Palava, India’s Next Big Planned City, Builds Smarter City Foundation with IBM

IBM today announced a partnership with Lodha Group to build and manage smart city infrastructure for Palava, which will set the benchmark for 21st century urban living in India. Envisioned as a city of opportunity and spanning over 4,000 acres, Palava will incorporate IBM’s smarter cities technology using advanced, data driven systems to integrate information from all city operations into a single system to improve efficiency and deliver an enhanced quality of life for residents.

“Palava was born out of a vision to create a city of opportunity, one that would not just offer an unparalleled quality of life to its citizens but also become an ecosystem – nurturing business, creating jobs and delivering growth. To achieve this, we are planning decades ahead, and embedding smart elements in the city’s design and infrastructure. This will help ensure safety, efficiency and governance with participation from citizens, and in parallel provides the foundations for businesses with future-ready infrastructure; a vibrant community; a pool of educated and talented professionals, alongside top-rung education, sports and cultural facilities,” said Shaishav Dharia, Development Director – Palava, Lodha Group. “The smart city initiative is key to achieving the level of efficiency and participation to make this vision a reality and we are pleased to partner with IBM, the global leader in smarter cities, to build this first-of-a-kind city in India.”

Strategically located at the junction of Navi Mumbai and Dombivali, Palava, is envisioned to become the largest ever private, completely planned development in urban India, and one of the top 50 places to live in the world by 2020.

To enable Palava’s Smarter City development, IBM will provide a foundation to integrate multiple city agencies and provide a unified view into all city functions, helping all departments collaborate, share insights and information to improve the experience for its citizens. By enabling participative government and insight driven actions, city officials will be able better allocate resources and provide a more resident centric approach to city management. IBM Intelligent Operations serves as the backbone of city infrastructure and centralizes key city functions through real time monitoring and advanced analytics. Providing a 360 degree view of the key functions for managing the city, will enable city officials to better allocate resources, adopt preventative maintenance measures and proactively manage issues that could affect quality of life.

“Recent projections show India’s urban population soaring from 340 million in 2008 to 590 million in 2030, which may lead to tremendous strain on urban resources in India. This makes the proliferation of practical and proven smart city interventions into existing and future cities essential. It is our endeavor to make Palava a city that sets the benchmark for future Indian and global cities to emulate.” said Dhamodaran Ramakrishnan, Director, Smarter Planet Solutions, IBM India/South Asia

As a part of this strategic engagement, IBM Global Business Services developed the vision and detailed roadmap for Palava’s smarter city imperatives. IBM is also creating the business architecture and operating procedures, implementing the technology platform and solutions, and will eventually manage the technology. The project also consists of the following:

Participative Governance: IBM is building a service platform for citizens to interact with city administration and manage various services offered by the city. Using mobile and social technology, the service platform will enable citizens to communicate with city officials, access amenities and services, report on issues and receive feedback from city officials. This will enable city officials to better handle citizen concerns, more rapidly gather feedback via social media and more effectively manage city resources to fulfill various needs of the citizens.

Intelligent Operations: IBM is enabling Palava to go beyond “smart instrumentation” and be a truly interconnected and intelligent city by integrating different service areas such as energy, water, transportation, public safety and smart cards with a central command and control center. The central command and control center will monitor the health of key city systems and take coordinated action to handle any disruptions or emergency situations in the city. This will also enable the use of Big Data Analytics enabling the city to predict and prevent issues that could affect quality of life, ranging from traffic congestion to emergencies.

Public Safety: IBM is using expertise from numerous client engagements to define and set up technology enabled procedures to effectively handle different types of situations that could affect the city. This further accentuates Lodha’s vision of public safety as one of the primary focus areas for Palava. IBM will support a central hub to monitor and enable coordination among Palava city and agencies involved in public safety and emergency management. Centralized city operations will allow for real-time monitoring of incidents and enable public safety personnel to take quick coordinated actions.

                                                                                                                                                                      (Source : IBM PRESS RELEASE)

Is this India's Donald Trump, Minus The Flash? - New Indian Express

Abhishek Lodha, the 34-year-old head of Mumbai’s biggest residential development company, is getting used to the limelight. In 2010, he made headlines for clinching the city’s costliest land deal, when he masterminded the Lodha Group’s purchase of a 25,000-sq-m plot in Wadala, central Mumbai, for Rs 4,050 crore.

