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.
Sunil Dahiya: Pranay, the most important thing is the background of the investor from the developer’s perspective. My understanding may be a little limited because I come form the Delhi NCR market and as you know, it is a very localized subject. But being in the governing council of NAREDCO at the national level, where Knight Frank is knowledge partner, one of the presentations that we had in 2008 with the idea that where the industry has lost its bearing and funding was the main agenda.
While real-estate and property advertising in India has been mostly lacklustre, a new campaign by Mumbai-based realty developer Oberoi Realty has broken the mould.
Track2Realty Exclusive: Kruti Jain, Director, Kumar Urban Development, believes any funding available in real estate is gap funding. It is not about only the gap which is there in funding for real estate because what happens for other industries is that they have this reserve capital which is not their land or raw material, but is the actual capital they put in to manufacture xyz product and then they replenish the funds with whatever returns are accrued.
The reports of Adani Realty merger with DB Realty has taken market analysts by surprise. According to the sources close to the developments, this is Adani’s bid to get into listed realty companies’ portfolio. However, the larger question that only Adani Realty can answer is that to what extent would the giant carry over the baggage of the tainted DB Realty. The memories of Godrej Properties announcement to join hands and getting market backlash of shareholders are still fresh in public memory. A Track2Realty analysis.
Till a decade back such was the mad rush for raising money in the capital market that even the real estate companies with limited presence in select micro markets started launching projects across the country to showcase a pan-India presence. Significant increase in housing demand, organized retailing and liquidity boom from 2003 to 2008, led to huge increase in land prices and real estate values and most real estate companies had a great run.
When one develops a slum, for instance, and even if 20 per cent of land is given for commercial use as incentive in the bargain, it is a deal for the developer. After all, in the space starved city like Mumbai even a small chunk of land in any of the prime location is a rare commodity. The question is if such a business dynamics is a feasible model, why did the developers shied away from making the best of it so far.
Track2Realty-Agencies: Seeking to attract real estate investors to the capital market, SEBI has revived an over five-year old proposal to allow listing and trading of REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) as an investment product.
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.
I would like to ask the developer friends here when they say there is an ambiguity as far as ECB is concerned. Which are the funding routes that you find without ambiguity—whether it is private equity, QIP, IPO or any other route to raise money?
Gaurav Gupta: I would say there are multiple challenges for the sector.