Streets in Tamil Nadu are set to glow with LED luminaires as part of a sustainable development programme

Over 10 urban local bodies, including Tiruchi, Thanjavur, Coimbatore, Tuticorin, Erode, Salem, Tirupur, Vellore, Madurai and Tirunelveli, will replace around 2 lakh 40W fluorescent tube lights with LED luminaires.

Through the initiative of the local bodies, there will be annual energy savings of around 26,280 MWh, amounting to €17 million (about Rs 144 crore) in 10 years, said an official of Belgian firm Schreder, which supplies LED luminaries.

Tamil Nadu’s Commissionerate of Municipal Administration is conducting an investment grade audit for existing energy systems in municipal street lighting.

This will be followed by installation, commissioning, operations and maintenance of energy-efficient lamps and luminaires. Schreder, as part of a consortium, has bagged a letter of intent for audit for the Coimbatore, Tuticorin and Thanjavur regions (for 78,500 LED luminaries), the official said.

The company has a production facility at Faridabad. The Brika and Skido brand luminaries have been co-developed by the group’s R&D centre along with the Indian engineering team to address the lighting needs of the Indian market, he said recently on the sidelines of a seminar.

The Chennai Corporation too plans to replace nearly 1.10 lakh high-intensity discharge luminaires with LED luminaires.

Around 60,000 have already been replaced. This will result in potential annual energy saving of around 13,800 MWh and savings of around €9 million in 10 years, said a Corporation official.

Schreder will supply nearly 13,300 Brika LED luminaries, the company official said. By using LED luminaries and smart control systems, there could be up to 85 per cent energy savings when compared with installations equipped with traditional light sources.

The Tamil Nadu Energy Development Agency will harness renewable energy for lighting applications in areas without grid power.

It plans to install nearly 1 lakh LED street lights through solar power in 1,000 village panchayats over five years.

This project will cost nearly €5.8 million.

For 20,000 street lights, the annual energy savings will be around 2,800 MWh, the official said. 

courtesy: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/states/tn-to-light-up-streets-with-led/article5490189.ece

New development rules for urban areas in TN

The Tamil Nadu government has approved uniform guidelines or Development Control Regulations relating to special buildings, multi-storeyed buildings, group developments, layouts and sub-divisions.

KSRTC opens online reservation counter

The online advance ticket reservation counter of the Karnataka State Transport Corporation (KSRTC) at the State Express Transport Corporation bus Stand at Gandhipuram in the city was inaugurated by Collector, P. Umanath on Monday.

The online advance ticket reservation counter of the Karnataka State Transport Corporation (KSRTC) at the State Express Transport Corporation bus Stand at Gandhipuram in the city was inaugurated by Collector, P. Umanath on Monday.

Passengers wanting to travel to various destinations in Karnataka could book their tickets 30 days in advance on-line, in all classes of service operated by KSRTC from Coimbatore to different destinations in Karnataka and also to various other places in Southern India, wherever KSRTC was operating its service. The counter would work on all the seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

According to R. Jayabalan, in-charge of KSRTC operations, the service provider was operating three different types of services i.e., Express, Rajahamsa (Ultra Deluxe) and Volvo and to the same destination via various routes. From Coimbatore, there are seven Express and Rajahamsa services to Bangalore, six to Mysore, two services each to Mercara and K R Nagara besides one each to Mandya, Tumkur, Chikkamagalure, Hunsur, Gundalpet, Chitradurga, Gudulpet, Mangalore, Shimoga, Sringeri and Harihara.

In addition, 14 services including Volvo and Rajahamsa are being operated to Bangalore via Salem and Hosur daily from 00.25 hours to 23.45 hours.

Residential space: Coimbatore spins a growth story

The textile city of Coimbatore is witnessing initial signs of surge in demand for residential space. The pleasant climate and sweet Siruvani water had turned this centrally-located industrial city in Tamil Nadu into a retirement haven. But today the culture is changing and more people are buying homes here as an investment option.

Renowned for its cosmopolitan outlook due to influx of north Indians generations ago, the people in the city were mainly dependent on manufacturing industries. But with the development of infrastructure in IT space and enormous growth in retail, a huge flow of population is expected to come into Coimbatore in the next few years.

“The Tidel Park, which will be ready in 2010, is expected to bring in direct employment for 12,000 people and at least half of them will require residential space,” said Builders’ Association of India (BAI) Coimbatore chapter’s vice-chairman C T Narayanan.

He expects demand for residential space to improve drastically in the coming years. “By January 2011, the industry will be back to its good days,” he said.

Sankar Foundation, MD, Omkar Sankar, too painted a positive picture “The sector is slowly getting better as investor confidence has come back. We are seeing a lot of confirmations unlike a few months ago,” he said, adding that the builders were quoting 10% less on the price front compared to last year.

