The Hindu Business Line : Tiruchi airport gets new terminal

According to a press release from Consolidated Construction Consortium Ltd, the integrated construction company which built the facility, the two-storey complex of 11,777 sq.m includes a service block, public concourse, lounges and car parking facilities.

The release, quoting Mr R. Sarabeswar, Chairman and CEO, CCCL, said the contract, awarded by the Airports Authority of India, is one of the airport projects by CCCL. The company is associated with airport expansion and modernisation projects at Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Mangalore, Delhi and Dehradun.

The Chennai-based CCCL has an order backlog of over Rs 3,700 crore to be executed over the next 18-24 months.

‘Don’t cut back on brand building’

“This is not the time to cut back on brand building,” says Mr Ashish Dikshit, President, Lifestyle and Retail, Madura Garments. Addressing the MMA Annual Convention 2009 on the theme “navigating uncertain times,” Mr Dikshit said strong brands have managed to retain customer interest despite the slowdown.

After a buoyant start in the first half of 2008-09, retail sales had been hard hit in the second half which is usually the major shopping season because most festivals are concentrated in the latter half of the year.

Following the economic slowdown walk-ins dropped by about a fifth across all formats, large flagship formats became unviable even in high turnover locations in Mumbai and most retail supermarket stores started losing cash.

The major challenges faced by the sector, according to Mr Dikshit, are the slowing sales, high costs primarily driven by rentals tied up during the buoyant phase and lack of capital. It is time to go back to the drawing board and take a fresh look at strategies, he said.

Customers are increasingly looking at value for money. High costs are not sustainable under current market conditions. Rentals have to come down — in India rentals account for about 8-15 per cent of sales and in specialty segments it can go up to 15-30 per cent. This is twice the industry average globally. Retailers need to drive sales — explore new markets, look beyond the top seven-eight metros.

Retail sales have been relatively stable in the smaller markets. But there has to be an element of caution in choosing the smaller towns and cities. Some of them are yet to mature and income levels are yet to reach levels that can support organised retailing, he said.

Only the strong brands can sustain premium retail space and the slowdown had reiterated the value of brand image, he said.

Mumbai property expo

The Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry has launched a three-day property exhibition, budget property 2009 – central suburbs of Mumbai.

According to a press release from the MCHI, this follows the success of its recent exhibition on the western suburbs.

The three-day exhibition running between February 21 and 23 is on at Neptune’s Magnet Mall to showcase properties in central suburbs for all sections of home aspirants. Properties ranging from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 49 lakh in Thane, Kalyan, Karjat, Navi Mumbai and Panvel are on offer.

A highlight of the event will be properties in the emerging areas of Bhandup and Mulund.

MCHI is also showcasing lifestyle homes at affordable prices above Rs 50 lakh from these suburbs in this exhibition, the release said.

Over 30 real-estate developers, including prominent players such as Acme Housing India Pvt Ltd, Ajmera Realty and Infra India Ltd, Akruti City Ltd, Arihant Universal, Damji Shamji Shah Group, Dosti Group, Everest Developers, Godrej Properties Ltd, Kalpataru Ltd, Lalani Group, Marathon Realty Ltd, Neelkanth Mansions & Infrastructure Ltd, Nirmal Lifestyles, Nirman Group of Companies, Rustomjee and Sanghvi Group of Companies would be showcasing their properties located in the periphery of Central Suburbs.

Leading Housing Finance Institutions, State Bank of India, HDFC and ICICI Home Finance Company Ltd are also participating in the exhibition.

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