LONDON: Tata Steel, in a joint venture, will set up a 22 million pounds manufacturing facility at its Brinsworth site in Rotherham to help develop ground-breaking green technologies, which will empower the cars of the future.

The project - Proving Factory - has been launched by Rt Hon Vince Cable MP, UK's Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills.

On completion, it will take low-carbon vehicle technologies designed by small high-tech British companies and university research departments, the company said.

The project is a collaboration led by Productiv (assembly) and Tata SteelBSE -1.12 % (materials and component manufacture) with core partners MIRA (design verification) and the High Value Manufacturing Catapult (design for manufacture and assembly).

Supporting partners include Jaguar Land Rover, Schaeffler, Unipart and the Midlands Assembly Network.

The Proving Factory will manufacture low volume advanced technologies for vehicle manufacturers, with a target of 1,000 to 20,000 units per product per annum across 10 to 20 products, the company said.

Announcing the launch of the Factory last evening, Henrik Adam, Chief Commercial Officer for Tata Steel, said: "This initiative will bring together some of the most remarkable future automotive technologies, taking them from workbench prototypes to viable components and bridging the gap between great innovation and great commercial products".

The Proving Factory will consist of two facilities: component manufacturing at the Tata Steel site at Brinsworth, Rotherham and an assembly facility in the West Midlands, providing employment and regeneration, the company said.

"This project will not only benefit the small companies which have developed these technologies, but allow Tata Steel to provide its expertise in speciality steels and manufacturing, as well as access to vital supply chains.

Funded under the government's Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative, the Proving Factory's production and assembly facilities will industrialise innovation and supply -- both components and systems -- into the automotive supply chain, supporting and reviving the UK manufacturing base, the company said.

Valuable work is being carried out by universities and small companies in developing innovative new technologies, particularly related to low carbon vehicles, Tata Steel said.

There is a need for these to be scaled up to meet low volume demands by vehicle manufacturers before they are adopted into mainstream vehicle platforms, it added.

The six technology developers involved include Flybrid, Drive System Design, Libralato and Bladon Jets.

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 �8��lease in Mumbai and India's biggest biscuit maker Britannia buying 90,000 sq ft office in the commercial hub of Whitefield in Bangalore are more such examples of similar realty deals.

Global financial majors like Citigroup and Goldman Sachs have also used the current downturn to strike large realty deals for consolidating their operations in Mumbai and Bangalore, respectively.

As on December end, total office stock across India stood at 340 million sq ft with vacancy levels at 17%. In 2012, the country's office market saw new supply of 30 million sq ft and absorption at 27 million sq ft. In 2013 also, new supply is estimated to be around 40 million sq ft with absorption of 29 million sq ft, and the climate is ripe for negotiating better price and terms.

According to experts, this is a much-awaited opportunity for commercial occupiers who are looking to shift or consolidate operations. "Clients who were not in the market almost a year ago are now looking for larger office spaces, and are talking to multiple developers since the market is offering them various options," said Kekoo Colah, CEO of Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate. He quantified large office deal size as anything between 70,000 and100,000 sq ft.

Given the large supply in the market, prices and rentals of commercial properties aren't likely to move up, which will attract more such deals, resulting in slight improvement in vacancy levels.

"In Mumbai, the commercial capital of the country, the current vacancy level at 22% will begin to edge downwards from October-December. This vacancy reduction, when it takes place, will be the first decrease since 2008," said Nair. "We are seeing steady demand from corporates across the industry.