Blackstone lines up Rs 1,000 crore for residential realty

Mumbai: Blackstone, one of the largest investors in commercial properties, is set to step up presence in the residential segment, said a top executive in the know. According to him, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the US private equity (PE) giant is gearing up to invest about Rs 1,000 crore in residential projects across Indian metros. The company is currently in advanced discussions with many developers, the executive revealed.
Recently, the New York- based fund invested Rs 175 crore in the Chennai project of Bangalore-based Ozone Group, its first investment in the residential sector.
Blackstone, which has invested about $1 billion in commercial properties in India, has so far stayed away from directly investing in residential properties. However, it had exposure to residential real estate by the virtue of taking over the $2.68-billion Asian Real Estate Opportunities Fund of Bank of America-Merrill Lynch (BofA-ML) in 2010. The most high-profile one in BofA Merrill Lynch's India portfolio being its $377-million (Rs 1,800 crore) investment in DLF's housing projects. It picked up 49 per cent stake in seven mid-income housing projects of DLF, the country's largest property company, in Chennai, Bangalore, Kochi and Indore.
Its US peers such as Morgan Stanley, The Carlyle Group and others have entity-level stakes in some of the large realty companies. For instance, Morgan Stanley has entity-level stake in Mumbai-based Oberoi Realty. Carlyle has stake in the Jerry Rao-promoted Value & Budget Housing Corporation.
The timing of Blackstone's investment in residential properties bodes well for the investor, since residential enquiries have picked up in many markets such as the National Capital Region and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region after the new government came to power and buyer sentiments have revived, consultants said.
"This is just an opportunistic investment. We did not get good opportunities in the past. Internationally, we invest in all asset classes abroad," said another executive associated with the PE firm.
An email questionnaire to Blackstone did not elicit any response.
Blackstone is a careful player, says Ambar Maheshwari, managing director, corporate finance at Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL). "They (Blackstone) did not invest when the prices were very high, Then, slowdown happened and prices crashed. If they are looking at residential, I think they are very serious about it." He added Blackstone would look at India-dedicated funds given their portfolio of assets.

India gets more back-packer tourists

New Delhi: India appears to be getting back packers but not high spending tourists, says the Economic Survey. “While foreign exchange earnings (FEE) in rupee terms are a reflection of the exchange rate movements, what is cause for concern is the steep deceleration in FEEs in dollar terms, while the deceleration in tourist arrivals was less. This indicates a higher inflow of back-packers vis-à-vis high-spending tourists,” says the Survey. Foreign tourist arrivals grew 5.9 per cent in 2013 over the previous fiscal, but forex earnings in dollar terms were up 2.2 per cent during the period.

Passenger car sales jump 15% in June

New Delhi: Improved sentiment and speculative purchases towards the second week of last month have fuelled the sales of passenger cars in India, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) said on Wednesday.
Total passenger car sales grew 15 per cent to 1.60 lakh units in June this year compared with around 1.4 lakh units in June 2013, the SIAM report said.
“This was the highest-ever June sales and we hope the trend of double-digit growth going forward,” Vishnu Mathur, Director General, SIAM, told reporters here.
Excise duty cuts
He said because of the speculation that the Government might not continue with the excise duty cuts on cars in early June, companies saw increased footfalls at the showrooms, which turned into better sales too.
Total passenger vehicles sales also grew 11 per cent to 2.19 lakh units during last month against 1.97 lakh units in the corresponding month previous year.
2-wheelers, commercial vehicles
Total two-wheelers segment also grew 13 per cent to 12.61 lakh units from 11.16 lakh units in June 2013.
However, total commercial vehicle sales are still in negative (-9 per cent) zone year-on-year at 51,119 units during June against 56,194 units in June 2013.
Overall, the grand total of all vehicles sold during June grew 12 per cent to 15.78 lakh units against 14.07 lakh units in the corresponding month last year.

