Mindspace Business Parks REIT leases 1.7 million sq ft in Q1, NOI up 24%
Mindspace Business Parks REIT leased over 1.7 million sq ft in Q1 FY25 to global and Indian firms for GCCs and data centres across Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, and Chennai. It also acquired an 810,000 sq ft Hyderabad office campus for ₹512 crore—its first third-party asset. Net operating income rose 24% to ₹616 crore, and committed occupancy touched 93.7%.
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The Hindu
28 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Construction of India's largest MRO facility commences at KIA
IndiGo on Tuesday commenced the construction of its Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) facility at the Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru. The airline said the project is expected to be completed and fully functional by the beginning of 2028. IndiGo said it will be one of India's largest MROs built on 31 acres of land recently allotted by the Bangalore International Airport Ltd. (BIAL). This facility will be three times bigger compared to the combined capacity of IndiGo's MROs in Delhi and Bengaluru. IndiGo already has one MRO facility each in Delhi and Bengaluru. The new MRO facility will have a capacity of up to 12 bays and the capability to handle both, narrow-body and wide-body aircraft, helping IndiGo to advance further in its aspiration to become a global aviation player by 2030. IndiGo had signed the MOU with BIAL for the allotment of land in May 2025. The airline said this facility will also create over a thousand jobs across engineers, technicians and several more, further contributing towards nation building. 'We are very excited as we commence the project to build this grand MRO facility in Bengaluru. This also strengthens our operational presence in Bengaluru which is one of our largest bases with over 200 daily flights. This is also an important step towards shaping the future of Indian aviation by developing a holistic aviation ecosystem in the nation,' Pieter Elbers, Chief Executive Officer, IndiGo said. IndiGo added that the development of the MRO facility will help strengthen the aerospace and defence ecosystem in Karnataka.
The Hindu
28 minutes ago
- The Hindu
India needs a ‘defence cess' to fund military modernisation
In a world increasingly defined by stealth drones, hypersonic glide vehicles, and algorithmic warfare, India cannot afford to rely on ageing jets, delayed imports, and peacetime assumptions. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has said peace is nothing but an illusion, and India must be prepared for any uncertainty. Unfortunately, the only certainty in the current geopolitical scenario is uncertainty. With India's stance on the Indus Water Treaty and clear policy of treating every future terror attack as an act of war, the frequency of confrontations with Pakistan will only rise. As witnessed in the previous two confrontations, air power will again take centre stage. But the strategic context will be even more challenging. Pakistan is set to acquire the J20 or J35 stealth aircraft from China. China itself is experimenting with sixth-generation prototypes. India, in contrast, remains nearly a decade away from deploying its own fifth-generation platform. The Indian Air Force today operates 32 squadrons as against the sanctioned strength of 42. While India's combat aircraft are competent, capability alone is not enough. In an increasingly contested and complex airspace, the country cannot afford to be vulnerable. Therefore, modernising India's armed forces as a whole, especially the Air Force, is no longer aspirational. It is existential. From indigenous engine development to electronic warfare systems and strategic drone fleets, the road map is clear. What remains uncertain is not the intent but the pathway to sustained and ring-fenced funding. The Indian economy has the size and strength to support this. But money without direction and foresight without political will and execution is futile. Poor pace, no priority A significant portion of government spending today is absorbed in routine expenses. What is left is often spread thinly across fragmented schemes and incremental projects. The result is that capital acquisition for defence lacks pace and priority. Numbers may appear large on paper, but intent should be measured not in allocations, but outcomes. Hence, what is required is a distinct and emotionally resonant defence cess as a standalone national contribution dedicated to strengthening India's defence preparedness. This will not be a tweak to the existing GST regime, but an independent instrument reflecting the country's collective commitment to its armed forces. This cess will mean a 5-10% surcharge on ultra-luxury services and ultra-luxury goods such as high-end cars, imported jewellery, private jets, premium liquor, and other similar indulgent purchases. Unlike existing indirect taxes, this amount will be clearly itemised on invoices as a 'Raksha cess', making it transparent and distinct from the GST framework. The idea is to introduce a visible and voluntary contribution from those engaging in luxury consumption and direct it specifically towards strengthening national defence. It may also blend privilege with purpose which can allow consumers to take part in nation-building by aligning their spending with a larger sense of responsibility. Historically, nations