Bangalore Economy and Real Estate thread II

[IchimaruGin1]

Just a thread to discuss the various happening in the city with regards to economic growth and real estate prices etc.

[IchimaruGin1]

Godrej Prop in Rs2,000 crore Bangalore plan

Bangalore: After Mumbai and Pune, Godrej Properties is betting big on the Bangalore real estate market.


Godrej Industries’ real estate arm has lined up Rs 2,000 crore of investments for developing five projects over 30 million square feet (sft) in Bangalore.

These projects will be a mix of residential and commercial ventures and would be developed in partnership with other investors. The company has already launched its 2 million sft residential project — Woodsman Estate — and will soon start its second one, which is joint venture with late actor Feroze Khan and his son Fardeen Khan for gated villas.

“Property development is a major focus area for us. We are also betting big on affordable housing costing less than Rs 20 lakh,” said Adi Godrej, chairman of the Godrej group, who was in Bangalore on Friday to attend a brand summit organised by CII.
The firm, which operates on a JV model with land owners, recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop 50 acres of land in North Bangalore. Godrej, however, did not share details of the project. The company is also developing a project with actor Sanjay Khan’s Skystar group.

It has signed another JV with its agri-business arm — Godrej Agrovet — to develop over 10 million sft over 100 acres. “We are looking at shifting our poultry breeding farm some 90 km outside the city for bio safety reasons and use the land for residential venture,” said Godrej.

The firm has inked a deal with a local developer in Ahemdabad to develop a township project comprising of 40 million sft within municipal limits. The firm has begun spadework for properties in Mumbai, Pune, Calcutta, Kochi and Chandigarh.

Godrej Properties hit the capital market with a Rs 500 crore offer in December. Talking about the second round of fund-raising, Godrej said, “We have a strong capital position. But we have to raise more debt. In the next 2-3 years, we are also looking to raise more equity.”

The firm plans to tie up with microfinance institutions for financing affordable housing.

http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report...e-plan_1350170

[IchimaruGin1]

Luxe Worldwide Hotels signs agreement with Mark Boulevard Hotel Bangalore

By TBM Staff | Mumbai
Luxe Worldwide Hotels has signed an agreement with Mark Boulevard Hotel Bangalore for sales and marketing representation. As per the company release, the Mark Boulevard Bangalore is the first property in India to join the Luxe Worldwide Hotels collection of independently owned hotels located around the globe.

The Mark Boulevard Bangalore Hotel is a boutique business hotel. It has 76 rooms including 15 extra-large club rooms. Meeting facilities include a board room and banquet halls that can accommodate from six to125 guests, making it ideal for small meetings.

Luxe Worldwide Hotels also operates a regional office in Mumbai to promote Luxe Worldwide Hotels’ member hotels to India’s burgeoning travel audience. As well as work to develop new membership and branding opportunities for hotels within the country.

http://www.travelbizmonitor.com/luxe...bangalore-9698

[IchimaruGin1]

Reliance Footprint expands in Bangalore

After launching stores in Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Noida, Ludhiana, Mangalore, Mumbai, Jaipur, Jullunder, Vizag, Nasikh, Ahmedabad, Vadodara and two stores in Bangalore, Reliance Footprint, the footwear specialty store from Reliance Retail, has launched its third store in Bangalore at Mantri Square mall.

With the launch of this store, which is spread over an area of 4,500 square feet, Reliance Footprint has reached the 18-store-mark. The store is set to offer a wide range of footwear, handbags, baggages and accessories.

Gopalakrishnan Sankar, chief executive, Reliance Footprint, said, “Our third Reliance Footprint store in Malleshwaram is testimony that our products and services have been appreciated by our customers as we offer unmatched choice at unbeatable price. The customers will be surely delighted with the international standards of service, product range, quality and shopping experience.”

The specialty store offers a range of over 20,000 products catering to the entire family’s needs. An inaugural offer of upto 60 per cent discount is being offered to the customers on their purchases at Reliance Footprint during the launch period.

Its stores offer over 50 international, national and Reliance brands including Buckaroo, Franco Leone, Ganuchi, Hush Puppies, ID, Lee Cooper, Mancini, Pavers, Moss Dunes, Provogue, Red Tape, Samsonite, Woodland for men, Catwalk, Custini, Hi Attitude, Inc 5, Luciano, Piccadilly, Rocia, Tosca, towlips, Viviana for women, and Hi Attitude, Levis, Lilliput, Mardi Gras, Spiderman for Kids. The sportswear brands available in its MBOs include Adidas, Admiral, Fila, Lotto, Monza, Nike, Puma, Reebok.

