Assistant managing director Chukiat Tangmatitham said yesterday that the Bt600-million Green Park-Chuan Chuen City project on Ramintra Road Km 8 would offer single-family homes and duplexes starting at Bt2.4 million per unit.

The other project, worth Bt760 million, is on Phetkasem Soi 81 and also consists of single-family homes and duplexes, with prices starting at Bt2.7 million.

Until October 31, buyers of units in the two projects can get a free air-conditioner, wallpaper, water tank and pump worth up to Bt100,000. The company is also selling land in Phetkasem 81 at a discount of Bt2,000 per square wah, he said.

PTT ready for gasohol

PTT Plc announced yesterday that it was prepared for the halt to sales of 95-octane petrol on October 1.

"All of PTT's 1,200 petrol stations nationwide are now ready to sell gasohol 95," Chaiwat Choorit, senior executive vice president for the oil business group, said yesterday.

PTT has joined with ethanol producers and has been assured they can meet expected demand from motorists.

The state-owned oil company is also speeding up its expansion of alternative fuel stations. NGV stations are expected to increase from 70 now to 200 stations next year and 740 in 2010, while biodiesel stations will increase from the current 26 to 100 by the end of this year.

FTSE enters Thailand

FTSE Group, the global index provider, said on Wednesday that it had been selected by the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) to take over the calculation of its domestic indexes.

The partnership will allow FTSE to redesign and update the index series in line with international indexing standards. FTSE will undertake a full market consultation process with local investors and other index users, as the first stage of this project.

FTSE said in a statement that it was working with other stock exchanges, both internationally and in the Asia-Pacific region. It was recently selected by the Asean group of exchanges to design and calculate the first pan-Asean index, and earlier this year it created a new domestic Malaysian series, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Index Series.

Worldwide, FTSE works with more than 20 stock exchanges to bring its innovative and internationally recognised indexing skills to financial markets.

Cement-maker grows

The Rajawali Group wants PT Semen Gresik, in which it holds a 24.9-per-cent stake, to become a regional cement-maker in future, possibly by expanding to Thailand, according to the Antara news agency.

Rajawali managing director Daryoto Setyawan, who was appointed the new deputy chief commissioner of Semen Gresik yesterday, said the company had no firm timetable for the regional expansion plan though he hopes to get it underway by next year.

In July, Rajawali acquired its stake in Semen Gresik from Mexican cement-maker Cemex SA for US$337 million (Bt12.7 billion).

To expand regionally, Semen Gresik could either acquire existing plants or start its own in neighbouring Malaysia or Thailand, Setyawan was quoted by XFN-Asia as saying.

The firm is Indonesia's largest cement-maker with a market share of about 45 per cent.

Home sale looms

Land and Houses Plc has organised a marketing event called "2 Days Special", offering discounted prices from October 7-8 for all of its projects.

This is the first time Land and Houses has tried this kind of marketing campaign. Around 200 homes in more than 30 projects will be discounted, the company said in a statement yesterday. The discounts depend on the size and location of the units.

To take advantage of the sale, buyers have to visit the fully-built homes at the sites and reserve the ones they prefer, which can be two or three units in case they miss their favourite choice. The first person approved for a home loan from a bank will get first priority to select a home.

Housing demand has fallen since last year due to climbing oil prices and interest rates, the company said.