Mumbai Indian real estate firm Lodha Developers plans to invest 20 billion rupees ($426 million) to build a 117-storey residential tower in central Mumbai, its managing director said on Tuesday. The company, which plans to launch a $650 million initial public offering (IPO) later this year, will start bookings by end of this month and expects to complete the project, called World One, by 2014. He said the firm expected to roll out 300 residential apartments and notch sales of about 50 billion rupees from the project.

With the base rate era setting in from 1st July 2010, the old home loan borrowers might receive a chance to negotiate for a lower interest rate as it is believed that various banks would be re fixing their lending rates once the base rate sets in. RBI has already stated that the current customers should be offered an alternative between continuing with their old home loan rates or move to new rates decided by the base rate system.

Numerous public and private sector banks would be repricing their retail loans 1-2% points higher than the base rate so as to remain competitive. An official of State Bank of India said, "The new customer may enjoy rates in the region of 9-10%, while existing customer will still be paying 1-2% below the existing prime lending rate which for some banks is as high as 13.75%.

With an aim to continue setting new bench-marks in the western zone, real estate developer Sunil Mantri Group in association with Kumar Yashraj Group, a leading Solapur-based developer, has launched The Square, a first of its kind gated community project in Solapur, Maharashtra. Spread across 27,000 square metres, the project encompasses residential, commercial and retail real estate segments.

Says Sunil Mantri, chairman, Sunil Mantri Group," Tier II and III cities in India have tremendous potential. We see great opportunity in smaller cities and we are confident about the success of our Solapur project. At The Square, we look forward to making available premium lifestyle offerings in southern Maharashtra".

Karnataka Government has set a target of distributing two lakh houses and as many house sites to the poor across the state by April next, State Minister for Housing Katta Subramanya Naidu said today. Naidu, who held a meeting with officials of the Rajiv Gandhi Housing Corporation and Housing Department, has fixed a deadline of August one to commence work on these projects.

He said of the 4.5 lakh houses planned to be built by the BJP Government to free the state from hutment dwellers in the next three years, about 1.5 lakh would be completed in the first phase by April next in rural areas. A total of 50,000 houses would be constructed in urban areas under 'Vajpayee Housing scheme' and two lakh sites distributed, Naidu told reporters.

Property prices in the national capital region (NCR) increased by up to 54% during the first three montha of this year due to higher demand, according to a study conducted by a leading realty portal. Gurgaon's Golf Course Road and Sohna Road have registered the highest appreciation with 54% and 43% jump during January-March quarter respectively, compared to the year-ago period.

"We studied the property price trends of localities across Delhi and found that the real estate sector has moved out of the doldrums and is back on track with prices in key localities moving up," as informed to reporters. The NCR has always been an attractive destination for buyers as it provides high return on investments.

Cinepolis announced its strategic tie-up with Sheth Developers for their new upcoming mega retail space, Vivacity. The development situated in Thane, Mumbai, will feature a 14 screen megaplex format that will be the largest cinema complex in the country. Four of these screens will be dedicated to Cinepolis VIP, a luxurious and ultra premium cinema experience that will also be the largest format of its kind in India. The mall and the megaplex is expected to open in Q2 of CY 2011.

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