RBI and National Buildings Organization to release pilot index of ‘Housing Starts Up Index’
A pilot index for Housing Starts Up Index, which will measure housing and construction activity for any given period, will be released by Girija Vyas, Union Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation on Monday. Housing Starts Up Index is a joint initiative of Reserve Bank of India and the National Buildings Organization, the integral arm of the housing ministry.
HUSI is a leading indicator of economic activity given the backward and forward linkages of housing and construction activity with other sectors of the economy. The formal release of the index is to open a public debate among all stakeholders and also to test the robustness and methodology adopted in making this pilot index.
Afghan builders keen on joint ventures with Indian companies
Builders from Afghanistan have evinced keen interest in collaborating and forging joint ventures with Indian companies for executing projects in Afghanistan in housing, road construction, schools and hospitals. They have shown interest to source building materials and building equipment. The government of India is in the final stages of preparing a draft memorandum of understanding (MoU) under which India will help Afghanistan develop roads and highways and formulate a road transport policy and share its knowledge in transportation technologies. Indo-Afghan trade has grown to $632.18 million in 2012-13 and the flow of goods has been strengthened by a Preferential Trade Agreement signed in 2003, and further enlarged by the Strategic Partnership Agreement signed in 2011. India has carried out several construction and infrastructure projects in Afghanistan, including building of Afghanistan’s Parliament.
India most popular among global companies to expand ops: Survey
India has pipped China to emerge as the most popular destination for global corporates looking to expand their operations, said a survey by property consultant CBRE. “India has emerged as the most popular expansion market,” said CBRE’s Annual European Occupier Survey, which studies the latest occupier real estate trends. This year over 70 corporate occupiers responded to the survey. They represented leading corporations covering a range of sectors, with banking and finance and technology and telecommunications sub-sets forming the largest groups. “When asked to identify where they intended to expand their operations, about 48 per cent named India (double of 24 per cent in FY13), and 42 per cent named China (down from 60 per cent in FY13),” CBRE said.
There is a significant rise in the number of corporates intending to expand into Africa. This target market is now identified by a third of respondents against a fifth in FY13.
