http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/10/03/stories/2007100350650300.htm

As there is dearth of skilled labour for the industry, the IIF is also planning a foundry college and research college. As Tamil Nadu is one of the major contributor to the industry and accounts for 30 per cent of the country’s castings export (in value terms), the college is proposed to be located in the State.

Mainetti India, a wholly owned subsidiary of global player in garment hanger designing and manufacturing Mainetti Group, has set up a manufacturing facility at Sriperumbudur. The Rs 35-crore, 29,000-sq. ft facility set up in nine acres is the largest facility the company has in India. According to Mr Sanjeev Kumar, Regional Managing Director, Mainetti, the new production facility will support the company’s market expansion for India. It houses a distribution centre f or its products and stocked hanger library displaying the product ranges Mainetti Group manufactures worldwide.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/10/03/stories/2007100351341500.htm

http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/03/stories/2007100359340100.htm

CHENNAI: Work on the delayed Perambur flyover project is likely to begin in two weeks on the basis of the new design submitted by Anna University.

The new proposal proposes an “open foundation” design against the deep pile foundation planned earlier. Open foundation means constructing a broad and concrete base for pillars for the flyover to rest on. This would distribute the load more evenly. The Kathipara flyover, under construction, is also supported by an open foundation.
Notification issued

The State Government on Monday issued a notification stating that it had entrusted the design for the flyover to Anna University. Chennai Corporation Commissioner Rajesh Lakhoni said Anna University is now working on a design for the superstructure.

The National Buildings Construction Corporation Limited (NBCC), which bagged the tender in 1999, will execute the project.

The bridge construction was first delayed when its design had to be changed and, later, when the AIADMK alleged irregularities in the contract.

The project was revived in November 2006 by Local Administration Minister M.K. Stalin. However, engineers could not find hard rock even at a depth of 100 feet to support the pillars of the flyover. Anna University submitted a new blueprint. In July this year, the NBCC invited sub-contract bids and finalised the bid recently. The cost estimate of Rs. 45.67 crore remains unchanged with the new design.

The NBCC has set a target of five months from the date of commencement to complete the substructure and the foundation of the flyover. Work on the superstructure would be taken up in the next phase.

http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Oct22007/scroll2007100228333.asp?section=frontpagenews

....

This article presents things from the Bangalore PoV. I looked around online to see if there was anything written from Chennai's standpoint, but couldn't find anything. Did anyone else find anything?

"DMRC to submit the chennai metro DPR by the month-end"

"Work on Perambur flyover to begin soon, soil testing being carried out"

I see these two news in the hindu every month..I think they reproduce the same article each month.

Hi guys,

Help to improve this wikipedia page.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Tech_Parks_in_Chennai

Those,who have the images of the tech parks,Please update.

sorry,double post..

http://www.moneycontrol.com/india/news/business/seven-5-star-hotels-to-openchennaifive-years/21/13/306064

Seven five-star hotels will be opening in Chennai in 5 years. That is because the IT and manufacturing industries have driven demand for hotel rooms, reports CNBC-TV18.

Chennai is hot for the hospitality industry, even as hotels struggle to grow in other metros. Some of the biggest names in hospitality will be in Chennai by 2011.

“Chennai has been a sleeping giant. We have very good infrastructure and the investment climate is very good and because of this, Chennai is expanding very fast,” said Nisha Purushotaman, MD, Empee Hotels Ltd.

The Leela will put up a 380-room hotel, investing about USD 90 million, by early next year. The Empee Group, Hilton International, the Welcome Group's Grand Chola, J W Marriott and Taj GVK will also open in Chennai.

But is there room for all these hotels?

“Chennai has always been way behind the competition. It is only now, that it has woken up to the reality, that we do need all of them. That is why you see a surge of hoteliers coming here,” said Sanjay Chugh, VP-Transaction Management Service.

Chennai's occupancy rate is about 80% and compared to the other metros, the average room rates are lower, with a room costing about Rs 8,000-10,000 a night. Analysts say this is contributing to the hospitality blitz in Chennai

^^
I wonder if the Oberoi on Anna Salai will ever open :(

Mantri Developers announced the launch of the Mantri pre-EMI offer which relieves the buyer from paying monthly instalments till the time of possession of the flat. Under the offer buyers of Mantri Synergy will have the benefit of paying just 10 p.c of the cost of the flat at the time of booking and the balance funded by the bank as per eligibility.

The offer is available on a first-come, first-served basis and is valid for the first 50 bookings only. Apartments at Mantri Synergy are of 2 & 3 BHK formats, located on Old Mahabalipuram Road, next to Hindustan College of Engineering, Padur. For details, contact 099009 37475

^^
I wonder if the Oberoi on Anna Salai will ever open :(

Isn't that the one that is bought by Hilton ?

- KC

^^

I don't think so. AFAIK, The Hilton is to be located on Jawaharlal Nehru Salai (Inner Ring Road).

^^ yup - hilton's coming up on IRR..

i thought the oberoi was bought by Intercontinental some time ago? correct me if i'm wrong - so many different rumours floating around from time to time about that poor hotel..

http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage_c_online.php?leftnm=11&bKeyFlag=IN&autono=28251

NPIL Pharma, the custom manufacturing business of Nicholas Piramal India, is planning an additional investment of $4 million to upgrade its early phase drug development plant at its Ennore plant in Tamil Nadu to meet the existing demand.

The company has lined up a package of four projects which includes commissioning of a new process safety lab, upgradation of existing pilot plant, adding new eight reactors with 12,000 litres capacity to the pilot plant and setting up of a new analytical laboratory, said NPIL Pharma sources.

'This investment expands our early phase pilot plant and science
capabilities in India. With more potential for further development, the Chennai plant will be a key compliment to our European early phase facilities in Morepath and Huddersfield, UK and at our site in Ontario, Canada' said Veronica Scherrer-Pangka, president, NPIL Pharma's Pharma Development and Scale Up (PDS) business unit.

NPIL Pharma, one among the top ten pharmaceutical contract manufacturing firms in the world with revenues of about $250 million, has over 200 scientists employed at Chennai, Canada and at Morepath, UK, which NPIL acquired about two years ago.

NEW DELHI: Singapore has proposed to set up special economic zones in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra through property developer Ascendas, bringing FDI from the south east Asian economic powerhouse into India.

The two countries have already formed a Steering Committee to carry forward the proposals, one of which relate to setting up a 2,500-acre multi-product SEZ in the south.

"The proposals were discussed at the first meeting of the Steering Committee, which will take them further with state governments and other authorities," a senior Commerce Ministry official told PTI.

Singapore government-linked Ascendas has developed many industrial and IT parks in India, in addition to Singapore and China.

India and Singapore have operationalised a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, under which trade and investment have been significantly liberalised.

As a result of CECA, FDI inflow from Singapore has increased in the last two years. India has attracted FDIs of 578 million dollars from Singapore in 2006-07, compared to 275 million dollars in the previous year.

"Many Singapore-based MNCs are keen to come here in our SEZs. This will bring us more FDI," the official said.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Economy/Singapore_proposes_SEZs_in_India/articleshow/2428900.cms

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/10/05/stories/2007100550940200.htm

Chennai, Oct. 4 Caparo Vehicle Products, a unit of the Caparo group of Lord Swraj Paul, is planning to put up a facility “to manufacture high-end luxury buses and special vehicles” near Chennai. According to sources, this may require an investment of about Rs 80 crore. Also coming up at Chennai are an R&D centre “to design and manufacture dies/tooling fixtures and testing rigs, and offer product development and phototyping” and a consultancy services division for automotive and aerospace industry, the literature says.

At a press conference here today, Mr Angad Paul, CEO, Caparo Plc, and Chairman, Caparo India, said that the group would invest at least Rs 1,000 crore in Tamil Nadu.

But he stressed that the group would invest “whatever required to serve our customers” and the quantum of investments was not the point at all.

Other investments

It has already named two investments – Rs 400 crore at Sriperumbudur for setting up a stamping unit, the R&D centre and tool room, an aluminium foundry and a forging unit, and Rs 300 crore at Oragadam “for producing tubular parts for automotive and aerospace, automotive braking systems, fasteners, composite materials and testing.”

Mr Paul said that the two facilities looked to servicing a range of industries such as automotive, aerospace, and maritime. “We are modest people,” he said in a lighter vein, when asked if the committed and proposed investments were not modest, but said that the group would invest as much as required. “India does not grow from the amount of money that is coming in, but from who is bringing it in.”

The Sriperumbudur facility was inaugurated by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Mr M. Karunanidhi today, who said his government had so far signed 11 MoUs for industrial projects aggregating to investments worth about Rs 11,000 crore in the state. These would collectively provide employment to about 1.25 people. Seven more such MoUs are in the offing, he said.

Components unit


In addition, Caparo will invest about Rs 40 crore to set up a facility for supplying components to tractor maker TAFE. Mr Angad Paul said that the group had bought 20 acres of land at Neelakottai, near Madurai for that.

Answering a question, he said that he found no shortage of manpower in India, insisting that there were enough people to work – only the employers needed to invest in training them.

He said that the group would set up a technical college and many primary schools, (through the Ambika Paul Foundation) in Tamil Nadu.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/10/05/stories/2007100550772300.htm

Chennai, Oct. 4 Perlos Corporation, a €700-million Finnish design and manufacturing partner for the telecom and electronics industry, today inaugurated its plant at Sriperumbudur, near Chennai. This is the company’s eighth global manufacturing facility. It has four such facilities in China and one each in Mexico, Brazil and Hungary.

In the first phase, the company has invested $30 million (Rs 120 crore) in the plant located in the Nokia Telecom SEZ to manufacture around six million ‘handset mechanics’ a month.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/10/05/stories/2007100551060400.htm

Chennai, Oct 4 The Gulf-based MFar Group has agreed to buy nearly two acres land from Rane Madras, which is selling off its surplus holding at Velachery, on the outskirts to the west of Chennai, according to market sources.

According to information provided by Rane Madras to the stock exchange, it has entered into an agreement to sell 1.93 acres land in Velachery, for Rs 55.36 crore.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/10/05/stories/2007100552091000.htm

New domestic terminal construction to start in Feb-08. To be completed in 18 months. source: http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/05/stories/2007100560560800.htm

CHENNAI: The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is planning to make Chennai airport a ‘mini Heathrow’ by offering world class facilities.

Addressing a seminar, ‘Chennai unwired,’ organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Dinesh Kumar, AAI Director, said here on Friday that in the last 18 months they had taken historical decisions to expand the primitive and small Chennai airport into a world class one. Plans were on the anvil to lay a second runway to meet the traffic demands beyond 2015. At present, the Chennai airport could handle 25-30 aircraft an hour. This would go up to 45-60 flights.

“Passengers should get what they need. We have to provide all facilities so that they don’t find Chennai lagging behind other airports. The Chennai airport is now Wi-Fi enabled. Last year, AAI spent Rs.100 crore on modernisation. Without investing in infrastructure, we can’t see changes,” he said.


http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/06/stories/2007100652670400.htm

Source:http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/06/stories/2007100660190700.htm

^^ lol - December of which year i wonder.. coz it damn sure isn't gonna be 2007...

Does anyone know where is Admirality hotel? SUN TV HQ is moving there by Decemeber.

^^ must have got the boot from kalaingar arivalayam :lol:

Does anyone know where is Admirality hotel? SUN TV HQ is moving there by Decemeber.

There was an article about this in TOI today.
But what happened to their supposed to be State of art facility at MRC nagar.

three flyovers are being constructed in T.Nagr. one on G.N. Chetty Road and two on North Usman Road. It was a surprise for me as i came to know about these projects just today.

Do we have renders posted for these three flyovers already?

three flyovers are being constructed in T.Nagr. one on G.N. Chetty Road and two on North Usman Road. It was a surprise for me as i came to know about these projects just today.

Do we have renders posted for these three flyovers already?

We usually wont get any renderings for state govt projects.

Does anyone know where is Admirality hotel? SUN TV HQ is moving there by Decemeber.

Admirality Hotel/Motel is in Mandaveli in the Norton Street near IV Trust Cross Street junction. If my memory is correct, it belonged to Zamindar of Vijayanagaram family. I do not know who owns it now.

Admirality Hotel/Motel is in Mandaveli in the Norton Street near IV Trust Cross Street junction. If my memory is correct, it belonged to Zamindar of Vijayanagaram family. I do not know who owns it now.

U r absolutely rite.I used to check in to that hotel in the early 70s during my visits to the then madras.Its a small compact hotel.

But what happened to their supposed to be State of art facility at MRC nagar.

there's massive excavation on at their MRC Nagar property.. no idea when construction will be complete or what it'll look like though..

:)

ETA Star Properties will soon deliver the Block 4 of Technopark to HCL this November in Chennai.
The construction of the towers is in full swing. The project is envisages into two phases, Phase 1 and Phase 2. Phase one comprises of two building blocks – 1 & 4.Block one is handed over to HCL and block 4 is getting ready for delivery in November.

http://i20.tinypic.com/2nizhxl.jpg

Does anyone know where is Admirality hotel? SUN TV HQ is moving there by Decemeber.

Admirality hotel was in Foreshore Estate (on Santhome High Road), right next to Hotel Romus. Used to live in the housing board flats right across the street. :)

- KC

Admirality hotel was in Foreshore Estate (on Santhome High Road), right next to Hotel Romus. Used to live in the housing board flats right across the street. :)

- KC

Admiralty hotel is in Mandaveli The one in Santhome next to romus was Oceanic Hotel. Admiralty is the White Hotel building, diagonally behind St. Johns (CBSE). I lived in this area for more than a decade

Admiralty hotel is in Mandaveli The one in Santhome next to romus was Oceanic Hotel. Admiralty is the White Hotel building, diagonally behind St. Johns (CBSE). I lived in this area for more than a decade

Yes, of course !! Thanks Prakstar.. I stand corrected and sorry about the confusion. :)

Guess my memory is failing me as I have been away from Madras for way too long.

KC

^^

btw... does anybody have updates on the proposed GRT Oceanic Hotel ???

Flaying the “unlawful tactics” adopted by a builder to grab a piece of Tamil Nadu Housing Board land, the Madras High Court has said that neither him nor the over 50 persons who had purchased the flats had any right over the property.

The Bench, passing orders on a batch of petitions, also said it would be “misplaced sympathy” to permit the builder to pay Rs.3 crore to the Board, and direct it to issue titles to the “innocent purchasers.”

Such an order would send a wrong signal to land grabbers to indulge in more such activities, the Judges said, adding, “Our endeavour is to ensure that no one indulging in such a fraudulent attempt of land grabbing activity can get away with it by seeking the sympathy of the court on the ground of equitable principles.”

Restoring the land to the TNHB, the Bench said the matter should be investigated by the CB-CID if any prima facie case was made out. The apartment complex, comprising 54 flats, is on a 90-cent plot in Ashok Nagar.

The Bench, comprising Justice F.M. Ibrahim Kalifulla and Justice R. Banumathi, pointed out that the land was earmarked for a peripheral hospital. The plot was part of large acquired for a TNHB project.

While some of the petitioners challenged the cancellation of patta issued in favour of an individual, public interest litigation petitions were filed to restore the patta in the name of the TNHB and construct/maintain a hospital on the site.

The Judges said the land had been “illegally occupied by certain persons with deliberate intention to grab the land knowing fully well that the property belonged to the State.” The Bench then directed the authorities to take possession of the land along with the superstructure forthwith.

The developer shall refund the money collected from the purchasers with six per cent annual interest, it said, and imposed an exemplary cost of Rs. 50,000 on the developer.

Chennai, Oct. 8 Asiana Hotels Pvt Ltd has launched its first property here.

The 114-room new property has been developed on 2.25 acres of land on Old Mahabalipuram Road at an investment of Rs 100 crore.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/10/09/stories/2007100952081200.htm

I took this info from india land website.

http://www.indialand.net/images/itsez-chennai-h.gif

SpecificationLocation:Madurantakam, Located at NH 45,
GST RoadLand Area:About 600 Acres
Project Description:IT, ITES and Electronic Industries SEZ
Constructed Area:About 25 million Sq.ft (20.9 million Sq. ft office space, 4.1 million Sq. ft parking space)
Nearest City:Chennai - 65 Kms
Nearest Railway Station :Karunguzhi - 3 Kms
Madurantakam - 8 kms
Chengalpattu - 12 kms
Project Completion:December 2013


India land is going to build 25 million sq.ft? or they will only allocate land?
Any one knows the current status of this project?

I took this info from india land website.

http://www.indialand.net/images/itsez-chennai-h.gif

SpecificationLocation:Madurantakam, Located at NH 45,
GST RoadLand Area:About 600 Acres
Project Description:IT, ITES and Electronic Industries SEZ
Constructed Area:About 25 million Sq.ft (20.9 million Sq. ft office space, 4.1 million Sq. ft parking space)
Nearest City:Chennai - 65 Kms
Nearest Railway Station :Karunguzhi - 3 Kms
Madurantakam - 8 kms
Chengalpattu - 12 kms
Project Completion:December 2013


India land is going to build 25 million sq.ft? or they will only allocate land?
Any one knows the current status of this project?

It is yet to start - But will be an excellent project for Chennai

edited

chennai has enough IT space.
It would have been better if this SEZ was located not near in chennai or coimbatore. Probably a place near Salem or Trichy would be a better choice.

Compared to Bangalore,chennai is still lagging to provide new IT space.
Developing IT in tier II cities is a long term process.So Chennai should provide Fresh IT space every year to compete with other metros.
At the same time,we try to improve the infrastructure in tier II cities,then only companies will prefer it.

^^ actually this year Chennai's supply of IT space is going to be massive..

there was an article a while ago about possible over-supply issues in the metros with new IT space supply forecasts for this year.. Chennai had a forecast of 19 million sft iirc..

:)

^^ actually this year Chennai's supply of IT space is going to be massive..

there was an article a while ago about possible over-supply issues in the metros with new IT space supply forecasts for this year.. Chennai had a forecast of 19 million sft iirc..

:)
iirc means?

Does anyone know where is Admirality hotel? SUN TV HQ is moving there by Decemeber.

I remember seeing Admirality name board in Mandavelipakkam Trust Cross Road. It is on the road perpendicular to Mandaveli - Foreshore Estate road behind St John School.

iirc means?

if i remember correctly

^^ actually this year Chennai's supply of IT space is going to be massive..

there was an article a while ago about possible over-supply issues in the metros with new IT space supply forecasts for this year.. Chennai had a forecast of 19 million sft iirc..

:)

If one goes by the applications received from developers by ELCOT, CMDA & DTCP for IT space, it looks massive. But on the ground level, Chennai IT space delivery is very poor compared to Hyderabad, Bangalore and Pune.

Govt / Dept obstacles, STPI concessions ending on 31-03-2009, pending of formal approval to SEZs, local developers fear of not getting enough tenants at affordable rates, hype by the developers (before IPO issue / getting FDI) are the main reasons.

As on date "A" quality IT spaces with Tax concessions are not available and whatever is on offer is cobbled up in no time. Actually, there is a shortage now.

TN may lose out on this account alone to other states in the future.

^^ actually this year Chennai's supply of IT space is going to be massive..

there was an article a while ago about possible over-supply issues in the metros with new IT space supply forecasts for this year.. Chennai had a forecast of 19 million sft iirc..

:)

The over supply factor would be temporary. 19 million is not going to get ready by the end of the year no way!! 19 million sq.ft would come up over a period of 3-4 years.last year we had an absorption of around 5 million sq.ft considering that this trend prevails, the entire 19 million would get absorbed at a rate of little less than 5 million per year which is so to say seems realistic.This year we had crossed 1.5 million sq.ft absorption by august. for example DLF is totally 6 million sq.ft but so far they have completed roughly aroung 1.5 million sq.ft and will complete so we cannot take the entire inventory in this year's account. So this phenomenon will not affect the industry on the whole! JMHO!!!!

If one goes by the applications received from developers by ELCOT, CMDA & DTCP for IT space, it looks massive. But on the ground level, Chennai IT space delivery is very poor compared to Hyderabad, Bangalore and Pune.

