Cochin (Kochi) / Ernakulam Projects II

[pavamdoha]

Kochi is developing rapidly. Nice to see the upcoming projects and development at Kochi… Kochi pazhaya kochi alla… Any news about Metro train, I think within 5 year they need metro train otherwise traffic will sunk the whole city.

[AAJACOB]

Amritha School of Management (ASM) @ Kochi

ASB’s MBA campus inaugurated



The new MBA campus of the Amrita School of Business (ASB) of the Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham was inaugurated by Swami Abhayamrita Chaitanya at the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences in Kochi on Friday. “It is important to provide valuebased education to the young generation,” Abhayamrita Chaitanya said.


The Kochi campus is the only campus where the medical and business campuses co-exist.

Currently, MBA course is being offered at the Coimbatore campus. The course will soon be launched in Bangalore and Kollam also. H Jayaram, executive director and CEO, GMMCO, Sunanda Muraleedharan, Associate Dean, ASB, Kochi, Prem Nair, Medical Director, AIMS, Sanjay Banerjee, Dean, ASB and S Krishnakumar, registrar, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham also spoke.

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/s...H3Holuas=&SEO=

[AAJACOB]

KOCHI: Mayor Mercy Williams on Saturday said that the civic body would go ahead with the proposed public transport system project under which it would run 200 new buses,including low-floor buses.


Addressing the media at a post budget briefing here, the Mayor denied any chance of apprehension over this project. "The Union Urban Development Ministry has allotted Rs 73 crore to Kochi Corporation for purchasing buses. The Corporation is planning to buy 120 low-floor air- conditioned buses, 30 mini and 50 ordinary buses to ensure safe and adequate transportation facilities to the public," she said.

The buses will start service within six months. The Corporation and the KSRTC will float a company to manage the bus service. However, the Mayor said that as the fund was allotted to the Corporation, it would not be possible for the KSRTC to undertake and implement the project all by its own.

Replying to a query, the Mayor said that construction of the new office complex for Corporation, which is in standstill now, would commence soon. "The processes for re-tendering the project is progressing and the work will commence within 3 months," she said.

"The construction of the platform to erect the machineries required for the Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) plant will be completed within one month and it will be functional before August 15. The Corporation will also complete the masterplan for the city soon," she added.

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/s...H3Holuas=&SEO=

[AAJACOB]

Asserting that there was no move to privatise the FACT, management of the public sector fertiliser company on Friday announced plans to set up a urea plant at a cost of around Rs 650 crore.


“The company will generate around 20 percent of the total amount, while the remaining amount will be raised from financial institutions”, Atul Chaturvedi, secretary, fertilisers, said at a meeting held on Thursday to launch two new products.

Speaking on the sidelines of the launch of Zincated Factamfos and Zincated Gypsum and kicking off of the implementation of ER P by software firm SAP, Atul said that the management did not intend to privatise the company which was in the red for some years before turning around last year.

Atul said that the company had all the essential inputs required for a fertiliser company and the capability to operate without any subsidy.

Atul, addressing the company’s board meeting on Friday, had said that the FACT should devise a long-term vision to keep going ahead and should not bank on subsidies. “Business model should be separate from subsidy model,” he said. Reminding the company about the vast immovable assets it owned and that all the parameters were in the company’s favour, he urged to leverage on the assets for the company’s benefit. George Sleeba, CBD, FACT, briefed on the company’s recovery last year and highlighted the features of the new products.

“The new product Zincated Factamfos has a zinc content of 0.3 percent and is a macro-micro nutrient. The other product, Zincated Gypsum, contains 2 percent zinc and plays a major role in integrated plant nutrient management, Sleeba said.

Keeping in tune with the changes in Information Technology, the company has migrated to the ERP-SAP system to integrate and consolidate all of its business applications at a common platform with a centralised data centre.

Mathew C Kunnumkal, additional secretary and financial advisor, Department of Fertilisers and Sudheer Bhargava, joint secretary, Department of Fertilisers offered felicitations.

Ranjan Das, MD, SAP, Indian Subcontinent, and A Asokan, Director (Marketing), FACT, spoke

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/s...H3Holuas=&SEO=

[AAJACOB]

Originally Posted by AAJACOB

GAIL approval for inter-state pipelines

The director board of the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) has accorded an investment approval for laying the Kochi–Kanjirkkod–Bangalore– Mangalore pipelines.


The 1,114-km Kochi–Kanjirkkod– Bangalore–Mangalore pipeline, to be laid with an investment of Rs 3,032 crore, includes a foreign exchange component of Rs 18.57 crore.

The design capacity of this pipeline is 16 Million Metric Standard Cubic Meter Per Day(MMSCMD), including 4 MMSCMD as common carrier.

