Global Prime Residential Index Witnesses an Annual Increase of 0.9%:Knight Frank Prime Global Cities Index Q2 2020

* Bengaluru ranks 26thoutperforming New Delhi (27th), Mumbai (32nd)

* Bangkok was the weakest-performing global city in the year to June, with luxury home prices falling by 5.8%.

Knight Frank India, a leading international property consultancy, in its ‘Prime Global Cities Index Q2 2020’ report cited Bengaluru as the26th fastest-growing Indian prime residential market in the world, in terms of annual price appreciation.The premium micro-markets of the city recorded a rise of 0.60% in annual capital value change in Q2 2020 to an average price of Rs 19,727 per sq. ft.

New Delhi ranked 27th on the global index, witha 0.30% rise in terms of annual capital value change in the prime residential market to an average price of Rs 33,625 per sq. ft. in Q2 2020. Whereas Mumbai's prime residential market ranked 32nd in Q2 2020, registering a decline of 0.60% with an average price of Rs 64,388 per sq. ft.

Prime residential property is defined as the most desirable and most expensive property in a given location, generally defined as the top 5% of each market by value. The Prime Global Cities Index is a valuation-based index tracking the movement in prime residential prices in local currency across 40+ cities worldwide using data from Knight Frank’s global research network.

According to Knight Frank’s research analysis, 20 cities that witnessed a decline in prime residential prices in Q2 2020 - nine were in Europe, seven in Asia, two in Australasia, one in the Middle East, and one in Africa. The Prime Global Cities Index, an unweighted price index of prime residential prices across 45 cities, increased by 0.9%; recording the lowest rate of annual growth in 11 years. According to the report, 67% of the global cities registered flat or positive yearly price growth; Australasia recorded the strongest performing world region in the year to Q2 2020, and the Asian prime residential prices declined by 0.2% in the three months to June 2020.

Manila,leads the index with prime home prices rising by 14.4% over the 12 months to June 2020, followed by Tokyo (8.60%) and Stockholm(4.40%). Bangkok was the weakest-performing global city in the year to June 2020, with luxury home prices falling by 5.8%.

While Bengaluru and Mumbai moved up by one place in Q2 2020; Delhi gained five places in the same period.

Shishir Baijal, Chairman and Managing Director at Knight Frank India, said, “The pandemic infused economic stress has engulfed the global markets with a fear of uncertainty. Ultra-rich buyers around the world are seen deferring the high premium purchase of a prime residential asset class and preferring investments in liquid assets, primarily gold and cash equivalents. With the expected price correction and uptick in sentiment depending on the news related to vaccine discovery, buyers with adequate liquidity will find value to enter the prime residential asset class in India.”

Key Highlights:

* Bengaluru’s prime residential market performed better than Mumbai and Delhi. Globally, the city ranked 26th with 0.6% annual price change for the period Q2 2019 – Q22020;with 0.00% price change in Q2 2020compared to the previous quarter.

* Delhiranked 27th with 0.3% annual price change for the period Q2 2019 – Q2 2020. The city saw a flat 0.00% price change in Q2 2020 compared to the previous quarter.

* Mumbai ranked 32ndwith -0.4% marginal annual change for the period Q2 2019 – Q2 2020. The city registered a price decline of -0.50 % in Q2 2020 compared to the previous quarter.

* Manila ranked 1st with 14.10%annual change for the period Q2 2019 – Q2 2020. The city saw a flat 0.00% price change in Q2 2020 compared to the previous quarter.

* Bangkok ranks 45th with -5.8% %annual change for the period Q2 2019 – Q2 2020. The city registered a price decline of -1.40% in Q2 2020 compared to the previous quarter.

