The industrial development corporation has sought administrative approval from the district collector to acquire 1,945.19 acres of both patta and government land across six villages in a selected taluk for the proposed Global City project. This proposal follows the state government's 2025 Budget announcement to establish a 2,000-acre Global City near a major metropolitan area, featuring IT parks, trade zones, residential areas, recreational facilities, and next-generation urban infrastructure.In its submission, the corporation has pledged to fund land acquisition and establishment expenses, form dedicated teams for the acquisition process, and carry out rehabilitation and resettlement of eligible persons in line with government norms. Administrative sanction from the government will enable the corporation to begin groundwork for the project. The Global City is envisioned to integrate AI-driven smart city management systems, digital twin-based urban simulations, smart mobility solutions, and green-blue infrastructure to promote sustainability.Following a review, which evaluated potential sites in various districts, one taluk was chosen for the development. The corporation has earmarked 1,945.19 acres spanning several villages in the region. The identified land includes wetland, dry land, manavari land, and government land. The corporation has sought approval under the state's Acquisition of Land for Industrial Purposes Act to proceed with the process.

The cement company has reported a consolidated net profit of ?80.63 crore for the quarter ending September 30, 2025, marking a significant recovery from the ?30.80 crore loss recorded during the same quarter of the previous fiscal year. The company's total income for Q2 FY26 stood at ?1,554.44 crore, reflecting a 24.91% increase from ?1,244.44 crore in Q2 FY25.As part of its green initiatives, the company is upgrading its cement plant to boost its Total Specific Recycle (TSR) from 4% to 16%. The company has also commissioned a new grinding unit with a capacity of 13.5 lakh tonnes per annum and completed the expansion of its cement mills. As a result, its total cement production capacity has increased from 16.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to 18 MTPA.Additionally, the company is expanding its clinker capacity at one of its integrated cement plants by adding a new clinker line of 2.3 MTPA, along with four new grinding units of 4.6 MTPA. The company is also establishing three split-location cement grinding units in different states, with a combined capacity of 3.4 MTPA. The total cost of this expansion project is expected to be ?3,000 crore, funded through ?2,100 crore in term loans and the balance from internal accruals. The first phase, including the clinkerization and grinding unit, is scheduled to be commissioned by March 2027, with the remaining capacity to be completed by March 2028.

To support the growing workforce in low-income neighborhoods, the metropolitan development authority is set to build a co-working space on a major road in a historic district. The authority has issued tenders for the construction of a three-story building, which will accommodate at least 150 workstations spread across the ground, first, and second floors. The third floor will feature a canteen and dining area, along with a sheltered space for visitors.

As per the tender details, the ground floor will include a 770-square-foot lobby area. The first floor will contain a 75-seat work terminal spanning 1,334 square feet, with an additional 495-square-foot area for work terminals. The second floor will have another 75-seat work terminal within a 1,200-square-foot hall. Every floor will be equipped with two restrooms and a coffee-dispensing unit. Additionally, each floor will have three computers with internet access and free access to digital journals and magazines. The space will also provide reading materials for competitive exams.

A local representative highlighted that the surrounding areas have a significant number of lower-income individuals entering the workforce. “Even pavement dwellers are securing jobs that require computer skills. This initiative will greatly benefit them and help uplift the neighborhood,” they noted. The project will also include the creation of a 20-slot bike parking area along the stretch. Additionally, a resettlement colony is being developed nearby, and encroachments along a major canal will be relocated there. The facility is expected to be operational by December.

The High Court has directed a religious institution in a suburban area to stop using its private land as a burial ground. The court also ordered the institution to remove the bodies buried there and rebury them in the officially designated cemetery within 12 weeks. The directive was issued following a petition filed by a local real estate firm that had objected to the burials being conducted on land owned by the institution, located next to its apartment project.