Govt / Dept obstacles, STPI concessions ending on 31-03-2009, pending of formal approval to SEZs, local developers fear of not getting enough tenants at affordable rates, hype by the developers (before IPO issue / getting FDI) are the main reasons.

As on date "A" quality IT spaces with Tax concessions are not available and whatever is on offer is cobbled up in no time. Actually, there is a shortage now.

TN may lose out on this account alone to other states in the future.

I guess the concerns of the developers are right. There are many IT parks that have not leased out the space.

We are seeing a cooling off in chennai reality markets. Hopefully that should bring down the rents and increase the amount office space leased out.

Caparo plans aerospace parts park

http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/oct/10cap.htm

Chennai, Oct. 9: The Chennai Corporation won the champion award for excellence in municipal initiatives for the year 2006-2007 at the annual national urban development meet chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Delhi on Tuesday. An official release from the Ripon Buildings said that the city corporation was rated champion in the country after analysing the functioning of seven major city corporations including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Bangalore..............

I wanted to post the tech parks image in the wikipedia page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_it_parks_in_chennai

Anniyan and ferrai_fan,you guys uploaded lot of tech parks images.Can you allow me to post those images to wikipedia?
Or Can you please upload your images to wikipedia?

Pl.

Chennai, Oct. 9: The Chennai Corporation won the champion award for excellence in municipal initiatives for the year 2006-2007 at the annual national urban development meet chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Delhi on Tuesday. An official release from the Ripon Buildings said that the city corporation was rated champion in the country after analysing the functioning of seven major city corporations including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Bangalore..............

And your source is ? I'd interested to see if they listed out the points considered for analysis and ratings. That should be insightful on the fairness/objectiveness of such polls/competitions

And your source is ? I'd interested to see if they listed out the points considered for analysis and ratings. That should be insightful on the fairness/objectiveness of such polls/competitions

http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/10/stories/2007101059660300.htm

http://epaper.dinamalar.com/Web/Article/2007/10/11/018/11_10_2007_018_001.jpg

TNPL plans IT park in Chennai (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/10/12/stories/2007101251832300.htm)


The Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Ltd (TNPL) is planning to establish an IT park in Chennai and is weighing the option of doing it on its own or adopting the BLOT route, according to Mr Shaktikanta Das, State Industries Secretary and Chairman, TNPL.

The company is also planning to set up a mini cement plant using the lime sludge and fly ash generated by the paper factory.

He said the company has taken steps to establish an IT park in the 63.5 grounds it owns at the Ambattur industrial estate. The feasibility of setting up the park on its own or through the Build, Lease, Operate and Transfer (BLOT) mode through developers/end users was being examined.

(The IT park would not be demerged or made into a separate entity and it would remain part of the company).

PGP group plans Rs 500-cr mall outside Chennai (http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/10/12/stories/2007101251902300.htm)


The Chennai-based PGP group of companies, founded by Dr Palani G Periasamy, proposes to put up a huge mall on 25 acres land outside Chennai city at an investment of Rs 500 crore.

Dr Periasamy told Business Line that the project would be executed by a separate company with overseas partners. He said that he had identified the land for the project, but did not want to disclose the location, fearing escalation in land costs.

The mall would be unique, he said, looking more like US-based retail outfits, flat rather than multi-storeyed. “It will be a western style indoor mall with enormous parking facility. It will be a spot for family outings and will be a town by itself,” he said.

The group has initiated discussion with a few potential partners. Mr Periasamy expects the project to be completed within three years.

CHENNAI: Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi on Wednesday asked officials of the Highways Department to prepare feasibility and detailed project reports for laying four lanes on East Coast Road. He also asked them to expedite work on the formation of an outer ring road from Vandalur to Ponneri-Panjetty. Chairing a meeting to review the progress of projects being implemented by the Highways Department, Mr. Karunanidhi asked the officials to expedite the widening of the Madhya Kailash-Siruseri stretch of the Rajiv Gandhi Salai (Old Mahabalipuram Road) into six lanes.

He wanted the works completed by March other than those carried out at a cost of Rs.240 crore.

Source (http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/12/stories/2007101258570600.htm)

http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/12/stories/2007101253760400.htm

The Tamil Nadu Government has decided to allot the 13.238-acre Central Prison premises near Park Railway Station for the Chennai metro rail project.

The campus has been lying vacant since December 18, 2006, when the prison was shifted to a modern complex at Puzhal.

According to a Government Order, dated October 8, the old Central Prison premises would be handed over to a Special Purpose Vehicle, which is being formed for implementing the metro rail project. The transfer would improve the financial viability of the rail project, the GO said, adding, “the Government has decided that the optimal manner of developing the land could be decided after doing a proper feasibility study, which may be carried out by the Tamil Nadu Urban Infrastructure Financial Services (TNUIFSL), using well qualified consultants having expertise in real estate development and related fields.”

Though the original extent of the old premises was 14.288 acres, 1.05 acres of land was sold to Southern Railway in 1992 for gauge conversion. The remaining portion will now be transferred to an SPV-company – Chennai Metro Rail Limited – the order read.
Early history

The old prison complex was constructed in 1837. In the early years, it was used to house condemned prisoners, mostly freedom fighters, destined to be deported to the Andamans.
http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/14/stories/2007101450300100.htm

Trisoolam station-airport subway to be opened next month

A new subway, connecting the Trisoolam railway station and the Chennai airport, will be opened next month.

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officials said a large part of the work had been completed. Once the entire work was completed, the subway would be thrown open to the public.

The subway measuring 74.5 metres in length will have a lift on the airport side.

T. R. Baalu, Union Minister of Surface Transport and Shipping, told The Hindu that the lift had been provided mainly to help the senior citizens going from the airport to the railway station and vice-versa.

At a time, 20 persons could be accommodated in it, he said.

The subway has been constructed at a cost of Rs.5 crore and the work began in 2005. The railway authorities constructed a staircase at the Trisoolam railway station side and the subway was constructed by the NHAI.

A senior NHAI officer said originally it was proposed to have lifts on both sides, on the railway station and airport.

But, as the railway authorities had already completed the construction of a staircase, it would be difficult to provide a lift now.

On the airport side a path has to be created after clearing the bushes around the subway and the place had to be illuminated for the benefit of users.

This work would be taken up soon, said an airport source. http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/14/stories/2007101451920300.htm

VIDEO--> Seven 5-star hotels to open in Chennai in five years
(http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/video/newsvideo.php?autono=306064)

Lots up update in www.palacegardens.com

CHENNAI: Nizhal, a voluntary organisation to promote tree protection in urban areas, will assist Satyam Foundation in landscaping the open area along a stretch of the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS).

Satyam Foundation has consulted Nizhal for inputs on suitable tree and shrub species for the landscaping proposal, said Nizhal trustee Shobha Menon.

The organisation has linked organic farming expert Raghavendra Rao to the project. The stretch opposite Tidel Park would be taken up first.


Source (http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/14/stories/2007101458470200.htm)

he State Government said on Sunday that the Central Prison land near Park Railway station here would be utilised for undertaking development projects that would benefit people.

An official statement issued here on Sunday said that reports appeared in a section of media that the land would be used exclusively by the Metro Rail project to put up its own facilities.

The government said that it had ordered to prepare a feasibility study for constructing a shopping complex, multi-level car parking and a park. Any decision on utilisation of the land would be taken only after the feasibility study, the statement added.
http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/15/stories/2007101573360300.htm

http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/14/stories/2007101460020600.htm

State will be responsible for acquiring land

“Industries will be eager to participate if there is a clear plan”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHENNAI: Sriperumbudur could get on the railway map if the industrial cluster in the area contributes to the project, according to Minister of State for Railways R. Velu.

“Industry partners need to participate in [meeting the] capital costs,” Mr. Velu said. He estimated the cost of the project, which would involve laying a line from Sriperumbudur to Ambattur and Avadi over 40 kilometres, at Rs. 120 crore.

The Minister said the State Government would be responsible for acquiring land and would be asked to contribute a percentage of the cost.

He was speaking on the sidelines of HR Fusion, a seminar on human resources management, organised by the Madras University’s Department of Management Studies.

Industrial corridor

Mr. Velu put the ball in the court of the industries, after fellow speaker B. Santhanam, chief executive of Saint Gobain, which has a large glass manufacturing unit in the Sriperumbudur belt, spoke to him of the need to create an industrial corridor, including a dedicated freight line, between Chennai and Bangalore.

“Let them first invest in this project,” Mr. Velu said.

Mr. Santhanam said if the State Government could develop a clear plan, industries in the area would be eager to participate.

“Industry can contribute to the extent that it would benefit,” he said, refusing to speculate on the percentage of funding from the private sector.

The four-lane road that served the industrial units in the region had already reached capacity, Mr. Santhanam said. Transporting containers by rail would prove more efficient and cost effective, and industries would value the savings and returns gained.

In fact, Saint Gobain could even double its current rate of transporting 200 containers a month to the north from its Chennai plant, if a good rail system was set up.

Siding facility

Car manufacturer Hyundai is also in the forefront of the demand for rail connectivity for the region.

It has expressed interest in putting up a siding facility at Sriperumbudur. Its cars are now transported by road and from its rail yard at Tiruvallur where it faces a shortage of rakes, according to a senior executive.

He agreed that the proposed new line would help to cut logistical costs, but felt the State Government need to come up with a concrete proposal and get it approved by the Planning Commission. “We have held talks with the State Government, but they keep changing the cost estimate,” he said.

Consortium mooted

Mr. Santhanam said industries could form a consortium to coordinate their role and could contribute equity if the State Government came up with a debt equity structure. “The State Government has to put more into it…The real issue there is that land will prove to be most expensive.”

Industries Secretary Shaktikanta Das agreed that the land cost could push the project’s cost to Rs. 250 crore. The State Government was in talks with the Railways and industrial players to go forward with the project.

He said the Government had also approached the Commerce Ministry to access funds through its ASIDE scheme that provides funds to the States to promote exports. “We are at an advanced stage of discussion at the official level. Once we reach some level of finality, it can be taken to the Chief Minister and the Union Government,” he said.

http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/14/stories/2007101460020600.htm

State will be responsible for acquiring land

“Industries will be eager to participate if there is a clear plan”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHENNAI: Sriperumbudur could get on the railway map if the industrial cluster in the area contributes to the project, according to Minister of State for Railways R. Velu.

“Industry partners need to participate in [meeting the] capital costs,” Mr. Velu said. He estimated the cost of the project, which would involve laying a line from Sriperumbudur to Ambattur and Avadi over 40 kilometres, at Rs. 120 crore.

The Minister said the State Government would be responsible for acquiring land and would be asked to contribute a percentage of the cost.

He was speaking on the sidelines of HR Fusion, a seminar on human resources management, organised by the Madras University’s Department of Management Studies.

Industrial corridor

Mr. Velu put the ball in the court of the industries, after fellow speaker B. Santhanam, chief executive of Saint Gobain, which has a large glass manufacturing unit in the Sriperumbudur belt, spoke to him of the need to create an industrial corridor, including a dedicated freight line, between Chennai and Bangalore.

“Let them first invest in this project,” Mr. Velu said.

Mr. Santhanam said if the State Government could develop a clear plan, industries in the area would be eager to participate.

“Industry can contribute to the extent that it would benefit,” he said, refusing to speculate on the percentage of funding from the private sector.

The four-lane road that served the industrial units in the region had already reached capacity, Mr. Santhanam said. Transporting containers by rail would prove more efficient and cost effective, and industries would value the savings and returns gained.

In fact, Saint Gobain could even double its current rate of transporting 200 containers a month to the north from its Chennai plant, if a good rail system was set up.

Siding facility

Car manufacturer Hyundai is also in the forefront of the demand for rail connectivity for the region.

It has expressed interest in putting up a siding facility at Sriperumbudur. Its cars are now transported by road and from its rail yard at Tiruvallur where it faces a shortage of rakes, according to a senior executive.

He agreed that the proposed new line would help to cut logistical costs, but felt the State Government need to come up with a concrete proposal and get it approved by the Planning Commission. “We have held talks with the State Government, but they keep changing the cost estimate,” he said.

Consortium mooted

Mr. Santhanam said industries could form a consortium to coordinate their role and could contribute equity if the State Government came up with a debt equity structure. “The State Government has to put more into it…The real issue there is that land will prove to be most expensive.”

Industries Secretary Shaktikanta Das agreed that the land cost could push the project’s cost to Rs. 250 crore. The State Government was in talks with the Railways and industrial players to go forward with the project.

He said the Government had also approached the Commerce Ministry to access funds through its ASIDE scheme that provides funds to the States to promote exports. “We are at an advanced stage of discussion at the official level. Once we reach some level of finality, it can be taken to the Chief Minister and the Union Government,” he said.

Yes, Railway line to Sriperumbudur is very much required considering its growth potentials

http://www.sln.in/Photos.php

Above link provides very good photos of Chennai city buildings

An online business-to-business auction service provider, MatexNet Pvt Ltd, will provide an e-auction platform for Tamil Nadu Road Development Co Ltd's (TNRDC) build operate transfer (BOT) project.

It is the first time that a BOT project is being auctioned online in India, the company claimed.

The project will be to build a world-class amenity centre within the SIPCOT Information Technology Park at Siruseri on the southern outskirts of Chennai.

The auction will witness bids from reputed developers and consortiums. The amenity centre, with a lease for 30 years, will contain a starred hotel along with facilities such as service apartments, multiplex, food courts, malls and hyper marts.

'We are looking for bidders who are well-versed in development, operation and maintenance of three-star hotels and can provide a capital investment of at least Rs.1 billion. MatexNet's expertise is in conducting such huge transactions online and their ability to identify the right buyers,' said K.R. Viswanathan, director, TNRDC.

'They have also undertaken the responsibility of preparing the groundwork such as inspection of property and verification of proposals from bidders. This is an added advantage for us,' he added.

'We are glad that more and more companies are accepting the fact that online auctioning space can help them in better value realisation, reach more buyers and get maximum transparency in deals,' said Jaganni Vasan, managing director, MatexNet.

The initial process of auction will commence this week with online bidding scheduled for Dec 7, 2007, the company said.

TNRDC is a 50:50 joint venture of Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corp (TIDCO), the investment arm of the Tamil Nadu government and Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (ILFS).

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/124470.html

Chennai, Aug. 21 The rest of this year will see a major growth in the supply of high quality office space in the secondary business districts and the suburbs of Chennai. There is a healthy demand that would match the supply in the medium term, according to a report by the international property consultants, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj.

According to Mr Ramesh Nair, Local Director – Corporate Solutions, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, this would mean that the monthly rental values in the city’s periphery would be stagnant at about Rs 50-55 a sq ft while there would be an upward pressure in the central areas where quality space is relatively restricted.

Availability of retail space is taking a little longer but is expected to grow over the next two years. This will keep the rental values buoyant for now.

After a lull in the availability of Grade A office space in Chennai, the city is witnessing a growth in availability of high quality office space and the demand is expected to match the supply, according to a study by Jones Lang LaSalle’s Asia Pacific Property Digest for the second quarter of 2007.

The trend is expected to continue for the next one year.

However, with the increased availability concentrated in the secondary business districts, rentals are expected to be buoyant in the Central Business Districts.

During the second quarter of 2007 over 380,000 sq ft of space was added with another 3.4 million sq ft expected to be ready in the second half of the year. More than 90 per cent of the addition is going to be in the secondary business districts such as Mount Poonamallee Road, Ambattur and Guindy.

In the suburbs, on the Old Mahabalipuram Road and the GST Road – the peripheral business districts – over 2.8 lakh sq ft of Grade A office space was absorbed. The demand in these areas is driven by IT and ITES companies.

The supply is expected to continue in the third quarter of the year with more than a million sq ft of space nearing completion. A total of about 5.5 million sq ft of office space is to be completed by the year end, according to the report.

Mr Nair said that the rental value in these areas are growing at about 6-10 per cent with Taramani, a hub of IT companies, showing a 10 per cent appreciation in rentals. However, with the large supply expected and a matching demand, rental values would continue in the range of about Rs 38-42 a sq ft per month.

Retail space is one segment where demand is outstripping supply. Over the next two years 3.2 million sq ft of mall space is expected to enter the market. There is a robust pre-leasing activity in the malls under construction and vacancies are not expected to rise. Malls would be 85-90 per cent leased by the time they become operational. The high street markets that are the preferred destinations for retailers are Besant Nagar, TTK Road and Velachery. Lease rentals in these areas are on a par with the prime city malls on Anna Salai, the report said.

http://www.blonnet.com/2007/08/22/stories/2007082251352100.htm

Nitesh estates has pipped heavyweights such as Unitech, DLF and HDFC Realty with a Rs 642-crore offer to bag a church property in the heart of Chennai city.

The deal gives the Bangalore-based real estate and construction player — managed by the 31-year-old Nitesh Shetty — access to a nine-acre plot just off the city’s high-profile Boat Club area.

At Rs 642 crore excluding registration, the transaction is the costliest land deal in south India and jostles for a place among the biggest deals nationally. The Chennai archdiocese had put the land parcel on Chamiers Road on a 66-year lease and called bid for the same, with some 30 expressions of interest coming in the initial round itself.

The just-concluded transaction could well be the fifth-largest land deal in India after Adani’s Rs 2,250-crore pact with HDIL, DLF’s Rs 1,675-crore acquisition of DCM Shriram property in Delhi, Unitech’s Rs 1,586-crore purchase in Noida and DLF’s Rs 702-crore acquisition of National Textile Mills’ land in Mumbai. Earlier this year, hospitality major Leela Group purchased a three-acre plot at Chanakyapuri in Delhi for Rs 635 crore.

The Chennai deal follows Citigroup’s $250-million investment into Nitesh Estates, as reported by ET last week. When contacted, a Chennai archdiocese representative declined to comment. Hugh Britto, senior vice-president, business development, at Nitesh Estates offered no comments. The deal size could well be in excess of Rs 700 crore, including registration value.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Markets/Real_Estate/Nitesh_Estate_wins_Chennai_realty_deal/articleshow/2461690.cms

THE HINDU

Property transactions plummet in Chennai, suburbs
A. Srivathsan
Buyers are not willing to take the plunge at current prices




CHENNAI: Data available with the Registration Department reveals that the number of property transactions in Chennai and its suburbs in Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu districts has come down substantially in the last two months.

In May 2007, the number of documents registered in the five district registrar offices was 51,583. Of these, 80 per cent was property-related. In September, the volume came down to 36,748. Property transactions in the suburbs in Chengalpattu district, including Sriperumbudur that had the highest volume of transaction in the State, dropped by 30 per cent. The market has been experiencing a lull in the last few months.

Senior Registration Department officials have been observing a slow-down in transactions, and the data compiled recently confirms this. A.V. Ramasamy, chairman, Builders’ Association of India’s southern centre, attributes the slowdown to the wait-and-watch attitude of buyers who, he reckons, are not willing to buy at the current prices.
C.H. Gopinath Rao, former national president, Institution of Valuers, says property dealers had bought land at high prices. In some cases they had paid huge sums in advance. They don’t want to sell now as the prices are falling. He says the increase in guideline values is not a reason for the slowdown. They have been raised within the city, but remain well below the market value in the suburbs. The additional rise in property cost due to guideline values is only marginal. The property values went spiralling even after the revised guideline values were put up for public opinion in 2006.
However, the revenue through stamp duty and registration charges has not dropped. The upward revision in guideline values, between 50 and 150 per cent, which have been in force since August 1, helped to stabilise the revenue collection

Hi Forum'ers,

I was wondering if Infy is going slow with their chennai plans because in a recent announcement, infy said pune will drive growth and they will grow close to 20k employees there. Nothing much was said about taking the count in chennai from present ~10k to the committed 25k. Any news on this?

Also, any insights into why infy might slow down on its chennai centre if it is a slowdown indeed?

Hi Forum'ers,

I was wondering if Infy is going slow with their chennai plans because in a recent announcement, infy said pune will drive growth and they will grow close to 20k employees there. Nothing much was said about taking the count in chennai from present ~10k to the committed 25k. Any news on this?