Canadian Wood’s Hold Webinar on ‘Architecture with Wood in India’

FII-India, popularly known as Canadian Wood has been actively promoting building with wood in India using wood legally sourced from the sustainably managed forests of B.C., Canada. In case of structural applications of wood it works closely with architects, developers, contractors, and hospitality professionals and extends technical support by suggesting appropriate species and grades most suitable to the type of construction chosen or preferred, i.e. T&G (Tongue & Groove), WFC (Wood Frame Construction), posts-and-beams or even hybrid in tandem with local stone/bricks. It also conducts educational seminars and training workshops that help create awareness about its wood species, specific applications, and appropriate methods of use.

As a part of this continued effort during the COVID19 period, Canadian Wood introduced webinars on topics of interest to the wood working industry at large. Its third webinar titled ‘Architecture with wood in India’ conducted on July 24, 2020, was a part of the continuing series and a first-of-its-kind virtual panel discussion, presented by Indo-Canadian Business Chamber (ICBC) and sponsored by Artius Interior Products Pvt. Ltd.

The webinar began with a warm welcome by Ms. Nadira Hamid, CEO, ICBC and opening remarks by Hon. Andrew Smith, Minister (Commercial), High Commission of Canada. This was followed by an introduction of the event curator & moderator Prof. Gurdev Singh by Mr. Pranesh Chhibber, Country Director, FII India. Prof. Gurdev Singh is an industry icon and the Ex-Dean of the School of Environmental Design and Architecture, Navrachana University. With over 40 years of invaluable experience in the field of architecture and several awards at national and international levels to his credit, his portfolio includes Teaching, Design (Architecture, Interior and Urban), Project Management and Construction Coordination, Quality Control and Site Management, as well as experience on projects as an Owner/Builder.

As the webinar progressed exciting sections began to slowly unfold itself in the form of extensive, informative presentations by eminent Indian architects namely Ar. N Mahesh from Iyer & Mahesh, Ar. Gurpreet Singh from Aakar Design Consultants and Ar. Kamal Malik from Malik Architecture. Each glorified through their unique pieces of work the various features, strengths, and possibilities in the world of architecture with wood.

Ar. N Mahesh is known for his decades of experience in reviving traditional timber architecture in India using ‘Green’ reforested timber. He presented beautiful pieces of work that drew inspiration from heritage architecture in Kerala and merged it with the technological prowess of changing times. His presentation showcased rich examples of wooden buildings and captivating visuals of projects spanning across premium hotels and resorts like the Ananta spa & resort - Rajasthan, the Lalit resort & spa, Bekal – Kerala and the Zuri Kumarakom resort & spa - Kerala to name a few. Besides these, he also showcased an eye-catching structure, his prized possession called the ‘Bell Museum’ located in Trivandrum. The building’s interiors featured successful use of Canadian manufactured Tongue and Groove panelling made with western hemlock, one of the five Canadian wood species available across India.

This was followed with a presentation by Ar. Gurpreet Singh who unveiled some truly exemplary work. His projects included well-recognized and awarded ventures like the Royal Academy of Bhutan and large scale in-making projects like the Dining hall for the World School of Environment in Coorg. He also showcased Aakar Villa; a luxury private villa displayed at 1970 sq. ft. in Himachal Pradesh. The villa exhibited how Canadian Wood specie Douglas-fir was optimally used to build posts-and-beams, multiple doors and windows that created a beautiful open space in oneness with nature.

The final presentation was made by Ar. Kamal Malik. His slides were iconic in their representation of his love for nature and the inspiration drawn from it. He defined architecture as a synthesis of ‘Ecology’ and ‘Spirit’. ‘Ecology’ implying a seamless, cohesive, and integrated approach to design and ‘Spirit’ implying balance, understanding and tranquility. His pieces of work included a luxury resort in Morgiri in Lonavala and in Alibaug where he elaborated upon how nature united with the applied contemporary architectural elements.

The three presentations were followed by a very engaging panel discussion, innovatively curated by Prof. Gurdev Singh. The event finally concluded with an insightful Q&A session of the panelists with the well-informed audience. The queries raised by the enthusiastic audience to the panelists clearly indicated the rising positive sentiment and trend towards use of wood in structural applications – we see an emerging trend of country homes, farm houses and resorts especially in hills and coastal areas being designed with wood (from sustainably managed forests) as the most ecofriendly building material.

