Tata Steel launches environment friendly material for construction industry

JAMSHEDPUR: Tata Steel has planned to introduce a new value added product "Ground Granulated BF Slag (GGBS)" for the construction industry, which according to the company, a sustainable and cost-effective material.

GGBS has been widely used in developed economies for years and of late was also getting used in major construction projects in India, a company release said.

The product will not only increase compressive strength and durability of the concrete, but also significantly reduce the carbon footprint.

GGBS is blended with ordinary Portland cement (OPC) in ratio ranging from 30:70 to 70:30 to make Ready-Mix Concrete (RMC). The Mixing ratio depend on the required strength and nature of the concrete, the release said, adding this will cut down the cement cost in concrete by around 30-40 per cent.

Sandeep Kumar, EIC (Secondary Products), Tata Steel, assured that the company, as always would come up with better products at competitive prices.
Trial supplies of GGBS have been planned in a month's time and based on the market response, full scale commercial launch can be expected in next three months, an ET report quoting the release said, adding the product will be introduced in other major cities of eastern India like Kolkata, Ranchi and Bhubaneswar.

Realty investors pick Chennai over Mumbai, Delhi: PwC survey

According to a PwC survey, international as well as domestic investors are looking at newer cities in India with stable assets for investments, a trend that will be prominent in 2014, and accordingly Chennai jumps to the hot-list for the first time surpassing Mumbai and Delhi.  

 

According to the survey, titled ‘Emerging trends in real estate in Asia Pacific 2014’, Chennai has for the first time emerged in the top 25 real estate destinations list in the Asia Pacific region. 

“Cities like Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai have been in the top 25 list as preferred destinations. This indicates that there has been a slight shift in investor interest from conventional assets in prime markets to newer and stable assets in niche markets,” PwC India executive director Gautam Mehra said on Tuesday.

While Bangalore ranked 20th in the list, Delhi stood at 21st, Chennai 22nd and Mumbai 23rd. Bangalore and Mumbai slipped from their positions compared to 2013 rankings where they stood at 19th and 20th, while Delhi maintained its ranking at 21st position.

Coffee table book on Indian luxury real estate launched

Chennai: Indian Realty Yearbook (IRY), a coffee table book on luxury real estate, has been launched recently.

Presenting a snapshot of the Indian luxury market, the book, published by Hundred Communications, gives a guided tour of key projects in the luxury and branded home segment, providing an insight into the latest trends and introducing the-best-in-class luxury accessories, gadgets and gizmos.

According to a release, IRY has everything to aid and abet investors, in their business of cherry picking a home.

Delving into insights that go beyond just ‘facts’, the book, edited by Namrata Kohli, captures the ‘facets’ and the essence of luxury. It tries to define luxury in the Indian context, where the luxury residential market in India is headed and the distinguishing characteristics of the Indian luxury homebuyer.

Commenting on the new book, Namrata Kohli says that it was ‘just the time’, to capture the luxury end of Indian real estate industry. “Luxury may be just five per cent of the total residential real estate market but growing number of High Net Worth Individuals (HNIs), makes this space the one to watch out for. In year 2012, India clocked the second highest growth rate of HNI population in the world, next only to Hong Kong. The country has been adding millionaires at one of the fastest rates in the world. At the heart of this demand for luxury homes, is the fact, that Indians are becoming affluent, ambitious and aspirational.”

Informative, insightful and perceptive, this coffee table book is supplemented by images that make it a visual treat. But the highlight of the book are perspectives shared from globally acclaimed names on several aspects of Indian luxury real estate the world’s best, have converged onto one exclusive space ‘By Invitation Only’. Their views ‘quote unquote’ on design, architecture, construction, engineering aspects add value and appeal to the book.

Today, global leaders are betting big on India’s luxury real estate market- Swarovski is seen lending its shine to Indian real estate, Trump giving its trademark to Indian projects, Armani and Versace interior designing of Indian homes, Greg Norman creating premier signature golf courses, Philippe Starck making its foray- we can confidently say that India is where the best minds in luxury space are converging today. Nobody wants to miss a chance of being in India after China, which went from Mao suits to Armani and a ‘luxeplosion’ of sorts in the last decade.

Atul Pandey, Publisher of Indian Realty Yearbook, says that, ‘With IRY, we have captured yet another important aspect of the universe of luxury. As a boutique publishing house, we have so far mapped the segments of beauty, wedding, fashion and lifestyle, in the world of luxury. So far, the luxury residential home space was an unchartered terrain, but we saw potential in this segment. No wonder, there are so many such projects in various stages of construction throughout the country.”

IRY was launched by actor Chitrangada Singh, Soha Ali Khan and boxer Vijender Singh at an event of Indian Realty Awards 2013 held at Hotel Lalit, New Delhi recently.

Three Pune housing societies bag top honours in 'Switch to Green' contest

Mumbai: 'Switch 2 Green' - the first ever energy efficient housing society contest announced the winners of the campaign in an event attended by Chanchala Kodre, Mayor of Pune.

The grand prize was won by Indradhanu Cooperative housing society, while the first runner up and second runner up went to Nyati Environ Cooperative housing society and Sunshine Park Cooperative Housing Society Limited, respectively. 'Switch 2 Green' is an initiative by Racold Thermo Ltd and Green Energy Foundation.

The contest that kick-started in April 2013 had witnessed active participation from 8187 households across 50 housing societies in Pune. The idea here was to identify the most energy efficient housing society. The initiatives included training and educating societies on effective energy management. The training procedures included educating societies in steps to conserve energy, conducting energy audits, forming monitoring teams and conducting awareness programmes for the societies. It also highlighted the benefits of harnessing solar energy for water heating and lighting purposes.