Apart from footwear, Reliance Footprint also houses an array of accessories from brands such as Bonjour, Celestial Horse, Helios, Hunt, Just Jane, Kara, Murcia, Jute shop. In the comfort & home-wear section, customers can choose brands like Dr Scholls, Adda, Frisbee, Tendersole where as its PL of premium range include Mancini, Tosca & Viviana.

http://www.indiaretailing.com/news.aspx?topic=1&Id=4549

[engineer.akash]

Reliance Footprint expands in Bangalore

After launching stores in Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Noida, Ludhiana, Mangalore, Mumbai, Jaipur, Jullunder, Vizag, Nasikh, Ahmedabad, Vadodara and two stores in Bangalore, Reliance Footprint, the footwear specialty store from Reliance Retail, has launched its third store in Bangalore at Mantri Square mall.

With the launch of this store, which is spread over an area of 4,500 square feet, Reliance Footprint has reached the 18-store-mark. The store is set to offer a wide range of footwear, handbags, baggages and accessories.

Gopalakrishnan Sankar, chief executive, Reliance Footprint, said, “Our third Reliance Footprint store in Malleshwaram is testimony that our products and services have been appreciated by our customers as we offer unmatched choice at unbeatable price. The customers will be surely delighted with the international standards of service, product range, quality and shopping experience.”

The specialty store offers a range of over 20,000 products catering to the entire family’s needs. An inaugural offer of upto 60 per cent discount is being offered to the customers on their purchases at Reliance Footprint during the launch period.

Its stores offer over 50 international, national and Reliance brands including Buckaroo, Franco Leone, Ganuchi, Hush Puppies, ID, Lee Cooper, Mancini, Pavers, Moss Dunes, Provogue, Red Tape, Samsonite, Woodland for men, Catwalk, Custini, Hi Attitude, Inc 5, Luciano, Piccadilly, Rocia, Tosca, towlips, Viviana for women, and Hi Attitude, Levis, Lilliput, Mardi Gras, Spiderman for Kids. The sportswear brands available in its MBOs include Adidas, Admiral, Fila, Lotto, Monza, Nike, Puma, Reebok.

Apart from footwear, Reliance Footprint also houses an array of accessories from brands such as Bonjour, Celestial Horse, Helios, Hunt, Just Jane, Kara, Murcia, Jute shop. In the comfort & home-wear section, customers can choose brands like Dr Scholls, Adda, Frisbee, Tendersole where as its PL of premium range include Mancini, Tosca & Viviana.

Source

Ichi nice thread,Kindly follow the above posting procedure looks appealing.

[IchimaruGin1]

Originally Posted by engineer.akash

Reliance Footprint expands in Bangalore



Source

Ichi nice thread,Kindly follow the above posting procedure looks appealing.

sure dude. no issues. will do so.

[IchimaruGin1]

Bangalore Tops India's Hottest IT Destinations

Bengaluru

Bengaluru's ten-fold growth in quick time can be traced back to the IT boom over the past few years, despite the criticism of the city over its creaking infrastructure and unbridled growth.

The city's main activity is information technology and information technology-enabled services. Being the leading contributor to India's IT industry, it has been dubbed the Silicon Valley of India.

Home to many software majors like Infosys and Wipro, Bengaluru accounts for almost 34 per cent of India's total IT exports.

A recent study also revealed that the rupee millionaire club in Karnataka's capital is the largest in India.

Bengaluru also boasts of having the largest number of households with an annual income of Rs 10 lakh (Rs 1 million) or more.

http://business.rediff.com/slide-sho...htm#contentTop

[IchimaruGin1]

Vision Express opens in Mantri Square Mall

Having embarked on the retail journey in December 2008, Vision Express, the JV between Reliance Retail and Pearl Europe Group, has launched a store spread over 1,147 square feet at Mantri Square Mall, Bangalore.

The newly launched store is the ninth in the city and 45th in India. “The launch of this Vision Express outlet reflects the core retail philosophy of the brand in its commitment to present an international and superior shopping experience within easy reach of the customers. We are delighted to extend the Vision Express shopping experience to the mall oriented customer segment through our store at Mantri Mall, our first store in the region situated within a mall. To open this store in a new and great environment demonstrates our dedication towards catering to the evolving customer needs and behaviour,” said Guillame Brouwet, CEO, Vision Express.