Indo-Israel free trade pact likely by year-end

Hyderabad: The Indo-Israel Free Trade Agreement may be concluded by the year end, paving the way for deeper engagement between the two countries, according to a senior Israeli diplomat.
“It should have been signed by the end of last year, but it got delayed. I am expecting that it will be finalised by this year end,” Avi Friedman, Consul for Trade and Economic Affairs, Head of Trade Section, Consulate General of Israel, said.
This agreement could significantly increase bi-lateral trade, currently at $4.5 billion, excluding the defence sector, he told Business Line . Friedman identified the cyber sector as a new potential area for greater cooperation, especially in the context of preventing cyber attacks.
“India is a victim of cyber attacks in the power and oil and gas sectors. Even Israel is faced with cyber attacks (hacking of key installations),” he said.
A Frost and Sullivan report says the cyber defence market for oil and gas industries alone may reach $3.75 billion globally by 2021. Russian security firm Kaspersky pointed that India follows Russia in the number of cyber attacks faced, with UK, Ukraine and Vietnam being other victims.

India has the Second Fastest Growing Services Sector with Compound Annual Growth Rate at 9 Per Cent

New Delhi: India has the second fastest growing services sector with its Compound Annual Growth Rate at 9.0 per cent, just below China’s 10.9 per cent, during 2001 to 2012. Also, India ranked 12th in terms of services Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2012 among the world’s top 15 countries in terms of GDP. While services share in World GDP was 65.9 per cent and in employment was only 44 per cent in 2012, in India, they were 56.9 per cent and 28.1 per cent respectively.
GDP
Services constitute a 57 per cent share in GDP at factor cost (at current prices) in 2013-14, an increase of 6 percentage points over 2000-01. Despite deceleration, services GDP growth at 6.8 per cent was above the 4.7 per cent overall GDP in 2013-14. The growth rate of the combined category of trade, hotels, restaurants, transport, storage, and communications decelerated to 3.0 per cent while financing, insurance, real estate, and business services grew robustly at 12.9 per cent.
FDI
In 2013-14, FDI inflows to the services sector (top five sectors including construction) declined sharply by 37.6 per cent to US$ 6.4 billion compared to an overall growth in FDI inflows at 6.1 per cent resulting in the share of the top five services in total FDI falling to nearly one-sixth.
Exports
India’s increase in share in world services exports from 0.6 per cent in 1990 to 3.3 per cent in 2013 was faster than in merchandise exports. Exports of software services, accounting for 46 per cent of India’s total services exports, decelerated to 5.4 per cent in 2013-14, travel, accounting for a nearly 12 per cent share, witnessed negative growth of 0.4 per cent.

Argentina-based luxury brand La Martina opens store in Delhi

Mumbai: Argentina-based luxury brand La Martina, a polo lifestyle company known for its apparel, technical equipment and accessories, has started operations with its maiden store in Delhi.
The 1,800 sq ft standalone store was opened at luxury mall DLF Emporio.
Eliana Koulas, Director of Luxus Retail, the Indian franchisee for La Martina, said La Martina has a strong association with vacations and leisure.”
La Martina has also diversified the brand to add general fashion products for ladies, men and kids. The apparel and accessories are priced between Rs 8,900 and Rs 66,800.
La Martina has offices in North and South America, Switzerland and the UK.

Glenmark gets USFDA nod to launch anti-hypertension drug in US

Mumbai: Glenmark Generics Inc, USA, a subsidiary of Glenmark Generics, has been granted final abbreviated new drug approval (ANDA) from the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) for Telmisartan tablets, indicated for the treatment of hypertension. Glenmark is to commence distribution of the product immediately.
Telmisartan tablets are Glenmark’s generic version of Boehringer Ingelheim’s Micardis. The approval is for the 20 mg, 40 mg and 80 mg tablets. For the 12-month period ended March 31, 2014, Telmisartan garnered annual sales of $250 million, according to IMS Health.
Glenmark’s current portfolio consists of 92 products authorised for distribution in the US market and 73 ANDAs pending approval with the USFDA. In addition to these internal filings, the company continues to identify and explore external development partnerships to supplement and accelerate the growth of the existing pipeline and portfolio.
Shares of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals were trading at Rs 595.60 per scrip in the mid-day trade, up 1.09 per cent from the previous close on the BSE.

