites
for the Election Commission, Urdu Akademi, Sugarfed, Haryana Financial
Corporation and the Haryana Cooperative Department.

The corporation had also developed a website for Dakshin Haryana Bijli
Vitran Nigam and was developing the same for other departments, boards and
corporations.

Now, Taraporewala-II in Gurgaon

2004-12-07T18:04:00.004+05:30

Lovers of aquatic life will soon be in for a treat. Gurgaon is all set to
have a first-of-its-kind aquarium. To be constructed in two phases at a
one-acre site in Sector 29, this joint venture between Haryana Urban
Development Authority (HUDA) and the state's Fisheries Department is likely
to be thrown open to the public within 6-8 months. Haryana Chief Minister Om
Prakash Chautala laid the foundation stone for the first phase of the
building today.

''North India doesn't have a decent aquarium till date. The idea is to
develop a state-of-the-art complex that would not only be a tourist
destination but also act as a centre to promote pisciculture,'' said R.P
Yadav, CEO of Fish and Farmer Development Agency, a subsidiary of Haryana
Fisheries Department.

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''We have studied a variety of aquariums during our visits to places like
Singapore and Bangkok, particularly the latest technologies they have used,'
' said Yadav. ''We aim to come up with an aquarium matching international
standards. Also, we want to improve on the design and facilities available
at Taraporewala Aquarium in Mumbai,'' he added.

The Haryana government has hired the services of a technical consultant from
Delhi for providing technical expertise for the project. A total area of 470
sq metres will be covered under the first phase of construction at a cost of
Rs 60 lakh. ''HUDA provided land for the project and will contribute Rs 25
lakh towards construction, a Rs 16 lakh grant will come from the Centre, the
rest has been provided by us,'' said Yadav.

The aquarium will be equipped with a laboratory, library, feed store, museum
and a lecture room. ''All kinds of information about marine life will be
available there. On the spot lectures will be conducted for students and
visitors,'' said Yadav. As many as 80 varieties of fish available in Haryana
will be up for show.

Once the first phase is functional, there is a plan to construct an
oceanarium at a cost of Rs 40 lakh in the second phase. ''All kinds of
marine species breeding in ocean waters will be there in saline water,
including sharks and sardines,'' said Yadav.

About the location of the aquarium, the Haryana official said: ''Its
proximity to Leisure Valley and Rose Garden is an added advantage.''