Two years later, he was back in the news for buying a 17-acre mill in Worli from DLF for Rs 2,700 crore. In 2013, he widened his area of influence by buying McDonald House, formerly the Canadian High Commission in London, for Rs 3,000-plus crore. The property rests in the heart of Mayfair, overlooking London’s finest garden squares. And now, he’s bought a Rs 1,000-crore property at London’s Grosvenor Square.

At home, with over 35 million sq ft of development in Mumbai and a land bank estimated at 3,500 acres in Dombivilli, the Lodhas have become the undisputed maharajas of the finance capital’s real estate sector. It’s been a quick growth story.

Abhishek’s father Mangal Prabhat Lodha came to Mumbai from Jodhpur and set up Lodha Developers as recently as 1980. Mangal Prabhat’s father had been a lawyer before turning into a BJP politician, and the son too trod the same path. Today, he is known as the six-time BJP MLA from Malabar Hill and one of the richest men in politics with a declared net worth of Rs 68 crore in 2009.

His heir-apparent Abhishek completed his M.S. in industrial systems engineering, where he studied design and project management, and went on to work as a consultant with McKinsey & Co in Atlanta. That done, he returned to the family business to handle operations, marketing and strategy at the Lodha group.

His recent moves indicate the Georgia Tech graduate has London strongly in his crosshairs. His intent seems to be to convert the city’s commercial properties with marquee addresses into luxury residential apartments. If he succeeds, he would have managed to create two markets for two sets of similar high-end clients, those buying high-end apartments in Mumbai (from all over the world) and those with the appetite and financial means to invest in the booming London market. Says HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh: “Central London is a big market that attracts foreign investors from West Asia, the Russians and the Chinese who all have large sums of money at their disposal... Selling properties in London will not be an issue for the Lodha Group.”

All that the low-profile Abhishek, who lives in the family home in Malabar Hills with his father and brother Abhinandan (32), will say is: “Lodha plans to focus on London as one of our two main markets and we will continue to look for opportunities that come up in this market. We will serve London in the same manner that we serve Mumbai-with world-class products intended to serve all key markets.”

While keeping a low profile as individuals, the Lodhas have steadily built their brand among consumers by spending over Rs 40 crore in advertising.

Unlike DLF and Unitech, Lodha has not attempted to undertake a pan-Indian expansion. “They have stayed close to the knitting,” says Pranay Vakil, founder-chairman of  Knight Frank. He attributes the group’s growth strategy and aggression to pursue a market like London to Abhishek. “A gutsy risk taker with a superb brain,” is how Vakil describes him.

Sanjay Dutt, chief of Cushman Wakefield, attributes the young Lodha’s impressive professionalism to his stint with McKinsey & Co in the US. “He is an unassuming, understated, no-nonsense kind of guy with an outstanding demonstration of commercial sense,” he concludes. Even KG Krishnamurthy, MD & CEO of HDFC Property Ventures, which has invested in several of Lodha’s projects, is all praise for the young tycoon. “Abhishek is hands-on, meticulous and frankly a bit of a workaholic. His decision making is very quick,” he notes.

The London foray has undoubtedly propelled the Group, and Abhishek, into the big league of Indian realty. Industry sources now compare him with the top three builders in the country, Niranjan Hiranandani, DLF’s Rajiv Singh and Ravi Raheja of Raheja Developers. Bankers marvel that the group has been able to achieve what it has without accessing the public markets to raise funding. A planned IPO of Rs 2,700 crore was shelved in 2010. What the Group has done is forge successful long-term relationships with private equity funds and big bankers like JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank, HDFC Ventures, ICICI Bank and State Bank of India, who have invested in projects and acted as lenders. There are talks of JP Morgan financing the London transactions but this could not be confirmed.

A banker who has invested nearly $200 million in Lodha’s Mumbai projects, says: “In the past five-six years, the Lodha empire has grown substantially.My guesse is that they have a net cash surplus of Rs 70 crore-Rs 80 crore a month.”

This translates to roughly Rs 1,000 crore a year. They borrow on those funds and lenders are willing as they see assured cash flows for the next five years.”

