Smart houses are on trend, but did you know they can also save you money?

When looking for ways to save money, you might not think to look into smart housing technology. In the past, the term “smart home” conjured up images of expensive home improvements and high-tech gadgets. However, these systems are becoming increasingly affordable and are likely to save you money in the long-run.

Smart housing technology can be used to provide accurate, real-time information about utility usage, enabling consumers to keep on track of their payments on a daily basis and adjust their consumption accordingly. One budget-hotel chain, Chototel, is using this technology to enable guests to pay only for the utilities they consume during their stay, as opposed to charging everyone a standard rate. Each room at Chototel is fitted with microbots, which transmits data about utility usage real-time to an app. 

Using this smart housing solution, guests can monitor their utility usage real-time and make payments on a consumption basis via their smart phones. How does this technology affect the price of a night’s stay? At Chototel, daily rates start at just $2, with guests paying their utilities on a pay-per-use basis. So, if you are efficient with your energy, hotel accommodation has just became a lot more affordable.  

A Community Building Initiative and Announcement By JP Infra.

Ala re Ala… Ganpati Ala!

#MyHomeMyGanesha

Mumbai, 7th September, 2016:

Every year, the festive fervour reaches its peak during Ganesh Chaturthi in the city of dreams - Mumbai. The spirit of Mumbai kicks in and Mumbai draws worshippers from all
over the country. With thousands of pandals dotted across the city, the city sees an overwhelming number of devotees shuttling from one pandal to another.


Some of these pandals have gained the iconic stature over the years and experience the most sincerest of prayers from the devotees requesting the Bappa. One key prayer a lot of the devotees have for Ganeshji is to help them in owning their own home so that they can host the beloved ‘Bappa’ in full fervour. People crave and keep aspiring for a home and spend their lives striving towards it.


Mr. Vijay Jain, CMD at JP Infra made a huge announcement for their landmark project – JP North at Mira Road, “Ganeshji is also known as the lord of new beginnings. With JP North, we as a company are entering a different phase altogether. Witnessing the city’s spirit and our customers overwhelming love and belief towards the Bappa, we hereby announce that we would build a Ganesh Temple at JP North and the planning towards the same has already been initiated. We believe in building communities ground up and the Ganesh Temple is another attempt towards our aim of creating spaces for people to truly live.”


Along with the announcement, JP Infra kick started an unique communal initiative - #MyHomeMyGanesha towards bridging that gap between prayers and actual feeling of owning a home. The group wishes to stand by its prospective buyers and customers in making their dream home come true via multiple supportive mediums. The group has multiple projects across the city and the ongoing ones have hosted Ganeshji for its customers and well-wishers to worship and thank the lord together. Unity Towers at Worli hosted an 1.5 day Sthapana while JP Decks at Goregaon celebrated a 3 day Fiesta. North at Mira Road, the group’s landmark project is hosting a 10 day sthapana at their site and has been experiencing tremendous love and support from the community.


Together with radio companies and together are offering its customers an unique experience of taking their Aarti’s live via Radio and Digital mediums. Also the group collaborated with RED FM’s Red Ka Raja to conduct special ‘Visarjans’ and ‘Nukad Nataks' for its customers in all pomp and zeal. With radio jingles running through radio inviting Mumbaikars to share their wishes and how Ganeshji has helped them come true, the initiative has gained an overwhelming response.

The initiative supported via print and outdoor has caught wind on the digital mediums as an increasing number of people are sharing their Ganesha stories via social medias. The group broadcasted their Aartis from the site live via Facebook. The group also invited people to share their selfies with the beloved bappa using #BappaSelfie. The initiative gained serious momentum with the hashtags #MyHomeMyGanesha and #SelfieWithBappa.


Mr. Shubham Jain, Director at JP Infra added, “The devotion and love our city has towards the lord is way beyond explanation. A lot of people in this city strive throughout their lives working towards that heartfelt dream of owning a home. And as developers, we have an innate drive towards making this dream come true. At Jp Infra, we wish to help our customers and prospective community members welcome Ganeshji with homes for every family. In conjunction to the same, we are proud and happy to announce the inclusion of a Ganesh Temple in our landmark project North and is another attempt to fortify the belief of communal living in this fast paced city.”


The initiative also looks at supporting the environment through eco friendly measures and the group has build artificial ponds at their sites - JP North at Mira Road, JP Decks at Goregaon and Unity Towers at Worli for Bappa’s immersion. On the empowering front, the proceeds from the donation boxes have been allocated to the betterment of children at BMC schools. The company also organised a drive for its labourers at site with the employees donating clothes, books and footwear.


On speaking to Mr. Manoj Asrani - VP Sales & Marketing at JP Infra, he stated “Almost everyone dreams of inviting Ganesha to their own homes, including me. And we as developers intend to make that dream come true. With life friendly architecture that lives in harmony with nature, quality building materials that stand the test of time and amenities that makes everyday worthwhile. With this initiative, we wish to bridge the gap between prayers and reality. Because we believe that Ganesha is always with us and we want every day to be auspicious for our customers.”


