Chennai Metro Rail will complete the construction of the viaduct and the massive double decker stretch along Arcot Road for the phase II project between Porur and Power House by September end. Porur to Power House, a section of corridor 4 of the phase II project whose entire length runs to 26.1 km from Light House to Poonamallee via Porur and Vadapalani. This section of corridor 4 is pivotal for commuters for two reasons; firstly, when ready, it offers connectivity to the phase I network at Vadapalani and secondly, the 3.75km diuble decker corridor between Alwarthirunagar and Alapakkamwill allow commuters to switch between corridor 4 and corridor 5 (Madhavaram to Sholinganallur) in any of the four locations which are Alwarthirunagar, Valasaravakkam, Karambakkam, and Alapakkam. This time next year, trains will be operated in the first level of the double decker and shortly thereafter when a part of corridor 5 is ready, the second level will witness train operations. According to officials of Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), they have to construct around 340 piers between Porur and Power House and of that, nearly 95 per cent of the work has been completed. Sources said there has been a six-month delay in the construction of the Porur-Power House stretch. In the locations where the viaduct has been finished, track laying is under way and the installation of overhead equipment (OHE) is in progress. “The track and OHE work has been on at Vadapalani, Saligramam, Karambakkam and Alapakkam,” another official. Sources said it could take about four months to finish the OHE work. 

Smartworks Coworking Spaces Ltd on Tuesday reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 4.19 crore for the first quarter of FY26. Its net loss stood at Rs 23 crore in the year-ago period. Total income, however, rose to Rs 387.98 crore during the April-June period of 2025-26 against Rs 323.15 crore in the corresponding period of the preceding year, according to a regulatory filing. During the 2024-25 fiscal, Smartworks Coworking Spaces had posted a net loss of Rs 63.17 crore on a total income of Rs 1,409.66 crore. Smartworks Coworking Spaces, which got listed recently on stock exchanges, is one of the leading co-working centre operators in the country. country.
 

Saint-Gobain has commenced construction of its seventh float glass line and fifth mineral wool insulation line in Oragadam, Chennai. The new float glass facility will have a production capacity of 1,000 tonnes per day. Following the acquisition of Rockwool India (Rockinsul) and UP Twiga (Twigainsul), the company has expanded its insulation business in India. The fifth mineral wool insulation plant will have a production capacity of 50,000 tonnes. 

Real estate investment fund management platform Etonhurst Capital Partners has acquired over 37 ready-to-move-in luxury apartments in a super-premium residential project in Mumbai’s plush Worli locality for over Rs 500 crore. The deal marks the first inventory buyout transaction by an institutional investor in the country’s burgeoning luxury housing market. Etonhurst has acquired the portfolio of these apartments from Piramal Finance, the non-banking finance company of Piramal Group that had received the inventory as part of its debt settlement pact with the project’s developer Omkar Realtors & Developers. The transaction involves apartments in towers A and B of Omkar 1973 that have already received occupation certificates from the Mumbai civic authority. The portfolio comprises a mix of three- and four-bedroom residences with carpet areas ranging from 2,000 sq ft to 3,800 sq ft, spanning a total of around 80,000 sq ft. Etonhurst plans targeted refurbishments to align the apartments with current luxury standards before marketing them for sale. The deal involves around Rs 50 crore earmarked for this upgrade before sales of these apartments. ET’s email query to Piramal Finance remained unanswered until the time of going to press. According to property consultants, the deal is based on the opportunity to unlock value given the project’s OC-approved status, ready inventory and discounted pricing. The firm may refurbish the interiors, enhance fit-outs and adopt a phased sale strategy to maximise returns. South and central Mumbai, home to India’s costliest residences, have been at the forefront of this boom, attracting a string of high-value deals involving industrialists, senior corporate leaders, film stars and sports icons in recent years.