The project will be completed in two phases.

The first phase will be completed by 2011, while the second phase is scheduled to be completed around 2012-13.

In the phase-I of the project, a 96-km pipeline will be laid from Kochi to Aluva (Tap-off) with spur-lines and feederlines to Aluva (SEZ Vypeen Kochi, GTN Textiles), Udyogamandal (Premier Tyres, Kalamassery, REL, FACT-I, Sud- Chemic & Travancore Cochin), Binanipuram (Cochin Minerals & Binani Zinc), Ambalamedu (Kerala Chemicals & Protein Ltd. Kakkanad, FACTII, BPCL Refinery, Hindustan Organic Ltd., Philips Carbon & MILMA) at an estimated investment of Rs 267.50 crore.

In the phase-II, a 1018-km pipeline will be laid from Aluva (Tap-off) to Kanjirkkod, Kanjirkkod to Mangalore and Kanjirkkod to Palakkad with spur-lines and feederlines to Thrissur (Apollo Tyres), Kottakkal (Aryavaidyasala), Kozhikode (KSEB Power Plant), Kannur (Western Plywood, Power Projects), Mangalore (MCF) and Palakkad (Indosil, Precoat & steel industries).

The phase-II also involves laying of pipeline from Palakkad to Bangalore with spurlines and feeder-lines to Coimbatore (Sri Kannapan, Flow Link, CPC, Koval Auto, KG Denim, Van Tax, Texmo Precision, Texmo Industries, Supper Spinning, LG Balakrishnan & Brothers Limited), Trippur (Local area network for SA Textiles Limited), Truchengode and Salem.

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/s...H3Holuas=&SEO=

GAIL gas pipe line covers almost all the major industries from Central Kerala to Coimbatore and Tirupur in Tamil Nadu & Mangalore and Bangalore in Karnataka. Hope this would be extended down south for utilization of KMML @ Kollam and TTP & Hindustan Latex @ Trivandrum . Cheap LNG availability would place Kochi in the forefront of industrial development as we would see more industrial units in the area .

[AAJACOB]

Originally Posted by pavamdoha

Kochi is developing rapidly. Nice to see the upcoming projects and development at Kochi… Kochi pazhaya kochi alla… Any news about Metro train, I think within 5 year they need metro train otherwise traffic will sunk the whole city.

Yup ,

Kochi is growing rapidly . The private sector has played it's part inspite of the indifferent attitude of the civic authorities . Now state government need to go ahead with easing the congestion of the basic amenities like city roads,water supply & solid waste management .

Metro railway is inevitable considering the rapid pace of the developments happening around Kochi . State government need to reconsider it's stand of not allowing private sector to be part of a JV for the proposed metro .

[sudheeshnairs]

The metro rail is planned only as a BOT project on the PPP model.

The expression of Interest was invited by KINFRA in Jan 2006 itself.

Originally Posted by AAJACOB

State government need to reconsider it's stand of not allowing private sector to be part of a JV for the proposed metro .

[pavamdoha]

Originally Posted by AAJACOB

Yup ,

Kochi is growing rapidly . The private sector has played it's part inspite of the indifferent attitude of the civic authorities . Now state government need to go ahead with easing the congestion of the basic amenities like city roads,water supply & solid waste management .

Metro railway is inevitable considering the rapid pace of the developments happening around Kochi . State government need to reconsider it's stand of not allowing private sector to be part of a JV for the proposed metro .

Yes, you are right. The infrastructure is in the hands of Govt, at least they have to acquire the land and give to private party to build it. But sadly our govt authorities are not acting promptly as they have to do. But anyway nice to see Kochi’s development and to become one of the major city of India.

[pavamdoha]

Originally Posted by sudheeshnairs

The metro rail is planned only as a BOT project on the PPP model.

The expression of Interest was invited by KINFRA in Jan 2006 itself.

One of the best example of BOT is the new Metro bus stand at Kannur. One of the major contractors at Kannur district “KK builder” built that and they will operate for 30 years then will transfer the ownership to Municipality.

But in case of Metro train the state govt also involved so the policies will be more than a municipality.

[AAJACOB]

Originally Posted by sudheeshnairs

The metro rail is planned only as a BOT project on the PPP model.

The expression of Interest was invited by KINFRA in Jan 2006 itself.

May be it was conceived like that then . But state govt is now insisting on the the project being implemented without a private partner.

Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan said in Delhi on Tuesday that the metro rail project in Kochi would be executed on the model of the Delhi metro rail, but without private partnership.
“I discussed with Sreedharan the details of the metro rail proposal for Kochi. As per our plans, the project would be in partnership between the Kerala government and the Central government without any private partnership,” he said.

http://www.hindu.com/2009/02/04/stor...0458290100.htm

[KMC]

DLF Has 8 Million sqft Township coming at Kalamassery designed by Hafeez Contractor .......

