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Mumbai realtor Lodha Developers plans to enter Delhi with ₹1,900 cr project
The Mumbai-based developer is considering rolling out a project with an investment of as much as ₹1,900 crore ($220 million) in the year starting April 2026, Prashant Bindal, the firm's chief sales officer said in an interview. The financial details are still being worked on and clarity will emerge closer to the actual launch, he added.
The move shows a push among India's largest real estate firms to seek a national footprint as they tap into the growing demand for premium and luxury housing. DLF on Friday said that it has sold all apartments, for more than 23 billion rupees ($266 million), in the first phase of their maiden Mumbai project.
In May, Prestige Estates Projects Ltd. completed three projects totaling 2.8 million square feet in Mumbai, marking the Bengaluru-based realtor's entry into the country's financial capital.
'Extraordinary growth is only achievable through expansion beyond their traditional local markets,' said Gulam Zia, senior executive director, Knight Frank India. 'The pressure from stakeholders to scale is prompting these companies to explore new geographies.'
Homes priced above 10 million rupees made up for about half of all residential sales in India in the first half of this year, according to a report by consultant Knight Frank. Delhi National Capital Region led the race with 16,416 units sold, closely followed by Mumbai at 15,270 units.
'Intensifying Competition'
The expansion into newer geographies 'is also intensifying competition for prime land parcels, skilled talent, and institutional capital across new geographies,' according to Arvind Nandan, managing director of research and consulting, Savills India.
The real test for this cross-country expansion, however, will come when the market cycle turns, Zia said.
'Even the largest real estate developers have had to retreat from wider markets and refocus on their core geographies during downturns,' he said.
The company has lined up about seven to eight launches this year across Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore, according to Bindal.
'We enter a city with the confidence that in next three years we will be in the top three players. That's our approach,' said Bindal.
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Mint
7 minutes ago
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Telecom testing just got cheaper as govt slashes certification fees by up to 95%
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A telecom or tech equipment maker or importer needs to engage a lab designated by the government to test its products and ensure the devices are safe for users and secure for communication networks. The government will later issue a security certificate if satisfied with the lab's report. Effective 1 August, the cost for this certification has been slashed to ₹10,000-50,000 per equipment model from ₹2-3.5 lakh. The National Centre for Communication Security (NCCS) on 30 June circulated a note to Department of Telecommunications officials informing about the reduction in the security test report evaluation fee. 'On an average, the overall cost for testing comes to ₹60-65 lakh per unit, which largely includes the third-party lab-testing costs," said Paritosh Prajapati, chief executive and founder of Sweden-based broadband equipment maker GX Group, which is a beneficiary of India's productivity-linked incentive scheme for the telecom sector. 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India has seven designated telecom security testing labs, and has issued 92 security certificates so far, NCCS data show. HFCL, Cisco, Dixon Electro Appliances, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, among others, have applied and received security certifications for different products. While India launched the Communication Security Certification Scheme in 2020 to streamline the process, there have been delays in implementing rules related to certification. Also, as telecom equipment makers raised complaints about inadequate testing capacity and a cumbersome registration process, the scheme has not been universally applied across the telecom ecosystem. While the government's decision to reduce the security certification fee will help the industry, 'the more challenging part is the time consumed in this process of testing, which also needs to be brought down", said Konark Trivedi, founder and managing director of telecom equipment maker Frog Cellsat Ltd. 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Time of India
an hour ago
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Anil Ambani faces look out circular
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Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Illegal liquor outlets thrive in protected forests in Faridabad
: Liquor vends and taverns are operating openly on Aravali forest land and protected greenbelts across Faridabad, some hidden behind thick vegetation, others right in the middle of residential zones, in clear violation of environmental laws. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now At least four vends have come up on forest land, and over 35 more in green belts in areas like Bhatola, Mangar, Surajkund Road and Lakkarpur. Many of these locations fall within buffer zones of the Aravalis, where any construction or commercial activity is either restricted or banned under the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA), 1900. The vends are not small kiosks. In most places, there are permanent structures -- double-shutter shops with paved courtyards, tin-roofed seating areas and boundary walls. Ahatas attached to them offer open-air drinking spaces with plastic chairs, wooden benches and food counters. In some cases, drains around the premises were clogged with empty bottles, plastic cups, leftover food items and liquor sachets. One of the outlets in Bhatola lies on protected forest land, which is owned by the irrigation department. Another store in a forest area is located close to the Manav Rachna University, and a third in Lakkarpur is on Aravali land owned by the tourism department. A fourth outlet is carved out of a green belt in Mangar, with a parcel of Aravali land likely flattened to make space for the shop. The store's owners also installed floodlights here. On Friday, most staffers at these stores refused to talk or show any permits. But an employee of a wine shop along Surajkund Road told TOI the store has been at the spot for years. "No one came to say that it is illegal," he said. Another staffer at the wine shop in Mangar said he wasn't aware that this was forest land. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now An excise department official on Friday refused to comment on the legality of these shops. "The matter is sub-judice. A verification survey can be initiated soon," a district excise official said. A forest department official said on Friday that they had issued notices to these vends last week. "These are old structures, but we issued notices last week. One of them, which is near Surajkund Road, has around 20% of its structure in PLPA area. We will carry out a demarcation and issue a notice. The Mangar one is in section 4 of PLPA. We will carry out appropriate action against these units," said Vipin Kumar Singh, divisional forest officer, Faridabad. The matter of liquor vends operating illegally in protected forests had reached the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in Dec last year. Faridabad-based activist Narender Sirohi had filed a petition, alleging that the state govt has allowed rampant commercialisation of protected Aravali land. "These outlets are polluting forest land and green belts, creating constant nuisance and encouraging illegal commercial activities in areas where only afforestation or open land use is permitted. Despite multiple complaints, no action was taken. That's why I approached the tribunal," Sirohi told TOI. He said that these shops were not "accidental violations", these laid bare "regulatory apathy". "Entire green belts are loaded with heaps of garbage… Such activities are not only causing degradation of the environment, but are also affecting public health at large," he added. For now, NGT has sought responses from the forest department, Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB), excise department, district administration and the Union environment ministry. A hearing is expected by Oct. Environmentalists said such commercial operations in forest areas were "environmental vandalism". "Govt talks of preserving green belts, but liquor outlets are being allowed to thrive in the very areas meant for reforestation and ecological buffers," said Sunil Harsana, an ecologist and activist.