The opening of this outlet is in sync with the brand’s inclusive retail strategy aimed at bringing the best eye-wear retail experience within easy reach of various customers and reiterates the reputation of Vision Express as one of the fastest growing eye-wear retail chains in the country. The brand has been opening optical stores across the country including Hyderabad, Pune, Vishakapatnam, Vijaywada, Thane, Vadodara, Delhi, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Bangalore, Chennai, Mysore, Mangalore and Ahmedabad covering total retail space of around 42-43,000 square feet.

http://www.indiaretailing.com/news.aspx?topic=1&Id=4555

[IchimaruGin1]

PPD Opens Offices in Manila, Philippines, and Bangalore, India


Expands Drug Development Services in Growing Asian Market

WILMINGTON, N.C., Feb 18, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- PPD, Inc. (PPDI 21.52, -0.03, -0.14%) today announced the opening of offices in Manila, Philippines, and Bangalore, India, expanding its Phase II-IV clinical development services in response to growing client demand in Asia Pacific. PPD will provide clinical management services in key therapeutic areas from both locations.

The offices strengthen PPD's full range of drug discovery and development services and continue to position the company to capitalize on the tremendous growth of the outsourcing market in Asia Pacific. PPD recently expanded in this region through its acquisitions of Excel, the market leader and one of the largest contract research organizations in China, and BioDuro, a drug discovery outsourcing company.

"With 90 million people living in the Philippines and more than 20 million in Manila, there is enthusiasm for local expansion and involvement in clinical trials," said Lesley Gerrard, director of clinical management in PPD's Melbourne, Australia, office. "The recent opening of the Manila office demonstrates PPD's commitment to the growth and development of emerging markets in Southeast Asia and to further exploration of the opportunities that exist within this region."

Denzel Benjamin, director of clinical management in PPD's Bangalore office, added, "India is expected to conduct nearly five percent of global trials by 2010, and the opening of our Bangalore office advances our plans for expansion in India. This office provides us easy access to all of our sites across south India, which means cost savings for our clients and greater efficiencies for PPD."

The Manila office is located at Units 8 and 9, Alpha Building, UP-AyalaLand TechnoHub, Commonwealth Ave., Quezon City, Philippines 1121. The Bangalore office is at Pine Valley, Stylus Office, Embassy Golf-Links Business Park, Bangalore, India, 560071. For more information about PPD services provided from Manila, call +632 332 9818 and from Bangalore, call +91 80 4176 4567.

PPD is a leading global contract research organization, celebrating 25 years of advancing drug development. We provide discovery, development and post-approval services as well as compound partnering programs. Our clients and partners include pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, academic and government organizations. With offices in 40 countries and more than 10,500 professionals worldwide, PPD applies innovative technologies, therapeutic expertise and a commitment to quality to help its clients and partners maximize returns on their R&D investments and accelerate the delivery of safe and effective therapeutics to patients. For more information, visit our Web site at http://www.ppdi.com.

Except for historical information, all of the statements, expectations and assumptions contained in this news release, including expectations and assumptions about the opening of our new offices and globalization strategy, are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Although PPD attempts to be accurate in making these forward-looking statements, it is possible that future circumstances might differ from the assumptions on which such statements are based. In addition, other important factors which could cause results to differ materially include the following: risks associated with geographic expansion; success in sales growth; loss of large contracts; increased cancellation rates; economic conditions and outsourcing trends in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, academic and government industry segments; competition within the outsourcing industry; the ability to attract and retain key personnel; risks associated with and dependence on collaborative relationships; risks associated with the development and commercialization of drugs, including earnings dilution and obtaining regulatory approval; risks associated with acquisitions and investments, such as integration and impairments; rapid technological advances that make our products and services less competitive; risks that we may not continue our dividend policy; and the other risk factors set forth from time to time in the SEC filings for PPD, copies of which are available free of charge upon request from the PPD investor relations department.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ppd...k=MW_news_stmp

[IchimaruGin1]

Farmville maker Zynga sets up office in Bangalore

Bangalore: Zynga Game Network Inc., the maker of popular games such as Farmville and Mafia Wars, has set up its first office outside the US in Bangalore to support its fast increasing user base.

The two-and-a-half-year-old San Francisco-based technology company prides itself with as many as 235 million monthly active gamers globally.

Graphic: Yogesh Kumar/Mint
“We expect the user base to double in a year,” chief technology officer Cadir Lee said on Wednesday at a meeting to announce the Bangalore centre.
Zynga has about 20 games hosted across social networking web sites such as Facebook and Apple Inc.’s iPhone.

