Atul Modak: Why did bankers’ lobby not block the mutual funds then?
Pranay Vakil: Because the mutual funds lobby is larger than the bankers’ lobby. They could not do anything about it. The companies into mutual funds are so large, they might just foray into banking.
“How long can a sector survive which is borrowing at 48 per cent from private lenders to serve the interest of previous debt raised at much lower rate,” asks a banker. His concern is not without valid reasons. Developers experimented with all funding options but still many of them are now being forced to seek other sources of funding which not only comes at a significantly higher cost but also where the source of fund is unregulated.
Track2Realty Exclusive: Funding, or rather lack of it, has been one of the key concerns of the real estate developers throughout 2013, yet if some of the key policy decisions that have been taken in the year it seems 2014 is all set to get big ticket funding. The money is poised to be invested in the sector and if not as private equity, the biggies will put in money through Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT).
Track2Realty Exclusive: The realty market has been pretty exposed to the greedy investors and vulture funding, not venture funding. In desperation the developers often lost track of what kind of funding was required and met with the disaster. Amidst the cyclic very high and very low there has been off balance debt-equity ratio as well. Of late, some developers tried within the box and some outside it. The needs and solutions are different for listed and unlisted companies. Still the sector is in search of right funding mechanism and as Track2Realty finds, are guinea pigs in the funding market.
Pranay Vakil: Let’s start by introducing ourselves. I am Pranay Vakil, Chairman of Knight Frank India. We are a brokerage and consultancy group, positioned as second in the business.
Ravi Sinha: One issue which Sunil raised on funding mechanism that it was a strategic mistake by certain developers to raise money through IPOs. I would like to rake this issue again and seek the panel’s view.
Large foreign funds have expressed an interest to own a share of the Indian real estate pie. Nikko Am Straits Trading Asia, North Carolina Fund, Hwang Asia Pacific REITs and Infrastructure Fund, Eastspring Investments and Canada-based Sentry Global have received SEBI approval to invest in India as developers and real estate investors, revealing the underlying interest in REITs. Our research indicates that continuous institutional flow of funds has provided the initial momentum to REIT.
To say that investors are anchors and project riders would…
Track2Realty: Smart Cities: The New Age Concept: The smart cities concept may not be a novel one, but in the Indian context it is definitely an idea whose relevance couldn’t have been better timed. The government has provided the thrust towards development of such cities, and needs to be now backed by a holistic concept.
India has the second largest population in the world and is expected to overtake China by 2025. Fulfilling the housing needs of the Indian population which is growing at 1.41% annually is a tremendous challenge for the government today.