Also, any insights into why infy might slow down on its chennai centre if it is a slowdown indeed?

http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?autono=301048&leftnm=1&subLeft=0&chkFlg=

The Chennai development centre has 8,966 seats and another 5,000 will be added by year end.

http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?autono=301048&leftnm=1&subLeft=0&chkFlg=

The Chennai development centre has 8,966 seats and another 5,000 will be added by year end.
They had widely quoted widely in 2002-2003 that Chennai was going to be the largest dev centre at Mahindra City.

They had widely quoted widely in 2002-2003 that Chennai was going to be the largest dev centre at Mahindra City.

May be the 25k seats will be reached when their Dev centre at Mahindra city is completed.They have also been talking about the biggest dev center in Hyderabad and have bought large chunks of land from the Govt at a lower price.However I feel that INFOSYS being Bangalore based will give preference for larger development in Bangalore/Karnataka only.

Chennai, Oct. 16 Vijay Shanthi Builders Ltd, a Chennai-based builder catering to the premium segment, is looking at constructing over 1,000 apartments for the mass market segment through various projects in the Chennai suburbs.

According to Mr Suresh Jain, Managing Director, Vijay Shanthi Builders, the company, which has focussed on the premium segment with each apartment costing a few crore rupees, will expand into a new market segment. It plans to offer two- and three-bedroom apartments in the Rs 25-45 lakh range.

The company will soon launch a Rs 135-crore project. Mr Jain said that it refers to

a 6.5-acre property in Madhavaram, a suburb to the north of Chennai, where it will construct 300 apartments.

These would be 1,300-1,500 sq ft each with two- and three-bedrooms and study. There may also be some 1,000 sq ft apartments also, he said.

While the specifications of the individual apartments would be tailored to meet the cost, the quality and the overall planning, design and landscaping would match any high-end project, he said.

Untapped potential


Vijay Shanthi believes that there is an untapped market in this segment and plans to offer more such projects.

With the rising costs, apartments are going out of reach of the average wage earner, Mr Jain said.

The company has plans to announce a 400-apartment project spread over a 10 acre area, off the Old Mahabalipuram Road to the south of Chennai. This would come up on the road linking Kelambakkam-Vandalur. This would be in the Rs 35-45 lakh segment.

Through another project, Vijay Shanthi Builders would offer over 400 apartments to the west of Chennai at Pattaraivakkam, near Ambattur. This would be in the Rs 25-35 lakh segment, he said.

The company would continue to focus on the premium segment also, Mr Jain said.

These projects would mean that the company’s offering in the residential segment would span the price range from Rs 25 lakh to Rs 8 crore an apartment. The company has plans for constructing apartments in the premium segment for about Rs 8 crore an apartment at Nungambakkam, a residential area in the heart of Chennai.

It has plans for more premium projects in Egmore, where an apartment would set the buyer back by about Rs 3 crore, a multi-storeyed project in Kellys, and a row houses project at Paiyur a suburb to the south of Chennai, where each unit would cost about Rs 1.5 crore.

http://www.blonnet.com/2007/10/17/stories/2007101750302300.htm

Hi Forum'ers,

I was wondering if Infy is going slow with their chennai plans because in a recent announcement, infy said pune will drive growth and they will grow close to 20k employees there. Nothing much was said about taking the count in chennai from present ~10k to the committed 25k. Any news on this?

Also, any insights into why infy might slow down on its chennai centre if it is a slowdown indeed?

As we stand today, Chennai comes third after Bangalore and Pune in terms of employee strength, closely followed by Hyderabad. Chennai alongwith Pune and Hyd will be driving the growth. Chennai has been facing some problems because the Shols DC is saturated and it can't take further growth, and the only way out is Mcity. Given that it is an SEZ, it can only grow by taking 80% laterals, which is a tall call. But, there is lot of construction going on in Mcity, including a 1000 seater training hall. I do not think Bangalore will grow in the near future. They are waiting for some time for some piece of land near the Sharjapur road/Devanahalli. i dont see that comign for the next 1 year given the political situation prevailing there. Hyd is the one to watch out. it is growing at a break neck speed.

As we stand today, Chennai comes third after Bangalore and Pune in terms of employee strength, closely followed by Hyderabad. Chennai alongwith Pune and Hyd will be driving the growth. Chennai has been facing some problems because the Shols DC is saturated and it can't take further growth, and the only way out is Mcity. Given that it is an SEZ, it can only grow by taking 80% laterals, which is a tall call. But, there is lot of construction going on in Mcity, including a 1000 seater training hall. I do not think Bangalore will grow in the near future. They are waiting for some time for some piece of land near the Sharjapur road/Devanahalli. i dont see that comign for the next 1 year given the political situation prevailing there. Hyd is the one to watch out. it is growing at a break neck speed.



Thanks for the clarification forumers..i was worried if it had something to do with chennai's image with the rest of the country that is hindering the growth, something like ppl unwilling to work at chennai. I understand TCS, HCL and Satyam are fairly successful with their chennai operations.

May be the 25k seats will be reached when their Dev centre at Mahindra city is completed.They have also been talking about the biggest dev center in Hyderabad and have bought large chunks of land from the Govt at a lower price.However I feel that INFOSYS being Bangalore based will give preference for larger development in Bangalore/Karnataka only.

They have made these 'biggest development centre' announcements in different cities at different times. I guess at some point in time Pune, Hyd and Chn will have 25K.

I also dont think Infy will give preference for large DC to Karnataka. They are not charity/NGOs. They will invest in all the places where: cost is low, skilled manpower and infrastructure is available.

I also guess that after the current rupee appreciation, they will be going slow on indian offshore activities.

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/006200710171505.htm

Chennai (PTI): Tata Consultancy Services is to double its headcount at Chennai in a couple of years, its Chief Operating Officer N Chandrasekaran has said.

He told reporters that at present,Chennai was having an employee strength of 24,000, which would go upto 50,000 in the next two years. :cheers:

The company's state-of-the-art development centre at Siruseri in the suburbs, would be opened soon, he said.

The company had acquired ten acres of land at the Tidel park at Coimbatore, where another development centre would be coming up.

The company planned to open satellite centres in tier-two cities, he said.

The company's second quarter results, which was announced in Mumbai two days ago, had only revealed its inherent strengths, he said.

nice........

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Chennai_Port_panorama.jpg/800px-Chennai_Port_panorama.jpg (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Chennai_Port_panorama.jpg)

Taken from the royapuram bridge :)

Chennai, Oct. 17 The Rs 3,500-crore commercial vehicles plant of the German auto major, DaimlerChrysler AG, could come up either at Chennai or Pune, it is learnt.

A high-level delegation led by Mr Hans-Joerg Knoll, Manager, Supply Chain Management, Trucks Group, Daimler Chrysler AG, Germany, visited the Chennai port to look at the infrastructure facilities available for import and export.

During discussions with officials of Chennai Port Trust and Chennai Container Terminal, officials of DaimlerChrysler said that the company would like to manufacture trucks and buses in India.

The German major began selling imported trucks in India in the second half of 2006. The company had always maintained that it would consider setting up a manufacturing facility in India if volumes justified the investment.

DaimlerChrysler sells about 100 trucks a year — two variants of Actros, used mainly in mining. The company has a 6.64 per cent stake in Tata Motors, India’s largest truck manufacturer, and 3.56 per cent in Eicher Motors (through Mitsubishi Fuso, in which it has a 85 per cent stake.)


http://www.blonnet.com/2007/10/18/stories/2007101852870100.htm

looks like work work is goin on at brisk pace at the kathipara flyover.:).or atleast thts wht i could gauge from the sify webcam.Ppl in chennai might be in a better position to give details.

Does any one has any update on the issues facing land ? Why is the state govt delaying this project ? :bash:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/10/18/stories/2007101850600700.htm

The engineering and construction major Larsen and Toubro has plans to invest Rs 3,000 crore on its proposed port-cum-shipbuilding project and Tamil Nadu is its preferred investment destination for the project.

“L&T has shortlisted both Tamil Nadu and Gujarat as project locations but we are very serious that South is our priority,” said Mr A.M. Naik, Chairman and Managing Director, L&T.

The L&T Chairman, present at the formal commissioning of new manufacturing facilities at its Coimbatore growth centre at Malumitchampatti near here on Wednesday, told Business Line that though the Gujarat Government was willing to give any amount of land or any location his organisation was keen to set up the project in the South due to its skilled workforce.

But in the event of any further delay in getting the project put on keel in Tamil Nadu, L&T would be left with no choice but to turn to Gujarat. “I hope by the first week of November we’ll know whether we will go forward here or not,” Mr Naik said. :bash:

L&T has set its energy on promoting the port-cum-shipyard project as a separate subsidiary that will be run outside its flagship, considering the global demand for shipbuilding capacity, especially in the sophisticated ocean going vessel manufacturing.

In the event of Tamil Nadu seizing this opportunity, the Rs 3,000-crore project will also spin off mass employment as it is expected to generate 5,000 new jobs.

Capacity expansion


L&T is set on capacity expansion-cum-business expansion plans cutting across its different business units including its flagship ECC division and L&T Infotech. Of the 35,000 employees under its fold, L&T’s largest workforce would be naturally employed in its Tamil Nadu operations spread across Chennai, Kancheepuram and Coimbatore complexes.

At present, L&T has a small shipbuilding facility at Hazira in Gurajat where it is building ships on the orders received from Dutch and Russian shipping companies.

The engineering company, which has proposed supercritical boiler project under joint venture with Mitsubishi and the turbine manufacturing facility for power utilities, has chosen Hazira for these two projects, subject to land allocation from the State Government. “We hope the Tamil Nadu and Gujarat Government’s decision on land allocation would be known in the next two weeks’ time,” L&T officials said.

4 new facilities

Mr Naik, accompanied by other top-ranking L&T officials including Mr J.N. Mukhija, President (Operations) and member of the Board, visited the four new facilities inaugurated on Wednesday at the Coimbatore growth centre.

The new facilities are the petroleum dispensing pump system, precision machining (tool room) — both manufacturing facilities — an engineering centre for electrical systems, and an administrative building.

The Coimbatore complex under its first phase of works would generate 2,000 jobs and under its second-phase growth would yield 7,000 to 8,000 jobs. The facilities would also ramp-up export business upto 30 per cent over the years.

They have made these 'biggest development centre' announcements in different cities at different times.

They will make the same announcement wherever they want to grab acres of land. And so far they have succeeded in almost every where except TN. In the future they may even make the same announcement for Covai and Madurai.

The L&T Chairman, present at the formal commissioning of new manufacturing facilities at its Coimbatore growth centre at Malumitchampatti near here on Wednesday, told Business Line that though the Gujarat Government was willing to give any amount of land or any location his organisation was keen to set up the project in the South due to its skilled workforce.

But in the event of any further delay in getting the project put on keel in Tamil Nadu, L&T would be left with no choice but to turn to Gujarat. “I hope by the first week of November we’ll know whether we will go forward here or not,” Mr Naik said. :bash:

Naik is threatening or bullying the Govt. Officials?

I wanted to take a moment and know about the people who are facilitating industrial investment into TN seamlessly. I see the following people in the news whenever there's a successful deal busy signing MOUs.
C Chandramouli of ELCOT, Industries Secretary Shaktikanta Das, L.K. Tripathy, Chief Secretary. I understand FICCI and CII also play important role.

Infact i was amazed when i got a reply from Mr. Chandramouli when i sent him an appreciation mail out of excitement commending ELCOT's work a year back..

Just wanted to learn from the forumers if there are more key people who work behind the scenes whom we dont pay their due respect.

In my opinion, it needs some real good lobbying to bring in investments of this magnitude especially when our neighbors also have favoroble investment (climate) and will.

Naik is threatening or bullying the Govt. Officials?

Where do you see him threatning? He is the man with the dough and will take it wherever he will find it more conducive for his business.

Naik is threatening or bullying the Govt. Officials?

When big industrial group prefer TN for investments owing to availability of skilled work force it is amusing to assume that Mr.Naik chief of L&T is bullying or threatening the state Govt officials.The delay is on account of the TN govt's inability to acquire land for this project.They have been attempting to acquire land at Katupalli near ennore but without success.In the meantime Gujarat govt is ready with the required land in three locations and one of the spot is Hazira where L&T is already having a small ship building facility.

I wanted to take a moment and know about the people who are facilitating industrial investment into TN seamlessly. I see the following people in the news whenever there's a successful deal busy signing MOUs.
C Chandramouli of ELCOT, Industries Secretary Shaktikanta Das, L.K. Tripathy, Chief Secretary. I understand FICCI and CII also play important role.

Infact i was amazed when i got a reply from Mr. Chandramouli when i sent him an appreciation mail out of excitement commending ELCOT's work a year back..

Just wanted to learn from the forumers if there are more key people who work behind the scenes whom we dont pay their due respect.

In my opinion, it needs some real good lobbying to bring in investments of this magnitude especially when our neighbors also have favoroble investment (climate) and will.


Primarily the foundation work done by British and earlier Cong Govts and the subsequent explosion of Engg colleges, Polytechnics, ITIs, the efforts of the Chennai beased industrialists to woo the auto majors and the culture of support services (Vendors, sub contractors etc) are the reasons.

THE HINDU

Property transactions plummet in Chennai, suburbs
A. Srivathsan
Buyers are not willing to take the plunge at current prices




CHENNAI: Data available with the Registration Department reveals that the number of property transactions in Chennai and its suburbs in Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu districts has come down substantially in the last two months.

In May 2007, the number of documents registered in the five district registrar offices was 51,583. Of these, 80 per cent was property-related. In September, the volume came down to 36,748. Property transactions in the suburbs in Chengalpattu district, including Sriperumbudur that had the highest volume of transaction in the State, dropped by 30 per cent. The market has been experiencing a lull in the last few months.

Senior Registration Department officials have been observing a slow-down in transactions, and the data compiled recently confirms this. A.V. Ramasamy, chairman, Builders’ Association of India’s southern centre, attributes the slowdown to the wait-and-watch attitude of buyers who, he reckons, are not willing to buy at the current prices.
C.H. Gopinath Rao, former national president, Institution of Valuers, says property dealers had bought land at high prices. In some cases they had paid huge sums in advance. They don’t want to sell now as the prices are falling. He says the increase in guideline values is not a reason for the slowdown. They have been raised within the city, but remain well below the market value in the suburbs. The additional rise in property cost due to guideline values is only marginal. The property values went spiralling even after the revised guideline values were put up for public opinion in 2006.
However, the revenue through stamp duty and registration charges has not dropped. The upward revision in guideline values, between 50 and 150 per cent, which have been in force since August 1, helped to stabilise the revenue collection


The real reasons (except probably OMR area where over pricing is a problem) are the delays in completing the earlier projects, not starting the announced projects, not getting the planning permission, consumers seeing through the hype created, Home loans interest rates increase.

I have been observing that people are ready to pay a premium for quality (location, facilities etc)

Hi Forum'ers,

I was wondering if Infy is going slow with their chennai plans because in a recent announcement, infy said pune will drive growth and they will grow close to 20k employees there. Nothing much was said about taking the count in chennai from present ~10k to the committed 25k. Any news on this?

Also, any insights into why infy might slow down on its chennai centre if it is a slowdown indeed?

I was told that they are having problems with planning permission from the local authorities for further development. May be a rumour.

I think the land identified by TN Govt for L&T, belong to Salt Corporation of India, under the Commerce ministry. TN Govt request to Central Govt to transfer the same is pending for more than a year.Commerce ministry may view they are sitting on 1000 acres of land in a Metro city and their expectation may be huge.

Some bridges near St Thomas mount are pending for long time because Defence Ministry is not transfering required land. All these central Govt agencies got these land from the State Govt originally free of cost.

Primarily the foundation work done by British and earlier Cong Govts and the subsequent explosion of Engg colleges, Polytechnics, ITIs, the efforts of the Chennai beased industrialists to woo the auto majors and the culture of support services (Vendors, sub contractors etc) are the reasons.

We will be highly unfair if we don't complement DMK and ADMK Govts for their commitment to lift the state to the top. Officials are only tools in the hands of a Govt.

Development in the state has happened largely in spite of the politicians - not because of them. This is irrespective of political party. Earlier Congress Government are still worth mentioning not because they were from the Congress, but because many politicians in those days (across political parties) were truly committed to development of the state and not merely filling their own pockets. If it were a Congress Govt. today, its performance would likely be similar to the recent DMK/ADMK Governments.

The Chennai based India Land has announced a project in Pune. It is hotel mall and serviced apartments. The project looks out of this world. I dont think i have seen anything like this. Looks like chennai tech park has been renamed as indialand tech park

Looks like Tamil Nadu, and Chennai's success is the cyanosure of Andhra...

Take a look at this massive SEZ coming up on TN-Andhra border, a mere 55 Km from Anna nagar :

www.Sricity.in

Over 1200 acres have been already acquired in the Satyavedu Mandal. Now how far is this place ? Satyavedu is a border town just 4 km from Tamil nadu border. As per local revenue officials the SEZ will share TN border (albeit with high fences) for over 9 kilometers.

Sricity sources say that they prefer non IT, manufacturing enterprises to come into the SEZ. With the SEZ being accessible from the Chennai-Calcutta highway and the Uthukotai Tiruvallur highway, with proximity to ports and airports, it is no wonder they are attracting the attention of British and Korean manufacturers.

Retail price of land in that area (andhra registration) used to be a mere 3 lacs per acre 2 years ago. Now prices are hovering around 8 to 9 lacs. Will the Sathyavedu Reserve Infra City (Sricity) and Tada SEZs become like Hosur is to Bangalore.

Right now real estate developers , except Alliance Developers ( http://www.alliancein.com/orchidsprings_keyplan.htm ) no one has announced any projects in North Chennai . Or should we say North of Chennai :)

There were rumours that India Bull is coming up with a large township near Gummudipoondi, but haven't seen much of a whisper.

cheers
Comet

The Board of Approval (BoA) on the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) on Friday formally cleared 10 projects, while granting in-principle approvals to three other projects. The formal clearances includes the proposed for an IT/ITES SEZ by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in West Bengal.

Prominent among the the other formally recommended SEZs include: Biotech SEZ by Saloni Business Park in Maharashtra; IT/ITES SEZ by Rakindo Kovai Township in Tamil Nadu; IT/ITES SEZ by Malwa IT Park in Madhya Pradesh and dFree Trade Warehousing Zone SEZ by Jafza Chennai Business Parks in Tamil Nau.

In-principle approvals include: a multi-product SEZ by Privilege Power and Infrastructure in Maharashtra; Electronics & Electrical products SEZ by Sriperumbudur Ventures in Tamil Nadu and a multi-product SEZ by Sengadu Projects in Tamil Nadu.

The Chairman of the BoA stated that so far formal approvals have been granted for setting up of 395 SEZs. He added that out of these, 156 SEZs have been notified and investment of Rs509.06bn has taken place in these notified SEZs providing direct employment to over 72,168 people.

http://www.indiainfoline.com/news/innernews.asp?storyId=48676&lmn=1

Sricity.in website extract says :

Located on the borders of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu , the southern States with a unique blend of modern technology and tradition, Sri City will set the pace for emerging trends in the region.The additional strengths of a strong academic and professional talent pool in the region will ensure sustained growth.

Just 55 kms drive from Chennai in South India, lies this economic hub amidst scenic environs of hills , lakes and forest reserves.With the strategic location of proximity to the commercial centre of Chennai and excellent connectivity to ports and airports, Sri City will be the preferred destination for new and expanding businesses.
Seamless connectivity from Chennai on National Highway - 5
65 kms from the major port of Chennai
40 kms from the major port of Ennore
65 kms from Krishnapattinam port
75 kms from Chennai international airport
75 kms from Tirupathi airport
In proximity to the large talent pool of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh
Easy access to ancillary suppliers in both the states

http://sricity.in/images/Mapbig.jpg

CHENNAI: In the next two years, the surrounding areas of Chennai and Sriperumbudur will attract a total investment of $3 billion in telecom and car manufacturing facilities, according to Information Technology Secretary C. Chandramouli.