“We will hire 100 engineers and computer scientists over the next year in Bangalore,” said Shan Kadavil, country manager of Zynga’s Indian arm. The India staff will build back-end infrastructure and store data. The company also plans to set up a game studio in Bangalore that will develop games from scratch.

Kadavil says the company choose Bangalore due to its high-quality talent and a growing online population.

“Five years back (gaming) companies came to India because of cost (advantage) followed by talent (availability), but now they come because of talent available at good cost,” said Manoj Dawane, chief executive of People Infocom Pvt. Ltd, a mobile gaming and Internet company.

Online social games are a throw back to the card and board games of yesteryears where multiple players play as a means of social interaction, as opposed to console or video games that test players’ reflexes and hand-eye coordination.

This industry is about two years old and grew on the back of social networking sites such as Facebook, which opened its portals to application developers in 2007.

Zynga, which has funding from venture capital investors such as Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, declined to reveal its revenue but said it has broken even from the first year itself, with users paying to buy virtual cows and tractors.

http://www.livemint.com/2010/02/1723...a-sets-up.html

[engineer.akash]

Peenya could be autonomous area

Bangalore : If you're not willing to pay taxes, manage your affairs -- that's the government's plan for Asia's largest industrial area. Peenya Industrial Estate could soon be a special zone and out of municipal jurisdiction.

Though there's been a long-pending demand for an autonomous Peenya Industrial Township Authority, the proposal was kept on the back burner. It got a fresh lease of life recently after the Peenya Industries Association and BBMP clashed over property tax rates.

Earlier, this area was divided into two categories -- some came under old BMP limits while the other was with the erstwhile Dasarahalli CMC. With Greater Bangalore, the entire industrial area is under BBMP.

As per SAS 2009, the area comes under Zone D. Properties under BMP now pay 20% less tax, while those under CMC, that used to pay a pittance earlier, have to shell out more now.

Recently, industrialists met BBMP commissioner S Subramanya and sought some relief. However, the authorities ruled out having a separate taxation system for the industrial area alone.

"It's not possible to take a decision on revising property tax keeping only Peenya in mind. It's advisable to create a special zone for Peenya, keep it out of BBMP jurisdiction so that the association collects its own taxes and carries out civic works. If the government agrees, a draft notification will be submitted on this,'' BBMP commissioner wrote to the government on March 2.

The association has also cited recession as a major reason for low productivity of their units and hence inability to pay high property tax.

"The development cost and pressure are huge. Chemical effluents are let into drains. Roads need timely upgradation due to movement of heavy vehicles. Waste generation is high. The association demands international standards, but is not ready to pay taxes. The tax from that vast area is minimal and the municipal body cannot bear the costs. It's better the association manages its own affairs,'' explained urban development department officials.

PIA is pushing for autonomous status. According to association president M D Prabhu, a study is being done on the Gujarat model which has a special industrial zone. "The demand for a notified area has been long pending and only now, it's gathered momentum. Though government will be part of the zone, administration will done by industrialists who understand the needs. There's been a steep increase in property tax in some portions and we are negotiating with the BBMP,'' Prabhu said.

TOI

Quite an old news but important one too.

Not many are aware of the real economy of Bangalore that is its Mechanical hub-Peenya Industrial estate which is the Asia's biggest.

Ichi you may look into this aspect to get the breakdown of Bangalore economy/sector wise.

[IchimaruGin1]

Life just got costly for Bangalore residents. Vat69? no change

Bangalore: Drown your sorrowsin liquor, because it will be the only thing for which you need not shell out more. Thanks to the state budget presented here today, living in Bangalore will become more expensive from April 1.

The state government proposed a 1% increase in the value added tax (VAT) to 13.5% from the current 12.5% and to 5% from 4%. The increased VAT will be effective from April 1. However, for declared goods such as iron and steel, oil seeds and cotton, the 4% VAT will continue. Food prices are also likely to increase due to the hike in VAT and high transportation costs, say taxation experts.

The cost of living in Bangalore and other places in Karnataka will also increase, says Sanjay Dhariwal, partner of Dhariwal and Shreenivas and state taxes committee member at FKCCI and BCIC. For the common man, prices of all commodities, including toothpaste, will see a steep rise.

The increase in prices of essential commodities will have a ripple effect on other items too. The VAT on television, refrigerators and other luxury items will increase to 15% from 12.5%. Similar is the case with stationery items. The VAT on such items has been increased to 5% from 4%.