Rail Budget 2014: 58 new trains to be introduced, 11 existing trains to be extended

New Delhi: Proposing to introduce new 58 new trains, Railway Minister DV Sadananda Gowda on Tuesday said that these will include five Jansadharan Trains, five Premium Trains, six AC express trains, 27 express trains, eight passenger trains, two MEMU services and five DEMU services this year.
Announcing this in Parliament while presenting the rail budget, Gowda also proposed to extend the run of 11 existing trains. Gowda said these services would be meeting the demand surges which manifest themselves on special occasions.
He said that special trains would continue to run to meet the holiday and festival rush including services for Melmaruvathur, Velankanni, Jhalawar etc. Here is the list of new trains that have been announced in the Railway Budget:
NEW TRAINS
Jansadharan Trains
Ahmedabad-Darbhanga Jansadharan Express via Surat
Jaynagar-Mumbai Jansadharan Express
Mumbai-Gorakhpur Jansadharan Express
Saharasa-Anand Vihar Jansadharan Express via Motihari
Saharasa-Amritsar Jansadharan Express
Premium Trains
Mumbai Central-New Delhi Premium AC Express
Shalimar-Chennai Premium AC Express
Secunderabad-- Hazrat Nizamuddin Premium AC Express
Jaipur-Madurai Premium Express
Kamakhya-Bengaluru Premium Express
AC Express Trains
Vijayawada-NewDelhiAPExpress(Daily)
LokmanyaTilak(T)-Lucknow(Weekly)
Nagpur-Pune(Weekly)
Nagpur-Amritsar(Weekly)
Naharlagun-NewDelhi(Weekly)
Nizamuddin-Pune(Weekly)
Express Trains
Ahmedabad-Patna Express(Weekly)via Varanasi
Ahmedabad- Chennai Express(Bi-weekly)via Vasai Road
Bengaluru -Mangalore Express(Daily)
Bengaluru -Shimoga Express(Bi-weekly)
Bandra(T)-Jaipur Express(Weekly)Via Nagda,Kota
Bidar-Mumbai Express(Weekly)
Chhapra-Lucknow Express (Tri- weekly)viaBallia,Ghazipur,Varanasi
Ferozpur-Chandigarh Express(6 days a week)
Guwahati-Naharlagun Intercity Express(Daily)
Guwahati-Murkongselek Intercity Express(Daily)
Gorakhpur-Anand Vihar Express(Weekly)
Hapa-Bilaspur Express(Weekly)via Nagpur
Hazur Saheb Nanded-Bikaner Express(Weekly)
Indore-Jammu Tawi Express(Weekly)
Kamakhya-Katra Express(Weekly)via Darbhanga
Kanpur-Jammu Tawi Express(Bi-weekly)
Lokmanya Tilak(T)-Azamgarh Express(Weekly)
Mumbai_Kazipeth Express(Weekly)via Balharshah
Mumbai-Palitana Express(Weekly)
New Delhi -Bhatinda Shatabdi Express(Bi-weekly)
New Delhi-Varanasi Express(Daily)
Paradeep-Howrah Express(Weekly)
Paradeep-Visakhapatnam Express(Weekly)
Rajkot-Rewa Express(Weekly)
Ramnagar-Agra Express(Weekly)
Tatanagar Baiyyappanahali (Bengaluru) Express(Weekly)
Visakhapatnam-Chennai Express(Weekly)
Passenger Trains
Bikaner-Rewari Passenger(Daily)
Dharwad-Dandeli Passenger(Daily)via Alnavar
Gorakhpur-Nautanwa Passenger(Daily)
Guwahati-Mendipathar Passenger(Daily)
Hatia-Rourkela Passenger
Byndoor-Kasaragod Passenger(Daily)
Rangapara North-Rangiya Passenger(Daily)
Yesvantpur-Tumkur Passenger(Daily)
MEMU services
Bengaluru -Ramanagaram 6 days a week(3Pairs)
Palwal-Delhi-Aligarh
DEMU services
Bengaluru -Neelmangala (Daily)
Chhapra-Manduadih (6days a week)via Ballia
Baramula-Banihal (Daily)
Sambalpur-Rourkela (6 days a week)
Yesvantpur -Hosur (6 days a week)
EXTENSION OF RUN OF EXISTING TRAINS
22409/22410 Anand Vihar Sasaram Garib Rath Express to Gaya
12455/12456 Delhi Sarai Rohilla Sriganganagar Express to Bikaner
15231/15232 Gondia Muzaffarpur Express to Barauni
12001/12002 New Delhi Bhopal Shatabdi Express to Habibganj
54602 Ludhiana-Hissar Passenger to Sadulpur
55007/55008 Sonpur-Kaptanganj Passenger to Gorakhpur
55072/55073 Gorakhpur-Thawe Passenger to Siwan
63237/63238Buxar-Mughalsarai MEMU to Varanasi
63208/63211 Jhajha-Patna MEMU to Jasidih
64221/64222 Lucknow Hardoi MEMU to Shahjahanpur
68002/68007 Howrah-Belda MEMU to Jaleswar

