Projects Today reported that the Haryana government has proposed to spend INR 1,500 crore during the next 2 years in various infrastructure schemes across the state.

However, the state will upgrade six district hospitals at Gurgaon, Hissar, Bhiwani, Faridabad, Sonipat and Rohtak as Multi Speciality State of Art Hospitals during the next fiscal with an expected expenditure of INR 100 crore. A Women Medical College with a 500 bedded hospital will be set up at Khanpur Kalan in Sonipat District with an estimated cost of INR 300 crore.

As per report, the state will spend INR 500 crore in improving water supply and sewerage facilities in towns by 2011. In Phase I, up gradations will be taken up in 16 towns namely Bhiwani, Hansi, Jind, Mahendergarh, Narnaul, Narwana, Sirsa, Thaneshar, Tohana, Uchana, Ambala City, Charkhi Dadri, Pataudi, Samalkha, Gohana and Sonipat.

The India government intends to upgrade and modernize the major Bus Sands across the State in the Public Private Partnership mode on BOT basis. Further, an intra city bus service is proposed to be provided in Faridabad at a cost of INR 200 crore under the JNNURM scheme. It is also proposed to set up intra city bus service in Gurgaon on PPP basis.

(Sourced from Projects Today)

Toyota Kirloskar to open Pune warehouse

With Pune supplying a major chunk of automotive components for Toyota Kirloskar Motors (TKM), the company has decided to establish a warehouse in the city to cater to the needs of its suppliers. A team is currently in Pune scouting for possible locations. The warehouse is likely to come up at Chakan which is also home to factories of Volkswagen and General Motors.

A memorandum of understanding or MoU is likely to be signed with the state government sometime next week. We are looking at 15 acres to 20 acres in Pune and have approached the industries department for this purpose, the spokesperson said. The company has similar warehouses in Manesar and Bangalore and the Pune warehouse would cater to the needs of the western region. Toyota Kirloskar Motors has around 70 suppliers across India.

More : financialexpress.com

Days after a motorist in south Delhi was bludgeoned to death by young men on motorcycles, a group of Gurgaon call centre cab drivers brutally assaulted a 58-year-old property dealer with hammers and screwdrivers in Karol Bagh on Wednesday evening.

The victim of this latest instance of road rage, Rajender Dhawan, is in hospital with multiple skull fractures and temporary loss of memory. The attack followed an altercation in the morning between Dhawan and one of the drivers after he had parked in front of the property dealers shop. The police have lodged a case of attempt to murder against the five drivers, who are absconding.

The main accused, who was involved in the spat in the morning, has been identified as Rohit, alias Rishikesh. The attack comes amid reports that the BPO industry is putting pressure on transporters to sensitise cab drivers and avoid bad publicity.

More : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

THE National Consumer Commission has directed Ansal Properties and Ansal Buildwell to pay nearly Rs 40 lakh as compensation to a buyer who did not get her apartment despite paying for it 11 years ago.

In a recent judgment, the Commission directed the builders to pay Rs 7.5 lakh as compensation for the delay in handing over possession, and Rs 30 lakh as refund, including simple interest. This makes it one of the countrys single biggest private property compensation cases.

The buyers, however, now plan to file a criminal case against the real estate giants for planning to sell off the property.

More : cities.expressindia.com

Six months ago, Rahul Soods three-bedroom apartment in south Delhi went on the market for Rs 95 lakh. But the market was booming and Rs 1 crore looked easily gettable. He decided to wait, and that turned out be a wrong call.

The market began slipping and he managed to get Rs 85 lakh for the flat, Rs 10 lakh less than the peak-time price tag. The same apartment is now valued at Rs 65 lakh.

Sood is not feeling so bad now. Realty rates are slipping across the country. They are down by 15 per cent in Chennai, for instance. In Mumbai, the market is sluggish — sales have slowed down — but it is holding out bravely.

More : hindustantimes.com

Hot on the heels of protests by residents of South Delhi and East Delhi against the upcoming new elevated Metro railway tracks, residents of Vasant Kunj have also started clamouring for an underground Metro in their neighbourhood.

Fearing traffic chaos and environmental degradation in the expansive Lal Dora areas bordering Vasant Kunj, the All-Residents Welfare Society of Vasant Kunj Sector A, Pocket B and C on Monday wrote to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation seeking details of the route from Andheria Mor to Gurgaon along M.G. Road.

Our information is that the Metro will go above ground from Kisan Haat just before Andheria Mor. While we have sought a meeting with DMRC to gather more details, we have also told its Managing Director E. Sreedharan that any attempt to take it over ground from here onward would lead to chaotic traffic snarls at Andheria Mor and the Chattarpur crossing, said Amit Aggarwal, general secretary of the Sector A, Pocket B and C RWA.

