SEZ was originally conceived on the premises that it will be like an “Island of Excellence” with world class infrastructure available to the user at globally competitive prices. It was aimed to assist both Indian entrepreneurs as well as global investors wanting to set up their manufacturing and services bases inIndia.
The government has also given more time to as many as 37 Special Economic Zone developers, including Navi Mumbai SEZ, DLF Commercial Developers and Tata Consultancy Services, to execute their projects. Five SEZ developers were allowed to surrender their projects as well. But the mounting criticism is now forcing the government to eject non-serious players from SEZ.
Over the last year, there has been an unequivocal crystallization of Indian cities that continue to attract serious investment into real estate. This is directly correlated to the economic dynamics now working in the country. If India is to achieve even a conservative GDP growth of 6% per year, it emerges that only three cities – Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore – have the potential to deliver. The reason for this is that close to 2/3rd of the overall development of office space in the country is now taking place in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore.
There was no holistic planning for SEZs to position them strategically for being complementary to each other and serving their own market niches respectively. The Ministry of Commerce that provides in-principle approvals to new SEZs on the basis of pre-feasibility reports being submitted by the respective state governments, soon seem to have lost its monitoring mechanism. Secondly, the SEZ was not synchronized with other schemes for development of specialized industrial parks.
Once seen as very powerful economic tool for catalyzing the growth process during restructure and liberalization of economy, Special Economic Zones (SEZs) in India could not replicate the Chinese success story, as assumed. Track2Realty takes a look on the future of SEZs in India as realtors make a beeline to exit or extend the tax haven, and the Government groping for fresh ideas.
India is reeling under the continued onslaught of inflation, petrol price hikes and generalized insecurity about where the economy is headed. Against all expectations, property prices in our metros have held firm and even show signs of upward movement. While the man on the street continues to wonder when he will be able to buy a modest home of his own, India’s super-rich are raising palatial homes at truly astronomical expense.
While property still remains the preferred choice of investment of nearly all the Indians, as high as 92 per cent, they are pretty scared of trading in the property market now. While new launches have few takers, most of the transactions are happening in the ready-to-move and other secondary market options.
Nearly seven out of ten, 68 per cent, home buyers prefer ready-to-move property because they can avail for tax benefits only after the possession of the house. Saving tax on the EMI’s is one of the big reasons why nearly eight out of ten, 78 per cent, plan their house buying.
RICS India Commercial Property Survey suggests an easing in global strains has led respondents to upgrade their expectation in both the occupier and investment markets in the country. With real estate clearly feeling the effects of the softer macro environment in the previous two quarters, the market is now witnessing improving results across several indicators, which could signal the beginning of a turnaround.
There is a clear disconnect between what home buyers want and what they get. And it is here that the home buyers are ready to pay more to get what they see to believe. While the frequency of launching new residential projects have declined in the last year or so, there is also sizeable inventory building up that is available for buyers who are willing to make that investment.