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.