Commenting on the response to the webinar, Mr. Pranesh Chhibber, Country Director, FII India said, “Canadian Wood is delighted to have the three stalwarts of architecture together as panelists on this platform along with Prof. Gurdev as the curator and moderator. It has been an enriching experience for us to listen and see them share their experience and expertise with the audience on the topic of “Architecture with Wood in India”.

It has been highly satisfying, encouraging and inspiring for us have had such an illustrious team of panelists on the Canadian Wood webinar – Ion behalf of Canadian Wood, thank Architects Mahesh, Gurpreet and Kamal from the bottom of my heart to having spared time for not just today but for having put in many hours preparing their presentations with their respective teams in their offices. Needless to mention that we are also thankful to Prof. Gurdev for being a great sport and taking on the mantle of being the curator and moderator for this webinar.

I must acknowledge the support and encouragement from Hon. Andrew Smith – Minister (Commercial), High Commission of Canada in India and thank him for taking time out for the webinar to further strengthen Indo-Canadian business ties. Needless to mention that without the support and collaboration of ICBC this webinar would not have been possible – so thank you Nadira for being such a sport. I also thank Ms. Bhawna Sharma – Director of Artius Interior products, Gurgaon for sponsoring the webinar and sharing with the audience the great work that Artius is doing with the Canadian Wood species.

Last but not the least, this webinar would not have been a success without the registration and participation of such an enlightened audience. There is a lot for us to take from this webinar and be encouraged to keep such conversations alive on the Canadian Wood forum. I assure our stakeholders that we intend continuing to organize more such sessions with eminent personalities connected with wood from India and abroad.

About FII India

FII is a crown agency of the government of British Columbia (B.C.), the western most province of Canada. Its mandate is to promote wood products from B.C. Canada in the offshore markets and to position it as a global supplier of quality, environmentally responsible wood products from sustainably managed forests by creating awareness and spreading education through information on the wide variety of timber products available from B.C. Canada and the technical support. Its brand/logo Canadian Wood was established in 2013 to reach out to and facilitate the understanding of its activities to its target audience.

Bengaluru’s Residential Prices Fell by Almost 3% in Last Quarter: Magicbricks Propindex Report Q2 2020

COVID-19 Effect

* Whitefield, Sarjapur Road, Bellary Road and Electronic City were the top 4 micromarkets in the city

* Strong demand for smaller size 2 & 3BHKs; together accounting for 88% of the property searches

* COVID-19 induced a price decline of 1-3% across most budget segment

Amidst COVID-19, Bengaluru’s residential prices have witnessed a QoQ decrease of approx. 3% in the second quarter of 2020, revealed the latest edition of Magicbricks’ PropIndex (Q2, 2020). Bengaluru residential market maintained a steady momentum in the last 5 years with 17.7% and 33.3% surges in ready to move and the under construction segment prices, respectively. However, the QoQ 2.8% price decline in the ready-to-move segment washed away the gains made during the previous six quarters.

The under-construction segment had a decent 33% growth in the last 5 years, but the recent pandemic brought a decline of 0.8% in Q2 2020.  Shortage of labour, supply chain disruption and extension in the RERA deadline by 3 months in Bengaluru is likely to shift delivery of some under construction projects by a few months.

According to the Propindex, Bengaluru thrives on a healthy mid-segment demand, with both 2 and 3 BHKs each accounting for more than 40% of the demand and supply. Together they account for 88% of the property searches and 92% of the supply. However the market is slowly shifting to the affordable segment, and a small demand-supply mismatch is emerging in the less than INR 5,000 per sqft price bucket. The demand for 1 BHK and 2 BHK configurations is likely to further increase due to the reduction of stamp duty between 3% to 5% for properties costing upto INR 35 lakh.