Addressing a workshop on ’Offshoring and outsourcing opportunities from Australia’ organised by Indo-Australian Chamber of Commerce (IACC) here on Friday, he said by 2008, global firms would invest $1 billion in the Sriperumbudur zone either for setting up or expanding telecom manufacturing facilities. In 2009 major car manufacturers would invest $2 billion in and around Chennai.

These firms had signed memorandum of understanding with the Government.

The break-up


Committed investment by electronics hardware firms in Sriperumbudur is $520 million — Foxconn ($200 million), Flextronics ($100 million), Jabil Green Point ($80 million), Sanmina ($70 million) and Aspocomp ($70 million).

The investment by Nokia and Nokia-Siemens are $250 million. Samsung and Dell propose to invest $40 million and $60 million respectively.

Hyundai has committed to invest $800 million as part of its expansion programme of its car manufacturing facility.

Nissan would invest $450 million, while Ford, Renault, Mahindra and Mahindra are contemplating investments of $400 million each. The total installed capacity of these players would go up to 1.45 million cars a year.

”There is tremendous opportunity for Australian production firms to invest in India infrastructure projects, IT, ITES and engineering services,” he said.

Panel sought


In his welcome address, IACC Chennai director C Sarat Chandran called for setting up of Indo-Australian committee to attract investment in software and business process outsourcing sector.

“This committee should have representations from Australian firms in India and Indian firms in Australia, members from IACC and Government officials.”

Around 4,000 firms are waiting in the wings to invest in India. To lure at least 1 per cent of them to invest in India by 2008, we are leading a delegation to Perth, Sydney and Melbourne from November 10 to 17. We think it is an achievable target,” he said.

http://www.indiainfoline.com/news/innernews.asp?storyId=48676&lmn=1

The Electronics and Multi-produc SEZ's (total two) approved are the ones promoted by Ascendas, Singapore.

The Electronics and Multi-produc SEZ's (total two) approved are the ones promoted by Ascendas, Singapore.

earlier news reports stated that the area of this SEZ would be over 5000 acres.......

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Transportation/Shipping__Transport/Sical_Logistics_works_towards_Mumbai-Chennai_corridor/articleshow/2479610.cms

The Chennai-based Sical Logistics has set its sight on its next mega goal: connecting Mumbai and Chennai, with Nagpur central point in the logistics chain. This follows completion of most of the spade work for developing the country’s largest road and rail hubs in Mihan SEZ in the emerging logistics capital of Nagpur.

Sical Distriparks, a group company that manages three container freight station (CFS) facilities – one owned CFS in Chennai, and two CFSs belonging to Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) at Tuticorin and Vizag, plans to add more such facilities to its existing network.

According to LR Sridhar, CEO of Sical Distriparks, the company has already started preliminary work of acquiring land in Panvel, near Mumbai, and Bangalore for CFSs. In Mumbai, it is planning for CFS cum ICD facility with rail connectivity. The company’s own CFS in Tuticorin and the Mumbai CFS are expected to be operational by the first quarter of 2009 to be followed by Bangalore CFS.

“All the three CFSs would be ready by early 2009. We have envisaged an investment of Rs 130 crore toward the entire project,” said Mr Sridhar.

Connecting the two nerve centres of Indian trade and commerce, with Nagpur forming the central point of the logistics chain, offer abundant opportunities for every one, avers company officials.

“We are very bullish about the developments and the way Nagpur is shaping up,” said managing director and group CEO, Sudhir S Rangnekar. “Nagpur is coming in a big way in infrastructure development. It is the physical centre of the country and the gradual removal of taxes such as central sales tax towards a uniform levy will help Nagpur to become the multimodal hub of the country where the hub & spoke model would be put to maximum use,” he added.

The road and rail based hubs would be developed over an area of 60 hectares at a cost of Rs 120 crore for the road terminal and 28 hectares at a cost of Rs 80 crore for the rail terminal. For the mega project, Sical has joined hands with Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) and Gupta Coal as the joint venture partners. In both the special purpose vehicles (SPVs), Sical is the lead partner with 51% stake, and MADC 26% and Gupta Coal India has 23% stake.

Nagpur Sical Gupta Road Terminal, the SPV formed for development of the road terminal, is expected to achieve financial closer within the next two months. However, the company has scheduled to start construction work after boomi poojan in November.

While agreements for the rail hub are getting finailised, the management expects both the road and rail hubs to be operational almost simultaneously and well ahead of the 2008 end deadline. Once the state-of the-art road and rail hub facilities are operational, Chennai would be connected to Nagpur offering seamless movement of cargo – both domestic and exim.

Meanwhile, Sical Logistics is understood to have teamed up with a leading port in Singapore to develop a greenfield port dedicated to bulk cargo. Without divulging much about the development, company sources said they are right now prospecting various locations for the port.

Talking about the group’s proposed acquisition of a freight forwarding company, Mr Rangnekar, said, “We have all multimodal operations except freight forwarding, which is an area where we plan to leap frog into. We have already targeting a few companies and things are going to materialize in the next few days.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/10/22/stories/2007102251331900.htm

A leading Malaysian auto manufacturer is likely to invest $175 million in Chennai, and an announcement is expected soon, he said without disclosing the company’s name

I think the land identified by TN Govt for L&T, belong to Salt Corporation of India, under the Commerce ministry. TN Govt request to Central Govt to transfer the same is pending for more than a year.Commerce ministry may view they are sitting on 1000 acres of land in a Metro city and their expectation may be huge.

Some bridges near St Thomas mount are pending for long time because Defence Ministry is not transfering required land. All these central Govt agencies got these land from the State Govt originally free of cost.

Sharing the booty will be the right kind of approach rather than trying to get the land back free of cost / at very low prices. This will avoid delays.

http://www.maalaimalar.com/asp/news/dis_news_article.asp?artid=231112

As per the above news, new railway lines are proposed as follows

1) Sriperumbudur-Avadi

2) Sriperumbudur-Kanchipuram

3) Sriperumbudur-Vandalur or singaperumal koil

http://www.maalaimalar.com/asp/news/dis_news_article.asp?artid=231112

As per the above news, new railway lines are proposed as follows

1) Sriperumbudur-Avadi

2) Sriperumbudur-Kanchipuram

3) Sriperumbudur-Vandalur or singaperumal koil

Only the first line will be feasible. That is the most interesting for the manufacturing companies in and around Sriperumbudur. The companies are also interested in funding the activity.

Considering the land acquisition problem it might even be better to connect Sriperumbudur to Thiruvallur rather than Avadi.

http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?leftnm=lmnu1&subLeft=1&autono=301988&tab=r

He added the company had plans to set up new manufacturing facilities. “We are working on the modalities and we are in talks with the Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra government for the new proposed unit.”

CHENNAI: Malaysia Airlines will launch a twice-a-week daytime flight between Chennai and Kuala Lumpur starting October 28.

The airline currently operates seven night flights every week from Chennai. The additional service will run every Thursday and Sunday, leaving Chennai at 12.50 p.m. and reaching Kuala Lumpur at 7.10 p.m. local time.

http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/23/stories/2007102353020500.htm

http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/23/stories/2007102353230500.htm

CHENNAI: A group of Tamil Nadu footwear manufacturers could soon be picking up tips from the man who reportedly sells shoes to George W. Bush and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

On Monday, the Chennai shoe manufacturing cluster, represented by the Indian Shoe Federation, signed a cooperation agreement with its Italian counterpart Unioncamere Marche, as part of the “cluster twinning” initiative of the small and medium entrepreneurs development project being run by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation.

“I’m ready to take people and teach them and share my experience,” says Milanese luxury shoemaker Silvano Lattanzi. He refuses to name specific clients, but claims that apart from Hollywood celebrities, four of the eight heads of state who make up the influential Group of Eight, wear his creations. He is also president of the Confindustria Fermo, the apex chamber whose members will be involved in training the Indian shoe makers under the agreement.

Chennai manufacturers were excited at the opportunity. “This is the biggest advantage a shoe company can have, to get know-how from the Italian manufacturers,” said P.R. Aqeel Ahmed, president of the ISF and managing director of the Florence Shoe Company. “The Italians are masters of the art. Everyone else are just duplicators,” said Rafeeque Ahmed, chairman of the Farida group.

Study tour


Twenty representatives from Chennai firms will head to Italy for a study tour by the end of the year. The Italians will then send their own experts to Chennai’s Central Footwear Training Institute to train the trainers. Apart from manpower training, the project will foster technology cooperation and joint ventures. The 12-month cooperation agreement will involve a 100,000 euro investment shared between UNIDO and the Italian cluster.

It’s not only about training. “If there is strong interest on the side of the Italian cluster, we can expect considerable private investment as well,” said UNIDO’s south Asia director Philippe Scholtes.

During a Sunday visit to the Mahindra World City, the 12-member Italian contingent engaged in serious business discussions, making back of the envelope calculations about the possibility of leasing space in the industrial park. “We think many companies will be interested in participating in this area in the future,” said Unioncamere Marche director Alberto Drudi.

“Some of the Italians are actually interested in relocating their manufacturing to India … This agreement is a platform for more, for investment,” said Bruno Valanzuolo, chief technical advisor for the UNIDO project.

http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/23/stories/2007102359290400.htm

CHENNAI: It’s an address that has been home to small manufacturing units for decades. Over the last five years, it has been making an appearance on the business cards of software professionals — Guindy and Ambattur industrial estates.

The glass and chrome structures of the Information Technology and IT-Enabled Services industry have started to occupy pockets of Chennai’s largest industrial estates. So far, most of the attention was focussed on Guindy, with its prime position near the airport and the IT highway. At least 25 acres are occupied by the IT industry there.

Ambattur has also started attracting IT clients in the last three years, thanks to its proximity to Anna Nagar and other residential areas. About 8 million square feet of IT office space is being created on the Estate. Clients include the who’s who of the software world — HCL, Alcatel, Verizon, HP, Hewitt and MindTree Consulting.

Goldmine

Industrial unit holders in the estates realise they are sitting on a goldmine. R. Ravi, an IT real estate promoter who has built four IT office buildings in Guindy and is constructing another in Ambattur, says he paid Rs.5 lakh per ground in 1993 and Rs.40 lakh per ground in 2004. “Today, they want at least Rs.1 to 1.5 crore per ground. There is no meaning for money here anymore,” he rues.

Apart from the large projects implemented by real estate developers, some unitholders are clubbing their land for joint development themselves. They can charge up to Rs.80 per square feet every month for furnished office space in Guindy. The rate in Ambattur is around Rs.60 per square foot.

With space running out, real estate promoters are eyeing the land held by government-owned institutions such as SIDCO, HTL or the Industries department.

But not everyone is happy about this mushrooming of IT in the estates. It exacerbates the shortage of skilled manpower, says K. Gopalakrishnan, president, Tamil Nadu Small and Tiny Industries Association (TANSTIA).

“For an ordinary tea boy or office peon, they are paying Rs.5,000 to 6,000 per month. Here, even skilled workers are getting only that much in the engineering units. So trained manpower is moving to do menial jobs,” he complained.

SIDCO managing director G. Santhanam says the big buildings and large workforce of the IT firms put heavy pressure on the estate infrastructure. However, large IT firms are willing to shell out money to fund infrastructure improvement on the estates.

http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/23/stories/2007102359260400.htm

CHENNAI: The Railway Ministry is for providing rail link to Sriperumbudur only through public-private partnership.

In this connection Minister of State for Railways R.Velu here on Monday convened a meeting of industrialists in and around Sriperumbudur, and officials of the Southern Railway and the State Industries Department.

Talking to newsmen after the meeting, Mr. Velu said that the Railway Ministry was ready to lay a new broad gauge line from Sriperumbudur to Avadi if the State Government and the industrialists were ready to share the project cost.

As more and more big industries were coming up, the railways had suggested that new railway lines could be laid from Sriperumbudur to Avadi, to Vandalur or Singaperumal Kovil and to Kancheepuram.

The Southern Railway, the Minister said, had already conducted a preliminary survey for the alignment of Avadi-Sriperumbudur line. The total cost of the 27.3 km project worked out to Rs 255 crore, which required about 97.5 hectares of land.

The land acquisition cost alone would come to about Rs 88.5 crore. Now only a single BG line was planned with a provision for one more in future.

The line would be useful for industrial units to move their finished products through rail. Besides, it would help commuting passengers from Sriperumbudur to Chennai and back. Survey was being done for the other two lines.

The Railway Minister said the State Government on its part would convene a meeting of industrialists to discuss the project. Based on the Government’s report, the next step would be taken.

http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/23/stories/2007102359110300.htm

CHENNAI: At the Ambattur Industrial Estate, a steel and glass structure housing information technology firms towers over the bustling auto component manufacturing units that make Chennai the Detroit of India. Both are connected by the same rutted road, running parallel to oversilted stormwater drains. During monsoons, both the skilled manufacturing workers and the software professionals are forced to wade through the same flooded roads on their way to work.

This is the story of Chennai’s industrial estates, the incubators for the industrial growth of small and medium entrepreneurs . On the one hand, the entrepreneurial boom is pushing the government to scout for land to set up new estates. On the other hand, existing estates struggle with a range of infrastructural problems.

The city’s largest industrial estates are Guindy, which recently celebrated its half century, and Ambattur, whose export-oriented auto clusters have propelled it beyond its older rival. Other estates are located at Thirumazhisai, Thirumudivakkam, Alathur, Thirumullavoiyal, Maraimalainagar, Perungudi, Arumbakkam, Villivakkam and Kodungaiyur. Together, they account for well over Rs 4,500 crore in turnover and employ more than two lakh people.

Chennai’s reputation as an auto hub has spawned a light engineering industry in the estates. IT, electrical, chemical, plastics and garment manufacturing are other sectors with a successful presence. “We have globally competitive industries that have contributed to growth over the last decade,” says S. Srinivasan, president, Ambattur Industrial Estate Manufacturers Association (AIEMA).

Growing industrial demand provides a compelling argument for expansion, according to G. Santhanam, managing director, Small Industries Development Corporation (SIDCO) that runs most of the estates. “Every day, I have people asking me for more space in Guindy,” he says, explaining that the Corporation is scouting for land to develop new estates in the belt between Oragadam and Sriperumbudur. There is enough demand to set up “another Ambattur” at Avadi, he adds.

The attraction of the estates is two-fold. Manufacturers share common facilities, such as mechanical and chemical testing laboratories, tool rooms and technology and training centres that they would not be able to afford on their own. They also benefit from subsidies, concessions and easier clearances.

The second advantage is that the estates are supposed to provide uninterrupted power supply and basic facilities such as roads, streetlights, water supply, drainage and sewerage connections. Unfortunately, some of these facilities exist only on paper.

At Guindy, sharp stones jut out of dusty rutted roads, stretches of which turn into pools of slush during the rains. Travelling within the estate is tough on the bones and the wallet. Many drivers of delivery trucks suffer from back problems, according to Muthupandi, who works with an auto components firm. Defending the autorickshaw drivers’ demand for Rs. 30 extra from employees travelling to the estate, driver K. Sathya says: “You should not blame us for demanding extra. The bearings of my autorickshaw get worn out easily when I take the estate’s roads.”

Encroachment on the lakebeds at Ambattur and a poor stormwater drainage system mean that parts of the estate lie under several feet of water throughout the rainy season. Every year, production is crippled in the north phase.

At Perungudi, local panchayats use the estate as a garbage dump. M. Thamodharan, assistant manager at one of the units in the estate, says that mounds of garbage are set on fire at regular intervals, while polythene and paper clog the open drains and lead to stagnation of sewage. The Mogappair industrial estate has also been used as a dump yard.

After waiting for decades, the larger estates, Guindy, Ambattur, Thirumudivakkam and Thirumazhisai are finally getting a facelift funded by the State and Central governments, as well as the unit-holders.

Road-rollers are a common sight in Ambattur this month, as Chennai Auto Ancilliary Industrial Infrastructure Upgradation Company races to lay new roads and desilt stormwater drains before the monsoon sets in. Its director S. Gautaman says most arterial roads, which were in unmotorable condition, are being widened to handle the growing traffic. Of the two sewage treatment plants of a total capacity of 5 million litres per day being planned, the one in the south phase is ready to be commissioned by November end. Thirumazhisai will also get a sewage treatment plant and new roads.

S. Gopalakrishnan, a director of the Guindy infrastructure upgradation company, promises that sewage lines will be laid, streetlights installed and canals desilted before the monsoon. Road widening and laying would have to wait till next year.

Manufacturers are currently involved in a tussle with the local bodies over who is responsible for garbage collection and conservancy work in the estates. Manufacturers associations and SIDCO argue that if the estates are expected to do all maintenance work themselves, Corporations and municipalities should share at least 40 per cent of the taxes collected from the estate.

Are there any updates on Nissan-Renault-M&M joint venture? They announced the project long time back and nothing has happened till now?? If the state govt had tried to acquire land, atleast we should have some protests etc.

The Chennai Corporation has proposed a multi-level car parking facility on Wallace Garden First Street, off Greams Road.

The Corporation has called for consultants to manage the bid process, which includes preparation of request for proposal documents and evaluation of bids on technical and financial criteria.

The project is the first multi-level car parking facility that the Chennai Corporation has taken up. The facility is to come up near the Apollo Hospitals. The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) had earlier proposed multi-level parking facilities in Panagal Park, Government Estate and Broadway.

As traffic pattern near the Wallace Garden site is yet to be analysed, the consultant chosen by the Corporation would gather field data and conduct a study to work out the parking lot capacity and a revenue model for services. The successful bidder would construct and maintain the parking system as the project is planned on a design, build, operate and transfer basis.
http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/24/stories/2007102460560400.htm

The Finland-based textile service company Lindstrom has set up a service centre here that will cater to corporate work — wear maintenance and rental.

The centre will offer services such as designing and tailoring employee uniforms, laundry services, packaging, transportation and storage of garments. Three washing machines and two dryers have been brought on rent from the company’s plant in Finland to run operations at Chennai, Mr Jukka Roiha, Chief Executive Officer, Lindstrom Group, said at a press conference on Wednesday. “Currently, we have not made any investments in Chennai but will do so in 1-2 years,” he said

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/10/25/stories/2007102551252300.htm

http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/26/stories/2007102662191200.htm

CHENNAI: Frontier Lifeline Hospitals plans to set up a Rs.500-crore medical science park at Elavoor in Tiruvallur district by the end of 2008.

Hospital chairman and CEO K. M. Cherian told a press conference on Thursday that the ‘Frontier Mediville,’ to be established on 1,00,000 sq ft, would focus on clinical studies in human and animal tissue, besides undertaking research and training.

Frontier Lifeline and SASTRA University in Thanjavur formalised a Memorandum of Understanding to develop clinical applications for basic research initiatives.

The agreement was signed by vice-chancellor R. Sethuraman and Dr. Cherian.

The Centre for Nanotechnology and Advanced Bio Materials at SASTRA University specialises in polymer synthesis and covers tissue engineering, nano-biosciences and photovoltaics. “The synergy of clinical research and the ongoing work on nano-scaffolds at the university has the potential to evolve commercially viable medical products,” dean S. Swaminathan said.

Sanjay Cherian, director, Frontier Lifeline, said the collaboration would help the research stay focussed on patient benefit and troubleshoot hitches that surfaced along the way.

German bus maker, Daimer Chrylser, to put a bus manufacturing facilty at Chennai, investment worth 3500cr.

www.dinakaran.com

German bus maker, Daimer Chrylser, to put a bus manufacturing facilty at Chennai, investment worth 3500cr.

www.dinakaran.com

Looks like they have'nt yet finalized the location. They are considering Chennai and Pune. As usual the German companies take long time to decide. Ex: BMW,VW

Looks like they have'nt yet finalized the location. They are considering Chennai and Pune. As usual the German companies take long time to decide. Ex: BMW,VW

considering dinakaran's strong dmk roots, the news may actually be accurate.............but i guess one can never be sure........

Can some one translate/post a summary of the item?