When a lot of brands are leveraging the festival to drive their sales and numbers, such an initiative from a real estate player has truly created a strong inspiring connect with the fraternity and Mumbaikars at large.


The initiative was covered on Social Media Platforms by AGENCY09

India ‘super-budget’ hotel in $5m London fund-raiser

An India-born entrepreneur was on Monday tapping London’s ethical investment market for $5 million (£3.8 million) to fund a new “super-budget” hotel concept which she plans to bring to the UK.

Rhea Silva is listing her company Chototel — named after “chotu”, the Hindi for small - on the Social Stock Exchange to raise funds for a hotel already under construction near Mumbai and a second forthcoming project in Pune.

The Mumbai hotel is planning to charge as little as $2 a day, split between up to four residents in each of the compact 250 rooms featuring mini bathrooms and kitchenettes.

Chototel is chaired by Chris Phillips, the chairman of Places for People, one of the UK’s largest property managers and developers. 

Silva, who hopes to take the concept to the Middle East and the UK if it proves successful, said: “Housing poverty exists here, it’s just camouflaged in different ways. You might not find as many homeless people on the road, but there are still young professionals spending 50% of their income on housing. The whole real-estate sector needs innovation.”

Chototel becomes the 40th company to list on the Social Stock Exchange, which was set up in 2013 and focuses on firms that deliver social and  environmental impact as well as financial returns for investors.

JP Infra brings neighbours closer, through a social initiative #KnowYourNeighbour First time a developer, rather than selling flats, sells neighbourhood

JP Infra, a Mumbai based real estate major's social initiative #KnowYourNeighbour saw an overwhelming response from people at large. The initiative aimed at the much ignored issue of solitude living of the urban class. For the first time, a real estate developer has attempted to bring all its customers together to celebrate the essence of friendship and communal living. 

As a part of the initiative, Friendship day token with a thoughtfully crafted letter was sent to customers from their neighbouring members. The group arranged the initiative such that the soon to be neighbours got an opportunity to know their neighbours and in return elevate their bond to friendship.

The initiative went beyond just the customer base to bring the society at large together. With radio campaigns being run across the stations asking Mumbaikars to share their neighbourhood friendship stories, the initiative saw an overwhelming response. The radio channels were buzzing with interesting stories of long lost and new found friendship. The initiate is constantly gaining momentum and turning into a social cause.

When asked Mr. Manoj Asrani, VP Sales & Marketing, about the objective of the drive, he stated, “In this fast paced city of Mumbai, with the times changing, we hardly have the time to know who is living next door to us. The time has become such that people do not know who their neighbours are. As human beings, we are social and communal in nature. We wanted our customers to feel the essence of communal living and as an effort towards the same, we thought of a way to connect the soon to be neighbours. From sharing a common address to sharing a special bond of friendship."

Mr. Shubham Jain - Director JP Infra, added "Home is where you treat your friends like family and family like friends. And we are in the business of making people'e homes. We believe spaces should be developed where you can truly live and explore the essence of life. In sync with our belief and values, we thought of connecting the soon to be neighbours and extending a bond of friendship between them. Know your neighbour is that initiative where we gave our customers an opportunity to know and communicate with their soon to be neighbour and extend this special bond of friendship and camaraderie."

Customers were found in a joyous setting and Mr. Mahadik, a proud resident at JP Infra's Unity Towers said, "It was amazing to receive a letter from my soon to be neighbour extending his hand of friendship and wishing the best for me and my family. Our developer, JP Infra went out of the way to get all us neighbours unite and elevate our bond into friendship. This means a lot to us. Mumbai, Its time you know your neighbour."

Living In One Of The Fastest Growing Cities In India

Mumbai is one of the fastest growing cities of India and it is a dream for people to settle down in this attractive location which is home to the Indian film industry. With the development of new projects in mumbai, people have a new and better reason to arrive in this city for exploring the opportunities of education and employment. The city houses some of the most reputed management institutes in India and an ideal location for people that want to pursue a career in modeling.

The city has opportunities for people that want to step into the entertainment industry and at present the numbers are pretty high. With the emergence of new projects in mumbai and other facilities that the state has for the young settlers, the idea to move to this city makes real sense. In fact, the city limits have stretched beyond imagination and locations such as Navi Mumbai reflect this growth. Moreover, the presence of industries has opened job opportunities for people which provides another reason for families to come and settle down in this location.

The proximity to the countries of the Middle East is another encouraging option that has created an avenue for those people that are eager to consider this city as the place for settlement. For fulfilling your dreams and building a better future, the city has endless opportunities for the existing ones that those that have arrived here during the recent times. The development of new projects in mumbai is another reason for which people are keen to settle down in this city of dreams.