Commenting on the PropIndex, Sudhir Pai, CEO, Magicbricks, said, “India’s real sector is gradually adopting to the new normalcy. The economy had almost come to a stand-still in March but now hopefully we are on the road to recovery. At a pan-India level, the price decline has been just 1.5% QoQ while repo rates have been lowered by more than 100 points. This augurs well for the industry. Our data also suggests that consumer interest has not tapered off and developers have to grab the attention of the home buyers through attractive deals and offers. There is a pent-up demand for ready-to-move in properties as our data suggests that the 80% of searches are happening in this segment and the rest for under-construction.”

Post COVID-19 pandemic, government has allowed partial sales of plots In the layouts to ease the liquidity situation of developers and accelerate the layout development process. State government allows the regularization of over 75,000 land parcels, which were initially a part of the BDA development scheme but were under unauthorized possession for more than 12 years, by payment of penalty.

Whitefield, Sarjapur Road, Bellary Road and Electronic City were the top 4 micromarkets in the city, supported by factors such as affordability, better access to IT hubs and sound connectivity to the airport. The extension of metro lines from Baiyappanahalli – Whitefield and RV Road – Bommasandra is likely to boost the demand for the economic hubs of Whitefield and Electronic City in the future

However, it will be interesting to see how these factors play out as the market recovers from the outbreak of COVID-19 and the ensuing national lockdown. Magicbricks data indicates that overall, consumers are back to the marketplace, albeit in lower numbers. Developers are running various schemes and promotions to entice home buyers and drive transactions. The next three to six months will remain key to determine any developing trend in prices and transaction volumes. It has become even more of a buyers’ market with the onus on sellers to make the right interventions to enable the real estate market bounce back.

About Magicbricks: India's no 1 property site

Magicbricks is India’s No.1 property site. With monthly traffic exceeding 20 million visits and with an active base of over 1.4 million+ property listings, Magicbricks provides the largest platform for buyers and sellers of property to connect with each other in a clear, transparent manner. With this in mind, Magicbricks has innovated several product features, content and research services, which have helped us, build the largest audience pool.

Office Leasing in Bengaluru Drops by 42% YoY; New Supply Declines by 48% YoY in H1 2020: Knight Frank India

Highlights

* Rent growth tapers to single digit, weighted average rents see 6% YoY growth in H1 2020

* Worst half-year in this decade, home sales in Bengaluru decline by 57% YoY in H1 2020; launches fall 48%: Knight Frank India

* Price environment weakens, home prices in Bengaluru see marginal 3.3% YoY increase to Rs 4,980 per sqft

Knight Frank India today launched the 13th edition of its flagship half-yearly report - India Real Estate: H1 2020 - which presents a comprehensive analysis of the office and residential market performance across eight major cities for the January-June 2020 (H1 2020) period. The report showed that the office transactions in Bengaluru saw a 42% YoY decline to 0.44 mnsq m (4.8 mnsq ft) in in H1 2020. The new office supply in the city also saw a decline of 48% YoY to 0.37 mnsq m (4.0 mnsq ft) due to the adverse impact of COVID-19. The city has experienced a tapered rent growth with H1 2020 recording 6% YoY growth in weighted average rent.

In Bengalururesidential market, which had prominence in the country’s residential landscape, the home sales have witnessed a decline of 57% YoY to 12,177 units in H1 2020. Whereas, the home launches in Bengaluru saw a 48% YoY decline to 10,806 units. With a weaker pricing environment in the wake of pandemic and consequent disturbance on home buyer sentiments, the city recorded a  marginal 3.3% Y-o-Y increase in weighted average price.

OFFICE MARKET HIGHLIGHTS OF BENGALURU

* Bengaluru has been at the pinnacle of office demand in the country for each year during last decade. The city’s office market has grown each successive year since 2013 and with 1.42 mnsq m (15.3 mnsq ft) the city recorded its highest ever tally of office transactions, cited as an achievement milestone for any market in the country.