Looks like they have'nt yet finalized the location. They are considering Chennai and Pune. As usual the German companies take long time to decide. Ex: BMW,VW

THE Chennai-based Allied Investments & Housing is gearing up to launch a Rs 1,600 crore residential township over 100 acres of land near Chennai. The project, to come up near Singaperumalkoil on the emerging GST Road, will be the first major project for the company, which has so far been focusing on joint developments on a limited scale. In addition to the township, Allied has started construction for a 1.3 million sq ft mall on OMR, the city’s IT Corridor, besides a commercial project on Magrath Road in Bangalore.
It is looking at Bangalore, besides tier-II cities like Madurai and Thirunelveli in Tamil Nadu for its future expansion. “Having started our operations in 1989, we have developed so far about 1.5 million sq ft, with focus more on timely completion and delivery. However, having acquired the required expertise, we are now gearing up to scale up the operations,” Abdul Wadood, managing director, Allied Investments & Housing told ET.
According to him, Allied off late has been developing around three lakh sq ft per annum, with almost 95% of them being joint developments. “Now not only the sizes of the projects are quite large, we are also getting offers from those holding larger land tracts for joint development due to our past track record and reputation,” Mr Wadood said.
The 100-acre residential township project, which will be completed in phases over the next five years, is also being developed jointly. Another major joint development currently underway will be the ‘Marina Grand’ mall-cum-hotel project on OMR, which will result in the development of 1.3 million sq ft for which construction has already started.
“While the retail mall and the 280-room hotel project will occupy about seven lakh sq ft, the rest of it will be dedicated for multi-level car park,” he said. Leading international property consultants, Jones Lang Lasalle Meghraj will be the transaction managers for the Marina Grand mall, which will be ready for fit-outs over the next 24 months.
In addition, Allied is working on a 2.5 lakh sq ft high-end residential project on OMR and IT Park/office space project on ECR. It is also developing a 54-suite serviced apartment on PH Road at a cost of around Rs 27 crore and it has been picked up by Star City, which runs a chain of serviced apartments in Chennai.A group concern, Allied Estates is focusing on ‘land development’. It has acquired large tracts of lands on ECR, well beyond Mahabalipuram, besides Thirukazhukundram and Chengalpet.

BIGGER THE BETTER


• The 100-acre residential township project which will be completed in phases over the next five years, is being developed jointly

• Allied has started construction on a 1.3-million sq ft mall in OMR, besides its project in Bangalore

• The Marina Grand mall-cumhotel project in OMR will feature a retail mall and a 280-room hotel

• Allied is also building Rs 27-cr serviced apartment in Chennai

Ennore Foundries, a member of the Hinduja group, plans to establish a new facility for ductile iron and grey iron castings including blocks and heads, and also for a low pressure die casting line for aluminium, with the expansion works expected to cost Rs 300 crore, its managing director V Mahadevan, said in Chennai on October 22, 2007.

The various funding options for the expansion are being explored and a decision in this regard would be taken shortly, Mahadevan said
http://www.chennaionline.com/science/Technology/Oct07/10article58.asp

Delhi-based Uppal Housing Private Ltd plans to set up five-star hotel in Chennai.

http://www.business-standard.com/compindustry/storypage.php?leftnm=1&subLeft=1&chklogin=N&autono=302298&tab=r

http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/27/stories/2007102760690500.htm

All flyover projects being implemented by the National Highways Authority of India in and around Chennai will be completed by the end of next year, T. R. Baalu, Union Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, said on Friday.

He told presspersons that while the Kathipara and Airport flyovers would be completed by March next, the Padi flyover will be ready by September next year and the Koyambedu facility, by December.

As for the proposed four-lane elevated corridor from near the War Memorial to Maduravoyal, he said the cost would be Rs. 1,345 crore.
At a meeting attended by the Chief Secretary of the State Government on Thursday, it was decided that the Chennai Port Trust and the State Government would share the cost of land acquisition and resettlement and rehabilitation, both of which would account for Rs. 342 crore.
Asked whether the execution of the projects was hampered by the shortage of cement and sand or rising prices of the materials, Mr.Baalu said that about three months ago, the cement shortage caused concerns in the case of the Kathipara project but the State Government and the Chief Minister had intervened in the matter and sorted out the problem.

^^ yeah for now at least it looks like kathipara would be certainly completed by the new march deadline considering there is heavy work goin on all night also.

Any idea where if this IT park is under construction??
The website says it is in the corner of 100ft rd and 60ft road in Padi...

copyright: http://www.chona.in
http://i20.tinypic.com/157m00p.jpg

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Engineering/BorgWarner_plans_unit_near_Chennai/articleshow/2498253.cms

CHENNAI: BorgWarner Cooling Systems India, a subsidiary of BorgWarner, US, which manufactures emission & thermal products for all major automotive OEM’s will start construction of its new facility at Sriperumbudur next month. The facility entailing an investment of $7 million is expected to be ready by October 2008.

The commencement of the work of the new plant will be held on October 28. It will be attended by Thermal Systems VP & GM, Daniel CasaSanta, and Indian operations general manager, V D Umashankar besides senior officials of BorgWarner.

Its product range includes emission products like EGR valves & proportional solenoids and thermal products like polymer fans, viscous fan drives, visctronics, water pumps & oil pumps.

Key customers in India and overseas include Ashok Leyland, Asia Motor works, Cummins India, Eicher Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, MAN Force Motors, Tata Cummins, Tata Motors, Ford and General Motors.

http://www.livemint.com/2007/10/29011735/Magna-plans-to-widen-its-India.html


Mumbai: The world’s third largest auto components maker, Magna International Inc., wants to add stampings, door and seating systems and metal products to its India portfolio as more and more global car makers eye the Indian market for expansion.
The company plans to bring two more group companies to India in the next 12 months and is considering the Gurgaon, Chennai and Pune regions for these manufacturing facilities.
“I obviously cannot name the companies, but you will hear two big announcements from us in the next 12 months,” said Prasen Agali, executive director of Magna’s India unit.

http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?autono=302521&leftnm=1&subLeft=0&chkFlg=

Jet Airways is examining the possibility of locating its aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) operations and flight training academy in Chennai, Chairman Naresh Goyal said on Sunday.

Goyal said Jet Airways was keen on setting up aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul operations in the south.

“We are looking at Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad to set up an MRO facility. However, Chennai will be a priority location for this operation as well as for setting up a flight training academy,” he said.

He was addressing a function on the launch of Jet’s Chennai-Toronto flight, which will go through Brussels. Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram flagged off the inaugural flight.

Jet Airways is in discussions with a some international players like Lufthansa on the MRO facility and it expects to finalise plans in the next few weeks.

The flight academy will train pilots and engineers, and also staff for ground support, commercial operations and inflight crew. The academy will also train staff for other airlines.

Another major Automobile Plant in Chennaihttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News_by_Industry/Ashok_Leyland_Nissan_plan_3_JVs_for_LCV_business/articleshow/2498800.cms

Ashok Leyland has entered in a co-operation agreement with Nissan Motor to set up three joint venture companies for the light commercial vehicle business.

The investment in setting up the joint ventures--for vehicle manufacturing, powertrain, and technology development--is seen at $500 million.

This JV will be owned 50:50 by the two and located in Chennai. The products developed will be sold under both the Ashok Leyland and Nissan brands.

http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?autono=302521&leftnm=1&subLeft=0&chkFlg=

Jet Airways is examining the possibility of locating its aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) operations and flight training academy in Chennai, Chairman Naresh Goyal said on Sunday.

Goyal said Jet Airways was keen on setting up aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul operations in the south.

“We are looking at Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad to set up an MRO facility. However, Chennai will be a priority location for this operation as well as for setting up a flight training academy,” he said.

He was addressing a function on the launch of Jet’s Chennai-Toronto flight, which will go through Brussels. Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram flagged off the inaugural flight.

Jet Airways is in discussions with a some international players like Lufthansa on the MRO facility and it expects to finalise plans in the next few weeks.

The flight academy will train pilots and engineers, and also staff for ground support, commercial operations and inflight crew. The academy will also train staff for other airlines.

Well, Chennai airport is struggling even for normal operations as it is congested a lot. Why would they want to setup MRO facility here? Moreover Lufthansa Technik is setting up MRO in Shamshabad and I cant imagine they want to set up one more in the country at such an early stage.

Another major Automobile Plant in Chennaihttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News_by_Industry/Ashok_Leyland_Nissan_plan_3_JVs_for_LCV_business/articleshow/2498800.cms

Ashok Leyland has entered in a co-operation agreement with Nissan Motor to set up three joint venture companies for the light commercial vehicle business.

The investment in setting up the joint ventures--for vehicle manufacturing, powertrain, and technology development--is seen at $500 million.

This JV will be owned 50:50 by the two and located in Chennai. The products developed will be sold under both the Ashok Leyland and Nissan brands.

TN, AP and Uttharkand are being considered and a decision is expected in few weeks. I guess AP is leading the race and most likely TADA will be the location due to logistical reasons.

TN, AP and Uttharkand are being considered and a decision is expected in few weeks. I guess AP is leading the race and most likely TADA will be the location due to logistical reasons.

Subra ...Any source

TN, AP and Uttharkand are being considered and a decision is expected in few weeks. I guess AP is leading the race and most likely TADA will be the location due to logistical reasons.

Ur guess is wrong. How Much Shall We Bet?

There are two, actually three things about this Ashok leyland & Nissan JV, vehicle manufacturing unit and the powertrain facility. Which one are you guys debating about to be located in TN or AP?

Ur guess is wrong. How Much Shall We Bet?

I will be happy if my guess is wrong. Hope TN bags the project.
My guess is based on the following:

a) Several rounds of discussion between Hinduja brothers and latest by Seshasayee (few weeks back) with AP govt.

b) Financial incentives are too much to ignore. Not sure if TN can give 600 acres of land free of cost.

c) Risk mitigation from Ashok Leyland's perspective as 4 manufacturing plants (hosur-3 and ennore-1) are based in TN.

http://sify.com/finance/fullstory.php?id=14551854&vsv=SHGTslot3

Nissan has entered into a partnership with Mahindras and Renault to set up a Rs 4,000-crore production unit for passenger cars. The plant, which is coming up in Chennai, is expected to go operational by early 2010. It is expected to produce Logan derivatives and other Renault and Nissan vehicles. “The land acquisition formalities in Tamil Nadu have been completed and the work on the setting up the plant will begin shortly,” Ghosn told the media.

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I am very happy guys! Finally, the plant is begin to roll..

There are two, actually three things about this Ashok leyland & Nissan JV, vehicle manufacturing unit and the powertrain facility. Which one are you guys debating about to be located in TN or AP?


a) LCV plant: TN, AP and Uttharkand are being considerd.
As per this news, Sriperumbudur is on the hot list.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/10/30/stories/2007103052451200.htm
The Ashok Leyland Managing Director, Mr R. Seshasayee, said that the manufacturing facility could be set up either in Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh or Tamil Nadu. However, it is learnt that Sriperumbudur near Chennai is being considered first — officials of Ashok Leyland, Nissan and the Hinduja brothers visited Sriperumbudur this afternoon.

b) Power train plant: Location not decided

c) R and D center: Chennai is the location.
The third joint venture is a technology development company responsible for the development of LCV products and related power trains, destined for the Indian and select global markets. The joint venture will be equally owned and will be located at Chennai.

Good to see the perception of Chennai / TN is changing to be more business-friendly. Perception matching reality now.
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http://www.telegraphindia.com/1071030/asp/nation/story_8490029.asp

Soft’ corner for MNCs

Like the Centre, the DMK-led government’s heart is with the aam aadmi. But some feel its wallets open more for MNCs.

The perception, strongly denied by those in power in Chennai, has been fuelled by sops showered on some global giants to set up ventures in the state.

The demand for expanding the airport’s cargo complex, for instance, had been an old one but work on the plan picked up after Nokia pressed for it. The cellphone giant is setting a plant at nearby Sriperumbudur, its first in India.

ome fast-growing courier firms are also believed to have pushed for a larger complex. The result: a new courier terminal, a first for an Indian airport, has come up.

Taiwan’s Foxconn was handed a rare tax exemption on items used in its special economic zone for electronic hardware. Its venture is also coming up near Sriperumbudur.

Officials assert the focus on MNCs isn’t at the common man’s expense. They say it is the people who will benefit from new jobs to be offered by the ventures.

http://img463.imageshack.us/img463/875/capturenw0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/4870/gskathiparahs9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


Comparing the above pics( satellite image and the render) it appears that the two circular arms on the right on completion would meet the road leading from guindy side way off at a point where no road currently exists. Are there any plans to add extra lanes or could that be a problem later on??:bash:

http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage_c_online.php?leftnm=11&bKeyFlag=IN&autono=29495

Tamil Nadu is likely to further consolidate its position in the automobile industry with the state government likely to sign MoUs with two car companies for their expansion in the next two weeks.

According to a senior official in the department of industries, the government of Tamil Nadu has approved three more proposals involving a cumulative investment of $1.6 billion.

"Two automobile companies are setting up brownfield projects, while one company is setting up a greenfield project in the state. We have prepared the MoU documents, and the Chief Minister is likely to sign them in the next two weeks," M Velmurugan, director, Guidance Bureau, Industries Department, Tamil Nadu, said.

He said the state is expected to get an investment of $3 billion in the automobile sector during the next couple of years. Tamil Nadu already has 15 auto and auto related companies.

The state is also stepping up its efforts to boost the IT industry. C Umashankar, managing director, Electronic Corporation of Tamil Nadu, said the government is expected to get an investment in the range of Rs 20,000 crore by various IT and electronics companies in the next two years. The government is setting up a new IT park spread over 192 acres at Hosur near Bangalore, which is expected to get an investment of Rs 2,000 crore, he said.

"The government is working in a big way towards IT-SEZs in the state. About 2,340 acres of government across the state has been taken over and earmarked for development of IT industries," he said.

The state is aiming at a growth of 50% in software exports during the current financial year. Last fiscal, the state exported $5.1 billion worth of software. Most of the big software companies like TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Cognizant, Satyam are expanding their presence in the state, he added.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Any idea on the potential auto player ? Plants in pipeline are:
a) Malaysia's Naza car plant
b) Ashok Leyland-Nissan LCV plant
c) Chrysler LCV plant
d) Toyota --- ??
e) Bajaj-Renault-Nissan small car plant --- ?

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/businessline/blnus/02301636.htm

CHENNAI: Wheels India Ltd has informed the BSE that the company's new plant for manufacture of wheels for earth moving and construction equipment at Sriperumbudur near Chennai was inaugurated on October 29.

The plant, which has the capacity to manufacture 6,300 wheels a year, will commence production on November 1. - Our Bureau

http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage_c_online.php?leftnm=11&bKeyFlag=IN&autono=29495

Tamil Nadu is likely to further consolidate its position in the automobile industry with the state government likely to sign MoUs with two car companies for their expansion in the next two weeks.

According to a senior official in the department of industries, the government of Tamil Nadu has approved three more proposals involving a cumulative investment of $1.6 billion.

"Two automobile companies are setting up brownfield projects, while one company is setting up a greenfield project in the state. We have prepared the MoU documents, and the Chief Minister is likely to sign them in the next two weeks," M Velmurugan, director, Guidance Bureau, Industries Department, Tamil Nadu, said.

He said the state is expected to get an investment of $3 billion in the automobile sector during the next couple of years. Tamil Nadu already has 15 auto and auto related companies.

The state is also stepping up its efforts to boost the IT industry. C Umashankar, managing director, Electronic Corporation of Tamil Nadu, said the government is expected to get an investment in the range of Rs 20,000 crore by various IT and electronics companies in the next two years. The government is setting up a new IT park spread over 192 acres at Hosur near Bangalore, which is expected to get an investment of Rs 2,000 crore, he said.

"The government is working in a big way towards IT-SEZs in the state. About 2,340 acres of government across the state has been taken over and earmarked for development of IT industries," he said.

The state is aiming at a growth of 50% in software exports during the current financial year. Last fiscal, the state exported $5.1 billion worth of software. Most of the big software companies like TCS, Infosys, Wipro, Cognizant, Satyam are expanding their presence in the state, he added.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Any idea on the potential auto player ? Plants in pipeline are:
a) Malaysia's Naza car plant
b) Ashok Leyland-Nissan LCV plant
c) Chrysler LCV plant
d) Toyota --- ??
e) Bajaj-Renault-Nissan small car plant --- ?

Any idea on the potential auto player ? Plants in pipeline are:
a) Malaysia's Naza car plant Around Chennai
b) Ashok Leyland-Nissan LCV plant Around Chennai
c) Chrysler LCV plant Pune Or Chennai
d) Toyota --- ?? Around Bang All whore
e) Bajaj-Renault-Nissan small car plant --- ? Pune or Chennai

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/10/20/stories/2007102051171000.htm

As per recent press note JAFZA is setting up a 220 acre Free Trade Warehouse SEZ 6 Km from Ennore at Ponneri , North of Chennai.

Does anyone know more about this news ? Jafza (Jebal Ali Port, Dubai) might act as a catalyst giving fillip to much needed development in North Chennai.

Looks like Jafza and Tata are partnering :
http://www.indiainfoline.com/news/innernews.asp?storyId=49740&lmn=1

Coming up in Siruseri , TCS is about to start operating from its partly completed center within a month.

Overall the site extends 88 acres and with its 136 meter tall tower and out of the world architectural design, TCS will dominate the IT landscape of OMR for years to come.
http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/3452/tcssirnq9.jpg

^^truly world class..........nice one comet.......what's your source btw......

Looks Fantastic !!! It would be marvellous when the whole campus is completed.

^^true....can't wait for a panoramic view.......

Employment Provident Office, Royapettah (Under Construction)

http://i12.tinypic.com/5xj1esn.jpg

Three architectural firms have submitted their draft designs for the new Secretariat complex proposed to be constructed in the Government Estate here.

Chief Minister M Karunanidhi had a look at the physical models of the proposed Secretariat complex submitted by Burt Hill, Pittsburg, US and CR Narayana Rao Architects and Engineers, Chennai.

He also held discussions with PWD Minister Durai Murugan and senior officials in this regard at the Secretariat. The draft design of the Berlin-based company GMP International is expected to be received within a week’s time.

As many as 25 architectural firms responded to the global tenders called for the construction of the new Secretariat complex and of them, seven were shortlisted for designing the draft design. Finally, three have agreed to submit the designs.

The State government had decided to construct a new Secretariat complex to overcome the space shortage at the Ft St George,where the Secretariat is located at present.http://newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IE920071030004547&Page=9&Headline=Three+designs+of+new+secretariat+submitted&Title=Chennai&Topic=0&

Looks like Metrozone tower will be the tallest building in Chennai with 30 floors? I know the picture of the Metrozone tower has been posted here many times, but I was not aware of the number of floors :) Looks like it's been approved and is under construction (as per emporis.com).

http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/cx/?id=metroz1-chennai

Also, here is the rendering for RR Skyline :) Sorry if it's been posted already.

Looks like emporis.com is big on image licensing... Don't know if it's appropriate to post it here. Please go to the following URL: http://www.emporis.com/en/il/im/?id=567781

Looks like Metrozone tower will be the tallest building in Chennai with 30 floors? I know the picture of the Metrozone tower has been posted here many times, but I was not aware of the number of floors :) Looks like it's been approved and is under construction (as per emporis.com).

http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/cx/?id=metroz1-chennai

Upscale is close with G+ 29...

http://newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IE920071030004547&Page=9&Headline=Three+designs+of+new+secretariat+submitted&Title=Chennai&Topic=0&

where exactly is this Govt. Estate located ?

where exactly is this Govt. Estate located ?

MLA Hostel campus - one entry from Walaja Road (near Kalai Vanar Arangam) and another entry from Chennai TV Station road (Chinmaya road???) behind Rajaji Hall.

http://newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IE920071030004547&Page=9&Headline=Three+designs+of+new+secretariat+submitted&Title=Chennai&Topic=0&

There are rumours that they did not follow Council of Architects norms in inviting entries (Open GLobal Competition).. The same may be retendered if the news is true.

