Is the Indian real estate sector the right place to make a serious career in now? Compared to more developed countries, the Indian real estate sector still lacks sophistication and transparency. However, it continues to be in the limelight of domestic and international investments. This has naturally brought on the need for better, more capable human resources.
The much awaited verdict of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on real estate developers’ complaint against cartelisation among cement companies is expected next week.
The Finance Ministry is building safeguards to ensure realty companies do not misuse the external commercial borrowing (ECB) window announced in the Budget by diverting the money.
Leasing and buying activity in the commercial real estate market in India remained sluggish for the first quarter ended March 31 of calendar year (CY) 2012. The total absorption of office space declined 12% in Q1 compared to the Q4 of CY 2011.
ICS Realty India, the Mumbai-based retail asset management firm has announced to develop projects on its own. The company has hitherto raised and managed funds for other developers. It is also floating a joint venture firm for its hospitality foray in two week’s time.
It is no more portfolio diversification that is driving the real estate developers into medical realty, it is rather a serious business as Track2Realty observes. After all, no other vertical of realty is as resilient to macro economic conditions as healthcare realty and it also needs more space than retail in the year ahead.
Sunil Dahiya: What is happening is that we imported certain professionals from other industries and somewhere the vision and mission of the promoter was fueled by their greed or professionalism. They called it financial engineering. And that was the reason we got blocked from the IPO market. Today, whoever has filed DRHP, is going to face so much scrutiny and the band value itself will be discounted by 30%.
Sunil Dahiya: I will share a very personal experience. There was an IRS officer who was monitoring these IPOs at some level and said to me ‘Sunil you watch these IPOs, these are going to be windfall IPOs and then you will see watershed.
When the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was to announce its annual monetary policy for 2012-13 on 17th April, there were widespread concerns of slowing economy, rising inflation, trade deficit of 4 per cent of GDP and drying FDI too emerging as a grace concerns
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.