Foreign support firms ride on Indian retail saga

Global paraphernalia providers eye the Indian retail pie, says Peeyush Agnihotri That foreign construction giants sniff an opportunity in the Indian realty sector and are landing here in droves doesn’t make news. What has been an interesting development, of late, is that big-time global retail design, paraphernalia and know-how providers are looking to lend the very-crucial skeletal support system to the Indian retail saga. Going Dutch on India Elbit Imaging, the largest shopping mall developer in Europe based in the Netherlands, is watching the Indian mall space rather keenly. Being active in India over the last two years, this Dutch firm plans to enhance its footprint in the Indian retail sector.

Illustration by Aditi Chahar

Real estate funds scout for elusive right projects

Jasudha Kirpalani and Prashant Mehra A construction boom and fast growing retail market are fuelling development of over 500 malls in India by 2009 but private equity and real estate funds are still struggling to find the right projects. Funds are seeking projects with the right retail mix, size and strategy but are meeting instead with developers with unrealistic growth plans, dubious title deeds and unknown retailers with unhealthy balance sheets

Malls get Arabian touch

In a market already flush with domestic players, companies from the Arab world are also drawing up plans to construct huge shopping malls in India to cash in on the fast-growing retail and real estate sectors of the country. Emaar MGF, a joint venture between Dubai-based Emaar Properties and India's MGF Development is planning to invest about Rs 50,000 crore on development of real estate projects in the country over the next four to five years.

Taxes hit multiplexes, says study R. Suryamurthy the movie multiplex industry in the country is facing a slow death due to outdated laws and high entertainment tax, despite the fact that Indians are movie crazy and Bollywood produces largest number of films globally, says a study."   Banks try to encash festive season Financial institutions are set to lower rates on home loans,says S.C. Dhall There is slow down in home purchases and fearing slowdown in the loan portfolio, banker and financial institutions are set to cut interest rates on home by 0.5 per cent to 1 percentage point during the coming festival season to acquire new customers.

Where commerce overlaps habitat!
Jammu Master Plan 2009 that envisions separate spots for commercial and residential areas appears to be a far cry, reports Prabhjit Singh

The recent J&K High Court’s stay on the construction of a tower by the Reliance Telecom in a residential area, on a PIL, has once again sparked the Jammu Municipal Corporation’s (JMC) age-old agenda of sealing the commercial establishments in residential areas as a part of the Jammu Master Plan 2009.

Lanco township for Hyderabad
The project will house 1,500 apartments says Ramesh Kandula
Hyderabad, the city of minarets, will become home for the world’s tallest residential building, if plans by the Lanco Group of Industries fructify.The residential towers with 100 floors, christened Signature, are coming up at Manikonda on the city outskirts. It will be part of an ambitious Rs 5,500-crore mega township project being taken up by the company that includes an IT Park, commercial zone, entertainment centre, five-star hotel, shopping malls and residential colony.

Elevator industry looks up Vertical transportation reaches new heights, writes Anurag Sharma From the hand-powered Archimedes's cab on the hemp rope to hydraulic elevators to energy-efficient, environment -friendly elevators, vertical transportation has seen a sea change in the Indian market in terms of high speed, safety and smooth ride as the demand of elevators witnesses a sharp increase over the last few years.

GROUND REALITY
See the wood and the trees
Jagvir Goyal talks about types ideal for making frames and doors
An essential requirement of a good and liveable house is that the frames (chowkhats) of all doors, windows and ventilators must have straight members without any warping and the shutters should open or close without any effort or sound. If proper seasoning of wood has been done, no unit shall twist and operation of shutters shall be smooth. For twisted frames, replacement is the ultimate remedy. To avoid such an eventuality, be careful about the wood you choose. Here are a few guidelines:

TAX tips
 by S.C. Vasudeva
Unutilised sale proceeds not taxable in hands of heirs if seller dies
Q. My father had sold a plot of land in December 2006 as he was interested in constructing/buying a residential house. He had deposited the sale proceeds of the plot which was a long-term capital asset in a bank under the capital gains scheme. Unfortunately, he could not construct or buy a residential house within the prescribed period because of his unfortunate demise. What would be the position with regard to the amount deposited in the bank under the above scheme?

Forfeited amount

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