Here is the latest pic of Kathipara Flyover. Can anybody guess from which buiding the image was taken?

http://www.dinakaran.co.in/epapertamilmurasu/31102007/TM_31-10-07_E1_06-06%20CNI.jpg

The proposed secretariat is located next to Coovum .
http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/5259/secyub4.jpg

The 80 Km ECR stretch extending from Mahabs to Marakkanam is fast becoming a weekend destination. Backwater acres which costed as little as 3 lacs an acre have been lapped up by shrewed developers. Plots with homes as small as 2 grounds of land and 1500 sft built up costs as high as 40 lacs!

Marg :
http://www.marginfrastructure.com/images/sub_sez_ecr_large.jpg
http://www.marginfrastructure.com/SEZ.shtml
Marg which is promoting an SEZ at Seekinankuppam is cleverly promoting

second homes on ECR a little away from the sez for 80 lacs an unit:
http://marginfrastructure.com/gallery/tranquil.htm
http://marginfrastructure.com/gallery/images/Tranquil_Cove_Entrance.jpg
http://marginfrastructure.com/gallery/images/Tc_Swimming.jpg

Water front homes for 30 lacs
http://www.tnq.in/new/images/sitedetails1.jpg
Another first time developer is selling water front homes near the historic Kadappakkam archeological (110 km from adayar) site for about 30 lacs :
http://www.tnq.in/new/overallplan.html

While these trends clearly indicate an upwardly mobile economy, the lack of regulation of these developments will have inevitable and adverse impact on the very delicate environment which these projects try to sell.

What Chennai is experiencing is a classic Urban Sprawl - a rapid expansion from the city center, which consumes rural and agricultural land. There are several views on Urban Sprawl. Some planners even support it as long as some planning regulations are in place. Can't ECR be declared as a special zone and the 2 Km swab of land on either side be regulated for orderly growth ?
http://www.hinduonnet.com/folio/fo9908/99080142.jpg

Here is an old article about chennai's explosive growth :
http://www.hinduonnet.com/folio/fo9908/99080140.htm

Here is the latest pic of Kathipara Flyover. Can anybody guess from which buiding the image was taken?

http://www.dinakaran.co.in/epapertamilmurasu/31102007/TM_31-10-07_E1_06-06%20CNI.jpg

^^ That tells the story!! Not one of the 4 loops is complete. I guess it'll take at least another yr before its completed.:bash:

^^ if its any consolation, they are finally working round the clock. but i must admit, it was only yesterday that i walked around the area, i got to know the scale of the interchange. amazingly huge.
Btw its taken from an aircraft. the tallest building in the area is le meridian and its not more than 4 floors.

Chennai, Oct. 31

Semiconductor company Tessolve will start site-level operations at its Sriperumbudur facility in the next couple of weeks.

The company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Tamil Nadu Government last year to set up a testing, assembling, packaging and prototyping facility with initial capability to handle five lakh integrated circuits a day. However, no operations including construction activities commenced thereafter.

“They were waiting for the semi conductor policy to be passed before commencing operations,” Mr Shaktikanta Das, Industries Secretary, Tamil Nadu told Business Line. With the semi conductor policy being announced last month, the company would start operations (primarily developing the site) in a fortnight or so, he said.

Tessolve, through its Indian arm TAPP Semiconductor India Pvt Ltd, had proposed to invest about Rs 1,000 crore over five years in the facility, starting with Rs 350-400 crore initially. The project is expected to employ over 1,700 people directly and over 5,000 people indirectly.

Another project signed last year that did not commence on schedule was Apollo Tyres’ Rs 520-crore automobile radial tyres manufacturing project at Oragadam, near Chennai.

Mr Das said the company would start work by December and was currently redesigning their machine configuration and product mix for the facility.

Apollo Tyres, at the time of the MoU, had planned to make car (ultra-high performance radial tyres), bus and truck tyres at the facility.

It is expected to generate employment for over 2,000 people.

http://www.blonnet.com/2007/11/01/stories/2007110151421100.htm

Power and telecom towers maker Sujana Towers Ltd plans to invest 1.5 billion rupees for expansion to meet growing demand, a group official said on Thursday.

The expansion would add 100,000 tonnes per annum of galvanised and structural steel at its Chennai mill, V.S.R. Murthy, group director of Sujana Group, told Reuters.

"Expansion is expected to be completed by June 2008," he added.

The company currently has total capacity of 128,000 tonnes of structural steel, Murthy said.

He expected net profit of 600-650 million rupees on revenues of 6.5 billion rupees for the financial year to June 2008. The firm reported net profit of 393.3 million rupees on revenues of 4.39 billion rupees for 15 months to June 2007.

The company was formed after spinning off the tower division of Sujana Metal Products.

Murthy said the firm has order book of around 2.25 billion rupees for telecom and power towers.

He said of this order book 60 percent is for power transmission tower and the rest for telecom towers.

"We are flooded with orders and it is difficult to meet the demand," he said. Sujana's client list includes Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, GTL Infrastructures Ltd and Subash Projects and Marketing.
http://in.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idINIndia-30276620071101

Friends

I was just glancing through the Hyd thread. It seems HUDA is on the process of becoming HMDA with its land area added by 4655 sq.kms. After the transformation HMDA area will have a population of 7.8 million. Will this mean Hyd would be the 4th largest Metro in India in terms of population? or is Chennai Metro still bigger than Hyd Metro? Pls clarify this?

Friends

I was just glancing through the Hyd thread. It seems HUDA is on the process of becoming HMDA with its land area added by 4655 sq.kms. After the transformation HMDA area will have a population of 7.8 million. Will this mean Hyd would be the 4th largest Metro in India in terms of population? or is Chennai Metro still bigger than Hyd Metro? Pls clarify this?

I guess So It Could Be Fourth Largest Metropolis interms of Population & Second Largest Metropolis Interms Of Land Area After Delhi 7500 Sq.kms Spread On Area Of 6655 sq.kms

I guess So It Could Be Fourth Largest Metropolis interms of Population & Second Largest Metropolis Interms Of Land Area After Delhi 7500 Sq.kms Spread On Area Of 6655 sq.kms

Gosh, this means both BLR and Hyd have overtaken Chennai now in this aspect With Ahmedabad and Pune developing rapidly Chennai by the next decade would end up being overtaken by them too!!!!

Gosh, this means both BLR and Hyd have overtaken Chennai now in this aspect With Ahmedabad and Pune developing rapidly Chennai by the next decade would end up being overtaken by them too!!!!

hahaha not so Pune is relatively small city spread on 700 sq.kms.ahmedabad i guess around 1500 sq.kms.

Here are the details of Chennai Metro

Chennai, the capital City of Tamil Nadu is the fourth largest Metropolitan City in India. The Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA) comprises the city of Chennai, 16 Municipalities, 20 Town Panchayats and 214 Village Panchayats in 10 Panchayat Unions. The extent of CMA is 1189 Sq.km. The setting of Chennai is presented in the Figure (http://www.cmdachennai.org/maps.html)

Here are the details of Chennai Metro

Chennai, the capital City of Tamil Nadu is the fourth largest Metropolitan City in India. The Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA) comprises the city of Chennai, 16 Municipalities, 20 Town Panchayats and 214 Village Panchayats in 10 Panchayat Unions. The extent of CMA is 1189 Sq.km. The setting of Chennai is presented in the Figure (http://www.cmdachennai.org/maps.html)

But has BLR & HYD become bigger than chennai in both area and population?

Does it matter? with just name and title? If chennai decides to go hyd way extending it from chengelpet/mahabs in south to gummipoondi in north and sriperumbudur in west (almost all of this are already considered as suburbs now) chennai pop will be 1Crore

Does it matter? with just name and title? If chennai decides to go hyd way extending it from chengelpet/mahabs in south to gummipoondi in north and sriperumbudur in west (almost all of this are already considered as suburbs now) chennai pop will be 1Crore

Already the developments are happening (at least on drawing boards) till the AP border on Kolkotha Highway, Upto Ranipet along Bangalore Highway, upto Tindivanam along GST Road besides upto Pondy along ECR (Recreation & Housing). We may havea TN Capital Region like NCR in 10 years time.

Does it matter? with just name and title? If chennai decides to go hyd way extending it from chengelpet/mahabs in south to gummipoondi in north and sriperumbudur in west (almost all of this are already considered as suburbs now) chennai pop will be 1Crore

true.................i don't understand our obsession with size and population.......!

Already the developments are happening (at least on drawing boards) till the AP border on Kolkotha Highway, Upto Ranipet along Bangalore Highway, upto Tindivanam along GST Road besides upto Pondy along ECR (Recreation & Housing). We may havea TN Capital Region like NCR in 10 years time.

pondy could become a satellite city........

The census does not define cities based on what HUDA/HMDA do. There are specific definitions for an urban agglomeration and those will apply in the case of Hyderabad as well as Chennai. Hyderabad may well overtake Chennai at some point in terms of population, but it will not be because of HMDA's remapping.

Friends

I was just glancing through the Hyd thread. It seems HUDA is on the process of becoming HMDA with its land area added by 4655 sq.kms. After the transformation HMDA area will have a population of 7.8 million. Will this mean Hyd would be the 4th largest Metro in India in terms of population? or is Chennai Metro still bigger than Hyd Metro? Pls clarify this?

The density of population is much higher as far as chennai is concerned.The total area of Hyderabad after including vast neighbourhood of 4655sqkm(which is very sparesely populated) is 6655 sqkm and the population as on date is approx 78 lacs.The same area around chennai holds double the population of Hyderabad.Don't get carried away by expanding the area of the city for the sake of population.:nuts:

Kaashyap Technologies Ltd has informed the BSE that it has set up a hi-end SAP Competency Centre in Chennai to be inaugurated on November 15.

This centre will focus on SAP related resource creation i.e. consultants, implementation tools, SAP remote hosting solutions and SAP based projects implementation and products. Within a year's time the company aims to have a team of 300+ SAP professional s to cater to its global requirements.

Further, it announced that Mr. K Chandrasekher has joined the company as Chief Executive Officer-SAP Division.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blnus/15021101.htm

Capgemini, providers of consulting, technology and outsourcing services, on Friday announced it would invest 100 million dollars in its new facility coming up at Mahindra World City near here.

A company press release said here that the facility house over 1,000 persons.

The first phase is expected to be functional by early 2009, the release said.

The Chennai facility will be an integral part of the delivery for Capgemini globally and will focus on technology and outsourcing service offerings of the company, it said.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News_by_Industry/Capegemini_to_invest_100_mn_in_new_Chennai_unit/articleshow/2513297.cms

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/11/03/stories/2007110351110400.htm

Capgemini, a €7.7-billion provider of consulting, technology and outsourcing services, will invest $100 million (Rs 400 crore) in a new facility inside the Mahindra World City, near Chennai.

The facility will have a capacity to accommodate around 10,000 people, and the first phase of it will be ready by early 2009.
The company today did a ‘ground breaking’ ceremony of the facility, which will focus on technology and outsourcing service, according to a release.

http://www.hindu.com/2007/11/03/stories/2007110358020100.htm

Delay in implementation of the metro rail project is holding up work on three flyovers on Anna Salai, which are to be developed with World Bank assistance under the Tamil Nadu Urban Development Project III.

The three facilities have been proposed between Anna Statue and Spencer’s Plaza; from the Eldams Road-Teynampet junction to Saidapet; and at Halda junction, near Guindy. A contractor has been short-listed to conduct a study on the various aspects of the flyover projects, including their design. The study would suggest the number of lanes based on the traffic volume in the area, land availability and the acquisition required, besides the environmental and social impact of the projects, Highways department officials said. The technical stipulations of the flyover projects would have to be exchanged with those executing the metro rail project.

Work on the flyovers would have to be integrated with or carried out along with work on the metro rail project.

It is for the same reason that work on the subways proposed at the TVS signal and Eldams Road on Anna Salai and near the Madras Medical College has been delayed.

The flyovers proposed at Vadapalani, along the Inner Ring Road and at the Thirumangalam junction also need to wait for the metro rail work to begin.

:bash:

The biggest question is when is metro work supposed to start BTW???

http://www.hindu.com/2007/11/03/stories/2007110358020100.htm

:bash:

The biggest question is when is metro work supposed to start BTW???

We can be happy that atleast they have started thinking that Metro Rail authorities should be consulted before the construction of the fly overs.

Madras Port to Koyambedu may be the first line to be taken up and not the Airport line. Budget?? FInancial Closure?? Time Frame??? Nobody is sure.

Chennai -Bangalore Corridor
Tamil Nadu is Euphoric , Karnataka is Slient
The Real Beneficiary is Andhra Pradesh !
'The Chennai-Bangalore industrial corridor would go a long way in tapping the potential of the two states to attract investment and help creation of a skilled workforce,' Gopal Srinivasan, chairman of the CII's Tamil Nadu Council, said.

As the map clearly shows 93% of the Chennai-Bangalore industrial corridor is within Tamil Nadu. We already can see Bangalore's rapid expansion spilling over into Hosur via Sarjarpura section.

Tamil Nadu's ambitious Rail, Road corridor connecting the all weather ports of Chennai and south India's largest airport with the TamilNadu's towns along this corridor is a laudable and far sighted decision.

Kanchipuram
Arcot
Vellore
Arakkonam
Walajapet
Gudiyattam
Vaniyambadi
Ambur
Katpadi
Krishnagiri
Hosur
Will benefit from leveraging this arterial development.

Interestingly , while Salem, Coimbatore, Trichy and Madurai , TN's industrial powers are far away from this development to benefit from it, the towns just inside AP border which runs practically parallel to this corridor for 400 Kms will boom from this initiative.

Maps courtesy mapsofindia.com and Google :
http://www.mapsofindia.com/railways/shatabdi-route-maps/chennai-central-to-bangalore-city.gif
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1358/1336945279_eb8b41d001_o.jpg
Full article :
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/india/news/article_1370671.php/Chennai-Bangalore_industrial_corridor_to_boost_growth%0A_Lead_

Already the developments are happening (at least on drawing boards) till the AP border on Kolkotha Highway, Upto Ranipet along Bangalore Highway, upto Tindivanam along GST Road besides upto Pondy along ECR (Recreation & Housing). We may havea TN Capital Region like NCR in 10 years time.

Name can be TCR or TNCR?!

[
Interestingly , while Salem, Coimbatore, Trichy and Madurai , TN's industrial powers are far away from this development to benefit from it, the towns just inside AP border which runs practically parallel to this corridor for 400 Kms will boom from this initiative.

_[/url]

Gujarat was lucky in this!!

Mumbai-New Delhi corridor runs through 3 bigies of Gujarat. Surat, Ahmedabad and Vadodara.

But stil Gujarat government is attracting the investors for Sourashtra region quoting the connectivity available from sourashtra ports to Mumbai-Delhi corridor.

Chennai -Bangalore Corridor
Tamil Nadu is Euphoric , Karnataka is Slient
The Real Beneficiary is Andhra Pradesh !
'The Chennai-Bangalore industrial corridor would go a long way in tapping the potential of the two states to attract investment and help creation of a skilled workforce,' Gopal Srinivasan, chairman of the CII's Tamil Nadu Council, said.

As the map clearly shows 93% of the Chennai-Bangalore industrial corridor is within Tamil Nadu. We already can see Bangalore's rapid expansion spilling over into Hosur via Sarjarpura section.
...Interestingly , while Salem, Coimbatore, Trichy and Madurai , TN's industrial powers are far away from this development to benefit from it, the towns just inside AP border which runs practically parallel to this corridor for 400 Kms will boom from this initiative....

^^ I don't get it. How is AP real beneficiary? Is the author implying that there will be more growth in border towns of AP than the corridor towns of TN/Karnataka??

Chennai -Bangalore Corridor
Tamil Nadu is Euphoric , Karnataka is Slient
The Real Beneficiary is Andhra Pradesh !
'The Chennai-Bangalore industrial corridor would go a long way in tapping the potential of the two states to attract investment and help creation of a skilled workforce,' Gopal Srinivasan, chairman of the CII's Tamil Nadu Council, said.

As the map clearly shows 93% of the Chennai-Bangalore industrial corridor is within Tamil Nadu. We already can see Bangalore's rapid expansion spilling over into Hosur via Sarjarpura section.

Tamil Nadu's ambitious Rail, Road corridor connecting the all weather ports of Chennai and south India's largest airport with the TamilNadu's towns along this corridor is a laudable and far sighted decision.

Kanchipuram
Arcot
Vellore
Arakkonam
Walajapet
Gudiyattam
Vaniyambadi
Ambur
Katpadi
Krishnagiri
Hosur
Will benefit from leveraging this arterial development.

Interestingly , while Salem, Coimbatore, Trichy and Madurai , TN's industrial powers are far away from this development to benefit from it, the towns just inside AP border which runs practically parallel to this corridor for 400 Kms will boom from this initiative.

Maps courtesy mapsofindia.com and Google :
http://www.mapsofindia.com/railways/shatabdi-route-maps/chennai-central-to-bangalore-city.gif
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1358/1336945279_eb8b41d001_o.jpg
Full article :
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/india/news/article_1370671.php/Chennai-Bangalore_industrial_corridor_to_boost_growth%0A_Lead_




No one can deny that AP will be a benificary from this project, as its enjoying the proximity to the proposed corridor.Already AP is planning to use chennai's and Bangalore's infrastructure due to its proximity to these cities and this corridor will definetely bulge the Ap's pocket.
One of the drawback for TN is , its major cities like Chennai, Coimbatore are in its boarder, and hence stoping it for radial expansion and its forced to develop in one particular direction.
But the good part is that this proposed corridor will boast economy in the TN's economically backward regions like Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri,Walajapet
Gudiyattam, Tirupathur etc.
Leather belts like Vaniyambadi,Ambur will also attract some big ticket investments. Labour sensitive industries would come up in Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri regions as the land and human resourse are adequate.

We have to wait and see the Karnataka's response as more than 90% of the corridor falls in TN's teritory.
Instead of waiting for center's help in this regard, TN can start working towards this project by attracting some big ticket investments atleast in the main cities of the proposed corridor and later can presurise the center for official announcements and incentives.

TN is also planning for such corridor between coimbatore and Erode, and between Madurai and Tuticorin.

If this comes true then TN's urbanisation will jump from 45 to almost 55-60%.

I am not implying that there is any design or ulterior motive behind the Bangalore - Chennai corridor naturally helping AP.

Just consider this : Chennai , TN's Capital is 57 Km from AP Border
Bangalore, Karnataka's cap is 22Km from TN border
Hyderabad ORR is 67 Km from Maharastra and 71 Km from Karnataka
And we all know Trivandrum is 21 Km from TN

:) Looks like though we were all divided linguistically, Geography is making sure we remain
close.

Why not ? GCA (like GTA Greater Toronto Area) :)
Here is a map I found that is great to overlay Chennai Urban Design issues :
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b8/Chennai_area_locator_map.svg/446px-Chennai_area_locator_map.svg.png
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b8/Chennai_area_locator_map.svg/446px-Chennai_area_locator_map.svg.png
The high res map is here :
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Chennai_area_locator_map.svg

^^ I don't get it. How is AP real beneficiary? Is the author implying that there will be more growth in border towns of AP than the corridor towns of TN/Karnataka??

We just have to assume author doesn't know what he is talking about. Chennai city limits is just 50 odd km's from AP border and there is practically no developments inspite of access to infrastructure like airport/seaport and developed highways. If that were the case, how do you expect a mere highway connecting two cities help develop regions that are more than 50 kms way. We all have seen how developments happen along such highways in India. Most of the stretches there are no buildings even 100 metres from either side of the road and even when you pass through towns, it is no deeper than 1 km either side of highway.

BTW, NH4 runs through AP. How many know of any decent city in AP along this highway? This stretch is a good road and has very little traffic. And yet there are very few industries between Kolar & Ranipet.

^^ Now, I got it(that its author's imagination running wild - Don't nuke our imagination, bro) :). Thanks

I am afraid I have to agree satish & vamsireddy have a good point there.
20 years after developing the Gummudipoondi SIPCOT close to AP border nothing happened.

