YOUTH AS THE FUTURE

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Realty+ 40 under 40 Conclave witnessed two seasoned industry leaders sharing their views on the future leadership of Indian real estate sector. In a thought provoking conversation, the influential veteran leaders of Indian real estate Anuj Puri, Chairman, Anarock Group and Dr. Niranjan Hiranandani, National President Naredco and Immediate Past President of ASSOCHAM discussed the future opportunities, realty sector presents. Anuj Puri initiated the conversation with a question on the difference between the young leaders and the older generation of real estate players. Dr Niranjan Hiranandani was of the view that the availability of data and information on fingertips and willingness to experiment with new things and ideas are the key factors that define the young generation of professionals today. “While, we leaned towards following the footsteps of the veterans of the industry, the new generation seeks its own path,” he said. “Real estate as an asset class in India is maturing. A new era demands new thoughts and the courage to make appropriate adjustments. The new age developers are utilising data-driven real estate research for investments and developments,” Anuj Puri CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES "It always has been the tendency to follow the most popular businesses of the times. For instance, everyone aspired to set up a textile mill in the good old days but, over the years that segment did not consolidate and sustain. Not all of the textile businesses were successful. The attention required for doing any business whether its real estate or any other industry includes introspection, perseverance and foresightedness,” shared Dr Niranjan Hiranandani. Anuj Puri agreed, "Those who are going to bear the challenges of consolidation are the one to succeed in the business of realty. Apart from challenges like demonetization, NBFC crisis, the developers who had taken huge amount of debt at a very high cost are finding it difficult to sustain their organization. On the other hand the scenario has attracted new talent who are finding opportunities in the crisis by bringing business centric, process driven solutions to the sector. Dr Niranjan Hiranandani added, "Real estate needs professionals who are trained on the subject of real estate and its intricacies. Many organization are facing the challenge of recruiting young professional but most graduates even from best institutes like IIT and IIM do not have the knowledge of the domain. We need more real estate institutes to give these young students the domain knowledge of real estate, so that they become directly employable." EQUITABLE GENDER DIVERSITY Anuj Puri pointed out that traditionally real estate sector in India has been gender-biased and dominated by males. Dr Niranjan Hiranandani expressed, "Historically, real estate did not have a good image and was perceived as a segment more suited to men. Gradually, the sector is getting more organized and professional and we can see men and women from other industries now joining real estate in various capacities. As the sector is getting matured the image of the Industry is changing. I am sure we will see lot many women professionals choosing career in real estate in near future.” RESIDENTIAL & OFFICE REALTY AMIDST COVID Anuj Puri highlighted dual aspects of the situation, one of lesser requirement of office spaces as employees post covid too may continue to work from home in hybrid model and the other of more requirement of workspace on account of social distancing among the workers attending office. Dr Niranjan Hiranandani said, “IT & BFSI companies are not satisfied with the confidentiality of their data and want to bring employees back to offices. There are leading companies who are looking for more space but, yes 20-25% of people will continue to work from home. Real estate developers will benchmark the micro-market and build commercial real estate going forward.” Talking of the residential space, Dr Niranjan Hiranandani was of the view that the bottom of the pyramid is growing aggressively and therefore demand for affordable and mid-income housing will continue to drive the residential realty market. Anuj Puri added,” Residential demand will continue irrespective of the rising cost. The developers will have to study consumer trends of a particular market and the price tag that market can bear and then launch projects to ensure sales.” “The first advice for young developers is to understand the capital requirements of a project, second the market research and feasibility study of the project is essential before launch and thirdly understand the regulatory requirements, RERA details etc. Be passionate about your work with a right attitude," Dr Niranjan Hiranandani INDIAN REAL ESTATE IN 2030 Niranjan Hiranandani giving the glimpse of the future stated, “Mumbai City in 2030 will be a yesterday place and there will be brand new suburbs that will have affordable and premium housing with brand new connectivity infrastructure and airport.” Anuj Puri agreed, "There are huge infrastructure developments taking place and we will definitely create more housing in all segments. Mass construction will also see profit, and the top end developers of today will be mass developers of tomorrow. While, government should create a viable roadmap for housing for all, the young leaders can definitely turn it into reality.”