As per the recent Bangalore Development Authority’s (BDA) Revised Master Plan 2031 report, Bengaluru’s 1.18 crore citizens waste 60 crore man hours annually. This translates to INR 3,700 crore, including INR 1350 crore on fuel alone, and the rest on productivity (man hour) loss.
It seems the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has failed to address the struggling and ailing real estate sector from the standpoint of both the homebuyers as well as the developers. However, what is all the more interesting is the fact that the developers are not overtly complaining. It is only the homebuyers who are sulking while the developers are trying best to put up a brave face.
A year back at the end of 2016, the doom mongers were out in force. In our office sector there were those who were predicting a slump in demand, uncertainty around the new Government in the US, the scare stories around automation and AI, the performance of the top 5 Indian ITeS companies, exaggerations around layoffs and even the dramas of corporate Boards of great Indian technology companies.
Where is the growth corridor of Noida that could lead this market as another case study in attracting that kind of investment? The answer to this is not easy, not because of lack of a growth corridor but due to the problem of plenty. While the Atta Market of sector 18 continues to be its main Central Business District (CBD) even today, the emerging growth corridors are even better positioned to put Noida high on the radar of investors.
There are very few case studies where the developers have flocked out to cities on sheer promise without registering their presence in the four metro cities. However, such migration to magnet territory is today quite visible in Gujarat where the developers from other states are increasingly flocking, most notably in the city of Ahmedabad.
Urban planning experts believe this is a much deeper question because it is not just about the existing urban centres but also about the way urbanisation is eventually going to happen in this country. As per the UN statistics the urban population of 40 crore in India would be 60 crore in less than 20 years of time. It clearly suggests that the existing cities won’t be able to fit in this additional 20 crore population, whether indigenous or migrants.
Most of the homebuyers as well as the other stakeholders of India’s housing market share the sentiments of this homebuyers. The Reserve Bank of India has indeed surprised many while keeping the repo rate unchanged at 6.25 per cent at the beginning of the new fiscal year. Even a symbolic rate cut would have helped the market change its outlook towards the economy.
There has been less of compact housing on offer and hence one wonders whether there are few takers for 1BHK in the city or there are certain other fundamentals of execution that come in the way of creating compact housing units.
Contrary to the general perception that only the Richie Rich can buy a house in Mumbai, the fact of the matter is that there is something for every budget segment. If not the fancy luxe living in posh areas, a roof over the head is always there with the rider of more money adding to more amenities and lesser travelling distances.
Bottom Line: The government is in a fix to offer…