'Sobha City', the first integrated township from Sobha Developers has been launched on 13th May, 2007 at Kerala. Located on the Thrissur-Guruvayoor highway, the 71 acre plot will house apartments, villas, a shopping mall and a mulitplex theatre. A luxury hotel, office complexes, a convention centre and a multi-speciality hospital are also in the pipeline. The completion of the project is expected by 2012. Tree Hill Estates (THEPL) are joint developers in the project, with a 30 percent stake in the profits.

Parsvnath Developers, a leading real estate company is looking to make a mark in the hospitality business. They are all set to invest Rs.7,800 million to construct 17 luxury hotels across India. The company CEO, Mr.Ashim Gandhi had said that the hotels would be a mix of three, four and five start properties. Budget hotels are not on the charts as yet. The company already has 135 million sq.ft of land in hand for this development. The hotels are expected to become functional by 2010. Talks are on with several Indian and international hotel chains for managerial partnership. However, funding for construction will be borne by the group itself through internal accruals.

Mumbai has ranked 39th on a list of 46 global International Financial Centers.The study was done by Z/Yen Research Consultancy and sponsored by Corporation of London. Mumbai has been the only Indian city to appear on the list inspite of the great economy boom being witnessed all across the country. The factors taken in consideration were infrastrucutre competitiveness, opacity fo regulation, people, business environment, market access and others. While one may argue that the infrastructure as well as living environment is less conducive compared to many other Indian cities,the overall competitiveness of Mumbai has outbeaten them all. However, in order to maintain this position, Mumbai will have to strengthen its infrastructure and taxation policies soon.

The long wait for quality budget hotels in Mumbai and seven other cities in India is soon to get over. BY 2009,easyHotels along with Istithmar group will set up budget hotels in India. The former has already set up hotels in London and Switzerland. The brand seeks to offer standardised well-equipped,clean and safe facilites in urban centres without any frills. The hotels to come up in Delhi, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Kolkata and Hyderabad will have 120 to 200 rooms.

Adding to the trend of mall culture in India, discount malls, a one-step further concept is all set to be launched in India. Orchard Road Mall at Royal Palms, Goregaon is going the first to be launched in Mumbai. The project is supposed to have 3 lakh sq.ft. of land for factory outlets and still more for private labels. It is estimated that brands here will be 30 to 40 percent cheaper than thier counterparts in premium stores. Those to follow are discount malls at Ghatkopar, Thane and Kanjurmarg by Aakruti Nirman. It is expectd that in the next two years, almost 50 discount malls will come up in India.

A detailed study report by Tramell Crow Meghraj has revealed that commercial realty prices will stabilise by 2010. 20 million sq.ft. of supply is going to be pumped into the sector by developers in the next two years. This will lead to a balance in the demand-supply ratio for quality commercial space. IT related SEZs alone will provide for 12 million sq.ft. of office space. Mumbai is going to set 8 million sq.ft. of commercial developement by 2009. Also, if the proposed SEZs of Navi Mumbai get clearance, another 5.6 million of space will be made available. This news comes at a time when most within the industry as well as corporates are getting skeptical of the affordability of commercial real estate in the city.