But the reality check in realty is delivery. That is Abhishek’s biggest challenge. Some of the Mumbai projects are already late in delivery and the company will face financial penalties in London if a similar problem occurs there.

Time will tell if the London investments pan out as well as the Mumbai ones.

If they do, then Abhishek Lodha may well become India’s Donald Trump, minus the flash.

Lodha launches 4,000-acre township near Mumbai - Financial Chronicle

Lodha Group has recently launched a township project called Palava at Dombivili, a suburb in Mumbai. The price of each apartment ranges from Rs 37 lakh to 65 lakh.
Abhinandan Lodha, deputy managing director, Lodha Group, said, “Palava is inspired by best practices of the world’s greatest cities. About 1/4th the size of the island city of Mumbai, Palava is spread across 4,000 acres.”
The group has already witnessed unprecedented interest with over 4,200 bookings worth Rs 2,000 crore within a month.
There has been a tremendous interest across India and from overseas customers. This is largely on account of the world-class design and amenities, collaboration with global city planners, the company statement said. Lodha launched Palava with Amitabh Bachchan as its honorary First Citizen.
Palava is 20 minutes away from the Navi Mumbai International Airport, a short drive from the key employment hubs of Thane, Navi Mumbai and Kalyan, and now, with the new Eastern Freeway, just about 60 minutes (40 kms) from the southern tip of Mumbai. According to the company statement, the project includes a business environment, educational and healthcare facilities, cultural and sports infrastructure, and safe public spaces.
The project comprises amenities like the Lodha World School, a pre-school, sports facilities and training academies, clubhouses, and a 9-hole golf course.
The group is presently developing 650 acres. Nearly four lakh people are expected to live in Palava by 2025.
The group is developing over 35 million sq ft of prime real estate, with over 20 projects in Mumbai, London, Pune and Hyderabad. They are also constructing the world’s tallest residential tower, World One, in Mumbai. In the last 12 months, the group has acquired two other significant land parcels — the 17-acre Mumbai Textile Mills parcel for
Rs 2,727 crore from DLF and Washington House property from the American government on Altamount Road in Mumbai.

Diversified brands sparkle - Business Standard

Samsung, the consumer electronics chaebol, has displaced Nokia as the most trusted brand in Trust Research Advisory's (TRA) Brand Trust Report (BTR), 2014. While Nokia slips four places to rank as fifth, the top five ranks are populated by consumer durables brands such as Sony (second) and LG (fourth). Tata, denoting the Tata Group, is third, moving up two spots from last year. One of the world's most coveted brands, Apple, is not even among the top 100 (is 126th).

In the diversified category, the Chennai-based TTK (makers of Prestige cookware) and Kishore Biyani-promoted Future Group are the new entrants. N Chandramouli, CEO of TRA, says, "There is a concentration of diversified brands in the top 20, followed by four-wheeler manufacturers." Tata leads Reliance by 60 per cent among conglomerates.

The report is the fourth edition of TRA's yearly efforts. Unlike brand valuations, the report attempts to capture the trust vested in brands as recalled by 2,505 repondents (unaided, three brands each) from 16 cities over the last four months. According to the report, brands can look to strengthen three criteria -

1. highlighting shared interest and empathy to appeal to new audience; 2. highlighting corporate altruism and enthusiasm to come across as genuine; and 3. matching its appearance with positioning. Chandramouli points out that in the top 20, 10 are new entrants and nine from the previous year have slipped below the mark.

Gaining momentum after the split with Honda Motorcycle & Scooter in 2010, Hero Motocorp is one of the new entrants. Others include Mahindra or M&M, Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Vodafone. "Anand Mahindra's rhetoric of not measuring the company on size but on trust is paying off," says Chandramouli.

DLF seems to have taken a beating after it had to discontinue its IPL sponsorship, and ranks second after Lodha, a Mumbai-based developer, who has gained traction with its brand endorsers, actors Aishwarya Rai and Amitabh Bachchan, among realty developers.

Godrej (diversified) slips 10 places to rank as 16th, after having steadily gained for some years. BMW falls from being 4th to 150th. Bajaj (diversified), Airtel, Apple, Dell, Audi (14th to 323rd), Nike, Olay and Dove are others who have fallen off the top 20.

