An unusual offer from Ikea
The Telangana government has a lot to boast about. Ikea, the Swedish furniture major, which is planning to invest Rs 10,500 crore for setting up retail stores across India, has offered to pay Rs 19.21 crore an acre to the Telangana government. Ikea had signed an MoU with the Telangana government in September, 2014 to set up a retail outlet in Hyderabad with an investment of about Rs 500 crore. The Telangana government officials say that they themselves are quite surprised with Ikea's offer. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had earlier suggested to Ikea that they tie up with rural Telangana artisans such as those from Nirmal and Pembarti. The Ikea store will be coming up in the Knowledge City at Raidurg, on the city's outskirts. In most cases of land being given to MNCs for setting up factories or stores, the practice is to lease it at a nominal rate of Re 1 per acre.
Ikea has sought 50,000 square metres of land, which amounts to 12.35 acres. So, if Ikea is actually paying Rs 19.21 an acre, it will mean that roughly Rs 237.24 crore would accrue to the Telangana government's coffers. KCR is upbeat about the whole deal but the Opposition is sniffing around to find out if there is more to the whole MoU between the Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation and Ikea India Pvt Ltd.
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Marag and haleem Inc
Hyderabad House, famous for its mutton biryani, chicken tikka and kebabs, marag (lamb and almond soup) and haleem, has been acquired by Khalil Ahmed's Food Krafters and Services. While FKS would retain the brand name, Hyderabad House, it is all set to give the outlets a makeover. FKS would bring in professional master chefs to revamp the menu and offer authentic Hyderabadi cuisine to its customers. Some Hyderabad House outlets have been closed down due to lack of patronage though it even has branches in Australia, Saudi Arabia, Nepal and the UAE.
But while the media is raving about Khalil Ahmed being the co-founder of Shantha Biotechnics, the truth is slightly different. Khalil Ahmed represented the investors from the Sultanate of Oman in Shantha Biotechnics for which the Omanis gave Khalil a 5 % stake in Shantha. When Sanofi, the French pharma company, acquired Shantha in 2009-10, by buying the stake of the Omani investors, Khalil also cashed out. The original founder of Shantha, K I Varaprasad Reddy, did not sell his stake, and continues as non-executive chairman. Shantha is managed by French executives, four of whom relocated to Hyderabad from Paris. Varaprasad Reddy's stake was valued at Rs 3,000 crore. Khalil is believed to have cashed out his stake in Shantha Biotechnics for about Rs 50 crore. Khalil was working for Coca-Cola in Muscat, Oman, when Varaprasad Reddy was scouting for investors in the early 90s. Khalil is reported to have brought Varaprasad Reddy and the foreign minister of Oman together. The foreign minister of Oman was the investor in Shantha. Khalil worked as executive director of Shantha till Sanofi entered the picture.
Back to the present, Khalil along with his daughter Sumaiya Khalil, would be investing Rs 35 crore in the next two years and open 50 outlets. Another famous Hyderabadi chain, Paradise Biryani, had earlier acquired a backing of Rs 50 crore from Samara Capital and opened outlets in Chennai and Benguluru.
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Coming up, the Vijayawada Metro
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation's principal advisor E Sreedharan has submitted the detailed project report (DPR) on the Vijayawada Metro to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. Sreedharan projects the estimated cost of the Metro till 2019 as Rs 6,823 crore.
In the DPR of Vijayawada Metro, Sreedharan mentions two Corridors: Corridor 1 (Pandit Nehru Bus Terminal — Penamaluru) for 12.76 km and Corridor 2 (Pandit Nehru Bus Terminal — Nidamanuru) for 13.27 km. While Corridor 1 will be linked to the capital city of Amaravathi, Corridor 2 will be connected to Gannavaram airport, says Sreedharan. The total length of this including these two corridors is 26.03 km where the cost per each kilometer comes up to Rs 209 crore, the DPR states.
"Whether it is going to be elevated or will only be decided during the capital development stage," Sreedharan said, adding underground project per kilometer would cost Rs 500-600 crore against Rs 209 crore per kilometer if it is elevated. Giving a break-up of fares for transportation, the DPR said that the cost of the ticker per person is Rs 10 between 0-5 km, Rs 20 between 5-10 km and Rs 30 if it is above 10 km.
Explaining the land requirements, the DPR mentions that 31.029 hectares of land (both government and private) will be required for the project. For the construction of Metro Rail Depot, 11.34 hectares of land will be required. The first phase of the project will begin by June. By January 1, 2019, one section of the Metro Rail project should be commissioned, the Chief Minister said.
While the DMRC team predicted that the traffic demand forecast could be 2.91 lakh trips in 2019-2020 and will rise to 9.99 lakh trips in 2051-52. Meanwhile, Sreedharan said that the DPR Visakhapatnam Metro would be ready by June 15. Naidu was informed that a Rapid Rail Transit System for Vijayawada, Guntur, Tenali and Mangalagiri (VGTM) could be planned as Metro will not be feasible on this route.
Yet another MMS scandal
After Hansika Motwani and Radhika Apte, it is actress Anushka Shetty's turn to get caught in an MMS scandal. A clip which contains a video of Anushka or an extraordinary lookalike in a bathtub is being circulated in a frenzy. While some say that it could be the result of a phone hacking, others are of the opinion that it is a clip from an adult film. Morphing is the cry from the well-wishers of the actress. Anushka was last seen in the Rajinikanth starrer Linga. She has two big releases lined up in Rudramadevi and Baahubali. In Rudramadevi, Anushka is playing the role of a 13th century queen of the Kakatiya dynasty. The film, directed by Gunasekhar, is being made on a huge budget of Rs 70 crore. Rana Daggubati will be playing Chalukya Veerabhadra. It also stars Allu Arjun as Gona Ganna Reddy. The movie's release has been delayed and it is now said to have a June release date.