Did you take a look at the TADA sez & the now sanctioned Sathyavedu (www.SRICITY.IN) SEZ ? These two moster SEZs are more than 2200 acres. And they are located right ON the tamilnadu - AP border.

I don't want to imply Madanapalee is going to move from mango orchardland to Silicon city just because it is close to the chennai bangalore corridor.

Our OMR and ECR were just sleepy hamlets 7 years ago . India is steaming ahead and many old ideas and expectations (or lack of it) will get steam rolled.

Why not ? GCA (like GTA Greater Toronto Area) :)
Here is a map I found that is great to overlay Chennai Urban Design issues :
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b8/Chennai_area_locator_map.svg/446px-Chennai_area_locator_map.svg.png
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b8/Chennai_area_locator_map.svg/446px-Chennai_area_locator_map.svg.png
The high res map is here :
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Chennai_area_locator_map.svg

heh, my map :)

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/11/04/stories/2007110451510300.htm

New Delhi, Nov. 3 The development work for Chennai airport is likely to be completed by June 2010 with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) planning to award the contract by the middle of February next year and give the winning bidder 28 months to complete the project.

Official sources told Business Line that the AAI Board had approved a detailed project report for the development of the airport and a note had been sent to the Ministry of Civil Aviation for holding a Public Investment Board meeting to enable the project to move ahead. The PIB approval is required as the project cost exceeds Rs 150 crore, officials indicated.

New domestic terminal

During the first phase, which is to be completed by 2010, there are plans for two multilevel car-parking areas, each with space for 1,200 vehicles. In addition, there would be a new domestic terminal that can handle 10 million passengers annually.

The new construction would allow the airport to handle an additional 4 million international and 10 million domestic passengers annually, thereby taking the annual handling capacity to 16 million domestic passengers and 7 million international passengers. There are plans for 72 check-in counters for international passengers and 62 counters for domestic passengers. The airport’s arrival hall would have four aerobridges for international passengers and six aerobridges for domestic passengers.

The project cost is an estimated Rs 2,062 crore, including Rs 638 crore for construction of a new domestic terminal and more than Rs 500 crore for modification and extension of the international terminal.

City-side development

An additional Rs 140 crore is the estimated cost of giving a facelift to the existing domestic and international terminals, along with city-side development.

The cost of a new domestic terminal, modification, extension and facelift of existing terminals, and multilevel car park with city-side development has been estimated at more than Rs 1,500 crore.

Not sure when this will be completed. :ohno:


http://www.hindu.com/2007/11/04/stories/2007110459620300.htm

CHENNAI: The Highways Department will soon begin the groundwork for a four-lane flyover at the Porur junction - the intersection of Mount Poonamallee Road and Arcot Road.

Design for the flyover, to come up along Mount Poonamallee Road to facilitate speedy movement of vehicles between Chennai and Poonamallee, is likely to be finalised in a couple of months.

The project is estimated to cost about Rs. 36 crore, which includes land acquisition charges. According to officials of the Highways Department, once the design is finalised, tenders would be floated and land acquired for the project. The construction work is likely to commence by May next.

About one hectare would have to be acquired from private parties, as the road near the junction has to be widened for the flyover flanked by service lanes. The unmarked bus stop just before the junction would be shifted 100 metres ahead of the junction and a bus bay provided to expand road space.

The project was estimated to cost Rs.15 crore without land acquisition in 2005. It was among the six flyovers proposed for the city by the previous government. The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) had expressed concern that several of them could clash with the proposed or future rail networks. With regard to the project at the Porur junction, the concern was that future rail networks along the radial Mount Poonamallee Road might be affected by a flyover at this location, CMDA officials said. The proposal was cleared by the CMDA following a decision that such projects could terminate ahead of the flyover or find other means for crossing the junction.

Flyovers are mandated for junctions where traffic flow crosses 10,000 passenger car units (PCU) - a unit of measure that expresses mixed traffic streams in terms of a hypothetical passenger car stream. The hourly traffic volume at peak hour at Porur junction has crossed 14,000 PCUs, officials said citing a recent traffic study.

Chennai-Bangalore Industrial corridor will help Vellore districts and Krishnagiri districts to develop and lot.

Coimbatore-Tiruppur-Erode-Salem-Tiruppatur(line route) corridor can be developed along with Chennai-Bangalore corridor.

This will make the entire north TN and western TN to be urbanized faster.

For south TN, with Madurai as hub TN has to develop the other dts.

I am not implying that there is any design or ulterior motive behind the Bangalore - Chennai corridor naturally helping AP.

Just consider this :
Hyderabad ORR is 67 Km from Maharastra and 71 Km from Karnataka
:) Looks like though we were all divided linguistically, Geography is making sure we remain
close.

Oh Man This Is Hilarious Karnataka is about 71 kms away From Hyd ORR that's okay but to touch Maharastra we need more about 40-50 kms.....NH9:)

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/ETA_Engineering_plans_to_invest_Rs_100_cr/articleshow/2516893.cms

MUMBAI: Chennai-based ETA Engineering, part of the $ 4.5 billion Dubai-based ETA Star group, on Sunday said it plans a capital expenditure of Rs 100 crore this year.

ETA Engineering, which is into electro-mechanical services plans to set up factories in Sriperumbudur, near Chennai and Ambarnath.

The Sriperumbudur factory would be commissioned by March at an investment of Rs 40 crore. The factory would produce air-conditioning products and would have a testing facility.

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/136017.html

New Delhi, Nov 4 - Italy will invest over euro three million for a project aimed at developing India's small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and make them globally competitive.

The three-year project, called 'Consolidated Project for SMEs Development in India', will be overseen by the ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises.

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (Unido) will be the implementation agency.

Sectors identified for the project are leather, including tanning, footwear, and leather goods, and auto components.

The leather industrial clusters to receive project support are Chennai for tanning and footwear, Agra for footwear and Shantiniketan in West Bengal for leather goods.

In the auto component sector, the cluster in Chennai will receive support. There would also be interventions to boost foreign direct investment and business promotion in Pune and the national capital region.

The first phase of the project started earlier this year with signing of a cooperation agreement between Indian and Italian shoe manufacturers.

The agreement aims at focusing on transfer of skills and expertise from the Italian footwear industry to shoemakers in India, and assist small businesses in India to upgrade footwear technology.

Italy is among the world leaders in the SME cluster development model, and is the leading shoe manufacturing country in the EU with a 40 percent world market share, followed by Spain and Portugal.

Are they going to open the MRTS at all? It has been quite a while since they line was cleared. How long are they going to wait for the CM to open it? Already the project gets delayed due to things like land aquisitions, soil problems etc. People would find this very useful now, especially during rainy season. They need not depend on road traffic which are prone to flooding causing traffic jams and disruptions. It will ease traffic during the festival season.

Isn't this a good reason for the ruling party to gain some name for itself? They should open the line atleast for this, if not in people's interests.

http://www.livemint.com/2007/11/05001258/Renault-seeks-additional-land.html

Tamil Nadu would allot 1,100 acres to the joint venture between Renault, Japan’s Nissan and India’s Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd that is setting up a Rs4,000 crore plant at Oragadam
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Auto majors Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co. are in talks with the Tamil Nadu government for additional land for a community of vendors it wants close to its manufacturing facilities that will roll out vehicles by 2009.
Joining race: Renault chief executive Carlos Ghosn.The state industries ministry is now acquiring land to set up a separate vendors’ park on some 250 acres of land that it hopes to have in its possession by February, industries secretary Shaktikanta Das said. “We have notified land for acquisition within 15km from where the joint venture’s new plant is coming up and will be able to give them possession by February 2008,” he said. (Two days after speaking to Mint, Das was shifted out of the industries department.:ohno:)
Tamil Nadu announced in February that it would allot 1,100 acres to the joint venture between Renault, Japan’s Nissan and India’s Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd that is setting up a Rs4,000 crore plant at Oragadam, outside Chennai, to make 400,000 cars in the first phase of its operations.
Das said discussions over a negotiated price settlement with land owners had delayed the acquisition of land but it has now got possession of around 1,000 acres which will be handed over to the joint venture this month.
The car company is stepping on the gas to get its project off the mark as scheduled in mid 2009. “We are struggling to meet the deadline just now and hope to get possession of the land soon so we can start work on the new plant,” Renault India managing director Sylvain Bilaine said. “We are also in discussion with the state government regarding allocation of land for vendors and will facilitate the process,” he added. The requisition of additional land from the joint venture could also be in line with the company’s strategy of making India one of the sourcing hubs for the Renault-Nissan combine, which procures components for its operations globally through the Renault-Nissan Purchase Organization.
The French car maker, meanwhile, is likely to make its independent debut in the Indian market with a compact commercial vehicle built along the lines of its existing Kangoo van in Europe and other parts of the world. The company may also launch a compact hatchback based on its Logan platform, which will be targeted at the largest-selling small-car segment, vendors associated with the project said.
Vendors who have been asked to supply parts said plans are being firmed up for the launch of the panel van, codenamed R90, which will be designed for plying on crowded Indian lanes and bylanes and will have, among other things, asymmetric doors at the back to make loading and unloading easy. While the Renault R90 is primarily a cargo carrier, it can also be designed to be a people carrier.
Bilaine declined to comment on a specific query about plans for the R90 van.
Earlier, he had told Mint: “We are close to finalizing our product line-up for India but I will not like to comment on this for competitive reasons.”
The company’s suppliers, however, insist that it is in discussion with them for these products and is close to finalizing letters of intent for various components.
Renault chief executive Carlos Ghosn, who visited India last week, has announced that it will make a $2,500 (about Rs1 lakh) car in India with motorcycle manufacturer Bajaj Auto Ltd, which has its own plans to make a four-wheeler light commercial vehicle.

[QUOTE=vijayvmail;16283415]Are they going to open the MRTS at all? QUOTE]

NO...Not until PMK vs DMK fight ends. CM is making sure credit does not go to the Railway minister of state's party. Otherwise i don't see any other reason why a project in Chennai will not be inagurated for such a long time.

CM seems to be opening all sorts of statues etc which are of no use. But i can't believe that he cannot find a 10 min slot to come to Velachery and open the MRTS line.

People's welfare is the last thing on the minds of our petty politicians. We keep participating in this harakiri called Democracry hoping for the "light at the end of the tunnel"

Are they going to open the MRTS at all? It has been quite a while since they line was cleared. How long are they going to wait for the CM to open it? Already the project gets delayed due to things like land aquisitions, soil problems etc. People would find this very useful now, especially during rainy season. They need not depend on road traffic which are prone to flooding causing traffic jams and disruptions. It will ease traffic during the festival season.

Isn't this a good reason for the ruling party to gain some name for itself? They should open the line atleast for this, if not in people's interests.

I heard that there is some problem in the newly laid tracks between Tiruvanmayur and Velacherry.This is despite inspection and giving green signal by the Railway Authorities from Delhi.

http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage_c_online.php?leftnm=11&bKeyFlag=IN&autono=29755

The Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi today unveiled the state's New Industrial Policy 2007, which apart from announcing new incentives to take investments away from Chennai to other districts of the state, also aims at doubling exports to reach $30 billion by 2011.

The policy outlines a Vision 2011 programme, under which the state will aim at creating an additional two million jobs by 2011, by when the contribution of the manufacturing sector to the GSDP (gross state domestic product) is expected to go up to 27% from the present 21% and the total exports of the state are expected to reach Rs 140,000 crore from Rs 66,856 crore ($14.5 billion) in 2005-06.

As per the new policy, the package of incentives, which are offered to the new manufacturing units, will be extended to the expansion projects by the existing companies in the state, a move aimed at supporting the local industry.

New manufacturing units, both from new players and existing companies, to be set up in any other district other than Chennai, Thiruvallur and Kanchipuram on investments exceeding Rs 250 crore over a period of three years will be eligible for a structured package of incentives to be decided on a case-to-case basis, with due weightage to investment, job generation and attracting further investments from vendors and ancillaries. In the case of Chennai, Thiruvallur and Kanchipuram, the minimum investment limit will be Rs 350 crore.

Existing industrial units in existence for over 10 years in the state will be given suitable extra benefits for expansion projects over and above normal package of incentives, subject to investment amount.

In the case of electronic hardware units, the minimum investment limit will be Rs 150 crore within a period of three years for setting up the projects in other districts while the investment limit will be Rs 250 crore for projects in Chennai, Thiruvallur and Kanchipuram districts.

New or expansion manufacturing projects with investments of over Rs 1,500 crore will be trated as super mega-projects and eligible for incentives over and above the normal incentive package. It is to noted that Tamil Nadu government had announced an ultra-mega integrated automobile projects policy for automotive projects investing Rs 4000 crore or more, a few months ago.

The policy also envisages raising the state to a position of pre-eminence innovation and high technology by offering subsidies. It also lay emphasis on improving the competitiveness and efficiency of SMEs and agro-based industries for increasing value addition and giving better income for farmers.

The other new initiatives announced include among others, development of industrial corridors of excellence, Nanotechnology industrial park, grass-root level and cluster-based skill development programmes and incentives for industrial infrastructure projects.

http://www.hindu.com/2007/11/06/stories/2007110659330100.htm

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government will develop a land bank of 10,000 acres with quality infrastructure over the next five years to provide space for industrial parks, according to the new industrial policy released by Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi on Monday.

“The land bank will be mostly developed on dry and barren lands. Prime agricultural lands will be avoided,” the policy said. The government will also take steps to amend laws to enable automatic conversion of drylands from agricultural to industrial use.

Private industrial parks must directly purchase land, which should be barren, non-irrigated and dry, as far as possible. Proposals with more than 10 per cent wet land or double crop land will be rejected, according to the new criteria for an approved industrial park. Parks should be located at least 50 km away from the Chennai city limits and should not include more than 5 per cent of government land.

At least 10 per cent of the area in industrial parks developed by SIPCOT and TIDCO will be set apart for social infrastructure, such as skill development centres, financial services, housing, schools and hospitals. Another 20 per cent of allottable area will be reserved for small and medium entrepreneurs.

Special economic zones and industrial parks promoted by SIPCOT, TIDCO or private developers will all be given equal incentives and facilities. Parks located 50 km away from the city limits will be granted a back-ended Industrial Park Infrastructure Grant of Rs. 2 crore or 25 per cent of the investment in eligible fixed assets, whichever is lower. Such parks must attract at least 20 new manufacturing units with a minimum direct employment of 2,000 persons.

A back-ended state capital subsidy and tax exemption on power bought from the TNEB or from captive sources will be sanctioned for all manufacturing units, including raw-material based manufacturers. New manufacturing facilities and expansion projects located in Chennai, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram, investing Rs. 350 crore over three years can avail themselves of a structured package of incentives, while the minimum investment for those outside those districts will be Rs. 250 crore. The minimum investment levels will be reduced by Rs. 100 crore in the case of electronic hardware units. Units which invest more than Rs. 1500 crore or which have been in the State for over ten years will receive extra benefits. In a press release, the government also promised extra concessions for firms which gave priority to local workers and followed its reservation policy.

Industrial corridors of excellence will be developed, first in the Chennai-Manali-Ennore and the Chengalpattu-Sriperumbudur-Ranipet corridors, and later in the Madurai-Tuticorin and Coimbatore-Salem corridors.

Developers investing Rs. 300 crore over three years in specific industrial infrastructure projects, including desalination plants, rail, road, port and water recycling infrastructure for SEZs and industrial parks, can avail themselves of a Rs. 2 crore subsidy.

All incentives for manufacturing industries under the new policy will also be applicable to agro-industries and agri-machinery and micro-irrigation equipment manufacturers. Special Agro Economic Zones will be promoted. A wine manufacturing policy will be announced soon and mega orchards of 50 hectares and above exempted from the Land Reforms Act for the cultivation of high value crops.

With the growing importance of the biotechnology sector, the government will announce an updated Life Sciences Policy and TIDCO will create a Life Sciences Innovation Fund. SIPCOT will develop a 2,000-acre Nanotechnology Park. To encourage clean and efficient energy technology, a Tamil Nadu Technology and Efficiency Upgradation Initiative will be launched through a TIIC-administered fund, which will offer soft loans to SMEs.

A number of skill development initiatives will be launched, including cluster-based, grass-root level and collaborative industry-institute schemes. The government is considering a Business Facilitation Act to formally empower and regulate single window clearance committees.

Vision 2011


Through the new policy, the government aims to create 2 million additional jobs by 2011.

http://www.hindu.com/2007/11/06/stories/2007110659330100.htm

Industrial corridors of excellence will be developed, first in the Chennai-Manali-Ennore and the Chengalpattu-Sriperumbudur-Ranipet corridors, and later in the Madurai-Tuticorin and Coimbatore-Salem corridors.

Looks like they have scaled down Industrial corridors of excellence from Chennai-Bangalore to Chennai-Ranipet. This was expected as Karnataka will not be interested in this project.

not sure if this investment is the same as R&D park that was announced earlier

http://www.hindu.com/2007/11/06/stories/2007110660000200.htm

The Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, (IIT-M) has received a grant of Rs.100 crore from the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) to establish an advanced manufacturing centre.
IIT-M director M.S. Ananth, who spoke to presspersons after signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with M. Rammohan Rao, dean of the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, here on Monday, said the centre would facilitate interaction with the industry.

“We will work with the automotive industry primarily and look into other areas such as materials and nanomaterials,” he said.

The institute was also considering having foreign students admitted to various courses. The External Affairs Ministry had agreed in principle, he added.

Professor Ananth, who earlier spoke on the MoU, said the agreement would enable exchange of faculty and research scholars. Though the MoU is between IIT’s Department of Management Studies and ISB, it would not prevent other departments from interacting, he said.

Looks like they have scaled down Industrial corridors of excellence from Chennai-Bangalore to Chennai-Ranipet. This was expected as Karnataka will not be interested in this project.

In that case they can make it as Chennai-Hosur. This way TN can still utilize the Bangalore's popularity and strength

link (http://in.blognation.com/2007/11/06/ebay-paypal-open-global-development-center-in-chennai/)

Looks like they have scaled down Industrial corridors of excellence from Chennai-Bangalore to Chennai-Ranipet. This was expected as Karnataka will not be interested in this project.

Chennai-Bangalore corridor has to be announced by central govt and that is altogether different from the TN announced one

Yesterday saw the launch of a 2500 seater office at Chennai, a city in the South of India. This is the first international global development center for PayPal outside the US and the second for eBay. The new center is located at Futura IT Park at Sholinganallur on the IT corridor of the city.

This office has a lot to do with PayPal’s recent announcement of direct withdrawal of funds to Indian banks. There’s also news that PayPal will soon support domestic services for the Indian market which can be great news for small businesses.

In the last 6 months, the company has been quite aggressive on hiring. They have hired around 1000 employs and well on their way to fill up their capacity of 2500. The company is mainly focused on product development & management, financial and risk analysis says Hindu BL.
The opening of the new office will also be a big boost for the eBay business. Deepavali (or Diwali) is a huge festival in India, the equivalent of Christmas in terms of shopping being done, and eBay expects to attract close to 30,00,000 consumers online. Quite a bullish estimate, if you ask me.


http://in.blognation.com/2007/11/06/ebay-paypal-open-global-development-center-in-chennai/

Areva T&D, one of the world’s leading transmission and distribution (T&D) companies, is setting up a high voltage manufacturing unit at Padappai near Chennai with a capital outlay of over Rs 100 crore.

The company will be the first to manufacture GIS products at the Padappai unit, which would be ready by January 2009.

"The strategic move demonstrates our commitment to contribute to India’s significant electricity needs. It also highlights Areva T&D’s technical competence and market consolidation plans in the high-voltage product line, especially circuit breakers for air insulated switchgear (AIS) and gas insulated switchgear (GIS). We have planned to invest over 100 crore in this new manufacturing unit," said Philippe Guillemot, chairman & CEO, Areva T&D, in an official statement issued today.