Mercedes on the other hand, in luxury cars, has climbed to be the 90th most-trusted overall. Skoda, with vehicles above Rs 20 lakh, came across as the most trusted luxury auto-maker.

Despite heavy spends by oralcare brands, Colgate has slid from 24th to 53rd overall. HUL and P&G, among FMCG parent companies, have both gained in rankings. Chandramouli says, "These companies started using the mother brands in brand communication, especially in the last two years, including corporate campaigns in mainstream media." Pepsi from PepsiCo has pipped Coke from Coca-Cola in the eternal soft drinks war. Thums Up has gone up from 170th to 66th.

Revital in nutritional supplements has beaten Complan and Bournvita on trust levels, and trails Horlicks and Boost. In the Internet space, Olx ranks the highest in online shopping ahead of Myntra and Jabong.

In mobile phones, Micromax has jumped to second spot, and from 119th to the 45th spot overall, riding on the back of its endorsement deal with Hugh Jackman, the Australian actor, with international acclaim. Regional brands have also fared well, especially from the east and south. Priya Gold, Khadims, Aachi Spices and Ramraj in apparels have clocked strong gains in trust. The BTR also reveals that the propensity to trust brands is highest in the eastern region, followed by the north, west and the south.

The audience polled included 21 per cent from Mumbai, 19 per cent from Delhi and 15 per cent from Kolkata, apart from 13 other cities. These were salaried employees, from SEC A and A+ and earned between Rs 20,000-50,000 plus per month. Over 40 per cent of them were aged between 26-35 years.

Chandramouli says trust in brands will be affected by current events, including a marketing campaign that might be running at the time of the survey, apart from residual trust. A consistency chart over the last four years show that brands such as Nokia, Reliance Industries, Godrej, Titan, Nike and Bajaj have performed consistently despite a fall in some of their rankings this year.

With clients such as Godrej Industries, Tata Motors and Mahindra's commercial vehicle arm, Chandramouli says that TRA does in-depth reports beyond the BTR, to map its data against their brands. It has consulted with Godrej, for example, on how it needs to communicate its deeds as a corporate citizen to prop up its trustworthiness. "Mahindra had asked us to do a survey among its stakeholder on how they view it. The commercial vehicle division even has a KRA of trust," says Chandramouli.

Lodha Launches ‘Palava’ - The City of Opportunity

Mumbai January 13, 2014: Mumbai’s sister city inspired by the best globally Built for the 21st century and beyond

Lodha Group, the country’s largest developer, presented “Palava”- Mumbai’s sister city and the ‘City of Opportunity’. Palava is designed to be amongst the world’s top 50 most liveable cities, with every aspect of it being benchmarked against global criteria. This includes a vibrant business environment, outstanding educational and healthcare facilities, unparalleled cultural and sports infrastructure, and safe public spaces, in addition to high quality residences at affordable prices for its citizens. Derived from the Sanskrit work ‘palav’ (budding flower), Palava will be a city with endless possibilities, built to help its people flourish and exceed their potential in every aspect of their lives. Indeed, Palava aims to be the model for 21st century urbanization in India where citizens, administrators and developers come together to create world-class opportunities of growth and prosperity for all.

Just 20 min from the Navi Mumbai International Airport, a short drive from the key employment hubs of Thane, Navi Mumbai and Kalyan, and now, with the new Eastern Freeway, just about 60 minutes (40 kms) from the Southern tip of Mumbai, Palava is located at the epicentre of business and provides a holistic, urban environment which will set the standard for 21st century living in India.

Unveiling Palava, Abhinandan Lodha, Deputy Managing Director, Lodha Group, said, “Today, with over 20,000 residential units sold in just over 3 years, Palava shows the need for high quality middle income housing in MMR. This number is expected to rise to 1,00,000 units by 2025. This city already has much that one could hope for with the highest percentage of green space compared to any major city in the world and a range of already operational world class education and sports facilities. Over the last 5 years, we have tapped into world-renowned experts on urban planning and adopted best practices from around the world to ensure that Palava is a city built to last. Our aim is to offer large numbers of affordable homes in an environment where people can live their lives to the fullest and enjoy opportunities which are on par with any other global city.”

