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The Hindu
05-08-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
With consistent government investment on education, infrastructure, Tamil Nadu is poised for growth: experts
The Tamil Nadu government has been consistently investing on education and infrastructure for over decades, said Julian Francis, senior vice-president, Asset Management, Chennai, and head of Industrial and Logistics (I&L) at RMZ during The Hindu Tamil Nadu Real Estate Summit 2025 held in Chennai on Tuesday (August 5, 2025). While speaking at a session on 'Tamil Nadu @ $1 Trillion: Role of Real Estate in Urban Transformation', he said, Tamil Nadu has worked on these fields for decades. 'Today, people are coming to India for skill and scale. This is culminating in the creation of local talent which people are globally tapping into today. This target of 2030 [by Tamil Nadu] to become a $1 Trillion economy] is definitely achievable,' he added. Kunal Shankar, Deputy Business Editor, The Hindu, who was the moderator for the event steered the conversation on how Tamil Nadu's real estate sector is a crucial pillar in its ambition to become a one trillion-dollar economy. W.S. Habib, president, CREDAI Tamil Nadu said, while it is an ambitious target, the State government has come out with a good vision, and it is possible to accomplish it. 'Real estate sector plays an important role since it contributes 7-8 percent to the GDP,' he added. He noted that if we have to reach the target, our cities also have to be more liveable and planned well. Jerry Kingsley, Head of Value and Risk Advisory in India and City Capital Markets, Chennai JLL, said, commercial real estate sector, in a year, sees 75-80 million sq. ft of demand in India. 'Of that, Bengaluru is the frontrunner with close to 20 million sq. ft. This is followed by National Capital Region (NCR) which contributes about 15 million sq. feet. Mumbai too is a sizeable contributor. But, Chennai competes with Hyderabad and Pune on an annual basis. Last two years has been pretty good for Chennai overall and there was an absorption of nearly 8-9 million sq. ft. We see that demand this year as well,' he added. With metro rail coming up, there is further expansion and the office segment in the city is seeing good growth. He said, the good thing about Tamil Nadu is that, unlike many other States, it is not dependent on one specific sector. C.G. Sathish, Deputy Managing Director, Casagrand said, there is a lot of development and the focus on infrastructure development is extremely good. Hence, Tamil Nadu is poised to witness this kind of growth. Sripriya Ganesan, co-founder, Studio Neon, noted that transit-oriented development in the State has to be mindfully planned. The event is presented by Casagrand and co-presented by G Square. The green energy partner is Swelect and the sports ecosystem partners are SDAT and Tamil Nadu Champions Foundation. The event is supported by CREDAI Tamil Nadu, Lancor, Namma Family Group. The strategic partner is MMA (Madras Management Association). The TV partner is Puthiya Thalaimurai and the digital partner is The Federal.
The Hindu
03-08-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Experts to discuss Tamil Nadu's urban growth, real estate transformation at The Hindu summit
The Hindu Group will host The Hindu Tamil Nadu Real Estate Summit 2025 on August 5 in Chennai. The event is presented by Casagrand and co-presented by GSquare. This summit is a platform for voices from different sectors, including those from the government, energy, real estate, sports and finance to come together and discuss on Tamil Nadu's urban growth and real estate transformation. In this edition, there will be focus on sustainable, inclusive, and forward-looking real estate strategies with respect to the State's vision of becoming a trillion-dollar economy. Shiv Das Meena, Chairperson, Tamil Nadu Real Estate Regulatory Authority (TNRERA), will be the chief guest. Various sessions will be held during the summit. In the session, 'Fireside Chat: Vision for Tamil Nadu's Real Estate Growth', Arun M N, founder, chairman and managing director, Casagrand will be the speaker, and the moderator will be Rosella Stephen R, Senior Associate Editor, The Hindu. The session, 'Tamil Nadu @ $1 Trillion: Role of Real Estate in Urban Transformation', will have speakers, including W.S. Habib, president, CREDAI Tamil Nadu; Jerry Kingsley, Head of Value and Risk Advisory in India and City Capital Markets, Chennai JLL; Julian Francis, senior vice-president, Asset Management, Chennai, and head of Industrial and Logistics (I&L) at RMZ; Sripriya Ganesan, co-founder, Studio Neon; and C.G. Sathish, Deputy Managing Director, Casagrand. Kunal Shankar, Deputy Business Editor, The Hindu, will be the moderator for the event. In the session, 