Mahindras to drive into low-cost housing projects

Mahindra Lifespaces Developers (MLDL), the housing and real estate arm of the $ 7.5 billion (Rs 30,566 crore) Mahindra Group, is planning to enter the business of building low-cost houses for the middle-income group. Low-cost houses have become a fad among young people, as they are available at an affordable cost of Rs 25-30 lakh. The company has tied up with BE Billimoria and Co (BEBL), which specializes in construction technology, to bring down construction costs in the long run. The group’s principal activity has shifted its focus to developing residential and commercial real estate, with a special focus on housing. The company has announced that it is going to develop 25 acres of land at the Multimodal Internal Hub Airport of Nagpur (MIHAN), at a total investment of close to Rs 500 crore. The development of MIHAN area will broadly comprise development of airport and aircraft maintenance area, special economic zone and support infrastructure. The investment towards land will be Rs. 21 crore initially and this will go up to Rs. 75 crore over three years. The MLDL-BEBL consortium will form an SPV (special purpose vehicle) company to undertake the project, in which 70 per cent equity will be held by MLDL and 30 per cent by BEBL.

Ratan Tata among most powerful in UK construction industry

Tata group chairman, Ratan Tata, already named among the world’s most influential business people from India, has made it to a list of the 30 most powerful in the British construction space with a ranking higher than even the UK’s Minister for Housing. The list compiled by UK-based digital magazine Contract Journal, which features people with a direct influence on the construction industry, has placed Ratan Tata at the 16th position. Already providing products that feature in many British homes after its takeover of Tetley in 2000, Ratan Tata’s Tata Group now supplies the mainstay material in most of its offices: steel. Earlier this month, the U.S. business publication Conde Nast Portfolio had named Ratan Tata among the ‘73 Biggest Brains in Business? for his $2,500 car, Nano. Moreover, Time magazine had chosen Ratan Tata as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.