The budget has not done any good to the housing sector despite the proposed 1.5% reduction in stamp duty, says Dhariwal. Cement, ceramics, sanitary items and other construction materials will cost more. VAT on raw materials used for construction, such as sand and jelly stones, has been increased by 1%.

Furthermore smokers should, henceforth, think twice before lighting up because the state government has also increased the cost of tobacco from 12.5% to 15%. However, it has not touched the cost of liquor. Analysing this, Dhariwal said that this could be because liquor is consumed in large quantities and the government is earning sufficient revenue through it.

Driving on roads will also become expensive as the increase in lifetime tax will increase the VAT on motor vehicles from 12% to 13%. This has come as a shock, considering that the central government had already increased the cost of high-end cars. Adding to this, state taxes committee chairman in the BCIC, S Venkataramani, said that while the state government has allocated Rs18,000 crore for improving the city’s infrastructure, it stands to earn an additional revenue of Rs260 crore through motor vehicle taxes. It will, however, not stop people from buying vehicles. Adding to this, he pointed out that the cost of petrol and diesel has not been increased under VAT.

Luxury holidays will now become expensive as the government has increased the luxury tax from 6% to 8% for hotel room rents ranging between Rs1,000 and Rs2,000, and from 10% to 12% for rooms with a daily rent of over Rs2,000. This will severely affect tourists visiting the state, which seeks to be promoted as a tourism hub, said Vishnu Bharath, chartered accountant and former chairman of the FKCCI taxation committee.

The government will now collect an entry tax of 1% on sugar from factories, instead of distributors. The cost of sugar will only escalate due to VAT and fuel charges.

The increase in levy on fast-moving consumer goods by 1% will affect the common man to the hilt. You will have to pay more for FMCG products, packaged food, toiletry, housing, electrical goods, eat-out trips, software and hardware products, and tobacco.

http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/re...change_1355849

[IchimaruGin1]

Wipro seeks 50 acres near Bangalore airport for IT park

Global software major Wipro has applied for 50 acres of land near the Bangalore international airport for setting up an IT park, an official said on Friday.
"Wipro has applied for 50 acres of land in the new industrial belt coming up near the new airport. The state high-level committee will consider it soon," state principal industry secretary V.P. Baligar told reporters here.

When allotted, the proposed park will be the third location of the IT bellwether in India's tech hub. The company's main software development centre is located in the Electronics City on Hosur road, about 35 km from Bangalore and another on Sarjapur road in the southern suburb, which is its corporate headquarters.

In a related development, a technical team of Hero Honda Motors Ltd has inspected three sites in Hubli-Dharwad industrial belt in north Karnataka to set up a two-wheeler plant at an estimated cost of Rs.20 billion (Rs.2,000 crore).

"We have shown two sites near Hubli and another near Dharwad adjacent to Tata Motors bus plant. The company is looking for about 100 acres to set up the two-wheeler plant and another 200 acres for ancillary units and a township," Baligar said on the margins of a conclave on small and medium enterprises (SMEs), organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

Hubli-Dharwad is about 420 km from Bangalore.

The world's largest motorcycle firm evinced keen interest to locate its first southern plant in Karnataka when its top officials met state's large and medium industries minister Murugesh Nirani in New Delhi last week at a road-show held for the Global Investors' Meet to be held in Bangalore June first week.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...ow/5540069.cms

[IchimaruGin1]

K'taka mulls global financial district in Bangalore

Karnataka government’s plan to set up a global financial district in Devanahalli has met with enthusiasm from the banking and finance community in the preliminary meeting. The district is being envisioned as a hub for financial institutions to cater to industrial banking and finance.

“We are looking at a public private partnership (PPP) or joint venture (JV) model for the district. We will provide the land and the companies would bear the infrastructure cost,” state minister for large and medium industries Murugesh Nirani said.

He said the government had identified 200 acres of land near Bangalore International Airport at Devanahalli for the proposed district.

At a preliminary discussion organised by the government last week, senior officials from 45 banks, insurance companies and mutual funds attended and expressed their willingness to set up their offices there, Nirani told reporters.

He said the global financial district would enable industries to access finance for their projects in the state at one place as all the banks and financial institutions would be available.

With big ticket investments from companies like Arcelor Mittal, Hero Honda and Wipro expected to come into the state in the next couple of years, the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) is looking to acquire around 50,000 acres to be allotted for industrial purpose. Of this, around 12,000 acres has already been acquired, he said.