According to the petition, the local municipal corporation had granted a burial ground license to the institution, allegedly violating zoning regulations and legal procedures. The court agreed with the petitioner, observing that the license had been issued “in undue haste” and “in violation of statutory procedure.” It pointed out that the license was approved without collecting the prescribed fee and before the relevant government rules had been sanctioned. The court also noted that the official who granted the license was involved in the rule-making process and should have waited for the government’s approval before acting.

The court further held that the burial ground violated local development and building rules, which permit only one burial facility within a subdivision. It also ruled that the developer had the right to challenge the burial ground, as it directly impacted the value and viability of the apartment project. The court gave the institution 12 weeks to exhume and rebury the bodies. If the institution fails to comply, the local authorities are directed to carry out the task at the institution's expense.

The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) is preparing to install inclusive play equipment for children with disabilities in two North Chennai parks, with a total project cost of ?2.5 crore. Inspired by the accessible play zone at Marina Beach’s Blue Flag area, this initiative aims to create safe and inclusive recreational spaces for all children within local neighbourhoods. According to the 2025–2026 civic budget, GCC will develop special play areas and upgrade existing parks in Madhavaram and Kodungaiyur to attract more families. Around ?1.81 crore has been allocated for the Madhavaram park and ?1.33 crore for the Kodungaiyur park to set up new play structures. Officials said the new facilities will feature tactile boards for visually impaired children and sensory play installations, offering a more advanced setup than the one at Marina Beach. “We plan to make these play areas completely accessible for children with special needs,” said C.A. Balamurali, GCC’s Chief Engineer. The tender process for the project will begin soon. Alongside this, renovation work will be carried out, as many parks in North Chennai are in poor condition. “The Kodungaiyur park hasn’t seen major restoration in over 30 years. We’ll be constructing a new compound wall, building walkways, and raising the ground level to prevent waterlogging,” said A. Rajkumar, Tondiarpet Zonal Officer. Residents in the area have welcomed the move but emphasized the need for awareness among locals to ensure the facilities are used properly “If maintained well, this project can make a real difference for families. The civic body should expand such inclusive parks across the city,” said A. Arumairaj, President of the Indira Gandhi Nagar Residents’ Welfare Association, Tiruvottiyur.

A major stormwater diversion project is being implemented by the Highways Department near the Elcot area to ensure that Perumbakkam and nearby localities off OMR remain flood-free this monsoon. The work, estimated at ?42 crore, aims to significantly improve the area’s flood resilience. According to V. E. Mathiyalagan, standing committee chairman for the Sholinganallur zone, a 1.7 km twin-cell culvert is being built to channel rainwater from the Perumbakkam marsh into the Buckingham Canal. “Earlier, a low-level bridge often caused flooding along Semmozhi Salai and in Perumbakkam during heavy rains. The Highways Department has now demolished that structure and begun constructing a high-level bridge. The work is progressing at a brisk pace,” he said. Perumbakkam’s entire drainage network flows into the adjoining Pallikaranai marshland. The Perumbakkam Main Road, which connects OMR and Medavakkam, cuts across this marsh, and officials said that stormwater drains along this stretch are currently being desilted. Meanwhile, the Water Resources Department is widening the Okkiyam Maduvu channel at a cost of ?27 crore. Although the waterway still has patches of hyacinth near KCG College of Technology, officials noted that CMRL is constructing two high-level bridges across Okkiyam Maduvu with a 205 m expanded waterway and an additional 1.5 m of vertical clearance to improve flow. Commuters, including K. Sathish Kumar from Radial Road, have urged the Highways Department to speed up completion of the macro stormwater drain linkage from Okkiyam Maduvu to the sea via Bethel Nagar to ensure smoother drainage during heavy rainfall.

The relevant department has issued a detailed circular to all district offices, outlining procedures for proper record and document maintenance to ensure easy access and long-term preservation. This move follows criticism regarding poor record-keeping practices within the department. Many public information requests were reportedly denied due to documents being unavailable or untraceable.