With over 3.5 lakh job openings (by 2025), Palava aims to be a city that encourages enterprising people and provides businesses with the environment they need to grow and create high quality jobs. It will also be home to a world-class multi-disciplinary university, an Olympic Sports Complex, a vibrant Centre for Arts and Culture, lakefront and river-front plazas, high street retail and a 100-acre Central Park.

World renowned star icon and acting legend Amitabh Bachchan, First Citizen of Palava , said, “I’ve travelled to many cities across the world and discovered one fundamental truth: great cities are those that offer great opportunities. Mumbai has given me the platform to grow personally and professionally for 5 decades now and I have seen this economic powerhouse expand beyond imagination. Taking this momentum further is Palava, Mumbai’s sister city that offers well-rounded and fulfilling lives to its citizens by enabling economic prosperity and creating an inspiring social and cultural environment. It will be a place where families lead rich and varied lives, businesses flourish, students dream bigger, and athletes go farther than ever before. In Palava you will find something new at every corner. It is a city that will bring out the best in its people.”

About Palava

Palava Today: With over 20,000 residential units sold, Palava is already home to thousands of families. In keeping with its aim to provide opportunities across the spectrum, Palava already has operational world class facilities such as the Lodha World School and a preschool, sports facilities and training academies in clubhouses, a cricket ground, a FIFA standard football field and a 9-hole golf course, and convenience retailers.

Business and Careers: The Central Business District (CBD) will offer millions of sq. ft. of world-class offices at competitive rates and with world-class infrastructure. Palava’s vision is to create 3.5 lac jobs by 2025 across the CBD and other high quality jobs across retail, education and more. This will truly make the objective of “walk to work” for Palava citizens a reality.

Education and Sports: Palava will be home to over 20 schools, a world-class multi-disciplinary University and an Olympic Sports Complex with professional sports academies.

Leisure: The Centre for Arts and Culture, lakefront and river-front plazas, a 5 lac sq. ft. mall with a multiplex, high street retail and a 100-acre Central Park are just some of the numerous spaces in Palava that enable people to indulge in a range of pursuits and lead a fulfilling life.

Healthcare: A multi-specialty hospital affiliated to the university to encourage research and development, and pharmacies and clinics within a 10 min walk from home will ensure world-class healthcare at Palava.

Security: 24x7 monitoring and emergency response teams, video surveillance, a highly trained security force, street level panic alarm systems, and electronic access control and automatic firm alarm systems in buildings will ensure safety, day and night.

Transportation: The already operational Eco-drive buses provide service within the city and a state-of-the-art transport hub will connect with external transport facilities. The Fleet Management System will ensure efficient operation of public vehicles while System Enablers which predict traffic will help prevent congestion. The Parking Management System will ensure hassle free parking for all.

City Planning and Management: Each neighborhood has a pedestrian focused design and is planned to be self-sufficient, with all daily needs met within a 5 to 10 min walk from home and public facilities just 15 minutes away.

Recognizing the value of involving citizens in the running of the city, Palava will be run by a not-for-profit City Council that will have representatives from the citizens of the city, and experts in city management as members. An Intelligent City Operations Centre at Palava will act as a centralized & integrated platform for citywide services and enable efficient city governance through the use of the latest ‘smart’ technologies. Some of these technologies include a Palava e-Portal and Smart Cards.

City Sustainability:

Efficiency goes hand in hand with sustainability - a salient feature of Palava, be it through treatment of water and sewage, use of renewable energy or an eco-friendly transport service. Palava already has 24*7 water and electricity while nearby areas continue to see shortage especially during peak summer months. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Source : Times Property

Lodha to launch Rs.14,000 crore township project in Mumbai

The real estate project is part of Lodha’s plan to develop ‘Palava’ project spread over 4,000 acres of land between Navi Mumbai and Dombivali.

After investing at least Rs.3,000 crore in a London property last year, real estate firm Lodha Group is starting the year with yet another big project. It is launching an 800-acre township in Mumbai suburbs with an investment of close to Rs.14,000 crore, as part of its plan to develop the “Palava” project spread over 4,000 acres of land between Navi Mumbai and Dombivali.