“Depending on the area, we are acquiring land at prices ranging from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 1.5 crore per acre,” said Nirani. He added around 5,000 acres of the 50,000 acres the state is looking to acquire could fall under the fertile land category which could be de-notified.

“If more than 20 per cent of a piece of land is found to be fertile, we will go ahead and acquire the land (for industrial purpose) only if we get approval of over 80 per cent of farmers,” said Nirani.

The state government in the recent past cleared major projects including the 6 mtpa integrated steel plant, pig iron, pellets and 750 Mw captive power generation by Arcelor Mittal for a proposed investment of Rs 30,000 crore and by Posco India, which intends to invest Rs 32,336 crore in its 6 mtpa finex steel plant. Other major investments are by Zuari Fertlizers & Chemicals, Relogistics Infrastructure and, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals.

He also said that micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) was a priority for the state. For this, the Laghu Udyog Bharathi (LUB) — Karnataka, K and D Communication, Ministry of MSME and National Small Industries Corporation are organising the India Manufacturing Show 2010 (IMS 2010) from October 9-12 at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre, Bangalore.

The expo is expected to see participation of over 1,000 exhibitors.

http://www.business-standard.com/ind...strict/388146/

[IchimaruGin1]

Bosch shuts down Bangalore unit; loses Maruti order

Bangalore: Bosch, one of the country’s largest auto component manufacturers and a subsidiary of Germany-based auto component giant Robert Bosch, declared a lockout at its Naganathpura production plant near Bangalore.

The company has shut operations after the workmen resorted to a flash strike and assaulted an officer over wage revision. The immediate impact of the lockout is on a Rs 30-crore order from Maruti Suzuki, which the company has lost while orders from OEMs like Tata, Hyundai, Ford and M&M are also under threat.

“The company has decided to shut down considering the safety of employees, machinery and other installations,” said N Umesh, vice president of Bosch’s Naganathapura plant.

The impact of the lock out could also affect the company's main auto component manufacturing plant in the same city at Adugodi. Umesh said workers are in a `go slow' mode in Adugodi plant too since February 12. Wage negotiations are on at the Adugodi plant, that employs about 4,500 workers. It manufactures common rail injection system, fuel injection pump, power tools and elements for auto industry. Vaishali Jajoo, an analyst attached to Mumbai-based broking from Angel Securities told FE that she did not expect the lock out to continue for a longer time. "The company may incur losses of Rs 1-Rs 1.5 crore per day if they continue with the lock out," she warned. Moreover the company may not have sufficient inventory as they have already resorted to production cuts last year due to recession. The Naganathapura plant was set up in 1989 and since then it has witnessed four strikes, but however this is the first time the company has decided to go in for a lock-out. Industry watchers feel that the lock-out may lead to governmental intervention as Bosch is one of the oldest companies in Bangalore. It was was earlier called Mico Bosch. Already the matter has been escalated to the labour commissioner's office. Bosch Ltd has five auto component manufacturing units in India. Other than the two in Bangalore, it has one each in Goa, Jaipur and Nagpur. The company's roll call includes more than 10,000 employees. The Naganathapura plant was prey to employee agitation for the past one month.

The company manufactures starters, generators, spark plugs and alternators at its Naganathapura plant for OEMs and the aftermarket sector. The plant has 900 employees including 715 workers serving at the shop...

http://www.financialexpress.com/news...-order/588906/

[IchimaruGin1]

Bosch's Bangalore plant strike ends

BANGALORE: The four-day lockout at Bosch's Naganathapura plant in Bangalore has been called off after the management and workers reached a settlement. Work will resume on Saturday. On Tuesday, the company had declared a lockout at its Naganathpura plant after union workers demanded wages be increased by Rs 15,000.

Bosch says this had resulted in a total loss to the company of Rs 4 crore per day while its customers were losing approximately Rs 1,000 crore per month. Some of Bosch's clients include Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, M&M, Ashok Leyland some of whom rely completely on Bosch for auto components. Bosch says there have been no major cancellations so far.

The factory at Naganathapura produces parts such as starter motors and spark plugs for carmakers.

http://www.bloombergutv.com/industry...rike-ends.html

[IchimaruGin1]

GE Healthcare ups India focus with CT facility

GE Healthcare, the $17-billion division of General Electric Company, today announced the expansion of its Bangalore manufacturing operations to enable more customised products for local use. It also rolled out its first computer tomography (CT) system manufactured in India.