This came from a Resume of DLF employee he he he

• Township development at Kalamassery over a plot area 45 acres with a built up of 8 million sqft. (. In co-ordination with Architect Hafeez Contractor and his team for design development.)

http://www.learn4good.com/jobs/langu...dia/cv/318043/

[DileepKS]

The metro was originally proposed as PPP, but the govt wouldn't have nothing of it. The single major roadblock is still the contention between the planning commission who insist on PPP, and Achumama who insist govt owned. The failure of Maytas and Hyd metro was expected to ease up the planning commission, but that didn't happen.

AFAIK, the only issues blocking the metro are:

1. Issue on funding. PPP/BOT or Govt.
2. Issue on alignment via MG Road.

IMPO, it should be done under PPP. But the govt is known to be very hostile to PPP, at least to thise companies who don't grease the hands properly. I sure hope they learned the lesson from Pati Bell and Punj Lloyd issues, but that is only a hope.

[DileepKS]

The newsclip on the city budget:

[ttand3t]

Mohanlal-Priyadarshan team is planning a cricket team for IPL with Sasi Taroor as chairman.A bold move no doubt . It will help in showcasing Kerala to the rest of india especially with the proposed new stadium at Edakkochi coming up in the waterfront. what attracted me most is the name,Kerala city cricketers where the whole Kerala is projected as a city. Visionary thinking. What is left to see is whether we can see Mohanlal in the balcony waving down to the fans and throwing flying kisses .

[pavamdoha]

Originally Posted by ttand3t

Mohanlal-Priyadarshan team is planning a cricket team for IPL with Sasi Taroor as chairman.A bold move no doubt . It will help in showcasing Kerala to the rest of india especially with the proposed new stadium at Edakkochi coming up in the waterfront. what attracted me most is the name,Kerala city cricketers where the whole Kerala is projected as a city. Visionary thinking. What is left to see is whether we can see Mohanlal in the balcony waving down to the fans and throwing flying kisses .

Never expect Lal to do like that, he is not king khan. But he should be there for sure

[choryyan]

Originally Posted by ttand3t

Mohanlal-Priyadarshan team is planning a cricket team for IPL with Sasi Taroor as chairman.A bold move no doubt . It will help in showcasing Kerala to the rest of india especially with the proposed new stadium at Edakkochi coming up in the waterfront. what attracted me most is the name,Kerala city cricketers where the whole Kerala is projected as a city. Visionary thinking. What is left to see is whether we can see Mohanlal in the balcony waving down to the fans and throwing flying kisses .

Priyadarsan, Mohanlal to float an IPL team!

Last week, Priyadarsan was in his hometown of Thiruvananthapuram on a mission.

He is planning to start a cricket team from Kerala for the next IPL season in 2010, with childhood friend and Malayalam superstar Mohanlal.

“During our school and college days, we had a cricket team, City Cricketers, for which I used to open the innings; Mohanlal was the all rounder and pinch hitter. Some of our team members played in the Ranji Trophy for Kerala, while others got into Malayalam film industry,” says Priyadarsan getting nostalgic.
Now, he is working towards his dream of having an IPL team from Kerala, with the tacit support of the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA), affiliated to BCCI, which is looking to add more teams to the premier T-20 tournament.

Says Mohanlal, “We’re trying to nurture local talent, as the most successful IPL players this year have been little known guys like Manish Pandey, Pragyan Ojha, and Kamran Khan. There are a lot of youngsters in the small towns of Kerala and Tamil Nadu waiting to get a break. They have the talent, but lack exposure and world class training facilities.”

“Thanks to Shah Rukh Khan, we were able to send five promising lads — Mohammed Niaz, Mohammed Sanuth, Rohan Prem, P Prashanth and teenage batting sensation Sanju V Samson — to attend the selection trials of the Kolkata Knight Riders. They might not have made it to the team, but they got to see how international players train and the exposure has helped them,” adds Priyadarsan.

The duo has roped in Shashi Tharoor, the Thiruvananthapuram MP and the new Union Minister of State for External Affairs as chairman of their team, to be called City Cricketers.

Two NRIs and a few corporates are willing to fund the project which will cost around Rs 250 crore. The team will have its own state-of-the-art cricket stadium near Kovalam. Former Indian player and fielding coach Robin Singh has been signed as the technical director.

“The KCA will approach the BCCI with our proposal, and if all goes well, we will start our IPL innings next year,” concludes Priyadarsan.

