By: Ravi sinha
Track2Realty Exclusive: Sitting in the back bench of a real estate award night I heard two developers talking among them as to in which category are they getting the award. Did I hear it right? Not the nominated category, but the category of getting award? Even before the awards were announced, how come they know that they have already bagged the award?
What I heard the next was even more earth shattering news for me—how much did it cost you? I thought I had a “Stop Press” kind of “Breaking News” but I am told not to file the story by the then editor.
Is it because it is libellous and hard to prove is what kept me wondering for some time. Later I am told this is no news. The award racket in the world of real estate is something that everybody knows but nobody admits.
Well, I may be new to the world of real estate, but if this is the reality I prefer to be not just new but novice as well.
When I see the developers with a tagline of “India’s Most Awarded Real Estate Company”, I hang my head with shame rather than feeling optimistic about the realty company or its projects.
Why are the realtors desperate to beg, borrow or steal the award? Does it add value to their brand, sales graph or any other metrics in the collective consciousness of the society at large?
The business awards across the board have often drawn criticism for their selection process and partiality, but in the context of Indian real estate I feel it is an open and shut case of a price tag attached with the award.
Some of the more respected business awards are the ones who follow certain ethics in terms of transparency and established benchmark in terms of eligibility criterion.
None of this has even been seen in the real estate awards in this part of the world where awarding institutions, I am afraid whether they can be termed as institutions, are mostly B2B realty publications and other industry stake holders.
For instance, none of the international awarding institutions worth a mention have ever signed the awardee company as the main sponsor of the award night. If a nominated company or individual has been charge sheeted by the law of the land the very ethics of the award suggests the jury must disqualify his nomination.
However, it is strange to find a realty company being charge sheeted and Managing Director behind bars, still the Chairman receiving “Lifetime Achievement Award.”
Any neutral observer who has not been exposed to the murky world of real estate can make out that the awards, if not completely rigged, has got categories just so narrow that pretty much everyone comes out with an award.
How else could one justify a small developer with a standalone mall in Ranchi of the size of a local shopping centre coming out with a trophy that suggests he has innovation as his claim to fame in realty business?
…..to be continued