* Covid-19 induced tumultuous business environment has seen an influence on the transaction volumes in the market. Bengaluru saw office transactions decline by 42% YoY in H1 2020 to 0.44 mnsq m (4.8 mnsq ft),  The average deal size was reported at 5,130 sq m (55,214 sq ft), with number of deals at 86 in the analysis period of H1 2020.

* In terms of sector-wise share of transactions, IT/ITeSwas on top of the table with 30%, followed by Co-working (23%), Manufacturing (19%), BFSI (13%). A combination of other services industries contributed 14% to the overall share. Manufacturing and BFSI significantly improved their space take up. Information Technology sector, the most prominent occupier group of Bengaluru, has reduced its space take-up by 64% YoY in H1 2020.

* The vacancy level in Bengaluru office market has jumped to6.5% in H1 2020 from a much comfortable 4.1% level in H1 2019.

* Rent growth has been strong in Bengaluru for the last 5 years and the similar trend was observed in the beginning of 2020, until March 2020. Since April, rents have stagnated with occupiers also seen reaching out to landlords for partial rent or maintenance cost waiver for the lockdown period. In this background, H1 2020 recorded a rental growth of 6% YoY. Bengaluru’s PBD East market saw the highest rental growth of 9% YoY in 12- moth change, followed by SBD (8%) and ORR (6%).

Shantanu Mazumder, Senior Branch Director, Bangalore, Knight Frank India said, “Bengaluru office market was on a very strong footing with a robust momentum in demand, supply and rent until the first quarter of 2020. However, as businesses faced disruptions in the wake of the pandemic in second quarter of 2020, Bengaluru office market also felt the pain. Information Technology sector, the most prominent occupier group of the city, saw demand decline by 64% YoY in first half this year. Ongoing deals faced delays and new office enquiries were put on temporary hold. While we do recognise the potential of Bengaluru office market, recovery will depend on the trajectory of the pandemic itself.”

RESIDENTIAL MARKET HIGHLIGHTS OF BENGALURU

* Bengaluru residential market recorded a home sales decline of 57% YoY in H1 2020.While all micro-markets were adversely affected, notable decline was seen in North and West where sales declined by an even greater magnitude of 70% YoY and 66% YoY, respectively.

* The affordable housing segment, classified as house value up to INR 5 million, witnessed its share further shrink to 32% in H1 2020 compared to 38% in H1 2019.

The state government reduced the stamp duty rates from 5% to 2% for houses costing up to INR 2 million and from 5% to 3% for houses costing between INR 2.1 – 3.5 million. This was limited to first time registration of new apartment valued up to INR 3.5 million. 81% of sales in H1 2020 occurred in the segment of INR 2.5 - 10 million with 51% in INR 5 - 10 million segment. In this situation, we believe a broadersegment for stamp duty reduction would have helped the sector.

* In terms of launches, H1 2020 saw 48% YoY decline compared to 20,894 units in H1 2019. While all micro-markets witnessed a sharp fall in launches, West and North were the most hit markets with a decline of 78% and 69% respectively.

* In H1 2020, the pricing environment was strong until February 2020. However, prices have stagnated since the COVID-19 struck in March 2020. Overall, the city saw prices higher by 3.3% YoYin H1 2020. Whitefield and Hennur recorded a 5% price increase for 12-month period, till June 2020.  

* With restrained launches compared to housing sales over the past year, unsold inventory level has come down by 10% to 77,043 units in H1 2020.

Shantanu Mazumder, Senior Branch Director, Bangalore, Knight Frank India said,“Despite being affected during H1 2020, Bengaluruemerged as one of the quickermarkets to come out of the state-imposed lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus. During this period, although at a much lower level compared to pre-lockdown, May and June 2020 saw the resumption of project sites and customer visits. With pandemic induced market disruptions, the pricing environment has become weak now. However, instead of a headline price reduction, customers are being offered a variety of indirect price benefit schemes. Price protection and free cancellation schemes are also offered to assuage homebuyer concerns on job security and pay cut.