Ministry lays special emphasis on education

Mumbai: The ministry of railways has taken some initiatives to help its staff continue their education and to encourage the spirit of innovation.
“The railways proposes to set up an Innovations Incubation Centre to harness the ideas generated from the staff and convert them into practical solutions to increase efficiency of the railways,” said minister Sadananda Gowda.
This is akin to the concept of incubation centres in engineering and management schools, where students’ business and project ideas are mentored by professors and visiting industry officials, to determine viability and ability to be transformed into a successful venture.
“The railways’ workforce, due to its sheer number, is a gold-mine of ideas. If there is a professional platform to analyse their ideas and convert them into solutions, it could lead to newer innovations in our railway systems. However, there should be a proper mix of internal and external mentors to harness their ideas,” said the head of the entrepreneurship and incubation cell at an Indian Institute of Technology. Further, Gowda said these innovations, which result in cost saving and revenue generation, will be rewarded.
As part of this exercise, it is also proposed to set up summer internships for the undergraduates of engineering and management studies. Students can intern at any of the various units of the railways - division, railway public-sector units and production units. The Indian Railways is one of the largest employers in India with more than 1.36 million employees selected through a competitive examination.
According to placement officials of business schools, it would be an enriching experience for students to intern with the Railways.
“Although we don’t know how many students would be given an opportunity to intern, this will be a hands-on experience in a very large enterprise and would reflect highly in the student's curriculum vitae in the future," said the chief placement officer of a Mumbai-based business school.
Some placement heads, however, added that students from the top three to five management schools, which are particularly focused on the job-role and pay package, may not be comfortable in a government functioning since it is not explicitly stated whether these students would be given a stipend. However, the dean of a private engineering institute in West Bengal said students in the instrumentation and mechanical fields would find these internships extremely useful from a practical knowledge perspective.
The minister has said that railways is also contemplating on setting up a Railway University for both technical and non-technical subjects. “Indian Railways will tie up with technical institutions for introducing railway-oriented subject for graduation and skill development,” he said. Officials close to the development said the university would provide degree programmes starting this year. Currently, there are several institutes floated by the railway ministry that provide diploma courses.
Staff at the ground level will be sent for short-duration courses of technical and non-technical nature, involving locally-available technical institutions. The exposure for specialised areas such as high-speed, heavy haul operations etc will be undertaken for all level of staff and officers at appropriate institutes in India and abroad.
The ministry has institutes like Indian Railways Institute of Electrical Engineering, Indian Railways Institute of Civil Engineering, and National Academy of Indian Railways for training its officials. The Institute of Rail Transport offers diploma programmes to railway and non-railway professionals in the areas of transport economics and management, logistics management, and rail transport and management.

India, UK to set up Financial Partnership in three months

New Delhi: India and the UK have agreed to launch a UK-India Financial Partnership that will aim to promote closer ties between Mumbai and London as financial centres.
The strategic partnership — to be supported by both the Governments and the respective financial services industries — will be set up over the next three months, according to a joint statement issued by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne.
This followed the seventh round of UK-India Economic and Financial Dialogue held here on Tuesday.
In the first year, the deal will cover the following work-streams: collaboration to develop the Indian corporate bond market; mutual sharing of expertise on banking regulation and capitalisation; enhancing financial training and qualification; financial inclusion; (v) and developing a programme around the opportunities to improve cross-border provision of financial and insurance services.