India's tallest skyscraper

One of India's most famous architects, Hafeez Contractor, presented a design concept to the Noida Authority for building what he hopes will be the tallest building in the World. At a proposed 135-storeys it is truly a revolutionary concept for urban planning in India, where the current record is held by the MVRDC World Trade Centre I in Mumbai at a 156m/35 floors, while the Shreepati Arcade is 152.5m/45 floors. The proposed height of the Noida skyscraper is not known, but Hafeez intends it to be bigger than current record holder, the Taipei 101 at 508m, and, the Guardian reports, bigger than even the proposed Burj Dubai tower in Dubai.

The Burj Dubai is being built with only one intention - to be the tallest tower in the world. So while current plans of its exact proposed height when it is ready in 2007 or 2008 are being kept a secret, speculators have claimed anything from 492m to even 900m. Even those claiming the same 160 floors are varied in their estimates from 700 to 800 meters. It is widely believed however that the foundation of the building would be made extra strong to accommodate future floors, to ensure supremacy in the numbers game. (Just a passing thought, but the exterior design does not look conducive for future enhancements of that kind.) With that background, it remains to be seen how exactly Hafeez (who is also building a 120 floor tower block in Dubai) plans to beat the Burj Dubai tower.

India's biggest land deal in NOIDA

In the biggest land deal in the country, a consortium led by Delhi-based Business Parks and Town Planners (BPTP) on Tuesday bagged a 95-acre commercial plot in Noida Sector 94 for a mindboggling Rs 5,006 crore from the Noida Authority.

The price per square metre in the deal — clinched after sealed bids were submitted — comes to Rs 1,30,207; or Rs 52.69 crore per acre. The next highest bid for the site was Rs 1,17,000 by DLF and the third highest, of Rs 80,000, by Omaxe. Ansal Properties and Infrastructure was earlier disqualified in the technical bid. According to a Noida Authority spokesman, the permitted floor area ratio for development of the site will only be two. Only an area of 8.2 million sq ft will be allowed to be developed. At this rate, the per sq ft construction right has cost BPTP a whopping Rs 6,100.

The astronomical amount paid for the site is a clear indication that, in terms of sentiment, there is no downturn in the real estate sector. It also points to Noida emerging as an alternative to Delhi and Gurgaon for office space. At present, office rentals in Delhi's high class areas range between Rs 200 to Rs 350 per sq ft. In Gurgaon, it varies between Rs 80 to Rs 120 per sq ft. As against this, rentals in Noida is in the range of Rs 40 to Rs 60 per sq ft. This has made Noida an attractive destination for the commercial space in NCR. In the previous biggest Noida land deal, Unitech had walked off with an approximately 340-acre residential plot for Rs 1,582.83 crore.

(via Times of India)