The operational inexperience of the developers’ is also being sewn up through strategic tie-ups with the majors in the hotel industry. An improving economic scenario and demand for more hotel rooms across categories is persuading international hotel chains to sign new management contracts with Indian developers and property owners, according to analysts. The industry will witness the announcement of a number of new hotels in the year ahead.
Singapore-listed technology park developer Ascendas is close to acquire an IT Special Economic Zone of Shriram Properties in Chennai for about Rs 500 crore, said banking sources close to the development. Ascendas, which owns a string of business parks in India, is said to have pipped competing offers from other global investors Tishmen Speyer, Xander Group and Mapletree, a real estate arm of Temasek.
It is not just real estate developers and national & international hospitality majors, but several high net worth individuals and business groups from sectors like auto, petroleum and telecom have grabbed hospitality assets, marking a strategic trend shift. Track2Realty analyses how opportunities and roadblocks co-exist in the hospitality, thus making it an interesting sector where there is room for everyone to grow.
In India, considerable improvement has definitely taken place over the years with respect to the legal framework which encourages inflow of foreign capital. But, despite significant progress, issues such as liquidity and title ownership continue to act as constraints to cross-border investor activity, along with high transaction costs which have resulted in keeping direct investments at bay.
Indian realty firm Synergy Property Development Services Ltd bagged, through international bidding, a $153-million township development project in the central African country of Rwanda.
Real estate-focused Private Equity Funds are looking at investing in pre-leased commercial projects, including IT Parks and Special Economic Zones (SEZs), as they look for assured returns from their investments.
The CBI has arrested the CMD of realty firm Eldeco in connection with its probe in an alleged graft case in which some senior Income Tax officials have been nabbed by the agency.
Anticipating a significant rate cut by the RBI, disappointed real estate community has ring alarm bells and forecast more slump due to the high interest rate regime. Pointing out that the capital and labour intensive sector plays a key role in employment generation and accelerating growth, industry body CREDAI says the government has also been losers of revenue due to neglect of the sector and risks attributed to real estate and the RBI advisories against lending to real estate have only harmed the sector and made housing costlier for consumers, apart from affecting the economy.
In view of the ever increasing housing shortage in cities and towns, the Union Ministry for Housing & Poverty Alleviation has decided to set up a high-level committee to recommend policy interventions to facilitate creation of rental housing stocks to cater to those who cannot afford to buy houses. The decision comes after several rounds of representation by the industry bodies, CREDAI & NAREDCO.
The market regulator Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that the real estate arm of the Sahara group of companies had no right to mobilise Rs.27,000 crore from 30 million investors through debentures without complying with the regulatory regime.