Indian firm raises $800 million for real estate fund

MUMBAI: The Indian real estate development market may increase more than sevenfold to $90 billion by 2015 from $12 billion in 2005, Moody's Investors Service said in June. Funds of global investment banks are investing in Indian property as the economy grows rapidly. India will need as many as 10 million new housing units a year by 2030, according to estimates by the Asian Development Bank. The Indian central bank restricts bank lending to real estate since it is considered sensitive and speculative and may lead to losses. Funds are stepping in to fill the financing gap.

Hines Real Estate lines up $300 mn India fund

Hines India Real Estate, a wholly owned subsidiary of American realty giant Hines, has set up a $300 million fund dedicated for projects in India. “We have an investment fund in India with $300 million of equity which should sponsor projects up to a billion dollars in total value,” said Yash Gupta, joint managing director, Hines India. Hines is one of the largest real estate developers in the world. It is a privately-held firm with a presence in over 96 cities across the globe. Its portfolio consists of around 950 properties and the firm controls assets valued at approximately $16 billion.

Gazit Globe to invest $110m in India

Gazit Globe real estate has recently signed a $110 million investment deal in India, Yedioth Ahronoth published Monday. The company partnered with Hiref International, which is part of the HDFC Group, one of India's largest developers. Hiref had recently received $750 million in investment commitments and is expected to invest in various real estate development ventures, ranging from commercial, high-tech and technological parks and combined city compounds, through to residential complexes and hotel resorts.

India's Brigade Group plans IPO by year end

BANGALORE (Thomson Financial) - Property company Brigade Group said it plans an initial public offering of its shares by November or December to raise funds for the construction and development of its ongoing projects. The Bangalore, India-based company said it expects the market conditions to have improved when it launches its offering in one or two months.

India's most expensive boulevard

So while the aggregate value of properties on Delhi’s creme-de-la-creme Amrita Shergill Marg at Rs 7,236 crore didn’t really raise eyebrows, the financial capital’s Napean Sea Road at almost double with Rs 12,375 crore did somewhat. Experts put this down to a large number of new high-end constructions, which have also helped Napean Sea Road to edge past supply in Mumbai’s other premium areas like Malabar Hill, Altamount Road, Breach Candy and Walkeshwar where very limited new construction is taking place.

India next big market for leisure real estate

Over 100 representatives from India's hospitality, real estate and travel industry attended the daylong event, which deliberated on trends in leisure real estate or non-hotel holiday accommodation facilities and opportunities for Indian industry.
Referring to the growing middle class in India, May said, "With growing disposable incomes and aspirations and the enormous tourism potential in India, the time could not be better for the industry to launch new leisure real estate models that will meet the needs of the evolving consumer."

Foreign investors less keen on Indian real-estate

Analysts added that there are too many funds chasing too few good deals. So, funds have been slow in deploying capital and in turn this has affected their fund raising capabilities. They stated that worse affected are the third party funds, especially those launching a real estate fund for the first time. Experts commented that funds with the first mover advantage, which have been successful in deploying the money they raised and show good return projections will be able to raise money. But they too will take longer to meet their targets than they did previously.

Growing at the expense of nature

Certainly, construction is a key sign of economic growth. But if the overarching benefits are unexceptionable, the downside is no less. The competition for water and other resources, not to speak of the inevitable traffic crises that unchecked construction activity generates, is an issue that attracts regular media coverage. Less noticed but also worth a serious thought is the growing human-animal conflict in urban India.

Global real estate funds to partner developers for high-rise buildings

With land getting more and more scarce in Tier I and Tier II cities, international real estate funds, jointly with domestic property developers and real estate companies, are setting up high rise buildings in these cities. Philippines-based Ayala, an international real estate fund, is looking at entering the Indian real estate market by tying up with property majors in order to develop high rise buildings in Tier I and II cities. This includes cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore. Besides this, the US-based Forestcity too is planning to enter the Indian market for developing high rise apartments.

Parsvnath to foray into overseas realty

New Delhi: Real estate developer Parsvnath Developers Ltd plans to enter the international real estate market by forming offshore development companies in various countries to kick off projects overseas, even as the real estate market in India starts to slow. The companies would be set up as 100% units of Parsvnath. “We plan to float offshore companies under the Parsvnath banner,” said Parsvnath chairman Pradeep Jain.
“The business structure for our foray into the offshore market will be ready in a month’s time.”

Land deed cover spices up realty

Mumbai-The country’s real estate market is plagued by one problem: an acute shortage of clear land titles. Unlike in the US where investors are protected against any risk involving legal claims against property titles, realty buyers in India have no way of minimising their risks on a property deal.

India Property - Big picture or small realty?

Ravi Teja Sharma wonders if the mammoth development of real estate in smaller towns and cities in India really makes sense. Pick up a property supplement of any newspaper and you will be overwhelmed by the number of projects in smaller towns like Panipat, Kurukshetra, Bhiwadi, Sonepat, Dharuhera, Karnal among the many, by well known and other, less known developers. The players in the real estate market in areas around Delhi, for instance, are a mixed bag. From prominent players like Omaxe, TDI and Ansals, there are smaller ones like Nitishree, Pearls Infrastructure and Amrapali Group, to name a few.