“The land rates are still high but we are trying to move ahead in business by reducing our profit margin,” said Mr Narayanan. He added that the prices never dropped in Coimbatore on the realty front even during the recessionary phase.

“Coimbatore’s property market is showing signs of recovery with several companies seeking a presence in the city. However, the word of caution is that prices should remain reasonable due to sustained demand and more investments,” said Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj MD Ramesh Nair. He told SundayET that the year 2010 definitely looks better than 2008 and 2009. “Compared to other cities in the tier II and III arena, prices were realistic in Coimbatore and there wasn’t any major downward trend seen during recession,” he added.

Sreevatsa Real Estates MD C S Ramaswamy said, enquiries have increased and conversions are happening now. Even big players in the realty segment like Sahara, which announced projects long back in Coimbatore, have expedited construction activity, he added. Recently, Rakindo too announced the starting of Kovai Hills project in the city. The residential projects are mainly taking place in the outskirts of the city like Saravanampatti, Vadavalli and Mettupalayam Road as the main areas such as Race Course cannot support anymore projects.

“The increasing enquiry in the last three months doesn’t mean that the industry has recovered from recession. The enquiries will have to be converted into sales or occupancy,” Mr Nair cautioned. He, however, credited the city for its adaptability to changing market conditions. “The builders reduced the sizes of apartments and cut down on amenities to make sure apartments are more affordable,” he said.

BAI Coimbatore chapter chairman D R Sekar added, the houses in the Rs 20-40 lakh range are moving well. “It is only the higher budget ones that are seeing sluggish movement,” he added. The enquiries on the commercial front are yet to pick up, added Mr Nair. “Most of the SEZ projects planned in Coimbatore haven’t taken off. But we expect demand for office space to grow in the coming months,” he said


http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/features/the-sunday-et/property/Residential-space-Coimbatore-spins-a-growth-story/articleshow/5454373.cms

Railways ignoring people of Coimbatore

PDK to stage demonstration tomorrow

Coimbatore: Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (PDK) has planned to organise a demonstration in front of the Coimbatore Railway Junction on Tuesday (January 19) protesting against the diversion of many of the trains on the Irugur – Podanur – Irugur section skipping Coimbatore Junction.

Weekly trains

In a statement, K. Ramakrishnan, General Secretary of PDK, said that weekly trains and most of the special trains and even some of the most important mails from Kerala towards Chennai were being operated via Podanur – Irugur – Podanur section and vice-versa skipping Coimbatore Railway Junction. The Coimbatore Junction was being neglected despite being the second largest revenue spinner in the Southern Railways next only to Chennai.

Special trains

Even the recently introduced Puducherry – Mahe (Mangalore) train was being routed via Irugur – Podanur – Irugur route skipping Coimbatore Junction.

The Railway was deliberately ignoring the people of Coimbatore. The special trains and weekly trains being introduced in Tamil Nadu were operated only on Mondays and Tuesdays and the railway administration was silently withdrawing these trains in the name of lack of patronage.

Occupancy ratio

The examples for such withdrawal of services are the Coimbatore – Sengottah and Tiruchendur trains recently. Introduced on Mondays and Tuesdays, these trains were withdrawn citing lack of patronage and occupancy ratio.

Destinations

However, trains serving destinations in Kerala were being operated and confirmed as permanent trains despite lack of patronage.

Mr. Ramakrishnan pointed out that railway administration ensures that all these trains that skip Coimbatore Junction were being flagged off by Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Chief Ministers and Ministers. The PDK wanted the the recently introduced Puducherry train to run via Coimbatore and not on the Irugur – Podanur - Irugur section.

http://www.hindu.com/2010/01/18/stories/2010011857490300.htm

Build Intec 2010 from February 19

Coimbatore District Small Industries Association will organise the fifth edition of its building and construction fair, Build Intec 2010, from February 19 to 23.

According to a release from the association, over 200 companies will participate in the exhibition that will be held at the CODISSIA Trade Fair Complex.

Construction machinery and material manufacturers from Italy, Spain, Germany, Korea and Malaysia will also take part.

Financial institutions, property developers, construction machinery and equipment manufacturers, building technology providers, material and component producers will display their products.

A home loan and SME loan fair will be organised as part of the exhibition and 30 banks will participate in it.

Loan fair

The SME loan fair will benefit the emerging entrepreneurs. The banks expect a business transaction of over Rs. 60 crores at the fair.

The exhibition will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Odyssey set to expand its store format

Odyssey set to expand its store format
Odyssey India Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd, is looking to expand its stores in malls namely Express Avenue (Chennai), Brookefields Plaza (Coimbatore) and Prozone Mall (Aurangabad) by 2010-11. The leisure retailer is set to take its store count to 60 soon.

“In 2010-11, there will be a lot of Odyssey Express format outlets coming up at Delhi Airport Terminal 3, Delhi Metro stations and some prominent IT Parks in India,” says T S Ashwin, managing director, Odyssey India Ltd.

