In Chennai city, the search for home gets pricey

In Chennai city, the search for home gets pricey

Jun 4, 2025, 04.15 AM IST

The rental squeeze is no longer just a core-city story. In Velachery, a modest 1BHK in an apartment complex with elevators and other amenities now rents for 22,000, nearly double what it cost two years ago. In Sholinganallur, rents have crept past 30,000, and even suburbs like Pallavaram, Ambattur, and Perambur are no longer ‘affordable'.

Be it the traditional hotspots like Adyar and Anna Nagar, or the growing suburbs like Pallavaram, Perungudi, and Madhavaram, rents are surging across Chennai. With school admissions underway and offices demanding in-person attendance, families and professionals alike are scrambling for homes, only to find landlords upping the stakes mainly due to an increase in land value, a spike in property tax, and improved connectivity.

"I moved into a 1BHK at T Nagar last year for a rent of 12,000. Since it is manageable, and close to work, I didn't mind the rent. A year later, my friend rented a house, and she is paying nearly 19,000 for a similar unit," explained Nisha Krishnan, who had moved to Chennai from Coimbatore.

According to real estate consultants, rents in Chennai increased by 20%–25% over the past two years. Some localities witnessed a jump of 30% or more. "Gated communities, in particular, are leading this surge, charging 7%–8% higher rents than standalone buildings," said Sanjay Chugh, city head, Chennai, Anarock Property Consultants.

He said Chennai recorded the steepest rental growth among major Indian metros in Q3 2024 — a 22.2% quarter-on-quarter rise in per sqft rental values. "A major contributor for the hike was slowdown in new construction activity, largely stemming from pandemic-related disruptions. This limited supply, coupled with sustained demand, led to a sharp rise in rental prices. However, with fresh housing supply gradually entering the market, rental inflation has now eased to single digits after nearly three years of steep increases," said Saurabh Garg, co-founder and chief business officer of NoBroker.

Another key factor is the shift in workplace dynamics. "As companies scale back remote work policies, many professionals are returning to Chennai. Furthermore, the city's emergence as a prominent hub for Global Capability Centres (GCCs) — with more than 250 centres employing more than 150,000 professionals — has significantly amplified the need for quality rental accommodations near these employment clusters," he added.

Premium areas like T Nagar, Adyar, and Besant Nagar remain in high demand, but suburban pockets are seeing the sharpest rental inflation. In places like Pallavaram and Perambur, rents jumped 33%–40%. Along Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR), Sholinganallur, and Velachery — where IT offices, coworking spaces, and colleges cluster — the rent for 1BHKs now ranges between 18,000–30,000. In Vadapalani, a 2BHK in the arterial area can cost upwards of 45,000.

What's more, furnished flats and short-term leases are gaining popularity, especially among landlords who want flexibility to adjust rents more frequently. "There's high demand for move-in ready homes, and tenants are willing to pay a premium for convenience," said Giriraj, a broker based in T Nagar.

S N Srikanth, a member of Chennai Real Estate Agents Association, said there is still demand for rental houses in the core city due to the presence of schools and colleges, but the supply is not matching. "This is also triggering a spike in rent. Besides, property tax has been increased, and this has a cascading effect on the rents too," he said.

With rentals eating up a larger portion of monthly incomes, tenants are adapting. Many are moving further from the city centre in search of affordability. Students and single professionals increasingly prefer co-living or shared housing over hostels, expanding the tenant pool in places like Tambaram, Kolathur, and Chromepet. "Velachery has become a hub for co-living spaces. Apart from this, Pallavaram Radial Road, Pallavaram, and other suburban areas are also booming," said Suresh Rangarajan, founder of Coliv.

எம்பிபிஎஸ் படிப்பில் மாணவா் சோ்க்கை விவரங்களை உறுதி செய்ய அறிவுறுத்தல்

எம்பிபிஎஸ் படிப்பில் மாணவா் சோ்க்கை விவரங்களை உறுதி செய்ய அறிவுறுத்தல்  DINAMANI 4.6.2025

நிகழ் கல்வியாண்டில் (2024-25) எம்பிபிஎஸ் படிப்புகளில் சோ்ந்தவா்களின் விவரங்கள் தேசிய மருத்துவ ஆணையத்தின் என்எம்சி இணையதளத்தில் அதிகாரபூா்வமாக பதிவேற்றப்பட்டிருப்பதை சம்பந்தப்பட்ட மாணவா்கள் உறுதி செய்யுமாறு அறிவுறுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளது.

