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FEB 26, 2006
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Oil On Boil
A surge in oil prices to almost $70 a barrel on concerns about the restart of Iran's nuclear programme only hints at what may lie ahead? Experts believe prices could soar past $100 a barrel if the UN Security Council authorises trade sanctions against the Middle Eastern nation and Iran curbs oil exports in retaliation. A look at the unfolding energy scenario.


Scrolling E-Tourism
As consumers increasingly look for tailor-made vacations, e-tourism is taking a new shape. Now, search engines are allowing customers to find the best value or lowest price for air tickets and hotels. Here is a look at global trends.
More Net Specials
Business Today,  February 12, 2006
 
 
I'm Going Home

Rich non-resident Indian retirees are coming back home, to Mysore, Pune, Kolkata, and other such cities to roost. Real estate developers, for one, aren't complaining. in Pune, in Kolkata and in Mysore investigate.

MYSORE
For plastic surgeon Jayaram, low-cost healthcare was a big reason to shift base to India from the US

TREADMILL

SHAKING OFF DANDRUFF

PRINTED CIRCUIT

BOOKEND

Mysore aspires to be the next big thing in Karnataka after Bangalore, Pune has retained some of its greenery, and its status as a university-town, yet grown into one of the country's most happening it hubs, and Kolkata would like the world to know that the city is witnessing an industrial renaissance of sorts. All three cities are similar; they are re-inventing themselves without trying to lose what once made them special (although long-time residents of Pune would beg to differ on this count). That, the mixture of the old and the new has found a surprising group of takers, NRI retirees or semi-retirees that want to return to India, to a quiet location, yet not be cut off from the mainstream.

The urge to return to India is driven by several factors. Some of the NRI retirees now returning to India are people who left the country in the early 1970s. "We were first-generation immigrants," recalls Sankar Prosad Dutt, a civil engineer who spent over 30 years in various locations in the us before retiring to an 11th floor apartment in Calcutta Greens in Kolkata. "After retiring, all of us wanted to come back to our friends and relatives." The low cost of healthcare in India is another reason why retirees choose to come back to the country, says Dr A.R. Jayaram, a plastic surgeon who was once based in Chicago, proffering a pragmatic reason. "We (NRI retirees) prefer places in suburban areas," adds Lal Khemlani, a 63-year-old who moved to Pune from the US (where he spent 27 years). He spends three days a week honing his skills on the greens and the other three days working with Clover Builders, a city-based developer.

PUNE
After 27 years in the US, the Khemlanis settled in Pune's verdant suburbs

Messrs Jayaraman, Dutt and Khemlani are part of a growing tribe. It includes the likes of Govind Moriani, a 55-year-old early retiree who moved to Pune from West Asia, 77-year-old K.K. Murty who returned to Mysore after several years in Africa and the West Indies, and 53-year-old Pradeep Paul who moved to Kolkata after spending over two decades running a trading firm (he still runs it out of Singapore, but is based in Kolkata).

KOLKATA
The desire to be close to friends and relatives made engineer Dutt move back to India

Real estate developers in the three cities have reason to be happy: most NRI retirees aren't just in the market (for a flat, villa, even farmhouse); they have the financial resources to make upfront payments. Not surprisingly, developers are scrambling to provide 'first-world' amenities such as piped gas, solar heating systems, even vermiculture pits. "Prices in these areas (preferred by NRI retirees) are increasing every day," says Mahesh Khinvasara, who runs an eponymous property development firm in Pune. In Mysore, the Brigade Group, a large, Bangalore-based real estate developer, boasts six developments and is scouting for more; Sankalp Developers is putting the final touches on a 1,000-apartment condominium; and Purvankara, another Bangalore-based developer that recently formed a joint venture with Singapore-based Keppel, is planning a Rs 30-40 crore development. "NRI retirees constitute 30 per cent of our clientele," says Jagdeesh Babu, Managing Director, Sankalp Properties. "They look for villas or luxury apartments that can cost anything between Rs 25 lakh and Rs 40 lakh."

While some developers in the three cities have dynamic online (think internet) interfaces to attract NRI retirees, others have ventured into roadshows. Bengal Shrachi, a Kolkata-based developer, for instance, recently organised roadshows showcasing its Bengal NRI Complex in the US, Dubai and Singapore. "The response has been overwhelming," says Rahul Todi, the company's Managing Director. While the intangible value of returning to India isn't something that can be measured, for developers such as Todi and Babu, it means greenbacks, lots of them.

 

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