Johnson Controls offers integrated building automation

Johnson Controls, that develops one-stop life cycle solutions for buildings, offers products and services that optimise energy use and improve comfort and security of people and assets.

According to Pramoda Karkal, VP and MD, Building Efficiency, Johnson Controls, the company is committed to creating green environments and offers customers something no other vendor can deliver - sustainable, one-stop life-cycle solutions; from HVAC&R systems including chillers, to building controls, fire and security solutions. "The Indian hotel segment is also one of the focus areas to benefit from our spread of value-added building solutions,” he added.

The company which is aiming for sustainable, energy-efficient buildings across India presented a white paper on cutting life cycle cost of buildings at the recently held Green Building Congress 2007 in Chennai. Johnson Controls has provided its support to buildings like ITC Green Centre & Wipro in Delhi to achieve their Leadership in Energy Environmental Design (LEED) certified platinum ratings in India

The integrated systems customised for hotels include intelligent fire alarm system, IFC panels with detectors distributed throughout the building ensuring early warning of fire hazards, closed circuit television (CCTV) system to monitor entrances, exits and courtyards and automatic voice evacuation system for smooth evacuation of voice messages amongst others.

"These customised and integrated systems provide a comfortable atmosphere, safe and secure environment and optimised building performance. Apart from securing the property and its occupants in the best possible manner, the system is targeted at accruing energy savings," remarks Karkal.

He stated that the best way to build a more comfortable, safe and sustainable world is to apply internationally recognised standards in the beginning, rather than retro-fitting them later.

Admin frames new rules for allotment of property in city

The UT Administration has framed new set of rules for the allotment of free hold and leasehold property in the city, on Tuesday. The new rules “Chandigarh Estate Office Rules 2007” have been formed after clubbing the two pre-existing building rules in the city.
Administration officials claim that more than 1300 litigation cases have been pending at the Estate Office due to non-payment of dues. The massive backlog resulted in the replacement of the older rules. Under earlier norms, the transfer of ownership of the party will occur only after the entire payment is made to the administration.

Under the new rules, the administration has decided that the allotment of commercial and residential properties will be done by auctions, where the interested bidders would have to deposit an earnest money of Rs 2 lakh to be eligible for participating in the auction.

The highest bidder/applicant will have to pay 25 per cent of the total bid, at the end of the auction or within 30 days of the communication from Estate Officer. The remaining 75 per cent of the bid will have to be paid within a period of 90 days from the date of the auction. On payment of 25 per cent of bid amount, both parties shall enter into an agreement to sell the property. If the allottee defaults in making the timely payment of remaining balance of 75 per cent within the stipulated time period, the 25 per cent paid by him will be forfeited and the property will be auctioned again.

Similarly, if the Administration fails to fulfill its obligations to transfer or lease the property for any reason other than the on grounds of threat to public order, security of State or change in Public policy, the Administration will be liable to pay the allottee an equivalent amount, as damages for non performance.

The letter of allotment will be only issued on receipt of full and final consideration money, in order to reduce litigation costs. The construction period for completion of a building will be three years for all categories of sites.

Source : Express India

Billions of USDs for Indian Real Estate

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ELEVEN INDIAN cities, apart from the obvious top eight, are experiencing rapid economic growth due to increasing investments across industries, according to a Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FICCI) and Ernst & Young Indian Real Estate Report. These cities include Surat, Chandigarh, Nagpur, Vadodara, Visakhapatnam, Jaipur, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Nashik, Indore and Ludhiana.

While, the Ernst & Young City ranking indicates that cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Chennai have grown very fast and the six most developed markets in India have commenced on the path of maturity and have already started becoming highly competitive.

As per this report, Panaji, Chandigarh, Pune and Ahmedabad compete with the top six cities in terms of Quality of Life.

While cities of Gujarat dominate the Urban Governance Index, Chandigarh ranks sixth on the City Prosperity Index followed by Hyderabad and Chennai. Delhi is the obvious leader in infrastructure with Chennai and Hyderabad faring well on the Infrastructure Index. Visakhapatnam and Nagpur have ranked high on both Business Environment and Infrastructure Index.

The report further says that driven by dynamic policy interventions, free flow of cross-border capital, entry of large international players, big ticket domestic IPOs, the Indian Real Estate Sector is clocking a growth of more than 30 per cent per annum.

Based on five critical indices developed by Ernst & Young comprising City Prosperity, Urban Governance, Business Environment, Infrastructure and Quality of Life, the FICCI-Ernst & Young Report reveals that as many as 11 Indian cities apart from the obvious top eight are experiencing initial phases of rapid economic growth.

The report notes that a shift towards these cities, with medium term potential, is primarily due to the spill over demand for commercial office space and also to leverage inherent cost and labour advantages. Such an influx has driven demand for residential, commercial, social and hospitality infrastructure in a short period of time considering which developers and the investor community has evoked keen interest in the changing landscape.

As a part of this report, Ernst & Young also conducted a survey which revealed that close to 80 per cent of the respondents believe that in short to mid-term (three to five years), India as an investment destination is “Excellent” or “Very Good” vis-à-vis other Asian markets (China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand).

More than 50 per cent of the respondents believe that high growth trajectory (y-o-y growth of 25 per cent) will continue for the next two to three years, with more than 15 per cent believing that the same will last for more than five years.

All respondents believe that more than USD 5 billion will be invested in the Indian Real Estate over next three years with around 20 per cent believing that the deployment will be more than USD 20 Billion.

In terms of focus on emerging asset classes close to 65 per cent of the respondents believe that logistics and warehousing infrastructure will be their preferred asset class for investment.

According to Dr Amit Mitra, Secretary General, FICCI, “Institutionalisation and evolution of Indian real estate will get a fillip from large scale investment in infrastructure planned by the Government over the next four to five years. The report foresees Healthcare, Logistics & Warehousing, Mega Integrated Townships, Airport / Port based Business District, Mass Housing, and Education, assets and development formats emerging in the firmament of Indian Real Estate in the coming years.

Source : MeriNews