The chairman and MD of a leading Indian domestic developer has blamed foreign direct investment (FDI) as the reason for land prices accelerating. (more…)

Speaking at a discussion organised by FICCI on `Impact of global meltdown and terrorism: India tourism fights back’ the Tourism Secretary, Sujit Banerjee, said he had spoken to the RBI deputy governor earlier this month to allow the hospitality sector to be given infrastructure status. (more…)

Indian inflation fell for the ninth consecutive week on Friday to a 10-month low of 5.91% for the week ended December 27, owing to cheaper food and manufactured items. (more…)

The global downturn has led to increasing vacant office spaces-something that was unheard of, till a few months ago. According to reports, empty offices in New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles have already exceeded 10%. And Mumbai, too, is following a similar path. (more…)

The National Stock Exchange of India said on Wednesday it will remove Satyam Computer Services Ltd from its S&P CNX Nifty 50-share index (more…)

Indian developers such have lagged behind by 54 per cent in their target to open retail space even as retailers’ vacancy climbed to 16 per cent in 2008, according to a study. Cash-strapped real estate developers failed to deliver 11 million sq ft of retail space in 2008, according to a study released by Cushman & Wakefield. Out of the proposed 74 malls in key eight cities at the beginning of 2008, only 34 were delivered through the year, the study showed. Developers in the National Capital Region (NCR) lagged the most with a supply of 4.7 million sq ft compared with the earlier target of 7.1 million sq ft. Developers may continue to restrict their supply, or go slow on retail space by a similar amount in 2009 across key major cities, the study showed.

Rajneesh Mahajan, director of retail services at Cushman & Wakefield explained the reason for the shortfall was the mismatch between the potential and actual occupancy. The Indian organised retail sector grew at 25 per cent in 2007. Anticipating the growth of retail sector at above 35 per cent in the coming years, developers had announced big retail projects. However, owing to economic slowdown, the growth of the retail sector has come down to 15 per cent in 2008, resulting in developers deferring their projects for 12-24 months. “From the projected supply of 20.8 million sq ft space in the first quarter of 2008, we will see a spill over of about ten million sq ft development in 2009-10. Lack of funds leading to construction delays and cautious expansion by retailers have resulted in slow absorption of retail space in malls,” said Mahajan.

India could cut interest rates by another 150 basis points by mid-2009 as authorities fight to prop up sagging growth, but the central bank is unlikely to seek zero rates like the United States and Japan even as deflation rears its head according to The Economic Times.

The Reserve Bank of India cut interest rates on Friday for the fourth time since the global financial crisis blew up in September, taking the total reduction in its key lending rate or the repo rate to 350 points. It now stands at 5.50 percent.

Other central banks have slashed rates heavily too to fight off the deepest global financial crisis in decades. The US Federal Reserve and Japan have cut their rates close to zero, sparking debate on how far central banks will have to go to revive their economies.

In India, Ila Patnaik, senior fellow at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, a think tank, advocates that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) follows the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan. Other analysts are much more cautious, suggesting more modest cuts. Macquarie Research has pencilled in cuts of 100-200 basis points, HSBC 50 basis points and JPMorgan 150 basis points. Limited government spending power puts the emphasis on the central bank to boost the economy but with growth this year still likely to be the envy of any developed nation, such aggressive cuts aren’t warranted, they say.

India’s real estate market could be in for an early New Year boost after the government started to work on a second financial stimulus package.

Officials are again looking at making home loans more affordable for middle class buyers in an effort to alter faltering property sales.

Banks and politicians have already worked to reduce interest on home loans worth up to Rs 20 lakh, but this ceiling has been branded as far too low by buyers in bigger cities where prices for homes remain typically much higher.

According to the Times of India, the level could be raised to Rs 30 lakh in a big boost for those looking to buy in places like Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Chennai and Hyderabad.

Exact details of the package, branded ’stimulus-II’, may not be revealed for another two weeks, according to the paper.

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) called on officials to put “confidence-creating measures” in any new booster scheme.