Kerala shopping fest to target city's MNCs

GURGAON: Recognizing the fact that the city's MNCs are among the most promising sponsors and consumers for its products, the government of Kerala announced the Great Kerala Shopping Festival (GKSF), to be held in December, at the Hotel Leela Kempinski on Friday.
The fifth GKSF will witness around 85 lakh visitors from India, and 6 lakh visitors from abroad, of which almost 10-20 lakh visitors will come from the NCR itself. "Gurgaon has the headquarters of some of the best textile, FMCG, sportswear, and home appliance companies. We are, therefore, inviting the Gurgaon corporates to participate in our shopping festival," said Ratan Kelkar, director, GKSF.
The festival is expected to get a total investment of Rs 50 crore from the Kerala government, and almost 7,000 retail outlets are expected to participate in the event. According to Sanjeev Gupta, owner of a travel agency in Super Mart, DLF Phase IV, "South india is a popular destination for winter holidays, and we expect at least 1,500 to 2,000 air ticket bookings and around 3,000 railway bookings to Kerala this year."

Source:  http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-09-18/gurgaon/30171800_1_lakh-visitors-kerala-government-gurgaon-corporates

Metro gets 33 acres at Kakkanad

KOCHI: The state government has agreed to provide thirty three acres of land at Kakkanad for Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) to raise funds for the project. It has been decided to hand over the land, owned by Public Works Department, where NGO quarters is located. The decision was taken at a meeting of board of directors of KMRL held at Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday.
Talking to ToI on the new development, managing director, KRML, Tom Jose said that the dilapidated NGO quarters would be pulled down to construct new buildings to provide accommodation for government officials. "Part of the property will be used to raise fund for the metro project. We will conduct a study to find out how we can maximize profit utilizing the land," he said.
The authorities are also contemplating formation of a consortium of banks to raise funds for Kochi metro project. "We are considering two other options also. They include issuing of company bonds and relaxation of building rules to raise money," said Kochi mayor Tony Chammany. He also said that Tom Jose had been entrusted with the task of coming up with suitable suggestions.

Source: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-09-02/kochi/30105462_1_metro-project-acres-land

Sahara Grace launches Phase II

KOCHI: Sahara Prime City Ltd (SPCL), the real estate arm of Sahara India Pariwar, has launched Phase II of its Sahara Grace brand of residential complex in Kochi. This is the third one under the brand of premium luxury housing. Spread over 14.72 acres of prime location on seaport- airport road in Kakkanad, Sahara Grace offers a mix of apartments and penthouses along with value-added facilities.

The project has residential and commercial facilities designed for the high income group customers. With a total built-up area of approximately 19.72 lakh sq ft of residential area, the project has two to four bedroom apartments, three and four bedroom duplex apartments and penthouses.

Amitesh Ahuja, head, south zone, SPCL said, “Sahara Grace will be adorned with a shopping mall.”

A helipad, central water body with artificial lake, gazebo and jogging track, multi-storeyed car parking, multi-level security system, piped cooking gas facility, in-house fire control system, rain water harvesting system� for all its residents.

Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/sahara-grace-launches-phase-ii/184657-60-122.html