Ambuja shelves retail business expansion as slowdown bites

September 23rd, 2009 KOLKATA - Ambuja Realty Wednesday inaugurated the first phase of its 'Ecospace' business park on the northeastern fringes of the city. Harshavardhan Neotia, chairman of the company, said at the inauguration: "We have a plan to invest Rs.290 crore for the whole project.

September 19th, 2009 KOLKATA - Real estate major Ambuja Realty Saturday opened its much-awaited City Centre II which has a mall and a five-star hotel and was built at a cost of Rs.275 crore. "The total investment for the mall was to the tune of Rs.175 crore and Rs.100 crore was for the hotel," Harshavardhan Neotia, chairman, Ambuja Realty said at a press conference here.

September 15th, 2009 Stock futures point toward modestly lower openNEW YORK — Stock futures are modestly lower Tuesday as investors await three reports that could provide insight into any potential economic recovery. The market has risen sharply throughout the spring and summer on hopes of a recovery.

September 15th, 2009 Stock futures little changed ahead of fresh dataNEW YORK — Stock futures traded in a narrow range Tuesday as investors await three reports that could provide insight into any potential economic recovery. The market has risen sharply throughout the spring and summer on hopes of a recovery.

September 9th, 2009 KOLKATA - Swissotel Hotels Wednesday became the first Swiss hospitality chain to enter India as it announced a management contract with the Ambuja Realty group for setting up a five-star hotel at Rajarhat New town on the city's north eastern fringes. Swissotel Hotels, owned by Fairmont Raffles Hotels International - a leading global hospitality company with 91 hotels and resorts worldwide - has inked the 10-year deal with the Kolkata-based real estate company for managing the five-star property spread over 160,000 feet.

July 30th, 2009 KOLKATA - With organised retail business in India yet to come out of the woods, a move is afoot to synergise the resources of the various retails chains for mutual benefit, a top retailer said here Thursday. "The situation is now better.

July 8th, 2009 Supervalu says President, COO Jackson to retireMINNEAPOLIS — Supervalu said Wednesday its President and Chief Operating Officer Mike Jackson will retire effective August 14. The grocer plans to realign its retail business following his departure.

May 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Agriculture and retailing of farm-based products will be the next focus areas for the diversified Bharti group with a war chest of $2.5 billion. The group reached a major milestone last week with a telecom subscriber base of 100 million.

April 29th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India as a retail market continues to be attractive to a lot of global players but the progression from expression of interest to the actual setting up of operations is slow, a survey conducted by a global real estate services firm indicates. Indian currently stands 39 on the list of most-preferred international retail markets, while neighbour China is high up in the list at number six, according to the survey done by CB Richard Ellis.

April 16th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - Developer AIPL Ambuja, a joint venture between Delhi-based Advance India Projects Ltd and Ambuja Realty of Kolkata, is planning to invest Rs.1,200 crore in northern India to develop integrated townships across the region. 'We will set up ultra-modern integrated townships, including flats, malls, commercial establishments and healthcare and hospitality facilities.

April 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Britain-based leather footwear major Pavers England, which entered the Indian market last year, is planning to set up a manufacturing facility in the country, besides tying up with retail chains as part its expansion strategy. 'The agreement with Fly Flot is to set up a plant at Ranipet in Tamil Nadu at a cost of five million euros ($6.6 million),' said Pavers England Footprints chief executive Utsav Seth, referring to the pact with the Britain-based footwear maker and a subsidiary of Italian footwear major Lones Spa.

March 31st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Hit by the economic slowdown, the country's retail sales growth sharply fell to 11 percent in December 2008 from 34 percent in the like period of 2007, according to a study by global consultancy KPMG. 'Falling footfalls and poor conversion ratio have led to a decline in sales growth to 11 percent in December 2008 compared to 34 percent in December 2007,' said the KPMG report, 'Indian Retail: Time to change lanes', released Tuesday.

March 9th, 2009 KOLKATA - Notwithstanding the slowdown, city-based developer Ambuja Realty plans to unveil three new real estate projects in West Bengal this year, a top company official says. The projects comprise a 150-room hotel, a mall and an IT park at Rajarhat on the northeastern fringes of the city.

February 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India's state-run oil marketing companies (OMCs) have put on hold their plans to invest in ethanol projects in Brazil due to the current economic slowdown, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said here Tuesday. The oil marketing companies - Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp and Hindustan Petroleum Corp - had explored the possibilities of acquiring sugarcane farms and setting up ethanol manufacturing units in Brazil, Deora said while answering a question in the Rajya Sabha.

February 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Even as the retail trade industry in India faces one of its worst crises in recent years, Bata India, one of the country's largest footwear chains, plans to open 40 new stores across the country by March 31. 'These new stores will be based on the international format of Bata stores and will have an average size of 3,000 square feet,' the company said in a statement, making it clear that the outlets will not be small.