Is it the right time to buy a house in India ?

To begin with, property prices have started a downslide, but it is more so for residential properties only. The commercial properties havent yet started on the downward curve except for a few locations in Bangalore and NCR. Regards to housing / residential properties, we have observed in general a 10 to 15% downslide in many markets of Mumbai, NCR, Bangalore, Jaipur, Chandigarh and other tier I cities Tier II cities though havent seen this correction yet.

Goa wants to develop special economic zones

The tiny coastal state, which wants to emulate the success of Bangalore and Hyderabad in IT, has sought permission to establish 15 economic zones, mainly catering to IT and ITES sectors. The Centre has already given in-principle approval for seven of them, but the state is yet to answer the crucial question: Who will acquire land for the economic zones? Land is hard to come by in Goa. Nearly 40% of the state’s land fall under forest zones and, hence, cannot be used for commercial purpose. The land available for development is bound by strict rules framed during the Portuguese rule. Approval from all living family members is mandatory for purchase/sale of ancestral property in the state. This makes any land deal a complicated process. And the state may not be of help here.

India's Richest

India emerging economic clout has made it Asia's top spot for billionaires. This year, for the first time in two decades of wealth tracking, we counted more Indian than Japanese billionaires in our annual ranking of the world's wealthiest people. India produced 36 people with 10-figure fortunes, worth a total of $191 billion, versus Japan's 24, who are worth a total of $64 billion. Three Indians even made it to the list of the top 20 of the world's richest. Only the U.S. had more billionaires in the top global ranks.

India reit ties up with Skyline for real estate projects

Mr Jogani was here to seal a tie-up with Bangalore-based Skyline Constructions for taking up Rs 700 crore worth projects in Karnataka over the next three years. Indiareit would fund around Rs 225 crore to Skyline for nearly 17 projects, including one in Mysore covering an ara of 3.5 million sq frt and over 2,300 residential units, he said.
He said Indiareit had funded projects in Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad besides Bangalore.

India property raise high the roof beam

If industries ranging from information technology and business process outsourcing (BPO) to pharmaceutical and retail are generating jobs for youngsters, a large part of the incomes they earn is spent on homes and at malls. At the same time, their employers are looking for space to house offices or set up shops to sell the goods and services. Thus offices, apartments, malls and multiplexes are driving an urban real estate boom around india — a trend that has spread to suburbs and smaller towns as well.

Indian real estate opens to foreign investors

The real estate sector in India has seen tremendous growth over the past year as property prices have soared and the number and scale of projects have increased. Needless to say, developers are enjoying this growth and are seeking to meet demand with large-scale projects. To fund these projects, developers are looking to investors, both domestic and foreign, through avenues such as listings on London's Alternative Investment Market, domestic initial public offerings, private equity participation and the setting up of joint ventures.

Real estate: key players

Unitech Group The Delhi-based group is the second largest realty player in the country. It is engaged in almost all segments of the industry and has a portfolio that includes heavy construction, leisure and entertainment projects, hospitality and residential property developments. It has also emerged as the number one amusement park developer.
The group is foraying into the hospitality sector in a tie-up with Marriott to launch the Courtyard brand of business hotels in Gurgaon, Noida and Kolkata.

Investors go value picking in volatile times

Is it a good time to start looking for bargains? Indian equities managed to narrow down their losses towards close of Monday’s session, even as the spectre of the subprime loan crisis in the US continues to loom over global equity markets.
Among the prominent losers, Akruti Nirman, HDIL, DLF and Indiabulls Real Estate were down between 3-5%. Among frontline stocks, ITC and State Bank of India were the star performers of the day, rising 1.8% and 2.8%, respectively

Kushal Pal Singh

Whether he likes it or not, the fortune Singh has amassed is bound to attract attention. DLF is, after all, the hottest property developer in one of the hottest markets in the world. From the window of his ninth-floor office, Kushal Pal Singh looks down over New Delhi's Jantar Mantar, an elaborate astronomical observatory built by a far-sighted 18th century Hindu ruler renowned for his diplomacy and the monuments he left behind. The stone curves and pillars of the observatory worked in conjunction with its massive sundial to create one of the most reliable and accurate scientific instruments of the day, allowing astronomers to measure time, forecast eclipses and determine the positions of stars and planets.

More urban land, for lower rates

Land is a factor of production. The more expensive it is, the less competitive domestic production would be. Thanks to artificial scarcity of urban land, a whole lot of economic activity is turning prohibitive in India. Hotel rooms, office space, residential accommodation, retail formats, storage facilities - everything is turning very expensive. All these add to the cost of production, already rendered high by poor power supply, a rapacious administration, talent shortage and inordinate time and money to transport goods within the country, thanks to terrible roads and terrifying entry procedures at state borders.

Real estate politics behind Goa crisis

The Goa political crisis is not just a straight story of political differences, as beneath the surface is a clash over real estate. It began with the controversial Goa Regional Plan that sought to open up every empty inch of Goa. Rampant public anger against a plan and NDTV's investigation into the political nexus behind Goa's construction boom shook the system, and Babush Monseratte, being the minister who drafted the plan, had to resign.