While the inherent strength of Bengaluru housing market is intact, COVID-19 induced threat to lives and livelihoods and recurrence of lockdown will have an overbearing impact on market and going forward, the intensity of pandemic will define the recovery trajectory.”

Brookfield Properties Hosts 'Sustainability Talks' for Greener, More-Efficient Workspaces

The talks highlighted the role of passive architecture, use of solar and renewable resources, water conservation, waste management, green mobility solutions and clean indoor air  across Candor Techspace campuses and the initiatives taken by individual corporate occupiers for reducing carbon footprint. 

Brookfield Properties celebrated this World Environment Day by hosting 'Sustainability Talks,' a special campaign on creating a green built environment and workspaces. The dialogue brought forth several initiatives and ideas on sustainable practices adopted by Brookfield Properties and its corporate occupiers at Candor TechSpace. Some of the best practices shared included:

* Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc’s. upgrade of its lighting systems to LED, across more than 320,000 square feet, saving over 38% (178,000 kWh) in energy.

* RBS has set ambitious new goals to continue its decarbonisation, aiming to be climate positive by 2025 for its own operations through a combination of emissions reductions and carbon offsetting. RBS India office has completely replaced single use plastic from its office, with biodegradable options.

* Sopra Steria, an occupier of Candor TechSpace, has replaced 90% of diesel cars used for employee commuting with CNG cabs, which resulted in a significant reduction of GHG emissions.

* Similarly, Fidelity Investment Limited has managed to save 1181 tonnes of carbon footprint and 1003 trees.

* SE2 occupier of Candor TechSpace Sec48, Gurugram, has taken initiatives to reduce water consumption by installing aerators in washrooms and hand washing areas and introducing electric vehicle transport.

* Wipro Ltd.  has partnered with non-profit organisation like Uthaan for plantation of hundreds of trees. 

* Candor TechSpace has converted its conventional watering systems and green belts into drip irrigation, resulting in a 50% reduction in water usage for horticultural purposes. Along with Sewerage Treatment Plant to reuse and recycle water, 3,780-kiloliters of water per day is saved. With 1.19 MWp of installed capacity, the company is also one of the largest amongst IT ITS SEZ when it comes to rooftop solar power.

Mr. Sameer Saxena, VP & Head,  Real Estate, Marsh and Mclennan Companies Inc. and Ms. Deepti Agarwal, VP location and property strategy lead India & Property Projects Lead, North India RBS,  Mr. Vasudevan Suresh, Chairman Indian Green Building Council,  Mr. Manit Rastogi, Founding Partner, Morphogenesis and Mr. Shantanu Chakraborty, Senior VP & Regional Head, India office, Brookfield Properties,  participated in the Sustainability Talks.

The panel discussed several existing challenges faced by traditional workspaces and emphasised the importance of reshaping conventional office architecture with passive and constructive infrastructural designs that fit the current digital needs of new-age professionals.

Commenting on the same, Brookfield Properties spokesperson said, "The environmental, social and governance management, known as ESG management, is core to how we conduct our business across the globe. In sync with this vision, we constantly strive to improve our operations and buildings performance on energy, water and waste to reduce our carbon footprint. We take extra care in ensuring clean indoor and on campus air, to improve productivity."

Brookfield Properties has achieved many accolades for its green initiatives, including platinum rating from the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) for two of its Candor Techspace properties.

Will GM coninue to layoff another 4,000 jobs?

After a night spent signing mounds of paperwork authorizing the transfer of cash, real estate, technology and other property, GM attorneys are expected to officially usher the new General Motors out of bankruptcy protection on Friday and onto a path toward a hopefully profitable future.