JSW Cement's 36-billion-rupee ($413 million) IPO was fully subscribed on the third day of bids on Monday, as investors bet on the Indian firm's long-term growth prospects backed by the government's push in infrastructure and housing. Cement makers in India, the second-largest global producer of the material, have bet on rising government spending on infrastructure and material, have bet on rising government spending on infrastructure and an upbeat housing sector to drive demand, spurring increased dealmaking over the past few years. Cement demand is expected to grow 6%-7% annually through 2030, Moody's Ratings said in a note in May. Analysts also forecast prices strengthening as they recover from last fiscal year's multi-year lows. Total bids were 1.31 times the shares on offer, exchange data showed as of 1:00 p.m. local time. Institutional as well as retail investors matched the allotted share portions on offer for them. Shares of the cement maker, which aims for around a $2.3 billion valuation, are slated to list on August 14 on the National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange.  JSW Cement has a competitive edge as "access" to group companies across steel, energy and marine infrastructure sectors sets it up for sourcing key raw materials such as blast furnace slag and power at "easy and competitive terms," said brokerage Anand Rathi Research in a note in July.
 

Chennai-based DRA Group has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Philippines-based Balajadia Family office to create a special purpose vehicle (SPV) platform. This 50:50 joint venture will see the development of one million sq ft of grade-A commercial and retail spaces in Chennai and Bengaluru under phase-I, with an estimated investment value of $100 million. Ranjeeth Rathod, managing director, DRA said, "This collaboration allows us to combine local expertise with global capital to drive sustainable real estate growth." Lloyd Balajadia said, "We look forward to not only creating landmark developments in India but also welcoming future collaborations that bring Indian expertise to the Philippines in time."

MCG and MCM have introduced artificial intelligence (AI) to boost revenue from property tax. MCG has so far generated a revenue of Rs 200 crore, which is around 72% of its target set for FY26, and MCM's has already crossed the Rs 29 crore-mark, the revenue it generated in the last fiscal year. We took the data of self-certified properties with the highest dues and used generative AI, which is a bot, to call the owners. This bot answers in real time. If you did not pay property tax, it will ask you what difficulties you faced and subsequently address your concerns. Before reaching out to people, we segregated the data into categories of those who promised to pay or refused to pay the taxes and those who faced difficulties in paying them. Most of the people contacted ended up paying the taxes. Using AI for property tax collection was started as a pilot project in Yamunanagar, where Sinha served as the civic body commissioner before heading MCM. Meanwhile, residents pointed out that since MCG was generating so much revenue, it should invest money in the city's development. "The city is clearly lacking the kind of manpower and machinery it needs to function. MCG should learn from other municipal corporations and invest in the right kind of machinery," said Gauri Sarin, convener of the group Making Model Gurugram.
 

UAE-based BNW Developments, a company promoted by Ankur Aggarwal and Vivek Anand Oberoi, plans to launch projects worth Rs 20,000 crore next year. The company has already launched projects worth Rs 10,000 crore and has 30 projects in its portfolio. It plans to add 10–15 more projects by next year. “We are acquiring ready-to-move-in buildings in Dubai and selling them again after refurbishing. There is a demand-supply gap, and we feel these projects are important for the region,” said Ankur Aggarwal, chairman and founder of BNW Developments. The company has recently entered into a collaboration with FashionTV to launch a branded residential development on Al Marjan Island in Ras Al Khaimah—an area currently undergoing rapid development and positioning itself as a hub for tourism, investment, and luxury real estate within the UAE. Eight million visitors are expected to visit Ras Al Khaimah every year by 2027, and the company is focused on branded residences to bridge the gap in demand and supply there. “Al Marjan Island and Ras Al Khaimah as a whole, are no longer peripheral players. With strategic infrastructure investments, global hospitality interest, and visionary governance, this region is fast becoming a nucleus for new-world urbanism. With global names like Wynn Resorts making their debut on Al Marjan Island, the area has seen a significant rise in demand with projected rental yields reaching upwards of 8–14, making it a lucrative choice for discerning investors.
 