More : hindu.com

Close on the heels of Wakf controversies in Mumbai and Punjab, a major scam involving leasing out of Wakf properties in Haryanas prime town of Gurgaon, in connivance with private parties, has come to light. Mohammad Shayin, a state IAS officer and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Board, who blew the whistle, has been transferred since. However, he has sent a detailed report to the state Home Department, exposing the scam threadbare.

Shayin, while putting the record straight by submitting a detailed report to the state government, has asked for stern action against those who had been treating Wakf properties as their personal property to mint huge sums of money in the form of illegal gratification. The report has leveled serious allegations on the conduct of its chairman, Hamid Hussain, a former MLA from the state. Hamid Hussain, when contacted by The Indian Express, denied the charges.

The Board had leased out prime land measuring 900 square yards at Garhi Harsru in Gurgaon at throwaway prices, where land prices have sky-rocketed, especially after the Haryana Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation allotted 1,400 acres to the Mukesh Ambani Reliance Industries Limited for its Rs 40,000-crore Special Economic Zone (SEZ). The plot had been leased out to M/s Gateway Distri Parks Ltd. in lieu of lease money of Rs 5,000 per month from January 1, 2005. Ironically, the leasing of this property led to demolition of a mosque on this land and against a grant of Rs 1,000 to its Imam. The Board, even after receiving a complaint in this regard, could not act because the chairman of the board, at his own level, had issued an NOC for commercial exploitation of the land. Shayin, in his report, had apprehended that money had exchanged hands.

More : cities.expressindia.com

Hospitality industry major Leela Group is going to make its foray into Delhi by building a five star deluxe hotel on Africa Avenue near Chanakyapuri. The group has acquired three-acre plot for Rs 611 crore and the total investment for 250-room hotel, it plans to complete by 2010 Commonwealth Games, is estimated to be about Rs 1,100 crore. The group promises to provide the same high-end luxury in this hotel that are its hallmark at the four functional hotels in Mumbai, Goa, Bangalore and Kovalam.

But the first Leela property in the NCR will be ready in Gurgaon where the group has entered into a management partnership with an upcoming hotel on NH-8 in Gurgaon, barely a kilometre from Delhi. A new building - Ambience - is going to be ready next year and the hotel in it will be called The Leela, said industry sources.

The group is going to take possession of the Africa Avenue plot by this month-end. Falling in Netaji Nagar, the location - thats just off the prestigious Chanakyapuri - boasts of other leading hotels like Taj Mahal and Maurya. This was one of the best sites available for building a five star hotel and the group opted for it - despite a hefty tag - to make a grand entry into Delhi. The hotel is going to be ready in time for the 2010 games here, said hospitality industry sources.

More : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Taking realty major DLF head-on, Emaar MGF is planning to build Indias largest mall, the announcement for which will be made in the next six months. Currently on the drawing boards, the mall will ape the worlds largest mall (spread over 5.8 million sq. ft.) being built by the compans partner (Emaar) in Dubai. Till date, the largest mall to be announced in India is DLFs Mall of India along NH-8 in Gurgaon that will be spread over 3.6 million sq. ft.

The mall will have the same flavour as the Dubai Mall that has 3.77 million sq. ft. of retail space as well as the largest walk through aquarium in the world. The mall in India is in the planning stages and we will be making it public in the next couple of months, says Shravan Gupta, executive vice-chairman and managing director, Emaar MGF. With 65-70% of Emaar MGFs land bank in the north, the upcoming mall is likely to be built in the Delhi NCR.

Inspired by the scale of projects that its UAE-based partner Emaar is engaged in executing (like the Dubai Mall and the tallest tower in the world, called the Burj Dubai), Emaar MGF is also planning to come up with similar such real estate projects in India in the coming years. The first such project is Boulder Hills, a residential-cum-leisure complex at Hyderabad, which will have the largest golf course in India.

More : financialexpress.com

Gillette India has sold off its entire commercial property in Gurgaons Global Business Park for Rs 72.75 crore. The property has been acquired by Evershine Merchants, an industrial group with multiple business interests including real estate development and construction.

A P&G-spokesperson confirmed to ET, The company has sold its immovable property, namely its general offices at Global Business Park, Gurgaon, for Rs 72.75 crore. Sources say Gillette had released an advertisement seeking sale of its commercial property around November last year.

Post its global acquisition by P&G in January 2005, most Gillette employees were relocated to P&Gs Mumbai-based headquarters P&G Plaza, while some employees were relocated to Singapore. Gillette had also managed to end its relationships with its 700-plus distributors (most of who were multi-brand distributors), by offering them exit options.

More : economictimes.indiatimes.com