Once the world's largest and most powerful automaker, the troubled company is expected to emerge cleansed of massive debt and burdensome contracts that would have sunk it without federal loans. Spurred on by the Obama administration's support, the process took just 40 days, even slightly quicker than crosstown rival Chrysler Group LLC's 42-day timeframe.

On Thursday, a bankruptcy court order allowing GM to sell most of its assets to a new company went into effect. The new GM, 61% owned by the US government, will face a brutally competitive global automotive market in the middle of the worst sales slump in a quarter-century.

At a press conference on Friday, CEO Fritz Henderson will announce that GM will cut another 4,000 white-collar jobs, including 450 top executives. The company still employs 88,000 people in the US and 235,000 worldwide.

Agencies

Cut costs & beat recession with cloud computing

The global recession is taking a toll on every industry and the construction industry is no exception. However, Aurigo Software Technologies, a provider of software and solutions for the construction and real estate, is offering companies its web-based products on a cloud computing model to save on huge IT expenditure.

Established in the US in 2003, Aurigo launched its solution BRIX for the Indian market in early 2008. Aurigo has three customers in India now - RDS Projects, IDEB and Navin Housing. All three companies have opted for the cloud computing model, thereby reducing their burden in managing the IT infrastructure, investing in the server hardware and software components and also on the power that is a huge expenditure.

Talking to CXOtoday, Balaji Sreenivasan, Founder and CEO of Aurigo Software, said, "Cloud computing is becoming a necessary requirement by customers seeking to deploy IT solutions even in the construction and real estate industries and is here to stay for the long haul."

Cloud computing helps companies and end-users access solutions without the hassle of having to invest in the computing power (hardware and software) required to run that solution internally. So if you are using gmail or hotmail to access your email, you are already a cloud computing proponent.

"As customers generally do not own the infrastructure, they merely access or rent, they can avoid capital expenditure and consume resources as a service, paying instead for what they use," said Sreenivasan. Many cloud computing offerings have adopted the utility computing model, which is analogous to how traditional utilities like electricity are consumed, while others are billed on a subscription basis.

Other benefits of time-sharing style approach are low barriers to entry, shared infrastructure and costs, low management overheads and immediate access to a broad range of applications.

In fact, IDEB's cloud computing model is expected to go live within the next six months, while RDS Projects, which has multiple projects spread across six locations in the country is expected to go live in the next 8 weeks. The remotely located and managed servers belong to various server farm providers that are highly secure, ISO 9001:200 certified and are located across India with overseas backup mirror locations with a committed 99.96% uptime.

Since these projects are yet to go live it would take a minimum of six months to one year to assess the actual ROI. However, BRIX is fairly well deployed across the US and at the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), which is involved in a $3 billion bridge reconstruction, they have experienced a near 40% boost in productivity. This was measured by computing the reduced time to carry out inspections, transmit the data and increased information retrieval speed after deploying BRIX. The solution has been delivered on the cloud computing model with the entire solution being hosted on a central server and accessed by all the stakeholders at ODOT.

CXOtdoday

India Inc may lay off 25pc jobs in 10 days

ASSOCHAM said the job cuts would be across the steel, cement, construction, real estate, aviation, IT-enabled services and financial services sectors Indian firms are likely to lay off a quarter of their employees in the next 10 days, as part of steps to contain costs in the face of shrinking margins amidst the economic turmoil, an industry body said on Wednesday.

Trade body Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) said the job cuts would be across the steel, cement, construction, real estate, aviation, IT-enabled services and financial services sectors.

Expansion has slowed in Asia's third-largest economy in the last two quarters, from the 8 per cent or more annual growth in the past four years, with high interest rates crimping demand and on the global financial crisis.

The central bank last week cut its forecast for growth in 2008/09 to 7.5-8 per cent from its earlier view of 8 per cent. This compares with the economy's 9 per cent growth in 2007/08.

"Employers have no other alternatives as part of their corporate strategy ... for sustaining their operations with squeezed margins (even) after after drastic cost cutting measures," ASSOCHAM said in a statement.