The CT system manufacturing facility has a yearly capacity of 40 units. The systems cost about $200,000 (Rs 90 lakh) if assembled here, a cost advantage of 10 per cent. With more indigenisation expected, costs may be brought down further, said the company.

It said it’d be augmenting its network to tap opportunities in tier-II and tier-III towns. And, may even tie up with companies that sell healthcare products and have a distribution network, to reach healthcare practitioners in these places. Many hospitals and diagnostic centres are coming up in these towns and looking for affordable and reliable systems.

Today, with medical imaging equipment, like CT and MRI systems and nuclear medicine being imported, waiting periods are long. GE Healthcare’s efforts to produce more high-end products locally is aimed at making many of these more affordable for practitioners, especially those who need such technologies in tier-II and III towns.

“In the past we designed, developed and manufactured ultrasound, ECG, x-ray systems and many sub-systems in India. We are making in India products conceived locally and that speak to local needs, while giving solutions that can be taken to other emerging markets,” said John Dineen, President and CEO, GE Healthcare.

The company set up its first manufacturing plant in the country in 1991. It signalled an aggressive approach by announcing plans to manufacture GoldSeal HiSpeed CT/e single and dual slice systems exclusively in India for both domestic and exports worldwide. The manufacturing plant in Bangalore has capacity to produce upto 300 HiSpeed CT/e units in one year with an option to increase capacity further.

“Globally, we are seeing a major shift from a ‘what we can offer’ to a ‘what can I offer you’ syndrome and I believe that has a lasting impact on customers – the whole idea is to understand the needs of the market. We aim to make healthcare more accessible through solutions developed or manufactured locally meeting local needs,” said V Raja, President & CEO, GE Healthcare South Asia

http://www.business-standard.com/ind...cility/388103/

[IchimaruGin1]

Office space: Oracle, Brigade call off deal

BANGALORE: Oracle India, which was in talks with Bangalore-based Brigade Group for 1.2-million sqft commercial space in its Brigade Gateway

project, has called off the deal. The IT major was planning to take office space in Brigade Northstar, a 30-floor tower complex within Brigade Gateway, to consolidate its multiple leased spaces in Bangalore.

Oracle told its employees in an email communication: “As you know, Oracle Real Estate has been examining the Brigade Northstar facility, as part of our strategy to consolidate our multiple leased spaces in Bangalore. This is to inform you that Oracle has decided not to pursue this location.” Oracle had planned to transfer 8,000 employees to the Northstar facility.

Had the agreement been successful, it could have been one of the biggest commercial space deals in Bangalore and could have made Brigade richer by Rs 600 crore. Oracle was in talks with Brigade for almost six months but the differences over in the prices quoted by the two led to the collapse of the deal. Oracle and Brigade Group refused to comment on the issue.

Oracle was looking to move its first team to the new location approximately 12 months from November 2009. The company was planning to centralise its common operations and administrative functions.

In an earlier email communication to its employees, Oracle had said the new location was expected to fulfill the space requirements of many lines of business and would have accommodated approximately 50% of Oracle’s Bangalore staff. The rest were expected to occupy Oracle Technology Park and a few other locations.

Northstar is a part of Brigade Group’s 40-acre township called Brigade Gateway and includes apartments, Sheraton Hotel, malls and Columbia Asia Hospital.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...ow/5688261.cms

[IchimaruGin1]

Hotel industry picking up as IT sector bounces back: Royal Orchid

Could you just tell us the kind of occupancies you are seeing in the cities you are in and what increase have you seen in the average room rates by city?

Actually we have seen that Bangalore started off the first half year very slow, occupancies where hovering around 15% but now we have seen in the last two quarters (last quarter and this quarter) occupancies going up to about 65% to in some cases 70% also in some of the hotels. In Whitefield, our hotel is doing over 70% and this month is going about 80%-85% occupancy so things are picking up. There is an overall revival in the IT sector which is going to be having a very positive impact on all our five Bangalore hotels.

So I see that Bangalore hotels would definitely perform much better than what they did in the past. Looking at Pune also I find that Pune hotels are doing very well now again with IT bouncing back of course our hotels they are very well positioned, very centrally located and we are the market leaders there so both the hotels are doing exceedingly well yes the rates have come down because of the increased supply but correspondingly occupancies have also gone up.

How many new rooms are being added in Bangalore and in Pune and if any other city and what would that due to the occupancy levels you are seeing currently and what would that do to the average room rates so perhaps if you can give us a number for Bangalore, Pune how many new rooms are coming on stream in the next 6 to 12 months and how much could the occupancy fall by or the average rooms fall by once these rooms get operational?

