Mumbai Update II - project news from Mumbai ‎

[bhargavsura]

Smart lights soon on Mumbai streets

Mumbai will be the second city, after Bangalore, in the country to install ‘smart’ street lights fitted with dimming technology to reduce the electricity consumption.

By the year end, over 5,000 street lights in a 10 sq km area falling under G-South Ward in the Haji Ali, Worli and Prabhadevi areas in central Mumbai will be fitted with the technology as part of a pilot project.

“The lights are fitted with voltage controlling devices which can be programmed as per your requirements. Traffic movement between mid-night and dawn is very sparse when we do not need bright lights,” outgoing Additional Municipal Commissioner Manu Kumar Srivastava said.

It has yielded good results in Bangalore and I am sure that we will be able to save around 20 per cent of power in Mumbai, Srivastava said.

The entire system runs automatically and does not require to be controlled manually.

The pilot project is expected to cost around Rs 2 crore and based upon its results, a decision may be taken to cover the entire city with ‘smart’ lights.

The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai incurs an electricity bill of Rs 90 crore per annum on street lights alone and has also started conducting energy audit by appointing a consultant as per the National Municipal Accounting Manual, Srivastava said.

Source: Mumbai Mirror

[Cov Boy]

Wow!

Great pics & new projects.

There is a Gherkin rip off also in Barcelona! So other cities are ripping Norman Foster's design which will happen. You could say that it is inspired by that design hehehe.

[bhargavsura]

Mukesh Ambani Wants to start his own airport

Aneesh phadnis

After starting construction of a helipad at his Seawind residence at Cuffe Parade, Reliance Industries Limited chief Mukesh Ambani now wants to build an airport in Raigad district.

Ambani, who has a fleet of private jets including an Airbus 319, is developing the MahaMumbai Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in the district and has identified a site in Uran for the airport.

Although details of the project are not known, an official of the Navi Mumbai SEZ Private Limited, a Reliance Group company, confirmed the development and said the company was examining the feasibility of an airport. "'We are looking at it (an airport) as one of the possibilities. It is in a preliminary stage," the official said, refusing to elaborate.

Indications are that the proposed Ambani airport could be for private use.

The Centre has already given its go-ahead for the Navi Mumbai airport to be developed by the City and Industrial Development Corporation, but the project is still to get an environmental clearance.

Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told Mumbai Mirror over the phone that the government would permit a private airport (for non-scheduled and charter operations) near Mumbai but added that he had not received any proposal for a private airport.

Sources said the Ambanis owns several planes and helicopters. These planes are parked at the Mumbai airport, which is congested and has little additional parking space.

Recently, a team of officers of the Airports Authority of India and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation inspected the site at Uran to examine operational aspects of the airport. The AAI's no-objection clearance is required from the point of view of air traffic management, and the purpose of the inspection was to examine the feasibility of an airport and aspects such as the required runway length and alignment, air traffic procedures, obstructions in approach path etc. According to government sources, the site in Uran is a marshland and is being reclaimed. However, there are some problems with the site, they said, adding a railway line passes closeby.

"An A-320 requires a minimum of 6500-7000 feet of runway. Although land is available for construction of runway of that length, there are hills surrounding the site. There is an obstruction in the approach path. All the runways have safe landing points, which are marked. However, in Uran, because of the hills, the safe touchdown point will have to be provided much further from the tip of the runway. Thus even a runway with 7000 feet won't be sufficient for landing of an A-320," an offcial said.

Sources said because of these factors, there could be restrictions on the take-off load. However, the AAI is still to give its final report on the feasibility of the Uran site.

Source: Mumbai Mirror

[Euromast]

Cybertecture’ design offers provocative intelligence systems in India with the Cybertecture Egg office

James Law have been commissioned by Vijay Associate (Wadhwa Developers) to create an office unlike any other in Mumbai, India. The 32,000 sq m egg-shaped build will accommodate 13 floors of offices bringing together iconic architecture, environmental design, intelligent systems, and new engineering to create an awe-inspiring landmark in the city.

The architecture is sleek and computer designed, with engineering that creates a building of high quality and geometric sophistication. It is hoped this building will act like a “jewel” for the new Central Business District of Mumbai, and will be a worthy neighbour to other esteemed buildings in the district. The building is due for completion by the end of 2010.

Read here

[Suncity]

Looks amazing. Now the authorities have to really work hard to spruce up Bandra Kurla complex.

[bhargavsura]

will be a Must-see building for tourists when it comes up in 2010

[Bombay Boy]

really nice, great to see some real designs in bombay. yeah the mmrda should invest quite a bit back in bkc. they seem to be concretising all the main roads (finally), but lots needs to be done

[IndiansUnite]

Nice find Euromast. That looks just fantastic.

[zhiemi]

The 'egg' looks awesome, just what Mumbai and the country needs.

[phaedrus]

Great find Euromast!

[Cov Boy]

Yup that is fantastic and original.

Would look great and yeah I do agree that BKC does need sprucing up eps. landscaping.

[Nitro]

nice one. looks like the gherkin but its been forced to topple over due to the crippling height restriction on BKC. haha

[TdotTdot]

awesome!

[phaedrus]

Originally Posted by Nitro

nice one. looks like the gherkin but its been forced to topple over due to the crippling height restriction on BKC. haha

[ubermeow]

Horrible! We already have 2 eggs in Pune, why lay another one in Mumbai

[IndiansUnite]

someone has started a thread on it in the Highrises section:

Mumbai | Cybertecture Egg | 13 Floors | App

[IndiansUnite]

Lehman Bros to invest Rs 1,500 cr in Unitech's Santacruz project

Lehman Brothers, among the top 5 investment banks in the world, is set to pick up a substantial stake in Unitech Ltd's joint venture for a project in Santacruz, Mumbai, by investing Rs 1,500 crore, sources familiar with the situation said.

A senior Unitech official, who did not wish to be named, told DNA Money the company was in the final stages of signing the deal.

"Once we sign the deal in the next fifteen days, we will talk about it," the official said, refusing to divulge financial details.

India's second-largest real estate player by market capitalisation entered Mumbai through a joint venture with Rohan Group, a Pune-based developer.

The venture will develop 97 acres in Koliwada, Santacruz into a commercial cum residential hub, and also another project in Worli.

Unitech holds 50% stake in the joint venture for the Santacruz project, which required it to bring in Rs 2,000 crore.

The realtor has already paid Rs 500 crore, but could not muster the balance money.

Therefore, it entered into talks with both Deutsche Bank and Lehman, seeking a stake-for-cash deal. But Deutsche later pulled out of the talks and Lehman decided to go it alone.

[Jai]

Originally Posted by Nitro

nice one. looks like the gherkin but its been forced to topple over due to the crippling height restriction on BKC. haha

ha!

[Jai]

It'd be interesting to see what Unitech puts up in Worli. Their company hasn't shied away from maximizing FSI to get some pretty tall towers in areas you wouldn't expect (Kolkata, NCR) and they use some pretty primo architects to boot.

Seeing as Worli is the most expensive and visible location they've ever attempted to develop real estate, I'm guessing it will have to be something pretty spectacular.

[spyguy]

Originally Posted by Nitro

nice one. looks like the gherkin but its been forced to topple over due to the crippling height restriction on BKC. haha

Nice. Pretty interesting design.