Development Watch – Week #2 November ’22
Development News
MET Smart City: A Japan Industrial Township near Gurgaon
Model economic Township Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited. It is developing a greenfield smart city in Jhajjar, near Gurgaon in Haryana. MET Smart city is a Japanese Industrial Township. It has 4 leading Japanese companies in its integrated industrial township. Nihon Kohden, Panasonic, Denso and T-Suzuki are the companies. The total land parcel is 8,000 acres and trunk infrastructure has been completed.
Unemployment Rate in urban India falls, rises in Rural areas
As per latest data from CMIE, unemployment in rural India has risen from 5.84% in September to 8.04% in October. Urban unemployment rate has fallen from 7.21% in October from 7.70% in the month of September. Overall unemployment rate in India rose to 7.7% in October, which had dropped to a 4 year low of 6.43% in September. Rise in unemployment rate in October was along side a 0.3% drop in labour participation rate (LPR). This suggests that an increasingly smaller portion of working age population is willing to be employed.
The decline in unemployment was mainly in non-agricultural rural India. The daily-wage labourer segment was most hit as it shrunk by nearly 15 million. On the other hand, urban India showed an increase of 2.26 million salaried jobs. This is the highest level in past 44 months.
Maharashtra Committee to streamline real estate in Navi Mumbai
Govt of Maharashtra has formed an expert 4-member committee to take care of development related aspects and provide solutions to real estate related infrastructure development in Navi Mumbai. CIDCO in Navi Mumbai undertakes large infrastructure projects, including Navi Mumbai International Airport. CIDCO has also allotted land parcels on lease to different real estate developers for commercial & residential projects. The committee comprises former Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary UD (2), Joint Managing Director of CIDCO and representatives from CREDAI.
300 new ‘Vi Shops’ in rural markets across 5 circles
Vodafone India has rolled out 300 new format ‘Vi Shops’ across multiple towns in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and UP West. This would help digitally connect the rural population. Majority of rural customers still prefer face-to-face service and familiarity through physical retail format. Vi Shops also intend to offer assistance in areas like jobs and skilling, government exam preparation, and English language skills.
Redevelopment works on 14 Railway Stations
Tenders for more than 14 railway stations are to be awarded in the next 4-5 months by Ministry of Railways. Construction of station infrastructure will adopt green building technology and facilities for differently abled people. Intelligent building systems and state-of-the-art facilities for passengers will also be provided. “City Centre-like spaces” for railway commuters as well as general public will be created through the redevelopment.
Specious roof plaza on premises, food courts, waiting lounges, playing areas for children and designated spaces for local products are also part of the proposal. Multimodal transport will be integrated through rail, metro, and bus. Tenders for Bijwasan and Safdarjung Railway stations have been awarded with work already in different stages. New Delhi and Cantonment station tenders could be awarded by next 4-5 months.
Local Feedback
LocalFeedback.org aims to track and document actionable parameters that help improve urban and rural infrastructure. The founder, Susmita, has juggled diverse roles in real estate, project budgeting, valuation and execution on construction sites. Having traveled to more than 20 countries, she has worked across 4 regions in India. Her areas of interest include sustainable buildings, electric mobility and urban development. She visited top-ranking cities on livability indices and has presented published papers at international conferences.