Actually you cannot go city by city, you will go area by area because cities are very large now, for example, in Bangalore there is supply coming in Yeshwantpur where there is a Taj Hotel coming up, there is Sheraton Hotel coming up and there is a Mövenpick coming up all three in one area which is Yeshwantpur. Now if that hotel come up they don’t impact any of our hotels, they will probably be slugging it out amongst themselves they increase their capacities about 600 to 700 to rooms in that area which have not serviced at all. So I think area wise if you really look at it Bangalore in the centre of town there is a JW Marriott likely to open otherwise there not very much supply coming up within the city.

Yes, Whitefield a number of hotels are opening up in Whitefield but of course we are catering to the long stay guest in Whitefield so we have established a niche for ourselves the other hotels are coming up are in the mid market and the upper scale so there is going to be increase competition there. So we change our strategy depending on what is going to be happen in the market so I think in that way we are pretty much okay as far as Bangalore is concerned.

As far as Pune is concerned, yes we have lower down the rates particularly as strategy because we are expecting about three or four hotels like the Grand Hyatt is going to open and may be a four point Sheraton opening very close to our hotel but there our rates are now very competitive we are very well established in the market so we hope that we will maintain our occupancies in the coming year because we have anticipated what kind of rates they will offer so we have adjusted our ARRs accordingly and I think we are pretty well placed in that market also.

Given that it’s a high capital intensive business and there is a locality element to it what is your sense that you can give investors out there about your margin performance this financial year in the light of the fact that business is seeing a pick up as you just pointed out in overall occupancy and rates?

Yes, in the past one year things were very bad because what happens is that whatever you get by way of room rent well 80%-85% of that comes to the bottom line so I expect that example the last year was rates and room revenue was very much down, F&B was quite okay but only 15% of the F&B revenue flows down to the bottom line wherein case of room 85% flows down to the bottom line so this coming year we expect that there will be a substantial increase of 20% to 25% in the overall room rates so that should flow down to the bottom line.

In Bangalore how many hotel rooms as we speak currently and how many new are being added in 6 to 12 months so it gives us a perspective 10,000 hotel rooms, 4000 more coming up in the entire city. In Pune also if you can tell us how many hotel rooms are there and how many new are being added in the next 6 to 12 months?

In Bangalore, I can say that there will be about at the moment about in the category of four and five star hotels there will be about 3500 rooms at the moment and I think another 1000 rooms are being added if you count four or five hotels that are coming up now so maximum hotels which we don’t know about that also may be another 1500 rooms will get added. We are not very worried about capacity addition that’s one question which I like to answer is that our overall size of the market is very very small but what if the business is moving economies we will definitely be able to fill up our rooms because what is 3500 or 4000 rooms for a city like Bangalore when you have 10 times that capacity in other cities.

.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/services/hotels-/-restaurants/Hotel-industry-picking-up-as-IT-sector-bounces-back-Royal-Orchid/articleshow/5693791.cms

[IchimaruGin1]

Ashok Kheny to develop entertainment city near Bangalore

BANGALORE: Newly turned producer and infrastructure czar Ashok Kheny today announced that he plans to develop an entertainment city with 20 studios with an investment of Rs 10 billion on a 300 acre land in Sompura near Bangalore.

“There are plans to set up eight studios dedicated for cinema, eight for producing television content, two blue-screens or special effects studios, and two for producing advertisements. The entertainment city will have modern processing labs, animation studio, sound studio, computerized lighting and special effects studio,” said Kheny.

Kheny was speaking during the launch of Prem Kaa Game, a debut Bollywood film by his entertainment company AKK Entertainment. The film stars Arbaaz Khan in the lead male role and introduces Bangalore girl Madhuri Bhattacharya as his co-star. Others among the cast of include Malaika Arora Khan, Tara Sharma, Johny Lever and Rubi Chakravarty.

Kheny who has plans to feature the film across 500-plus screens in India starting this Friday, revealed, “Prem Kaa Game is the second venture of AKK Entertainment, after the successful launch of Sonu Nigaam’s first Kannada solo album last year.”

Bangalore already has a film city project, the first phase of which was launched by The Innovative Group (Innovative), Innovative Film City (IFC), about 2 years ago. The IFC complex is spread over 54 acres of land. The first phase has cost Innovative a shade less than Rs 1 billion. The overall project would entail investments of about Rs 5 billion.

http://www.indiantelevision.com/aac/y2k10/aac150.php