In addition to its exclusive eye-wear stores, the Odyssey is poised to diversify its retailing business with the launch of 'Editions' – an exclusive store for premium international and luxury pen brands.

“Brands that we represent as exclusive licensees in India are Visconti (Italy), Curtis (Australia), Kynsey (Italy), Krone (Italy), Franklin-Christoph (USA), David Oscarson (USA), Diplomat (UK), Waldmann (Germany), Think (Italy), Stipula (Italy), etc. We will also stock some international accessories from Naldi (Italy). We are on the verge of signing up more pen brands,” reveals Ashwin.

“Confirmed projects for 'Editions', over the next four months, will be Inorbit (Hyderbad), Ampa Mall (Chennai) and Palladium (Mumbai),” adds Ashwin.

Expansion and Investment
Talking of the expansion plan of Editions, Ashwin says, “We are trying to make our presence in at least 10 mall stores over the next 12 months in Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Bangalore, and Hyderabad.

Investment in this venture will be approximately Rs 9.0 crores over the next 12 months.”

Expedite development authority for Coimbatore

The Coimbatore Consumer Cause has appealed to the Government to expedite formation of a Planning and Development Authority for Coimbatore.

Secretary of the consumer body K. Kathirmathiyon has said in a release: “We are happy to note that the Government is seriously considering the formation of the authority for Coimbatore, which was the request of the citizens of this area.”
Contribution

Development and construction activities here were next only to Chennai in the State. Coimbatore’s contribution to the Infrastructure Development Fund of the State Government was nearly 36 per cent.

Formation of the authority would enable the city to have a planned and healthy growth. Currently, Coimbatore had a number of unplanned, unsafe and unhealthy growth and there were delays in getting approvals.

Secretary of the Housing and Urban Development Department said recently that applications submitted in standardised format would be decided in 30 days by the Local Planning Authorities and in the case of queries, it would be done in three days.

Though this was a welcome move, formation of the authority would be the long-term solution for the development of this area, he said.

http://www.hindu.com/2009/11/30/stor...3050920200.htm

Protection schemes for six railway stations

The Government Railway Police (GRP) has drawn up railway protection schemes for six railway stations in Tamil Nadu in order to beef up security and strengthen surveillance in them, Inspector General of Police, Railways, C.V. Rao said on Friday.

The security schemes have been readied for Chennai, Salem, Coimbatore, Tiruchi, Madurai and Tirunelveli railway junctions to tackle emergency situations in coordination with the Railway Protection Force, Mr. Rao told reporters at Tiruchi Junction after inaugurating a safety awareness campaign at the station.

http://www.hindu.com/2009/11/28/stor...2858930200.htm

Mahindra FirstChoice inaugurates its Coimbatore dealership

Mahindra FirstChoice Wheels Ltd., India’s largest multi-brand pre-owned car company, on 15th November’09, has inaugurated its first authorized dealership in Coimbatore. CAI is spread across 6,500 sq. ft. and is located at Husur Road near Anna Silai. The showroom was inaugurated by Shubhabrata Saha, CEO, Mahindra First Choice Limited.

“I’m delighted to inaugurate our very first Mahindra FirstChoice outlet in Coimbatore which is in tune with our plans to expand in the South. In fact, we recently opened a SuperStore in Thiruvananthapuram and will soon be setting one up in Kochi as well.

“CAI is one of the most respected names in the auto industry in Tamil Nadu and has a long association with Mahindra. Their expertise in the region, coupled with our value proposition of trust, transparency and wide choice will ensure that Mahindra FirstChoice is well poised to tap the vast potential of the pre-owned car market in Tamil Nadu,” said Shubhabrata Saha, CEO, Mahindra First Choice Limited.

“We are delighted to extend our association with Mahindra which dates back to 1971 with the sale of Mahindra Tractors in Coimbatore. The showroom will display several brands of pre-owned cars and function as a one-stop shop for all those wishing to either buy or sell a car. Customers can thus avail of an array of services under one roof. These include purchase and sale of pre-owned cars, car finance and insurance, fitment of car accessories and assistance with paperwork and documentation,” said Mr. V Narayanaswamy, CEO of CAI.

It is to be mentioned that CAI was established in 1958 by G. Varadaraj, a philanthropist and a visionary. The company originally started as a transport company and then progressed to selling tractors and automobiles. The group’s core values are Vision, Service, Trust, Inspiration and Commitment.

Mahindra FirstChoice is the country’s preferred pre-owned car mart and is India’s only organized multi-brand player, with 100 plus outlets in over 60 towns across India. The company plans to expand this number to 300 outlets in the next three years. This implies that customers will soon be able to choose from a range of certified pre-owned cars throughout India, including the metros and tier-2 towns and cities.