have aligned consumption with contribution. Italy imposed targeted luxury taxes during the Eurozone crisis, linking helicopter and yacht ownership to fiscal solidarity. Sweden continue to use luxury taxation as a subtle expression of economic justice. China went further, turning its anti-extravagance campaign into a national redirection of capital toward strategic industries. Consumption and commitment In the Indian context, this approach will offer a unique psychological and fiscal advantage since it will allow the affluent to contribute to national defence through visible and voluntary patriotism. It will send a message that high-end consumption can coexist with high-end commitment. For the wider public, it will create a moral narrative that those who have benefited the most from India's rise are also visible contributors to its security. It is imperative to note that the strength of the cess will lie not only in its size but also in its clarity. It will be transparent, targeted, and morally intuitive. Most important, it may lead to a behavioural shift. Spending on luxury becomes a visible public act of support for the armed forces. The premium one will pay on a sports car or designer watch will not disappear into a black hole of budget lines. Rather it will be utilised to build the engine of a new fighter jet or fund the software in a new air-defence system. However, implementation must match intent. The cess must be non-lapsable, transparently governed, and explicitly earmarked for capital expenditure in defence. Every rupee collected must be traceable to procurement, research and development, and modernisation. Over time, the cess may evolve from a tax instrument to a national pride programme. This idea may or may not make sense at the moment. But it is time for India to now move from mere accounting, to imagination. India stands at a point where narrative matters, and the cess allows an intersection between narrative and mission to take shape in a manner that is financially sound, politically non-disruptive and socially unifying. India has the means. What it needs is the mechanism. And a message that every luxury comes with legacy, and every indulgence can inspire protection. Sidharth Kapoor is a lawyer and public-policy enthusiast; views are personal
Economic Times
31 minutes ago
- Economic Times
Textile sector urges govt to scrap 11% cotton import duty
India's textile sector proposes a strategic move. They suggest eliminating the 11% duty on raw cotton imports. This could be a bargaining chip in trade talks with the United States. The goal is to secure favorable terms for Indian textiles and garments. Removing the duty may boost export competitiveness. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Pune: India's textile industry has suggested that the government could offer to remove the 11% duty on raw cotton imports and use it as a tool to negotiate favourable terms for the country's textile and garment sectors during bilateral trade discussions with the had reported earlier citing officials that New Delhi could consider lowering or completely eliminating import levies on American walnuts, almonds, apples and cranberries while seeking to forge trade ties with textile industry needs high-quality, contamination-free cotton, which meets global compliances as raw material for export-quality garments. Removing the importer duty can not only be a good negotiation tool but will also help make exports more competitive by reducing the cost on cotton imports, said industry imposed import duty on cotton in February 2022. The share of the US in India's cotton imports has since reduced to an estimated 19% in fiscal 2024-25 from 40-50%. As duties made imported cotton expensive, India's textile industry had shifted to relatively cheaper Brazilian cotton to compete with Bangladesh and Vietnam, which had access to cheaper US cotton."We have lost a lot of export of value-added cotton textile and garments," said K Selvaraju, secretary-general of the Southern India Mills Association The Ministry of Textiles has a target to expand India's textile industry to $350 billion by 2030, including exports of $100 billion. The current market size is $180 the industry has been facing an acute shortage of cotton, which is expected to aggravate this year as production in the 2024-25 crop year is expected to be the lowest after country is also likely to have a historically lowest stock at 3 million bales (each weighing 170 kg), which is equivalent to one month's consumption. Typically, the stock lasts for a month and a half to two months."As a result of the import duty on cotton, domestic cotton prices have consistently been higher than the global prices, impacting the competitiveness of the entire value chain," said Chandrima Chatterjee, secretary general of the Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI).Domestic traders are offering cotton by adding the import duty equivalent of 11% to the prevailing cotton prices, the CITI had informed the government in a letter."If we remove the import duty on cotton, it can be used as a negotiation tool during the bilateral trade agreement discussions," said user industry has reported that the Cotton Corporation of India, which procures cotton at the minimum support price from farmers, is also adding import duty equivalent to the price when it sells the fibre. It thus makes domestic cotton expensive compared with international prices.