The company has already invested Rs.4,800 crore in acquiring the land and building the first phase. Launched in 2009, the first phase consists of 20,000 residential units spread over 250 acres, and the company claims to have sold all the units and given possession of 2,000 of them.

Lodha is launching the second phase which consists of residential, commercial and other social infrastructure projects such as schools, hospitals, sports facilities, etc. to support the township. Eight hundred acres of land will have 800 residential towers of 7-14 stories on completion.

“Palava is designed to be among the world’s top 50 most liveable cities, with every aspect of it being benchmarked against global criteria,” said Abhinandan Lodha, deputy managing director, Lodha Group. “We will be launching two more such phases” he said.

With huge delays, real estate experts have been apprehensive about the execution of the large townships which will take longer time to deliver. “There is risk as developers do not have full control over large townships, considering regulatory delays and infrastructural requirements. But Lodha is known for its scale and execution. Besides price per units are attractive for a middle-class buyer,” said Sanjay Dutt, executive managing director (South Asia) at real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield..

Lodha sold the phase I at Rs.20-50 lakh per residential units and the price will be Rs.36-65 lakh for the phase II. “As the city development progresses, we will able to bring in more premium projects,” said Lodha.

Lodha is planning to construct two million sq ft of commercial space. “Unlike phase I, there will be a lot of commercial developments also. Walk to work culture is being encouraged by many corporates and we have received interest from companies in the IT/ITeS, financial and pharma sectors,” he added.

“It takes time for offices to take up office spaces in far flung locations. But residential catchment may appeal companies like small and medium industries, IT, etc. looking to tap talent from different parts of the city,” said Dutt of Cushman & Wakefield. It takes close to one hour by suburban train from central business district of Nariman Point to reach Palava.

Lodha has used the brand powers of Bollywood actressAishwarya Rai Bachchan and US-based The Trump Organization for its project called “The Park” in the island city. For Palava, the company has got Amitabh Bachchan as its “first citizen”. “A first citizen is like a mayor of the city. Our target customers which is the middle class look up to Amitabh Bachchan for aspirational value,” said Lodha.

“In a market like Mumbai, low price band means huge demand and quick cash flow generation. So it makes sense for Lodha.” Dutt said. Lodha claims to have sold Rs.8,700 crore worth of projects in the last fiscal while India’s largest listed real estate company DLF Ltd did sales of Rs.7,772 crore. It expects to touch the Rs.10,000 crore mark this fiscal with the physical delivery of 5.6 million sq ft.

In November 2013, the Lodha group acquired a property in Central London from the Canadian government for over £300 million.

                                                                                                                                                                                         Source : LIVEMINT

Lodha set to launch 2nd phase of mega city project in Mumbai

Mumbai: Leading estate developer Lodha Group on Thursday said it will launch the second phase of its mega city project 'Palava' on Saturday.

The Mumbai-based realtor is developing 'Palava', a mega city in Dombivli, a suburb of Mumbai located in Thane district.

The entire project, spread over 5,000 acres, is to be completed in four phases by 2025. The second phase consists of 800 buildings and is slated be completed in the next 5 years.

"The second phase, spread across 800 acres and comprising around 800 buildings, will house malls, residential and commercial towers, hotels among others," Abhinandan Lodha, the company's Deputy Managing Director, told PTI here.

"We expect to generate nearly Rs 15,000 crore from this phase," he said.

In the first phase, the company has already delivered 20,000 residential units, he said, adding, "the focus will be on providing high quality units at affordable prices. We expect to provide 1 lakh middle-income affordable housing by 2025."

The size of apartments in phase two ranges between 750 sq ft to 1,200 sq ft, costing Rs 36 lakh to Rs 65 lakh.

"In the first phase, spread across 250 acres, prices ranged between Rs 20 lakh and Rs 50 lakh. But with the appreciation of property prices and increasing demand for housing in the area, the new apartments will cost between Rs 36 lakh and Rs 65 lakh," he said.

The firm has bought over 3,500 acres of land for the project and will acquire another 1,500 acres soon, he said.

Lodha further said the company has spent Rs 4,800 crore for purchasing land and funding the construction in the phase 1.

"The additional investments for funding the construction cost of the second phase would come from pre-sales," he said.

                                                                                                                                                                                          Source : ZeeNews