 Din Updated on:  04 ஜூன் 2025, 2:31 am

 நிகழ் கல்வியாண்டில் (2024-25) எம்பிபிஎஸ் படிப்புகளில் சோ்ந்தவா்களின் விவரங்கள் தேசிய மருத்துவ ஆணையத்தின் என்எம்சி இணையதளத்தில் அதிகாரபூா்வமாக பதிவேற்றப்பட்டிருப்பதை சம்பந்தப்பட்ட மாணவா்கள் உறுதி செய்யுமாறு அறிவுறுத்தப்பட்டுள்ளது.

இது தொடா்பாக என்எம்சி செயலா் ராகவ் லங்கா் வெளியிட்ட அறிவிப்பு: நாடு முழுவதும் கடந்த ஆண்டில் எம்பிபிஎஸ் படிப்புகளுக்கு பல்வேறு சுற்றுகளாக கலந்தாய்வு நடைபெற்றது. அதன் அடிப்படையில் மத்திய, மாநில அரசுகள் மாணவா் சோ்க்கையை நடத்தின.

பொதுவாக கலந்தாய்வில் இடங்கள் ஒதுக்கீடு பெற்று கல்லூரிகளில் சோ்ந்தவா்கள் விவரங்களை என்எம்சி தளத்தில் சம்பந்தப்பட்ட கல்லூரி நிா்வாகங்கள் பதிவேற்ற வேண்டும்.

அந்த வகையில், 2024-25-ஆம் ஆண்டில் இடங்கள் பெற்ற மாணவா்களில் 1,15,250 பேரின் விவரங்கள் என்எம்சி தளத்தில் பதிவேற்றப்பட்டுள்ளன. அதை சம்பந்தப்பட்ட மாணவா்கள் உறுதி செய்து கொள்ள வேண்டும்.

பெயா்கள் விடுபட்டிருந்தால் அதுகுறித்து சம்பந்தப்பட்ட மருத்துவக் கல்வி இயக்குநரகத்துக்கு தகவல் தெரிவிக்க வேண்டும் என்று தெரிவிக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.

BREAKING | NBE Moves Supreme Court Seeking Permission To Conduct NEET-PG 2025 Exam On August 3

BREAKING | NBE Moves Supreme Court Seeking Permission To Conduct NEET-PG 2025 Exam On August 3

LIVELAW NEWS NETWORK

3 June 2025 6:48 PM

The National Board of Examination has filed an application in the Supreme Court seeking to postpone the NEET-PG 2025 exam to August 3, 2025 in the 1st shift from 9 am to 12:30 pm.

Earlier, the NBE had decided to postpone the NEET-PG exam, initially scheduled on June 15, following the Supreme Court's direction to hold it in single shift instead of double shifts.

The Court, in its order passed on May 30, had criticised the NBE decision to hold the exam in two shifts.

In its application, NBE said August 3 is the earliest possible available date given by its technology partner TCS to conduct the exam in single shift.

As per TCS, time remaining between May 30 and June 15 was insufficient to hold the exam in a single shift— as now there will be a requirement to provide a greater number of Centres in a greater number of Cities and an extensive hardware supply chain management.

"The current booking of test centres is double the capacity as the examination was planned at the centres in two shifts...1000+ Centres shall need to be booked and engaged which will require considerable time. The infrastructure needed to be engaged to execute a shift of 242679 Candidates with Buffer would require Infrastructure for 2.70 Lakh to be made available across the country which will require considerable amount of time," the application states.

Further, the application window will need to be reopened and candidates will need to be given a fresh opportunity to opt for the test city of their choice in accordance with the Information Bulletin. After the receipt of new test city choices from the candidates, the distribution of candidates at the test centres shall need to be done afresh. This process would also take some time.

After the completion of the aforementioned process, candidates will be informed of their test city at least two weeks prior to the date of the examination and the admit card informing the candidates of their specific centre at least 4 days before the said exam for the purposes of enabling the candidates to make appropriate arrangements for travel, etc. to take the exam.

There will also be requirement of additional manpower, ranging from Invigilators, Security Staff, Network Admins, etc. "The hiring of the high volume of quality manpower, Training, and preparation of such high number of Manpower and conducting multiple dry runs and mocks with them would require considerable time," the application adds.

