The country’s largest private lender, ICICI Bank, Wednesday slashed its floating home loan rate and benchmark lending rate by 50 basis points each.

Floating Reference Rate for home loan has been cut by 0.5 per cent with effect from December 31, ICICI Bank said in a statement.

The rate, which has been reduced from 14.25 per cent, will benefit all existing home loan and auto loan customers, the bank said.

Besides, the bank also reduced it benchmark lending rate by half a percentage points to 16.75 per cent.

With the reduction, the benchmark Advance Rate (I-BAR) will be 16.75 per cent against 17.25 per cent at present.

The second biggest shareholder in Hirco, the Indian property fund, is urging a vote against plans for a reverse takeover announced a week before Christmas according to the Financial Times.

Laxey Partners, which has built a 10% stake in Hirco, has written to other shareholders – including Standard Life and US hedge funds QVT and Alpine – describing the proposals as ’shocking and ill-conceived’. Shares in Hirco have fallen to 74.75p from 500p on flotation at the end of 2006, when it was the largest real estate investment company on Aim.

Hirco – a vehicle for Hiranandani, India’s largest developer of mixed-use townships – is proposing to merge with Hirco Developments, transforming it from an investment company to a fully integrated real estate developer.

Mumbia got back to normality again with hopeful prayer were part of a multi-faith ceremony held Sunday to mark the reopening of Mumbai’s Oberoi hotel three weeks after it was targeted in a militant rampage.

The simple ceremony, held in the lobby of the reopened hotel, included Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Sikh, Parsi, Buddhist and Jain religious leaders and was attended by the entire staff of the hotel as well as guests.

“There is no fear. We see the courage of the people and the staff,” said Kritika Srinivasan, 28, a regular guest at the hotel who went inside to congratulate the staff. “We have to show them (the attackers) that they can’t break our courage and solidarity.”

Billed as the leading event of the Gulf Region, the First Annual Gulf Real Estate Fundamentals Conference 2008 (GRE), leading investors and developers from various countries around the world got together at Bahrain to discuss the specialised needs of the real estate marketplace in the GCC.

Mr Sukhraj Nahar, Chairman of Nahar Group was among the special invitees at this GRE Conference.

Ms Manju Yagnik, Vice-Chairperson, Nahar Group was especially invited to be the lead speaker on “Real Estate Opportunities In Emerging India”. Addressing the delegates, she spoke about the extensive investment prospects in the Indian real estate segment for investors and developers from GCC. India’s investor friendly policies, political stability, recognised legal system, vibrant financial and banking sector coupled with its skilled manpower are ideal for investment, she added.

“Indian real estate,” said Ms Yagnik, “is a vast canvas with many hues and colours. It offers an array of multi-faceted opportunities where infrastructure and redevelopment in Metro cities are going hand in hand, and in other cities the process of rebuilding and opening of newer avenues for construction is on the fast track.”

She further said that the leading Indian real estate companies have long been associated with housing and other infrastructure projects in the Gulf countries, establishing their credentials as quality developers. Cutting edge construction technologies, latest design and architecture concepts, global life styles, world-class commercial and retail spaces and the best project landscaping are all adopted by the Indian developers wherever they are engaged. .

Replying to a question at the concluding session of round-table question hour, Ms. Manju Yagnik said that despite the negative sentiments and economic challenging times worldwide, she was of the opinion that investments made in Indian real estate would continue to offer opportunity for good potential returns.

Navyroof.com’s Managing Director, Andrew Fassnidge will be discussing Indian opportunities as part of the Indian panel at this weeks International Trade forum in London.

Grasp The Global Opportunity, Addington Palace, Croydon - December 18th 2008

This includes trade show, discussions, networking and luncheon.

Morning market updates and seminars hosted by the China-Britain Business Council and The UK India Business Council, South Africa update and seminar hosted by Brian Gallagher FRSA British Trade Commissioner, UK Trade & Investment featuring Shakeel Mughal, High Growth Market Specialist UK Trade & Investment and Michael Hodges representing IFSL. Q&A session hosted by Roy Chegwin, Editor of International Trade Focus featuring Phil Morrison, CEO of Freightnet precedes 3 course Christmas luncheon.

Keynote address by Gareth Thomas MP, Minister for Trade, Investment & Consumer Affairs.

For more information and tickets please visit www.marchpublishing.co.uk

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said it was launching in the country and had already appointed a regional boss for the project. The organisation said it hoped to help to “restore the largely and fairly fragmented real estate sector” in India. Founded in the UK in 1868 by royal charter, RICS provides globally-recognised qualifications for property professionals.

Louis Armstrong, RICS chief executive officer, said: “We look forward to welcoming Indian real estate professionals to the RICS network and assisting them in adopting international best practices.”The group added existing members of the Indian real estate sector have been appointed by RICS to form a review panel to oversee membership awards. Sachin Sandhir, managing director and country head, RICS India, said:“We will look to establish the RICS qualification as a benchmark for professionals working in the land, construction and property related areas in India.” Links with Indian universities are also being developed in order to create education standards relevant to the property industry. RICS already has over 100,000 members in 146 countries, supported by a network of regional offices in every continent.

