DLF to invest 500 cr on developing IT park in Chennai

Realty major DLF will invest about Rs 500 crore to develop an IT Park in Chennai as the commercial real estate market has picked up in major cities. “Our Cyber Park in Chennai is fully leased to high quality tenants. We have now commenced construction of about 1.6 million sq ft and will bring the best tenant and employee experience in Chennai,” DLF CEO (Rental Business) Sriram Khattar said.

The company has an IT SEZ in Chennai, comprising 5.7 million sq ft of area.

“About 4 lakh sq ft of space has been pre-leased,” Khattar said, adding that two towers out of three would be completed by the middle of next year.

The construction work is being done by Malaysian firm Eversendai. IT Park would have sports, entertainment and F&B hub in the central pavilion.

India-Kenya  MoU on cooperation in housing policy 

The Union Cabinet has given its ex post-facto approval for a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Kenya on cooperation in National Housing Policy Development and Management (NHPDM), an official statement said.

The MoU was signed on July 11, 2016 at Nairobi during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit.

Under the MoU, both the sides will collaborate on all matters relating to housing and human settlements through various strategies,  including training of personnel, exchange visits, expos/exhibitions, conferences and workshops.

Sebi nod to three companies to launch InvITs 

More than two years after markets watchdog Sebi had issued guidelines for infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs), the regulator has  finally granted three companies -- IRB Infrastructure, GMR and MEP Infrastructure -- to launch the trusts.

Accordingly, these companies will float IRB Invit Fund, GMR Infrastructure Trust and MEP Infrastructure Trust shorly as per Sebi, which is likely to relax norms for the real estate investment trusts (REITs) and InvITs later this month.

With a view to help infra developers mop up funds for long-term projects in a more transparent manner, Sebi had in August 2014 introduced InvITs -- an investment vehicle that would enable promoters to monetise completed assets.

But the move failed to get enough attention of businesses owing to taxation issues.

Following this, Sebi had  recently said its board would  look at relaxing the guidelines for both REITs as well as InvITs.  — Agencies