Moving Towards Stabilization

Building on its legacy Thapar Builders (P) Ltd. has come up with the residential leasing concept in their new project in Ghaziabad. Gautam Thapar, Director, Thapar Builders (P) Ltd spoke to Rahul Trivedi about the latest developments in the sector and the company’s projects. [caption id="attachment_12527" align="alignnone" width="200"] 28-11-16-Gautam Thapar[/caption] The current scenario of real estate market Till now the real estate sector was dominated by a few players especially those with strong links with the Government. Many of them didn’t have technical background or knowledge of construction or management. Till now, the valuation systems didn’t really exist in terms of the cost of the land, the appreciation per year towards the cost of construction etc. So the seller would command the price and buyers, depending on their need had to agree. Now the sector is moving towards the organized pricing linked to the demand and supply rather than just to the builders demand. Announcements like Smart Cities, RERA, Housing for All and GST will bring Indian real estate at par with the global cities. If you see, major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai, are where people wish to come for better opportunities and these cities don’t have the requisite infrastructure to cater. With the smart cities coming around these major cities, it will help in providing better infrastructure and more people would get better prospects. Every sector or industry has a regulatory body, so it’s high time that the real estate sector should also have its regulatory body as provided in RERA. Similarly, Housing for all is a bold move by the Prime Minister considering that major chunk of the population is under poverty line and lives in unorganized sector. But to realize it, the real estate sector should get an industry status to avail cheaper loans, should be provided at lower rates and housing can be built through a PPP (Public-Private-Partnership) model. GST will help in bringing down the cost to the companies as lot of manpower is used in the accounts department and it’s also takes lot of time. Though, the effect of GST will be clear once the notifications and rulings are out. The biggest challenge today is lack of trust among customers. The consumer is very unsure about the delivery of the project and the intention of the builder behind it. Now, with the new policies coming in, I am sure, things would change and market will move towards stabilization. The distinct feature of the project Arthah Arthah has been planned as smart residential project in Vaishali, Ghaziabad. It’s also the tallest tower of 103 meters. The project comprising 103m tower with three bedroom apartments of same size has been planned as an affordable luxury project. There are 84 residential units and 48 serviced apartments. The serviced apartments will be only available on lease. Residential leasing is a new concept which we are starting with this project and in Delhi. The fully furnished apartments will be available on lease for the minimum of one year. Till now only through a broker one could lease a flat. With Arthah, the company will be the first developer to start residential leasing. Company’s businesses and the roadmap Thapar Builders have been operational in real estate for more than 50 years constructing projects for clients, comprising both commercial residential projects. Later the company started investing in its own land banks. It has developed commercial projects in Gurgaon, Ghaziabad and Mumbai and in 2006 entered the hospitality sector with its first hotel project. Company’s first residential project Arthah is slated to be complete by 2018. The focus is on niche projects rather than townships. The projects on the commercial lands in Ghaziabad, Noida, Greater Noida and Sohna will be launched this year one by one. Beyond that the company plans to expand through JVs and PPP models for bigger projects. The plans is to launch projects of minimum five lakh square feet within the next one year and keep that momentum going for the next five years. By 2021, we will make the company go public. Also, we have just formed a Non-Banking Financial Company for housing loan and microfinance by the name of Thapar Capital Services. Most of the buyers for Arthah and other projects are company’s home loan customers. Apart from this, the company will finance builders on construction basis in the cities where it is not operating and depending on the project, might also take equity share in them. Delhi itself is a huge market and the growth here will be continuous. The NCR (National Capital Region) comprises surrounding tier-II cities on the periphery of Delhi have also seen a substantial growth such as Gurgaon, Sohna and Bhiwadi extending towards Meerut and Agra. So, Delhi along with NCR region will grow and the demand will also keep increasing