'Navigating the Future of Real Estate in Tamil Nadu', the speaker is Bala Ramajeyam, managing director, GSquare Housing, and the moderator is Sangeetha Kandavel, Senior Assistant Editor, The Hindu. The 'Policy to Prosperity: RERA, Ease of Doing Business & Regulatory Outlook' session will have speakers, including Sanjay Chugh, city head and director, ANAROCK Property Consultants Pvt Ltd, Chennai; Sriram Swaminathan, chairman, Sabari and LYRA Properties Pvt ltd, Executive Committee Member, CREDAI National; and Jayaprakash Padmanaban, senior partner, Fox Mandal & Associates. This session will be moderated by Kunal Shankar, Deputy Business Editor, The Hindu. There will be a discussion on 'Affordable Housing: Bridging the Urban Housing Gap'. The speakers are: A. Srivathsan, professor, Head of the Centre for Research on Architecture and Urbanism at CEPT University; Vanessa Peter, founder, Information and Resource Centre for the Deprived Urban Communities (IRCDUC); R.V. Shekar, chairman and managing director, Lancor Group; and P. Suresh, managing director, Arun Excello Group. R. Sujatha, former Deputy Editor, The Hindu, will be the moderator. A session will be held on 'Green is Gold: Sustainable Construction & Energy-Efficient Buildings' and the speakers are — C. Velan, CEO, CEEBROS Group; Sumitra Vasudevan, associate partner, APRObuild; Ajit Kumar Chordia, managing director, Olympia Group, India; and Nataraj S, senior assistant vice-president, Swelect. The session's moderator will be Geetha Srimathi S, Senior Reporter, The Hindu. There will be a session called 'Fireside Chat: Building Champions, Building Cities: The Role of Sports Infrastructure'. J. Meghanatha Reddy, IAS, Member-Secretary and CEO, Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu (SDAT), will be the speaker, and K.C. Vijaya Kumar, Sports Editor, The Hindu will be the moderator. In the session, 'Tier II & Tier III Cities: The Next Real Estate Frontier', the speakers are: V.S. Sridhar, executive managing director at Cushman & Wakefield, Chennai, A. Shankar, India Head - Government Advisory & Solutions, JLL India; Junaith Babu, Chief Operating Officer, GSquare and R. Vignesh, managing director, Shri Kailash Industrial and Logistics Parks. The moderator for the session is Sangeetha Kandavel, Senior Assistant Editor, The Hindu. The event is presented by Casagrand and co-presented by GSquare. The Green Energy partner for the event is Swelect and the Sports Ecosystem partners are SDAT and Tamil Nadu Champions Foundation. The event is supported by CREDAI Tamil Nadu, Lancor, Namma Family Group. The Strategic partner is MMA (Madras Management Association) and the TV partners are Puthiya Thalaimurai, the Federal voice of the States. The event can be viewed live at
The Hindu
27-06-2025
- Automotive
- The Hindu
Can India become a leader in EV technology and manufacturing?
In this episode of The Climate Economy from The Hindu, host Kunal Shankar explores India's push for transport electrification. On June 2, India announced a concessional 15% import duty on fully built electric passenger cars—if manufacturers invest ₹4,150 crore locally. With localization targets and capped imports, the policy aims to boost domestic EV production. But does it go far enough to scale up EV adoption and, more critically, battery manufacturing? Kunal discusses these questions with Prof. Shouvik Chakraborty of UMass Amherst's Political Economy Research Institute. Presentation: Kunal Shankar Editing: Aniket Singh Chauhan Video: Shivaraj S
The Hindu
18-06-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Watch: The changing economics of survival
As floods ravage Assam and climate-linked disasters surge, India's disaster response is undergoing a fundamental shift—from reactive relief to proactive resilience. In this episode of The Climate Economy, host Kunal Shankar speaks with NDMA advisor Safi Rizvi on how climate science, economics, and policy are converging to create anticipatory, climate-smart disaster planning. Presentation - Kunal Shankar Editing - Aniket Singh Chauhan Camera - Shikha Kumari A, Aniket Singh Chauhan and Tayyab Hussain
The Hindu
31-05-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
The changing economies of cocoa
In this episode of The Climate Economy, Kunal Shankar explores how climate change is disrupting the $15.2 billion cocoa industry. From West Africa's declining crop yields to price spikes and labour shortages, cocoa has become one of the most volatile global commodities. With increasing droughts, exploitation of farmers, and the rise of synthetic substitutes, the future of chocolate is uncertain. Tune in to understand why cocoa is a climate crisis bellwether — and what it means for the global economy. Presentation: Kunal Shankar Script: P. Jaisakthi Jothi Camera: Thamodharan B Editing: Aniket Singh Chauhan