Link

[choryyan]

Govt-Tecom Talks likely on July 1

KOCHI: The State Government has informed the TECOM that July 1 or 2 would be convenient for the former to hold talks for sorting out the differences between the two with regard to various issue, including the free-hold land.

After the promoters of the project closed contract with Colin Butchnen for preparing the masterplan of the project, the State Government had entrusted Chief Secretary Neela Gangadharan to negotiate with the TECOM. In the reply to an e-mail sent by the Chief Secretary, the TECOM had informed the Government that it was ready for talks.

"We had informed that July 1 or 2 would be convenient date for us.

Now, we are awaiting the reply from the TECOM," said Neela.

In the wake of the Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan's statement in the Assembly that the Government was yet to identify the land to be given to the TECOM with free-hold right, arriving at a consensus on the issue seems to be difficult.

The TECOM authorities made it clear that they had demanded a reassurance from the Government that the clause on 'free-hold land' would be incorporated in the lease agreement of the 110 acres of land involved in the deal.

At the same time, the Chief Minister and Fisheries Minister S Sarma had stated that the talks could be conducted staying within the framework agreement.

Link

Good to see continuing positive effort by government.

[AAJACOB]

Planning Commission approves kochi metro rail project:

Kochi rockkkkkkkksss

http://www.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bi...RIAL&BV_ID=@@@

[AAJACOB]

Originally Posted by jaleelmalik

It is understood that by 2011 December, safe & cheap LNG shall be available at Flats & Villas of Kochi through pipeline. Initially 25,000 housing units shall be blessed with this facility. Later on, this utility shall be extended to Hotels & Restaurants. The project has been named God's Own Country Gas.

Anybody has more information in this regard?
Sorry, if the matter had already been posted here.

Kochi all set to have a city gas supply network by 2012

Your kitchen will have piped gas by 2012

Come 2012, cooking gas will be supplied through pipes to kitchens in Bangalore and a few other cities in the state. The state Cabinet, which met here on Thursday, gave its approval to the proposed gas pipeline project to be executed by the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) in cooperation with the state’s Urban Infrastructure Development Department.

The Rs 2,500-crore project will bring CNG to Bangalore through pipes.

GAIL will lay two gas pipelines — one from Dhabol to Bangalore and another from Kochi to Bangalore via Mangalore — each with a capacity to carry 16 million cubic metres of gas. Both the pipelines will have lateral tapping points to ensure the supply of gas to cities and towns enroute to Bangalore from Dhabol and Kochi.

Home Minister V S Acharya said the government would only play a facilitator’s role.

The gas pipeline project will also has the capacity to generate between between 5,000 MW to 6 000 MW of power, the Minister said.

In the first phase, 402 km pipeline will be laid from Dabhol to Gokak along with spurlines to Belgaum and Goa and is scheduled to be completed by 2011-12. In part B of phase I, 570 km pipeline will be laid from Gokak to Bangalore (KPCL, Bidadi) along with spur lines/ feeder lines to Bangalore and is scheduled to be completed by 2011-12/ 2012-13.

In phase II, 417 km feeder lines will be laid to Ratnagiri, Kolhapur, Sangali, Bijapur, Dharwad, Davangere, Harihar and Tumkur and is scheduled to be completed by 2012- 13/2013-14.

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/s...zZRCAUTQ==&SEO=

[AAJACOB]

Demand in the Indian residential market is expected to turn positive in 2010 due to improvement in affordability, steady economic growth and greater liquidity, says a Crisil research report on the real estate sector.

However, the decline in the currently overpriced capital values of all three real estate segments of residential, commercial and retail will persist through 2009. Commercial and retail markets will continue to see erosion of lease rentals in the next two years, it says.

The report is an analysis of over 400 areas across 88 micro-markets in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai-MMR, National Capital Region and Pune.

Mr Sudhir Nair, Head, Crisil Research, said: “Accelerated growth of Indian economy, recovery of global economy, improved liquidity and expected fall in interest rates are key factors that will signal demand revival in the residential segment. This segment is likely to see a much faster revival due to a strong underlying demand for housing and supply coming at attractive price points.”

The demand in the commercial and retail segments is likely to remain under stress the next two years owing to excess supply and weak offtake, he added.

The report says capital values for residential sector and lease rentals for commercial and retail properties had substantially corrected till March due to a slowdown in both the domestic and global economies, and also due to real estate becoming unaffordable.

Kochi, Chandigarh and Pune, which have greater investor presence as against end-users, saw a greater fall in capital values compared to other cities. The situation is expected to continue through 2009 and 2010, particularly in the commercial and retail segments.

However, Crisil Research believes that demand for houses will improve in 2010, backed by lower home loan interest rates as well as better job security owing to higher growth in the economy.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...2551170500.htm