Navyroof.com welcomes such a move which will give buyers a benchmark of valuations, pricing and standards when buying property in India.

The global meltdown, coupled with economic recession and the terror incidents, has hit the tourism industry adversely. While there is a fall of foreign tourist arrival, hotel bookings are also witnessing many cancellations.

The Tourism Ministry has convened a meeting of the National Tourism Advisory Board next week to address the issues arising out of the current crisis.

A meeting has been called with all stakeholders to assess the situation and discuss confidence building measures for both the domestic and foreign tourists, Soni said.

The ministry has already written to all the state governments asking them to beef up security at sites of tourist importance and hotels.

It is also planning to launch a major publicity campaign to assure foreign travellers that India continues to be safe tourist destination and the terror attack like the one in Mumbai was just an aberration.

In the wake of the terror attacks in Mumbai, the ministry is finalising a new campaign trying to spread the message that the security situation in India is well within control and the government is well equipped to guarantee the safety of every tourist coming to the country.

Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) has also written to the Tourism Ministry seeking a package to tide over the crisis.

We have written to the ministry seeking certain tax benefits and other incentives to bail out the industry which is passing through a crisis, said IATO president Vijay Thakur.

Exemption of service tax on tour operators, export industry status for the industry, income tax benefits, marketing development scheme, rationalisation of luxury tax and reduction in entry fee in monuments are some of the demands made by the IATO.

Tourism industry contributes to the national economic with its potential to provide foreign exchange for the country, Thakur said, adding that “there is a need to encourage the industry so that inbound arrivals to the country can be sustained”

Source: Times of India

India: Inspiring Business Opportunities Conference

Navyroof.com’s Managing Director, Andrew Fassnidge was invited by the London Chamber Of Commerce to present at the India-Inspiring Business Opportunities conference held in London.

Andrew along with other keynote speakers including Richard Perry (Head of business Services, UK India Business Council), Anjalika Bardalai (Editor, The Economist Intelligence Unit), David Stringer-Lamarre (Director, Morley College), Devyani Vaishampayan (Principal, Global HR Consulting), Babu Datta (MD, Evolve Creative Limited) and Amit Chanda (Risk Advisory Group) discussed the immense opportunities for UK businesses in India.

It was very encouraging to see the unwavering enthusiasm for doing business in India just a week after the Mumbai attacks. The overriding common thread throughout the conference was that India has a bright and growing future for UK business.

Anjalika Bardalai of The Economist Intelligence Unit predicted that India will be affected by the the global downturn in the short to medium term but will come out of with strong GDP growth and resume its upward growth curve in two years with “real GDP growth forecasted to accelerate somewhat to 7.1% in 2010/2011″.

Indian GDP growth - The Economist Intelligence Unit

Anjalika also noted, “although growth is slowing the point to emphasise is that this is still an extraordinary performance not only when compared to any other major economy in the world today, but also by India’s own historical standards.”

Real estate feeling effects but will recover

Andrew Fassnidge of Navyroof.com, similarly presented that the real estate market was feeling the effects of the credit crunch but that it will recover more rapidly after FY09-10. Reduced foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows have taken its toll on developers, as banks are often unwilling to lend which has led to many being faced to liquidate at reduced prices. He predicted that the downturn in the mid to low end of the Indian property market will not be protracted for the following reasons:

– Very strong demand

- Favourable demographics

– Low mortgage penetration – mortgage to GDP ratio only 8%

– GDP growth forecasted to average 8% until 2020

– Declining interest rates

- Inflation decreasing

– Rising long term employment

– Growing middle class

– Ongoing infrastructure demand

– Cheaper raw materials will reduce building costs from current levels

All of these factors combined illustrate the sustainability of the Indian property market in the medium to long term. Ultimately it will be many years before end user demand is even close to being met so India should recover well in this respect. He noted however, the high and luxury end of the market will be slower to recover and develop, as affordability and demand are not as high in this segment.

Tourism – A big opportunity

Andrew, also highlighted many areas he felt offered opportunities for UK companies. He highlighted the tourism sector as one to note, with 100% FDI permitted by foreign investors and a severe shortage of good quality hotels and accommodation. Increased spending on infrastructure and development will boost both business and tourism in India and this sector offers excellent opportunities for foreign investors. Many joint venture opportunities with Indian developers can be taken advantage of and are possibly the best route to enter India initially.

Overall the conference only touched the surface of the immense opportunity that is India. Navyroof.com look forward to paticipating at similar future events and would like to thank the London Chamber of Commerce for inviting us to contribute to such a successful event.

Navyroof.com offers our deepest sympathies following the Mumbai terrorist attacks. Our thoughts are first and foremost with the victims, their families and our own Indian partners and friends in Mumbai.

India is a giant country with over one billion people and this incident is currently confined to Mumbai. The largest democracy in the world has witnessed terror before and will come back stronger than ever, as the resolve of the Indian people will never be broken.

India has strong global ties and relationships today are – people to people, business to business, government to government – which are closer than ever. Navyroof.com are focused on continuing to build on these strong foundation and offer our support to the Indian people.