NBE also highlighted that NEET PG is a high stake exam and tackling malpractices is a major challenge for which, all law enforcement agencies will be required to join hands.

Overall, NBE has cited reasons like time required for arranging secure examination premises, adequate number of compatible computer systems, three-tier power backup systems, network infrastructure, security software and hardware, trained technical manpower, anti-cheating and surveillance measures, operational readiness of each test centre, mock drills, load tests, system audits

At 100kmph, driver opens car door to spit; 1 dead, 3 injured

At 100kmph, driver opens car door to spit; 1 dead, 3 injured

Rashmi.Drolia@timesofindia.com 04.06.2025

 

Raipur : In a moment of recklessness, an Innova driver swung open the door to spit gutkha while speeding at over 100kmph, causing the MUV to flip several times and crash, killing a businessman and critically injuring two other occupants of the vehicle in Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur on Monday. 

The Innova went somersaulting down the road, hitting two vehicles, and also injuring one of their drivers. The out-of-control Innova hit the divider and started rolled over, throwing all three occupants out of the vehicle. Police said the deceased, Jackie Gehi (31), a cloth merchant from the outskirts of Bilaspur, was flung violently and struck a metal structure near the divider, sustaining fatal injuries. He died on the spot. 

Police said Jackie had gone to a late-night party on Sunday and called a friend, Akash Chandani, around 1.30am to pick him up. Akash arrived with another friend, Pankaj Chhabra, in an Innova. Akash was driving, Pankaj sat in the front passenger seat, and Jackie was in the back. On Bilaspur-Raipur highway, Akash suddenly opened the door while driving to spit gutkha. 

He instantly lost control of the vehicle. Akash and Pankaj were also ejected from the MUV and slammed into the ground, suffering grievous injuries. The Innova then hurtled down the highway and slammed into a parked commercial vehicle, overturned four to five times more, and finally crashed into a parked Ertiga, injuring its driver, who never had a chance to turn on the ignition and get out of harm’s way. 

The horrifying accident was caught on CCTV. The footage shows the vehicle flipping down the road, and one of the passengers being ejected and slamming into a pole. Emergency services were on the scene swiftly as passersby alerted authorities. Police sealed off the area and hospitalised the injured. The wreckage was later cleared from the road.

NBE seeks SC nod to conduct NEETPG exam on Aug 3

NBE seeks SC nod to conduct NEETPG exam on Aug 3 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 4.6.2025

New Delhi : The National Board of Examination (NBE) has moved Supreme Court seeking to conduct the NEET-PG 2025 exam on August 3, days after the apex court directed it to conduct the exam in one shift instead of two shifts.

NEET-PG is an entrance examination conducted by the NBE to determine eligibility for admission to postgraduate medical programmes in govt and private medical colleges across the country. Earlier, the exam was scheduled to be held on June 15 in two shifts which was challenged in the court. The NBE’s plea, among other things, sought the top court’s “permission to schedule the NEET PG 2025 on August 3, 2025 which is the earliest possible available date given by its technology partner, i.e., M/s Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (TCS) in accordance with the directions passed by this vide order dated May 30, 2025”. 

“TCS was requested to confirm the availability of the adequate number of test centers, feasible for conducting the exam in a single shift on June 15, 2025. TCS responded vide email dated May 30, 2025 at 3.52 pm stating that the time available was insufficient to hold the said exam in a single shift on the scheduled exam date, i.e., June 15, 2025,” the NBE said. TCS in a subsequent email on June 2 elaborated on the reasons for not being able to conduct the exam in a single shift and indicated the earliest possible date to conduct the exam was August 3, 2025. 

Referring to some of the reasons cited by TCS, the NBE said there was a need to augment the number of centers in more cities, approximately 250 plus cities requiring the application to be reopened for all the candidates.

2.5cr ‘bogus’ IDs solve case of vanishing tickets on IRCTC site

2.5cr ‘bogus’ IDs solve case of vanishing tickets on IRCTC site 

2.9L Suspicious PNRs Detected In Past 5 Mths 

Dipak.Dash@timesofindia.com 04.06.2025

New Delhi : If you have been baffled by how and why railway tickets in certain trains disappear within minutes of the booking window opening even 60 days before the scheduled journey, IRCTC has detected those behind creating this artificial crisis. Only in the past five months, it detected 2.9 lakh suspicious PNRs while analysing ticket purchases done within just five minutes after booking commenced for both general and Tatkal tickets. 