According to the circular, records related to land transfers, land acquisition, ownership details, land reclassification, encroachments, government land leases, land surrenders, and tax schemes must be maintained at the respective district offices, with copies forwarded to the relevant department. The circular further instructs that records be systematically categorized as permanent, disposable (to be destroyed after ten years), standing orders, and current documents.

When a public information request is received by the department, it should be transferred to the relevant district office, and the concerned office must provide the required information to the applicant. The circular also specifies that record rooms should ideally be located on the ground floor, protected from sunlight, rain, and pests. Confidential documents must be stored separately with restricted access, and record rooms should be regularly cleaned. Closed files are to be marked in black ink, while pending documents must be marked in red ink, each with appropriate serial and document numbers.

Residential property sales across India’s top cities dropped 12% year-on-year to 202,756 units during January–September 2025, according to a market report released on October 28. The slowdown was attributed to rising property prices, the monsoon season, a pre-festive lull, and economic uncertainty. In Q3 2025, sales fell 9% year-on-year and 2% quarter-on-quarter to 67,980 units, reflecting the broader nine-month trend. However, some cities defied the slowdown, posting significant annual growth. Together, several major cities accounted for over 60% of total sales, though their combined volumes declined 9%. One region saw the steepest drop at 29%, followed by other cities with declines ranging from 16% to 21%. Meanwhile, one city stood out with a 15% rise in transactions.

The premium housing segment showed modest annual growth in Q3 2025, while homes priced between ?1.5 crore and ?3 crore recorded a 14% year-on-year increase. In contrast, demand for homes below ?1 crore declined 23% compared to the same period last year.

According to an industry expert, “The January–September 2025 period reflects a shift toward a value-driven market, with premium housing leading sales despite the overall 12% drop in total units sold.” They added that projects launched during this period continued to attract strong buyer interest, contributing 24% of total sales, slightly higher than in the same period last year. While premium housing demand remained firm, developers were cautious with new mid-range and affordable projects due to slower demand in recent quarters.

Around 70,915 new homes were launched in Q3 2025, bringing the year-to-date total to 225,001 units, just 1% lower than last year. Several cities saw healthy growth in new launches. Home prices across the major cities continued to rise in Q3 2025, registering 6–16% annual growth. One city led with a 16% increase, followed by others with growth ranging from 13% to 14%.

The state government, in a statement issued on Tuesday (October 28, 2025), dismissed accusations that it had unlawfully issued environmental clearance and building plan approval for a proposed multi-storeyed construction project within a protected marshland area. The marshland, which has been recognized for its ecological importance, has been at the centre of growing environmental concern and public debate.

Clarifying its position, the government maintained that the land identified for the project does not lie within the officially notified boundaries of the Marsh Reserve Forest. It further explained that the precise demarcation of the protected site’s boundaries is still under process, meaning the current project site cannot automatically be considered part of the protected zone.

According to the relevant environmental department, the area in question encompasses three distinct designations — the Reserve Forest, the protected site, and the Wetland. The department emphasized that these terms represent separate categories under different legal and environmental frameworks and should not be used interchangeably.

The government also highlighted that approximately 698 hectares have been formally declared as the Marsh Reserve Forest under relevant forest legislation. Within this notified area, no approvals or clearances have been issued for any form of construction, reaffirming the state’s commitment to conserving ecologically sensitive zones.

The housing finance company reported a 23.83% year-on-year increase in consolidated net profit for the quarter ended September 30, 2025. The company’s profit after tax (PAT) stood at ?581.59 crore in Q2 FY26, compared with ?469.68 crore in the same period last year, according to a filing with the stock exchange. The company’s consolidated total income rose 13.35% to ?2,130.60 crore in Q2 FY26 from ?1,879.66 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

Commenting on the results, an executive from the company said, “Despite challenges arising from leadership transitions, we have delivered a strong and resilient performance across all key metrics this quarter. Our spreads improved to 2.26% in Q2 FY26 from 2.23% in Q1 FY26, reflecting disciplined pricing and portfolio mix optimization. Looking ahead to FY26, our focus remains on accelerating retail growth and expanding our presence in the affordable and emerging market segments.”

