Hospitality Charts

Maharashtra has topped a hospitality survey conducted by global hotel consultancy HVS, which ranked Delhi and Goa in the second and third places.
The India State Ranking Survey 2015 analysed the tourism potential of all the 30 Indian states, assessing their competitiveness on the basis of 12 key parameters, including luxury tax on hotels, state expenditure on tourism, tourist visits, presence of branded hotels, effective marketing and road and railway infrastructure. HVS conducted the survey for the World Travel & Tourism Council-India Initiative (WTTC-II). “The state (Maharashtra) benefits from a strong economy , good infrastructure, presence of a sizeable quantum of branded hotel rooms and a variety of demand generators to occupy these rooms,“ said the report of the biennial survey released on Tuesday .
This year, HVS added `ease of doing business' as one of the parameters for the survey to reflect each state's suitability for attracting investment and propagating development.
While Delhi slipped to the second position this year, Goa maintained its third rank in the survey.
Higher luxury tax, lack of single-window portal for ease of doing business and security issues are some of the reasons why Delhi is losing tourism business to neighboring states, the report said. “Additionally , Delhi's state expenditure on tourism, when viewed in absolute amounts, despite an increase since 2013, still lags behind states such as Jammu & Kashmir, Goa and Gujarat, among others,“ it said.

CCD's Rs 1,150 crore IPO opens on October 14

Coffee Day Enterprises, the owners of Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) chain, will launch its maiden public offering on October 14 to raise Rs.1,150 crore, making it the largest IPO in the country since December 2012. With the company diluting a little over 17.5% stake, the IPO price translates into a valuation of close to Rs.6,500 crore, or a little over $1 billion. The shares will be sold in the price band of Rs 316-328.
Of the total offering, Coffee Day is set to allot shares worth Rs 340 crore to a group of investors, called anchor investors, just ahead of the IPO which closes on October 16. Private equity major KKR, along with New Silk Route, hold shares in the company that runs over 1,500 coffee shops around India and some more abroad.
Coffee Day shares will be listed on the BSE and NSE.
The issue is being managed by Kotak Mahindra Capital, Citigroup Global Markets, Morgan Stanley , Axis Capital, Edelweiss Financial Services and Yes Bank.

Of AIIMS in Maharashtra, AP & Bengal....

The Union Cabinet approved proposals for setting up All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Nagpur (Maharashtra), Mangalgiri (Andhra Pradesh) and Kalyani (West Bengal) under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) at a cost of Rs.4,949 crore.
Each of the proposed complexes will have a hospital with a capacity of 960 beds, along with ateaching block, administrative block, auditorium, nursing college, night shelter, hostel and residential facilities. These institutes will also have a separate block for the traditional systems of medicines -Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy .
While six new AIIMS have been made functional under the PMSSY, the construction of AIIMS, Rae Bareli, is in progress. The Cabinet approval is in accordance with the FM's budget speech promise to establish new AIIMS in these places.

Don't let core values wither away : Prez

In significant remarks read in the context of the Dadri lynching, President Pranab Mukherjee said core values of India's civilization that celebrate diversity, plurality and tolerance should not be allowed to wither away . “We should not allow core values of our civilization to wither away . Over the years, our civilization has celebrated diversity , plurality and promoted and advocated tolerance. These values have kept us together over the centuries. Many ancient civilizations have collapsed but the Indian civilization has survived because of its core civilizational values and adherence to them,“ Mukherjee said at a book release function in Rashtrapati Bhavan on Wednesday .
The President's remarks were seen to underline the need for restraint as heated politics over the Dadri incident, where a Muslim man was killed over rumours of beef eating, led to inflammatory statements by BJP and Samajwadi Party MLAs and MPs with the events even resonating in the Bihar election. “If we keep them (civilizational values) in mind, nothing can prevent our nation from forging ahead. Indian democracy is a marvel and we must celebrate, preserve and promote its strengths,“ the President said.
The President's remarks came after the Centre issued a strongly worded advisory to states asking them to act without exception against attempts to disturb communal harmony and in the wake of criticism that the NDA government has been slow to criticize the violence in Dadri and failed to check BJP MLAs like Sangeet Som and ministers of state like Mahesh Sharma and Sanjeev Balyan. Senior minister in UP government Azam Khan, who had sought UN intervention in checking attacks on Muslims in the country two days ago, sharpened his attack on the BJP over the Dadri lynching issue on Wednesday .

Mumbai Metro snippets

The Maharashtra state cabinet gave its nod to build two parallel elevated Metro routes--Dahisar to DN Nagar and Andheri (E)-Dahisar (E) --to decongest public transport in the western suburbs.
The two lines, expected to be built at a total cost of Rs.12,618 crore, are scheduled to be completed by 2019. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will perform the bhoomipujan for both Metro corridors on October 11.While the Dahisar to DN Nagar stretch is part of the Metro-II (Dahisar-Charkop-Bandra-Mankhurd), the route in the east, is the Metro-VII route that will run along the Western Express Highway .
Tariffs for the two routes are proposed to be kept low, with a fare of Rs 10 for the first 3 km, Rs 20 for 3-12 km, and Rs 30 beyond 12 km. This is because a major share of the cost will be borne by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), state and the Centre, while bank loans are proposed to be used only for the rolling stock. To cut costs further, it has also been proposed to source power for the two lines from MSEDCL on a no profit no loss basis.
The Dahisar to DN Nagar stretch is expected to cost around Rs 6,410 crore. Of this, MMRDA has proposed to spend Rs 1,892 crore from its own kitty , while around Rs 1,050 crore will be provided by the state and central governments.The state government and the MMRDA have decided to raise about Rs 1,468 crore for the land component.
Similarly , the Dahisar (E)-Andheri (E) project is proposed to be built at a cost of about Rs 6,208 crore. Of this, the MMRDA and the state government will spend Rs 2,320 crore while the Centre is likely to extend a loan of about Rs 1,036 crore. For the land component, MMRDA and the state government will raise funds of around Rs 2,246 crore. All the fund components will be raised as dedicated urban transport fund. Metro projects being priority public projects, it will be ensured that the expenses on establishment do not go beyond 2% of the total project cost. Construction of both lines will start in January 2016.
Meanwhile, the cabinet also gave in-principle nod for commercial exploitation of BEST bus depots to convert them into state-of-the-art complexes with bus facilities and integrate the Metro lines with various transport modes such as suburban rail, autos and taxis.
The state government and MMRDA also plan to start construction of the underground Colaba-Bandra-Airport-Seepz Metro in December. This route will be funded by Japanese International Cooperation Agency . Bhoomipujan for this route was held last August.

Equity MFs pump $3bn

Equity mutual funds (MFs) have used the stock market correction, which followed the crash in global markets to significantly ramp up their share purchases, making net investments of about Rs.19,200 crore or nearly $3 billion between August and September, the highest ever for a two-month period.
Significantly , over two-thirds of these investments were made after the August 26 rout in stock markets. Equity MFs made net investments (higher purchase of shares than sales) of around $2.3 billion since August 26, data showed. While the sensex has lost 6.6% since August, the broad based Nifty declined 4.6% during the period.
Since real estate and gold have not done well in the last two years, investors are opting for equities, say experts. The outlook for equity markets has turned quite positive following the moderation in interest rates and weak commodity prices, he says. Even as FIIs are pulling money out of stocks, fund houses continue to increase their exposure to equities.

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