JSW Cement, part of the diversified JSW Group, on Wednesday mobilised Rs 1,080 crore from anchor investors, a day before its initial share sale opening for public subscription.  This anchor portion witnessed participation from domestic and foreign institutional investors including Nomura, Government of Singapore, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Morgan Stanley Investment Fund, Goldman Sachs (Singapore) Pte and Kuwait Investment Authority, according to a circular uploaded on BSE's website. Also, SBI Mutual Fund (MF), Nippon India MF, Tata MF, Aditya Birla Sun Life MF, Motilal Oswal MF and SBI Life Insurance Company are among investors. As per the circular, JSW Cement has allotted 7,34,69,386 equity shares to 52 funds at Rs 147 apiece. This aggregates the transaction size to Rs 1,080 crore. The company has set a price band of Rs 139-147 per share, valuing the 17-year-old company at Rs 20,000 crore at the upper end of the price band. Synergy Metals Investments Holding is an arm of Synergy Metals and When asked about the reasons for scaling down the IPO size from Rs 4,000 crore to Rs 3,600 crore, Parth Jindal, the managing director of JSW Cement, had stated it is led by business requirements in current times and also to make future dilutions possible. At the time of announcing the IPO, the cement industry's condition was not as good, necessitating a higher sum of money. On the financial front, the company's revenue from operations for FY25 stood at Rs 5,813.1 crore against Rs 6,028.10 crore in FY24, and Rs 5,836.72 crore in FY23. The company reported a loss of Rs 163.77 crore in FY25. Its profit was Rs 62 crore in FY24 and Rs 104 crore in FY23. As of March 31, 2025, JSW Cement had an installed grinding capacity of  
 

Gurugram-based Ummeed Housing Finance Pvt Ltd (UHFPL), an affordable housing finance company, on Tuesday said it has secured Rs 250 crore in funding from British International Investment (BII). BII is the UK's government development finance institution. The investment will enable Ummeed to provide more low-cost long-tenure housing finance to low-income groups in India. The funds will be deployed as mortgage-backed loans to underserved borrowers, with a strong emphasis on empowering them through property ownership and financial inclusion, the company said in a statement. These loans will support homeownership, in line with Ummeed's commitment to inclusive growth, it added. The fresh infusion of capital is expected to benefit up to 3,000 women borrowers through mortgage-backed loans and has been qualified as a 2x investment, part of a global initiative aimed at advancing women's economic empowerment. "This BII facility will help us drive the development agenda, leading to the improvement in the quality of life for borrowers and co-borrowers in the low- and middle-income strata of the society," Ashutosh Sharma, Founder & Managing Director, UHFPL. UHFPL primarily provides affordable housing finance to the low- and middle-income households.

LIC Housing Finance has reported a growth of 4.41 per cent in its net consolidated profit during the quarter ended June 30, 2025. Its profit after tax stood at ?1,364 crore in Q1 FY26 as against ?1,306.40 crore it registered in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal, the company said in a BSE filing. The company's net consolidated total income stood at ?7,250.16 crore in The company's net consolidated total income stood at ?7,250.16 crore in the similar quarter last year. Tribhuwan Adhikari, managing director & chief executive officer of the company said, "The current year has started off strongly as we reduced the lending rates during this quarter in view of RBI rate cut. Additionally, we also introduced zero processing fee, in order to ease access to housing credit." As on June 30, 2025, its net worth stood at ?35,934.06 crore, debt-equity ratio was 7.71, total debts to total assets was 0.88, operating margin was 23.49%, net profit margin was 18.80%, gross non-performing assets (NPAs) was 2.62%, net NPA was 1.30% and liquidity coverage was 177.43%. The board has constituted a review committee for identification of wilful defaulter. The provisions for expected credit loss (ECL) stood at ?5,051.27 crore as on June 30, 2025, as against ?5,670.07 crore as on June 30, 2024. The stage 3 exposure at default as of June 30, 2025, stood at 2.62% against 3.30% as of June 30, 2024.
 

To safeguard homebuyers and curb project delays, the Tamil Nadu Real Estate Regulatory Authority (TNRERA) has made it mandatory for developers seeking project registration extensions beyond one year to deposit an additional 20% of the amount collected from allottees into the designated project account. The directive is issued under Section 7(3) of the RERA Act, 2016, allowing the TNRERA to impose further terms in the interest of homebuyers rather than cancel project registrations outright. Officials say the step is aimed at ensuring that funds collected from buyers are available for construction and not diverted for other purposes. TNRERA said many project delays were linked to insufficient funds in the project escrow account, where 70% of collections are already mandated to be deposited. Now, if the extension sought for a project exceeds one year, the promoter must park an additional 20% of buyer collections into the account. However, small and mid-sized builders raised concerns. "We invest our own money to build initial units before any bookings take place. Only after seeing physical progress do buyers come forward," said S Ramprabhu, chairman of DTCP committee at Builders Association of India. "Asking for 20% extra deposit when we haven't collected much from buyers could affect our cash flow." G Mohan, former president, Chennai Southern Builders Association, said, "If the delay is due to natural problems like rain or flood, TNRERA should exempt the builder."