DLF Ltd., India’s biggest developer, posted a third-quarter profit of 21.45 billion rupees ($544 million) on growing demand for houses, offices and hotels in Asia’s third-largest economy. Sales at the company and its units totaled 36 billion rupees in the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with 33.5 billion rupees in the second quarter, New Delhi-based DLF said today in a statement to the National Stock Exchange. The company, which raised $2.2 billion in June in what was then India’s biggest initial share sale, didn’t give year-earlier figures. Continue Reading »

The recent meltdown and the following volatility in the broader markets has left two sets of believers on the streets: one set believes in bubbles, and expects them to burst at periodic intervals, while the other believes there is a fundamental reason innate to these so-called bubbles, which is the strong undercurrent of robust domestic macroeconomic growth. Continue Reading »

India’s government expects economic growth to slow for the first time in three years, as higher interest rates cool consumer demand for homes, motorcycles and electric appliances. Asia’s third-largest economy is forecast to expand 8.7 percent in the 12 months to March 31, the weakest pace since 2005, the statistics office said in a release in New Delhi today. Growth was 9.6 percent last financial year. Continue Reading »

It was a realty blitz that took the city by storm. But the euphoria has not translated into bookings. Pick-up for all the three major players, Parsvnath, Emaar MGF and Uppal’s, which have already started bookings for their housing projects, has been slow and they still have to reach the 60 per cent bookings benchmark for a project launch to be labeled a success. Pride Asia, a joint venture between Parsvnath and the Chandigarh Housing Board, which had initially offered 359 units out of a total of 1314 as a limited period offer, has now launched its Scheme 2 wherein bookings for its remaining over 1000 units (one/two/three/four/five bedroom apartments, penthouses/villas) will be open from the 5th to 25th of each month after which allotments will be decided by a draw of lots. Continue Reading »

Gurgaon-based Vipul Infrastructure Group is set to board the hospitality train. The company’s hotels division, Vipul Hospitality, has signed a memorandum of understanding with leading operator Sarovar Hotels and Resorts to open five new hotels, to start with.Punit Beriwala, managing director of Vipul Hospitality was not available for a comment. Company officials, though, said the five hotels were part of the initial phase of development.

The management has concrete plans to set up over a dozen hotels in potential destinations across the country, they said, adding, while five sites have already been identified, it is in the process of short-listing more. Continue Reading »

A 650-acre IT park is coming up in Noida on the outskirts of Delhi. Being built by the Noida Development Authority, over 100,000 IT-ITeS employees are expected to work here

HCL Technologies has announced a 46-acre technology hub for 15,000 employees in Greater Noida

The IT services major Birlasoft, a part of the $1.4 billion CK Birla Group, is keen to develop a campus in Noida by 2009

Together, Noida and Greater Noida are set to emerge as a major IT campus hub in Uttar Pradesh. Not that the two locations do not have IT company offices.

In fact, they are home to a multitude of multinational outsourcing firms and software majors, especially Noida which boasts of companies such as Adobe Systems, HCL, EXL, American Express, Impetus, STMicroelectronics and Xansa, among others. Continue Reading »

Parsvnath Developers Ltd, one of India’s leading real estate developers has won the bid to develop a commercial project on 18632 sq mt of land at Sector Delta-II in Greater Noida.

“The property in Greater Noida has a total area of 4.75 acre. The project includes land and construction. The realisation will be around Rs 300 crore, Rs 100 crore revenue is expected in this FY and the balance in the next two years,” said Mr Pradeep Jain, Chairman, Parsvnath Developers Ltd to NDTV. Continue Reading »

While Tatas plan super luxury hotel in Delhi, Yannick Poupon, Taj Luxury hotels’ area director did not disclose the proposed investment figure.

However, a rough indication could come from another mega deal struck in central Delhi a few months back by the Leela Group, which bought a three-acre plot in Chanakyapuri, for Rs 611 crore. The 250-room super luxury hotel is expected to cost Rs 1,100 crore. Continue Reading »

Chandigarh, Dec 14 (IANS) As a token of appreciation, a cook who worked for 26 years at a government-run hotel here initiated its expansion plan by digging the earth and placing the first brick.

The cook, Khiali Ram, joined Hotel Mountview way back in 1982 - when it was still a private hotel managed by leading chain Oberoi hotels, was the chief guest for the occasion. Continue Reading »

Pandit Ravi Shankar, renowned across the world for pulling strings consummately, could not persuade a Pune 5-star hotel to allow him to check in with his therapeutic dog. The hotel adheres to a strict no-pets policy, apparently because the sight of an animal lounging in the lobby makes its foreign guests believe that the property has gone to the dogs. Continue Reading »