The unit will manufacture high voltage circuit breakers up to 765 kV, and will be fully equipped to expand the portfolio up to 1,200 kV, the release added.

http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage_c_online.php?leftnm=11&bKeyFlag=IN&autono=29781

http://www.business-standard.com/economy/storypage.php?tab=r&autono=303536&subLeft=1&leftnm=3


The Tamil Nadu government is proposing a nanotechnology park, similar to the highly successful Hsinchu Science Park in Taiwan.

The park, likely to come up near Chennai, will focus on hi-tech manufacturing in semiconductor foundries, chip assembly and testing, optoelectronics, solar cell technologies and nanotechnology.

The nanotechnology park will require co-operation between governments, industry associations, companies, and research institutes and universities. It is a part of the state’s efforts to achieve ICT Vision 2011, which will see Tamil Nadu’s information and communication technology (ICT) industry growing to $30-33 billion from the current $6 billion.

Recently, a Taiwanese team led by a top official of Hsinchu Science Park visited Chennai as part of the Indo-Taiwan bilateral cooperation efforts.

The team, which met with business community and top officials of the state government, had proposed the “science park” concept. A detailed project report in consultation with the authorities of Hsinchu Science Park will be prepared for the proposed Nanotech park, according to a top government official.

While an investment-friendly environment will be created to attract investments into the park, the state government will also explore the public-private partnership option for developing it. SIPCOT, the state nodal agency for land development, has been asked to identify land for the park within a radius of 70-80 km from Chennai, as access to the major city airport is seen as a critical factor for the project. The government is proposing to set up the park over 2,000 acres.

To foster co-operation programmes between research and development (R&D) institutes and companies, two or three engineering and management universities would be co-located within the nanotechnology park, which would be equipped with a social infrastructure. A meeting with Anna University and IIT-Madras has already been held for co-operation in creating an ecosystem in the park.

Complete product cycle companies such as R&D, design, marketing, and sales and service will also be encouraged to set up operations in the park. A separate location for companies in venture funding, component manufacturing, component distribution and office services like HR, legal, and finance and banking has been suggested. A delegation of power to the nanotech park administration committee for “one-stop operations” has also been proposed.

The 1,430-acre Hsinchu Science Park, which is known as Taiwan’s Silicon Valley, has been rated as one of the highly successful models to emulate hi-tech product development and manufacturing when compared with other models such as Eureka in Europe and Silicon Valley in the US, said the government official.

The Hsinchu Science Park has close co-operation between the government and other stakeholders like industry bodies, companies and academic and research institutions. It was established by the Taiwanese government in 1980 to create a Silicon Valley-like environment, lure back the expatriate talent pool, facilitate investment environment and build a strong ecosystem between universities, development institutes and companies in the park.

The Hsinchu Science Park currently has about 400 high-tech companies, including some of the big names, engaged in semiconductor, computer, telecommunciation and optoelectronic industries, aiding in transforming Taiwan into a high technology powerhouse. The park employs over 115,000 people and the turnover was about $30 billion in 2005. Companies in the park have to invest at least 4 per cent of their annual revenues towards R&D and product development.

http://dinamalar.com/dinaadmin/PagePhoto/fpn03.jpg





Courtesy: Dinamalar daily

correcting the above post image
http://dinamalar.com/dinaadmin/PagePhoto/fpn03.jpg

http://dinamalar.com/dinaadmin/PagePhoto/fpn03.jpg





Courtesy: Dinamalar daily

None of them are mind blowing, very simple!!
Cant they try some thing on the linesof Thanjavur or Madurai temple and modern?

Ya its not so great.

Why not TCS type building which represent modern south indian temples gopuras?!

But, i think one of these 3 model will be selected by CM.

Bangalore Vidhan Soudha and Kerala's secratriat's are builded years ago, they are still a landmark for their states. Sadly Chennai does not have any good landmark as Hyderabad or Bangalore represent's Charminar and Vidhan Soudha.....

So far Madurai Meenakshi gopuram or Srivilliputhur gopuram represent as TN's landmark in websites!!

None of them are mind blowing, very simple!!
Cant they try some thing on the linesof Thanjavur or Madurai temple and modern?

Yeah thats what I imagine that how about encouraging native architecture and incorporate with newer technologies.

Last 2-3 centuries, world is seeing buildings on the lines of western civilization alone as they dominated. Now we have an opportinity to raise structures which are inspired from local architectures and decore, and yet modern.

But brother, what did u just say ? "Thanjavur or Madurai temple"...How unsecular. You sound like a 'hindutva' fanatic !!! Yes, political and media establishment will support your idea if the structures are based on Mosque or a Church... :-)

Loshtashmish,

Kindly see the 3rd picture!

In the the top its a kind of representation of Mahabalipuram sea shore temples!!

Yeah thats what I imagine that how about encouraging native architecture and incorporate with newer technologies.

Last 2-3 centuries, world is seeing buildings on the lines of western civilization alone as they dominated. Now we have an opportinity to raise structures which are inspired from local architectures and decore, and yet modern.

But brother, what did u just say ? "Thanjavur or Madurai temple"...How unsecular. You sound like a 'hindutva' fanatic !!! Yes, political and media establishment will support your idea if the structures are based on Mosque or a Church... :-)

dude..........get a life.................

Hindustan Unilever is selling its property popularly known as `Ponds Factory` located at Pallavaram, Chennai, reports Business Line.

The property, located on GST Road (NH 45), is spread across 2.91 acres and includes 67,700 sq ft of built-up area.

http://www.myiris.com/newsCentre/newsPopup.php?fileR=20071107083736130&dir=2007/11/07&secID=livenews

http://www.hindu.com/2007/11/07/stories/2007110762110800.htm

Bowing to the demands of apparel exporters, the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT) has decided to provide common infrastructural facilities at the Irungattukottai Apparel Park to enable them to establish their units in the coming months.


..

Out of the 35 allottees in the apparel park, only five have commenced their operations.
Others accused SIPCOT officials of failure to provide training centre, ETP, women’s hostel, canteen and creche as promised in the initial stages that came in the way of establishing their units.

When the situation reached a flashpoint, Mr. Govindan stepped in and agreed to help them. He and his officers later submitted a Detailed Project Report (DPR) to the Centre asking for grants to set up these facilities.

Till date, the Centre and SIPCOT had invested totally Rs.20 crore and the bone of contention was the absence of common infrastructure.



“So far, we have floated three tenders for construction of dispensary, women’s hostel, creche and training centre. The last date for submitting the bids is November 21. We will finalise it within a week and issue work order during the first week of December. Initially, the hostel can accommodate 250 people and then this could be ramped up to 1,000. If everything goes well, these facilities should become a reality within 10 to 12 months time. We have already earmarked 6 acres for infrastructural facilities and these Centres would come up there,” he said.

ETP design



Regarding the setting up of ETP, Mr. Govindan said it would take some more time since they were working on the model. The ETP would be designed after taking into consideration the effluents discharged by all the units.

Special gesture


“Recently we allotted the balance land to two exporters. Besides, three allottees have started construction work. As a special gesture, we are laying a 1.5-km road from Katrambakkam village to the Park at a cost of Rs.75 lakh. Most of the hurdles have been removed and the aggrieved parties posted about the developments. We hope that this place would also start bustling with activity soon,” he added.

correcting the above post image
http://dinamalar.com/dinaadmin/PagePhoto/fpn03.jpg

Is the proposed building only going to house the secretariat (admin offices) or will it also house the TN assembly which is currently located in Fort St. George ?

Is the proposed building only going to house the secretariat (admin offices) or will it also house the TN assembly which is currently located in Fort St. George ?

Mostly it will be a intergrated one.

Admin office(includes CMs and all minsters), assembly hall all related to secratriat activities will come in one building. The location is Old MLA hostel. It is nearer to Anna statue on mount road(near shanthi theatre).

hope they demolish the old hideous assembly building at the fort complex and build some really beautiful museum or something similar. the present office building is just plain fugly.

hope they demolish the old hideous assembly building at the fort complex and build some really beautiful museum or something similar. the present office building is just plain fugly.

The present assembly buildings are the properties of defence dept of Govt of India. TN Govt has to get permission even for fixing a nail in the present buildings.

Moving away is a necessity and need of the hour.

Institute of Architects sources say that the whole process of selection of design is running into trouble as the competition conducted was not as per the rules.

I have seen some other designs which were mind boggling mixing the traditional and contemporary elements. Due to competition rules, the same could not be published without the approval.

My personal opinion is that the Assembly (lower & Upper Houses) should be more traditional (reminding us the old golden days) and the secretariate buildings (which will house all the Depts under various ministries & IAS officers) should be modern and should be people friendly.

^^ woops. i meant the secreteriat. the 10 floor dirty box type building.

The Indian operations of Finland-based elevator company Kone Corporation is emerging as a key hub for the company's global operations and growth plans by providing software and engineering services support as well as manpower in its major markets.

The Rs 381 crore Kone Elevator India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kone Corporation, has a market share of 26% in the Indian elevator market estimated at 2,10,000 elevators in 2006. The other leading players in India are Otis, Schindler, Mitsubishi and Thyssen.

Kone set up its global software development centre in Chennai about six years ago, and the centre has been providing software support for Kone's worldwide requirements. The software centre presently employs about 50 people.

Encouraged by the success of software operations, the company also set up a global engineering centre four years ago at its factory at Vanagaram near Chennai. The 15,000 sq. ft engineering centre, which employs 80 engineers, has been providing complicated engineering drawing services for the US and European markets.

Kone India is also in the process of setting up an R&D centre, which will initially employ about 20 people at its factory to address the requirements of the Asian markets including India.

Kone India's staff is in great demand for Kone's worldwide operations. Kone Corporation will be deploying about 100 Indian staff working in the areas of installation and maintenance in the US, UK, Spain and Singapore.

"We are becoming a main centre for supplying resources to our parent company. In the past, we sent about 60 people from India to Middle East for providing support services," said A Sankarakrishnan, managing director, Kone Elevator India.

Kone's Chennai factory, spread over an area of 8.4 acre, has a capacity to produce around 6,000 elevators a year. The company delivered about 4,000 elevators in 2006. It is also a leading player in the escalator business in India with a market share of about 26 per cent. The escalator market in India is estimated at 800-1,000 units a year. It imports escalators from its China unit for sale in India.

Kone India, which employs about 2,000 people, is looking at expanding production capacity at its manufacturing unit.

http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14557324

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu Government announced on Wednesday that it would implement the metro rail project, envisaged to ease traffic congestion in the metropolis, at an estimated cost of Rs 9,757 crore.

The State Cabinet, which met under Chief Minister M Karunanidhi, had given its approval to the project.

The Government would seek financial assistance and loan from the Centre to implement the project. Besides, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation was also expected to fund the project, the release added.

The metro rail project would be implemented through a special purpose vehicle, 'Chennai Metro Rail Ltd,' to be jointly set up by the State Government and the Centre.

Based on a detailed feasibility report prepared by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, the project had been designed to comprise two corridors -- one extending from Vannarapettai to Meenambakkam airport via Egmore and Teynampet and another metro line from Fort St George to St Thomas Mount via Anna Nagar, Vadapalani, Ashok Nagar and Alandur.

Of the total 46.5 km stretch, about 20 km would be underground and the remaining line would be elevated, the release said.

As per a decision taken at the meeting of leaders of legislature parties on May 22, 2007, the state Cabinet also decided to hand over to the Airport Authority of India 1069.99 acres of land identified for expansion and modernisation of the airport here.

^^ has the dpr been submitted or no. the thing has been dragging along for quite some time now

^^ DPR will be ready by this year end, then the govt. will start seeking loan from everywhere (est. 1 year) by 2009 march the project will start :)

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/9885/stgeorgetowntostthomasmvk3.png

So what will happen to MRTS Phase IV Plan, St.Thomas to Tiruvotiyur via MGR Nagar, Nergundram, CMBT, Anna Nagar, Padi, Villivakam, Madhavaram.

In this Metro rail covers Anna Nagar to St.Thomas connection!!

Please see this link

http://www.geocities.com/nsridhar74/chennai_metro_mrts_suburban_map.pdf

Greater Chennai's dreams and existing rail transportation links!!

Avadi-Sriperampudur link is needed one for Chennai city!!

the metro alignments would be something like this (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ptab=2&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=105747740442608192933.00043e56de9844cf7a5f1&om=1&ll=13.046703,80.254097&spn=0.148166,0.20874&z=12) i guess

any idea as to which sections would be underground and which would be elevated ?

http://www.hindu.com/2007/11/08/stories/2007110854080400.htm

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Government has informed the Madras High Court that the acquisition proceedings for the proposed Chennai Airport expansion plan have commenced, and that existing facilities at the airport have reached a saturation point.

In a counter-affidavit in response to a writ petition filed by E.V.P. Housing Chennai Private Limited, the Transport Secretary said the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) had been directed to freeze all building activities in the approach area and issue suitable instructions after getting full details from the Airport Authority of India (AAI).

The official further stated that the AAI, in a letter dated August 1, had approved acquisition of 1,069.99 acres on the northern side of the existing airport.

The purpose of the July 9 order of the State Government, on the freezing of building activities, “is to avoid unnecessary financial loss to the Government in paying compensation for the proposed acquisition, since the compensation will have to be paid for the superstructures on the lands proposed to be acquired.”

Reiterating that the Government was within its jurisdiction and competent to issue acquisition orders in the interest of general public, the Secretary said compensation would be paid to the landowners as per law. The order freezing the building construction activity was in no way against the rights guaranteed to the petitioner under the Town and Country Planning Act.

Describing the project as of “paramount public interest,” the counter said there was an imminent need to expand the existing airport necessarily to cater to the increasing passenger and cargo traffic.

“Unless the present airport is expanded, international flights will automatically prefer neighbouring airports, preferring not to land at Chennai. And Chennai might lose its present advantage of being the best destination for investments by various entrepreneurs…,” the counter further said.

Justice A. Kulasekaran, before whom the matter came up for hearing, adjourned the hearing by a week.

the metro alignments would be something like this (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ptab=2&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=105747740442608192933.00043e56de9844cf7a5f1&om=1&ll=13.046703,80.254097&spn=0.148166,0.20874&z=12) i guess


I think Washermenpet to Airport link goes through Prakasam Rd/Broadway and not Mint st.

It would make sense to hand over the MRTS line also to the Chennai Metro Rail Limited, though I am not sure it would necessary happen even if the TN Govt. decided for it because of turf issues with the railway ministry.

My map that Arul Murugan posted above is outdated - the alignments for the metro lines were based on the proposal for a three line network that was being talked about in 2005 (when the map was made). I need to update it. Or perhaps planemad can update his map.

It would make sense to hand over the MRTS line also to the Chennai Metro Rail Limited, though I am not sure it would necessary happen even if the TN Govt. decided for it because of turf issues with the railway ministry.

My map that Arul Murugan posted above is outdated - the alignments for the metro lines were based on the proposal for a three line network that was being talked about in 2005 (when the map was made). I need to update it. Or perhaps planemad can update his map.

Sridhar,

A very good idea. Merging MRTS plans and Metro rail plans is a needed one. Now its like, southern railway plans one and TN gvt metro rail plans one!!. If both are merged, funds can be sought from TN gvt as well as central gvt.

In future Metro rail can be taken in the control of southern railways. So that it will be easy for them to ply a train from Tambaram or Chengalpattu to Gummidipundi or Thiruvallur via CMBT, Anna Nagar etc.,

I feel the alignment of metro rail should much similar to one of indian railways. Otherwise in future we can get only island connections!!

Dinakaran e.paper says, 20KM will be in under ground and 26.5KM rail will be elevated!!

So as of now 46.5KM is plan. The planned route runs mostly in city limits except few stretch going out of Guindy. There is no plan for suburbs!!

http://www.dinakaran.co.in/epaperdinakaran/showxml.aspx?id=196766&code=18041

Science Technology Park Planned near Chennai.

Semi Conductor, Chip Assembly, Opto electronics(what is this?), Solar cell, Nano Technology related research, projects will be placed in this park!!!

This park will be made in collaboration with Taiwan where similar park exist.

Just i have translated the Tamil version to english!!


http://www.dinakaran.co.in/epaperdinakaran/showxml.aspx?id=196642&code=15616

Sridhar,

A very good idea. Merging MRTS plans and Metro rail plans is a needed one. Now its like, southern railway plans one and TN gvt metro rail plans one!!. If both are merged, funds can be sought from TN gvt as well as central gvt.

In future Metro rail can be taken in the control of southern railways. So that it will be easy for them to ply a train from Tambaram or Chengalpattu to Gummidipundi or Thiruvallur via CMBT, Anna Nagar etc.,

I feel the alignment of metro rail should much similar to one of indian railways. Otherwise in future we can get only island connections!!

Chennai has to work towards unified public transportation system i.e. MRTS, Metro, Bus etc should come under one umbrella. That would immensely help the commuters switching between different transportation system (e.g. they should buy only one ticket) and also the transportation companies in finding the optimal routes and feeder routes.

Private companies’ ambition to modernise the Chennai airport on the lines of similar projects in Delhi and Mumbai has fallen flat following a political veto by the Tamil Nadu government which has forced the Centre to shift its preference to the old state monopoly, the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

The modernisation project, expected to be completed by 2010, is estimated to cost at least Rs. 2,350 crore, though it could be revised up further.

Sources in the Civil Aviation Ministry told Hindustan Times that the DMK government at Chennai moved to rule out private developers through a public-private partnership route for the project, which involves the restructuring of the airport which is a key hub for one of India’s fastest growing regions involving traffic that connects to South-East Asia.

The present airport in Chennai handles about 25 aircraft movements per hour and its capacity is expected to be saturated by the 2014-15 fiscal year.

The DMK in Chennai and the Left Front government in Kolkata have been ideologically opposing private sector development. The ministry was pushing for private participation in the modernization of Chennai’s airport but the DMK, which is a key partner in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s coalition, appears to have prevailed.

While a greenfield private sector-led international airport is coming up in Bangalore, not far away from Chennai, built by a Siemens-led consortium, the other southern metropolis which is a key centre for both IT and auto industries will still be under the hold of the AAI.

The Committee on Infrastructure headed by the Prime Minister gave the AAI a go-head for the proposed development, overruling the ministry’s ideas.

Ministry officials said AAI will soon invite bids from airport developers on designing infrastructure for the proposed upgrade of Chennai airport while keeping the main development under its own control.

“The AAI will soon invite bids from airport designers for a feasibility study. Following which the AAI will select the consortium for redesigning the airport,” the official

According to a ministry official the first phase of the airport will be completed by 2010 following which the airport will be able to handle about 14 million passengers

annually.

On development the new airport will have 72 check-in counters for international passengers and 62 for domestic passengers.

Further clearances are needed from the Public Investment Board and state-level authorities before the contract details are finalized and construction contracts are awarded.

The project involves Rs. 1,100 crore for construction of runway, taxiway and apron at the airport. The construction of a terminal building, a cargo building, a car park and a facelift are estimated to cost around Rs 1,250 crore.

^^ source dude...

I understand that Dubai Metro rail being executed by Mitsuibhishi Heavy Indt. has made tremendous progress in just one year and will be completed in another two years. Delhi metro shall take that into consideration while finalising Chennai tender.If not finished quckily, Chennai's main thoroughfare will become a mess.

The dubai metro is a light rail, so it cant be compared, plus they dont have to worry about land acquisitions or political problems there. if the royal family wishes to have a train in their city, then they shall get a train in their city :) ive been there long enough to know how things work.

A cloverleaf and a 3km stretch over here takes 2 years to complete partially. id give the metro atleast 6 years, if you look at it through rosy glasses.

Here is the Dubai Metro

http://www.railway-technology.com/projects/dubai-metro/images/4-train.jpg
Copyright 2007 SPG Media Limited a subsidiary of SPG Media Group PLC

^^ source dude...

Here we go

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=a8b45585-8463-4342-a16f-a3ac4636113c&&Headline=Political+concerns+push+Chennai+airport+out+of+pvt+ambit

The Govt. then can take a policy decision that 'all land acquisition for a project will be completed along with financial closure before bhoomi pooja for the ground work starts'.Execution then can go ahead without stoppage.Otherwise people will be cursing the Govt. for next 10 years atleast.What is light Railway btw?