Pranay Vakil: The problem is when having sanctioned the loan, there is no fear of revoking it. You can change your mind because these funds are kind of committed. When engage Shapoorji Pallonji or L&T to execute a project, you enter into a contract and you say that this is how we are going to make payments. Suddenly, if you are to switch off the tap, it is going to cause a lot of embarrassment to the developer.
India’s growth story has many facets; one of the integral parts of growth – and arguably the most important one – is urbanization. In fast-growing economies, cities are significant investment and employment generators, which in turn carry the growth momentum forward. The sustainability and livability of any city depends largely on the quality of its infrastructure and real estate stocks. Needless to say, cities also require large sums of money to create urban asset stocks, including buildings and infrastructure.
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.
The income tax department has frozen the shares owned by real estate company Unitech Ltd in its mobile phone joint venture with Norway’s Telenor, the joint venture said on Wednesday, citing notices from the tax authorities.
DLF Brands, a subsidiary of DLF Ltd, has aggressive plans to expand its retail business by introducing more international brands into India, besides opening at least 50 new outlets every year in the country.
Call it the fallout of Competition Commission of India (CCI) penalty on the biggest real estate company DLF in a Gurgaon case last August, there has been a rush of complaints at the CCI against several property majors since then. According to CCI officials at least 200 complaint letters came to them against real estate players, of them around 15 were official cases.
Godrej Properties’ stock offering to raise up to $90 million received bids for 18 percent more than the shares on offer, boosting the outlook for a newly approved process that companies can tap to cut founder stakes.
In a major reshuffle, Dubai-based real estate developer Emaar Properties on Monday recommended a new board increasing the strength of members to 11 from the present eight.
By allowing external commercial borrowings (ECBs) in the low-cost housing segment, the supply of affordable housing projects will increase in the outskirts of Mumbai in areas such as Karjat, Boisar, Nalasopara, Virar, Dombivili etc. on the heels of increased liquidity for budget home projects.
It is a highly disappointing budget. The Finance Minister has miserably failed in highlighting the importance the role of Housing in economy, employment generation, apart from the very need of housing. The announcements on ECB for affordable housing is a minor respite but still meaningless.