HDFC
ups home loan rates
Mumbai: Housing Development Finance Corporation
is hiking its home loan rates across the board by half
a percentage point from 2 May 2006. With the change the
minimum fixed home loan interest rate stands at 10.5 per
cent, and the minimum floating rate 9 per cent, said company
sources. Its prime-lending rate is now 11.75 per cent.
The company had last hiked its rates in February 2006
by half a percentage point.
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Indiabulls
Fin de-merges real estate division
Mumbai: Indiabulls Financial Services is restructuring
its businesses through a scheme of de-merger. The scheme
proposes to de-merge the assets and liabilities of the
real estate undertakings of IBFSL into Indiabulls Real
Estate.
According
to the shareholding pattern in the de-merged entity, all
shareholders of Indiabulls Financial Services will be
issued shares of Indiabulls Real Estate in the ratio of
1:1. That is, for each IBFSL equity share of face value
Rs2 fully paid up, shareholders will be allotted one equity
share of Indiabulls Real Estate of face value of Rs2.
Shareholders
of IBFSL thus will continue to hold the same number of
shares and, in addition, will receive corresponding number
of shares in the de-merged entity. The shares of the de-merged
entity will be listed on the stock exchanges in India,
where IBFSL shares are listed.
This
would unlock value for all shareholders, as they can participate
directly in both the financial services and the real estate
construction/development business of the company. The
de-merged entity will include Indiabulls' investments
in the real estate undertakings including the acquisition
of 11 acres of Jupiter Mills land in Lower Parel, Mumbai,
acquired by Indiabulls Properties from NTC through an
auction for Rs276.6 crore and another acquisition of 7.8
acres of Elphinstone Mills land in the same area by Indiabulls
Real Estate Co from NTC for Rs441.75 crore.
Also
Indiabulls Estate and its subsidiaries are in the process
of acquiring land for construction and development of
township and housing project in Sonepat, Haryana
these companies have already acquired over 115 acres of
land in that area.
Indiabulls
infrastructure owns 50 per cent shareholding in Kenneth
Builders and Developers which had won the 35.8 acres of
residential land located in south Delhi through an open
auction by Delhi Development Authority for Rs450.01 crore
for a public-private partnership project.
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MetLife
launches `Met Bhavishya' policy
Coimbatore: MetLife has launched `Met Bhavishya,
a children's insurance plan which ensures that the future
of the child is not compromised by the untimely death
of the parent.
According
to the insurance plan the parent is the insured and the
child - the beneficiary. Met Bhavishya allows the parent
to plan for the child's future expenses, on education
with the assurance that the sums would be paid irrespective
of the parents' continued investment (due to untimely
death). The premiums paid and the maturity/survival proceeds
are eligible for tax breaks.
Stating
that it would be the `best gift' that a parent could give
the child, not only during his lifetime but beyond, as
long as the child lives, company sources said the plan
guaranteed returns to meet the child's educational expenses
at different stages.It comes with 2 options - fixed term
benefit, periodic additions and terminal benefit.
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ICICI
to open `touch points` every 5-10 km
in rural areas
Mumbai: ICICI Bank plans to open various "touch
points" that will fall within 5-10 km from customers
in rural areas. Each touch point will be a full-service
banking centre, offering services ranging from routine
banking transactions to trading in shares and commodities,
availing of loans and buying life and general insurance
policies the services urban customers enjoy at
bank branches.
Officials said a person entering a touch point will come
out having availed of all the services he wants. The touch
points will be managed and operated by local entrepreneurs,
be it pharmacists or tractor dealers. ICICI Bank plans
to cover 400,000 of over 600,000 Indian villages through
its hub and spoke hybrid channel architecture. The bank
has already implemented 50 per cent of the strategy in
over 50 districts in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh
and south India.
It plans to complete the implementation in these districts
and cover 50 per cent of 200 more districts by the end
of the current year.
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