During the half year ended September 30, 2025, the company allotted 5,83,520 equity shares of ?10 each following the exercise of employee stock options and restricted stock units. As of September 30, 2025, the company’s net worth stood at ?17,970.63 crore, while its debt-equity ratio was 3.63. The total debt-to-assets ratio stood at 0.76, net profit margin at 27.3%, gross NPAs at 1.04%, and net NPAs at 0.69%. The company also recovered ?59 crore from the total written-off pool during the quarter.

Return on assets (ROA) was 2.73% in Q2 FY26 and 2.65% in H1 FY26, while the capital adequacy ratio (CRAR) stood at 29.8% as of September 30, 2025. Assets under management (AUM) grew 12.3% year-on-year to ?83,879 crore, while loan assets rose 17% to ?79,439 crore. The affordable and emerging markets segment expanded 34% year-on-year, now contributing 38% of the retail loan portfolio.

Disbursements increased 12.2% year-on-year to ?5,995 crore in Q2 FY26, with the affordable segment growing 30.7% over the same period. The company’s cost of borrowing declined to 7.69% in Q2 FY26 from 7.84% in Q2 FY25, while the spread on loans improved to 2.26% from 2.21%. Benefiting from recoveries from the written-off pool, credit cost was -53 bps in Q2 FY26 compared with -24 bps in Q2 FY25. The corporate loan book stood at ?332 crore as of September 30, 2025, marking a sharp 78.3% reduction compared with the same date last year.

Residents can be assured that the scheme offering 100 units of free electricity to domestic consumers will continue, according to the local electricity distribution authority. The authority refuted recent social media rumours claiming that the free power scheme would be discontinued due to alleged misuse by some users. It clarified that there are no plans to withdraw the benefit and that consumers will continue to receive the concessions under the existing policy.

The clarification came after false posts circulated online, suggesting that the free first 100 units would be revoked because of financial losses attributed to misuse. “The information being shared on social media is incorrect. For official updates, please refer to our official website,” the authority stated on a social media platform. Officials also emphasised that any change in such a policy can only be decided by the state government. “No such proposal has been made. The free electricity scheme remains unchanged,” they confirmed.

Under the current structure, domestic users can consume up to 100 units of electricity free of cost, while the next 100 units are billed at half the base rate—provided their total bi-monthly usage does not exceed 500 units. The government offsets the resulting revenue loss through subsidies.

Meanwhile, the authority has announced a scheduled power shutdown on Monday (September 9) from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. for maintenance activities. The affected areas include several localities in the region.

Despite the Survey and Settlement Commissionerate digitizing land records and linking the software systems of the revenue and registration departments to simplify patta transfers, residents in Chennai continue to face long delays. Several applicants said they have to wait weeks for title changes to reflect in their patta after registering a property. In the past, the patta transfer process was tedious for both buyers and sellers, requiring mandatory visits to the taluk office for land measurement and other record-related services. The system has since been moved online, reducing processing time and minimizing opportunities for corruption. Under the new setup, a title change in the patta is supposed to happen instantly—within a minute of registering a property—if no land subdivision is involved. Such cases result in a “fulfilled patta,” available for download at https://eservices.tn.gov.in. However, when a property involves subdivision and multiple buyers, the application is redirected to the local Village Administrative Officer (VAO) or surveyor, with a 30-day timeframe for completion. In practice, though, the system’s efficiency seems inconsistent. Lawyer and activist Sandhya Vedullapalli, who registered property in South Chennai in September, said she is still waiting for her updated patta. Likewise, Priya (name changed), who purchased an apartment in Perambur three months ago, has not received hers either. “This system seemed to work well initially,” Sandhya said. “But now, even after several weeks, patta transfers following registration are pending. It feels like the old issues of delays and indirect corruption have resurfaced.” An official from the Commissionerate clarified that in cases involving land subdivision, applications are routed to the VAO or surveyor, and pattas are expected to be issued within 30 days.