Top railway officials said between January and May, they have deactivated 2.5 crore suspected user IDs for booking tickets and put 20 lakh user IDs under revalidation as a part of a special drive. “A total of 134 complaints have been registered with the national cyber crime portal and over 6,800 disposal email domains have been blocked. 

This drive will be intensified further,” said an official. Disposable email addressing refers to an approach that involves using a unique email address for each contact or entity, or using it for a limited number of times or uses. The fraudsters have been resorting to these tactics to book tickets and charge more from unwary passengers. Sources said the problem of all tickets getting booked quickly is confined to certain routes and trains. “So, the focus is on weeding out users who are beating the system. Passengers can’t be blamed as there is a genuine shortage of confirmed tickets. So, the effort has been to increase capacity and to run more trains, particularly during peak travel seasons,” said an official. 

Officials claimed that IRCTC has taken “systemic measures” including engagement of leading content delivering network and anti-BOT applications — security techniques used to distinguish between genuine human users and automated bots or scripts —with cutting edge technology to ensure a smooth booking process for genuine travellers. 

They added that the railways’ ticketing  and catering arm achieved its highest ever per minute booking of 31,814 tickets on May 22, 2025 at 10 am. “Attempt versus booking ratio has increased from 43.1% to 62.2% between Oct 2024 and May 2025,” said an official. He added that none of the travel platforms can guarantee confirmed ticket bookings and hence people should not fall prey to them.

Medical candidates rue lack of transparency in total fees

Medical candidates rue lack of transparency in total fees

Pushpa.Narayan@timesofindia.com 04.06.2025

Chennai : One question the state medical selection committee consistently fails to answer accurately concerns the total fees charged by self-financing medical colleges and private universities for govt and management quota MBBS seats. 

While the fee committee prescribes tuition, most colleges add development charges, transportation, insurance, library, hostel, books, and stationery fees, inflating the total by up to ₹12 lakh. Officials in directorate of medical education clarify that the ‘tuition fee’ set by fee fixation committee excludes charges for hostel, library, or mess. 

Asenior official stated, “We collect tuition fee and transfer it to the college. Colleges are allowed to collect a nominal fee for hostel or transport. We don’t want to display the entire fee, or it will look like it’s approved by the govt,” he said. 

This practice has sparked outrage among parents and student counsellors, who demand complete fee transparency during the choice-blocking phase. “The committee asks me to make smart choices during the admission process. How will I lock choices when I don’t know the fee college will ask?” said S R Ramani, whose nephew awaits admission in 2025. 

“My friends paid almost double the prescribed fees in the prospectus. Why can’t the govt make it mandatory for all colleges to declare the fee?” he said. In 2024, after allotting a govt quota seat in a self-financing medical college affiliated with the Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University, the state selection committee collected ₹4.35 lakh for the first-year MBBS tuition fee. However, when parents visited the college for other formalities, they were asked to pay an additional ₹3.61 lakh towards various other fees.

Another college, with a prescribed tuition fee of ₹4.45 lakh, demanded additional ₹4.15 lakh. Copies of these receipts are available with TOI . The fees charged by private medical universities can increase by up to ₹8 lakh. Student counsellor Manickavel Arumugam stated, “The govt must say the fee for a govt seat is anywhere  between ₹6 lakh to ₹12 lakh a year instead of saying the tuition fee is between ₹4.35 lakh to ₹5.4 lakh.” For the management quota, an additional fee can push the total annual fee from the prescribed ₹13.5 lakh in self-financing colleges to up to ₹20 lakh, and from ₹16.4 lakh in private universities to up to ₹23 lakh. 

Officials from self-financing medical colleges said they display fees transparently at the first opportunity. A dean of a self-financing medical college in Chennai said, “We give breakup to parents when they bring allotment orders. Parents have used them to get education loans from banks.” 

He added, “Non-minority colleges share up to 65% of their seats, but the fee is the same for minority and non-minority institutions. How can we run the institution with such low revenue?” 

At least three self-financing colleges have applied for deemed university status to gain autonomy in deciding their fee structure. Deemed universities charged up to ₹30 lakh a year for MBBS in 2024. TN health secretary P Senthilkumar said state would consider displaying full fee breakdown on the govt portal during counselling this year.