Here is a sample of the demands that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee faces from some of his colleagues as he prepares for UPA 2’s first Budget.

It isn’t as posh as Gurgaon but Noida outstrips its neighbourhood rival in the generation of jobs, registering 14% employment growth versus 11% in Gurgaon, thanks to a fountain of small scale units.

This is a two-pronged study incorporating the results from secondary as well as primary data. Primary data was collected by way of an online survey. The secondary component was primarily used to create indices. This is done in the following manner:

Commonwealth Games can transform Delhi by overhauling it's infrastructure. It can provide better roads, power and water supply. But the city is not making the most of the opportunity. Shalini S. Dagar goes into the details.

More for sentiment than outcome, what the new government does in the first few weeks will be critical. Business Today spoke to a few experts to find out what these initiatives should be.

While affordability is the new mantra, some developers are going even lower— houses at less than a million bucks. Apart from the small ticket sizes of the apartments, developers are resorting to several innovations to cut down on costs and, thus, keep a check on the final price tag. Tejeesh N.S. Behl & Anusha Subramanian report.

Real estate developers are offering homes within reach of the middle class wallet. But buyers may still feel shortchanged as home sizes get smaller and locations leave a lot to be desired.

Despite the challenging business environment, a clutch of companies posted stellar results in the earnings season. BT handpicks 10 outperformers on Dalal Street.

Few know of his passion for cricket, but 42-year-old Ajay Bijli, CMD, PVR, is doing everything to offer a sporting experience—in whatever form.

Hit by the slowdown and a credit crunch, once high-flying real estate projects across the country have come to an abrupt halt. If the recession gets worse, real estate could be in the pits for some time to come.Tejeesh N.S. Behl and Anusha Subramanian bring a report from the Ground Zero.

Last year, the hype about the burgeoning luxury industry in India was hysterical. Since the slowdown and 26/ 11, things have calmed down somewhat. But, as a key luxury conference takes place in Delhi this month, we ask: Is luxury actually better off than it was last year? Sanjiv Bhattacharya finds out.

BT speaks to 11 of the brightest minds on Dalal Street and gets them to identify their favourite long-term value picks in 2009. These stocks are only for long-term investors.

As real estate sales slowdown and prices plummet, developers chant the affordable housing mantra.

The Rajus’ fascination with real estate might have strangled the golden goose that was Satyam.

BT asks the who’s who of India’s corporate world—as well as some professionals and leaders from other fields for good measure—to jog their memory and recall the best advice they ever got. What the advice was, who gave it to them and when, and how it helped them.

House hunting in the NCR is akin to a picnic— take the day off and visit several properties and property dealers, haggle till your tongue drops off and then haggle some more. BT reporters go incognito across five cities to find out what’s the best deal your money can buy against a developer’s listed price.

Do you expect real estate prices to crash by the end of the current financial year?Yes. Shubhada Rao, Chief EconomistYES Bank The global financial crisis will affect real estate prices. We have already started seeing a significant correction across different geographies. Taking into account the correlation between the equity and real estate markets, the correction in the stock markets clearly indicates an imminent correction in the real estate market.

The US financial services sector may have been brought down to its knees, but back home, there’s a mad scramble by a host of players to get a piece of the action in high-growth segments that range from mutual funds to private equity.

The picture isn’t totally dismal. A handful of promoters has been successful in acquiring land, largely by keeping the local population’s needs in mind.