Speaking on the occasion, chief guest, Chanchala Kodre, said, "As citizens we should be aware of the way of conserving energy. It is important to also create this awareness amongst our future generation. All this is possible only if every individual takes responsibility and contributes towards making Pune a better city. I wish and hope that initiatives undertaken by Racold Thermo Ltd and Green Energy Foundation remain evergreen."

Mathew Job, MD of Racold Thermo said, "We congratulate all the winning societies and appreciate the contribution made by every participating society. It is overwhelming to receive such a tremendous response to our 'Switch 2 Green' initiative, which is a first of its kind. The housing societies are getting increasingly aware of electricity consumption and energy conservation. Through our contest, we hope that we have encouraged participation from more societies in future and raised awareness at all levels."

Sharmila Oswal, Chairman of Green Energy Foundation, added, "We are extremely delighted to receive the response from all the housing societies for an initiative which is so unique, especially for a city like Pune. With such initiatives we aim to position 'Pune' as the most energy efficient city not just in India but globally as well."
The winners of the contest were awarded Rs 2 lakhs and the first runner up and the second runner up was given Rs 1 lakh and Rs 50,000 respectively.

About Racold Thermo Limited

Racold Thermo Limited, the market leader in electrical heaters, has the country's largest and fully integrated equipment manufacturing unit at Chakan near Pune. Racold Thermo offers the latest in technology and international standards specially adapted to suit Indian conditions. Racold is a key player in solar water installation. Racold has received recognition from the MNRE, the National Energy Conservation award in 2012.Moreover it has also received the BEE (Bureau of Energy Efficiency) award 3 times in a row for 2010, 2011 & 2012.

About Green Energy Foundation

Green Energy Foundation is a non-governmental organization, which is set to achieve global sustainable prosperity through energy, environment, and people. In order to enable a green and clean environment, GEF provides advisory services, green CSR efforts and assist governments in conceptualizing and building appropriate infrastructure for energy conservation.

Housing.com voted 'website of the year'

MUMBAI: Housing.com, India's online house hunting portal, has won accolades as the 'Website of the Year' in the housing and interiors category by online research agency, MetrixLab. The company, which has changed the way Indians hunt for homes, was among 12 more websites contesting for the coveted title via a public voting poll.

Users were asked to select the website of their choice on the basis of the parameters such as design, navigation, content and how likely they are to recommend the website to people.

Another feather in the cap of the online house hunting based company was being allotted slots on day one of recruitment at three IITs: Delhi, Kharagpur and Guwahati. This was a moment of great joy and pride for the founding members of Housing.com who are alumni of the IITs themselves.

Usually, the first day of recruitments at the prestigious institutions is reserved for top MNCs and big Indian corporations. But Housing.com created history by being the first start-up to find a spot in the recruitment, given its phenomenal success in such a short span of time.

Speaking on their achievements, Housing.com spokesperson and co-founder Advitiya Sharma commented: "We are humbled by the recognition given to us by our Alma Mater and by MetrixLab. These achievements make us feel that our continued focus towards doing great work for our users has paid off. Their vote in our favour helps us realise that we are moving in the right direction as far as providing a great user experience goes."

Ozonegroup to open office in Dubai

Ozonegroup, a Bangalore-based real estate developer, will soon open its office in Dubai to cater to the needs of the growing non-resident Indians (NRIs)'s aspirations to own a home in their mother land.

Ozonegroup, which focuses on building up market properties in Bangalore and Chennai, said it has generated Rs 500 million (Dh30 million) in sales last year from Indian expatriates based in the UAE, reports emirates247.com.

The company is also looking at setting up offices in other GCC countries to cater to NRIs, the report said.

 
“NRIs make up 25 to 30 per cent of our overall business. Gulf NRIs specifically have always been more inclined towards investing in the realty market back home,” said Ozonegroup Vice-President, Sales and Marketing, Raghavan K R.

“With an approximate 45 per cent of the UAE’s population being Indians, the need to have a local office catering to this segment was vital,” he said.

Indiabulls, one of India’s largest listed property developers, had opened a sales office in Dubai last year.

The value of the rupee has been falling steadily since August 2011, prompting developers from the subcontinent to increase their marketing push overseas with NRIs more inclined to invest in properties than park funds in bank deposits.

According to Raghavan, villaments and retirement homes are new emerging trends in the Garden City, and are becoming quite popular within the NRI as well as domestic market.

A villament is a concept where an apartment ends and a villa begins. It's a very apt option for those who want the luxury of a villa and prefer the comfort and convenience of an apartment.

India's online realty space grows at rapid pace

The real estate portals in India have been able to secure around three per cent of the total industry transactions and eastern region was fast catching the trend.

"The market share for on-line real estate market was 0.5 per cent 2-3 years back and now it has grown to 3 per cent," India Property Online Regional Manager (East) Srinivas Verma said told Indian Express.

The share of eastern India on the online medium for property transactions was low compared to west, north and south.

"It is low compared to other regions, but the same is growing at a healthy pace," Verma said.

He said though the share of online in the total real estate market was small, "but we are hopeful that it will grow sharply with the awareness we are aiming at."

The company, which managed the online property portal indiaproperty.com was running its first property show -- Grihapravesh here.

"We expect booking from this fair to be around Rs 20 crore," Verma said.

He said at the time when the sector was under stress such events bringing both buyers and developers helped in decision making by potential buyers.

There are quite a few online property websites offering services such as buy and sell, rental etc.Some of the leading property portals are India property, Makaan, Common Floor, Magic Brick, 99 acres etc.