Demand in NCR to Increase

With the vision to develop over one lakh affordable housing, Signature Global plans to be part of the ‘Housing for All’ initiative. Pradeep Aggarwal, Chairman, Signature Global shares his views on impact of various recent developments in the realty sector. What will be the impact of Delhi’s land pooling policy on NCR realty market? Majority of districts under the NCR radar are Tier II cities where slum dwellings are quite prominent. With Land Pooling Policy in place, the suburb regions will get developed. The dream for a 'Pakka Makaan' is also on the way for as many as 50,000 units for the EWS category. NCR realty map in general might get heavily affected as price correction will become evident in the long run. With growing urbanization, developers might reduce the property prices to stay in competition. Delhi is almost saturated with not many land parcels available for future development but the demand in the NCR has always been there due to the developed infrastructure and job opportunities, coupled with connectivity with major cities. Thus, Land Pooling Policy will bring in a fresh supply to the real-estate market of Delhi. On the other hand, high land prices in Delhi will mean higher property prices once developed which can be downside for many corporates and MNCs entering into the market. With large number of office and retail spaces present in nearby NCR, people who wish to stay closer to their offices will end up buying units in NCR only. How does RERA change the market dynamics? Indian real estate sector will shape up in a different manner now. With a regulator in place to safeguard the interests of the buyers and promote fair dealings in the sector, the housing demand will gain momentum which will allow better performance of the sector.  The existing unsold inventory is also forecasted to clear in the next 30-36 months as buyers want to invest in property before the introduction of RERA and GST that will increase the property prices in short term.  Lowering of home loan interest rates has also encouraged the buyers. With the current pricing, is affordable housing a reality in NCR? Affordable Housing is an entirely different concept that should not be mixed up with regular properties of low prices. These properties can be categorized as budget units as clearly defined by the Government. Affordable housing has been picked up exceedingly well by the developers across the country with NCR being the biggest contributor at present. Although, for the sector to offer ‘Affordable’ pricing, subsidized land prices and reduced rate of interest on home loans become imperative. The government must work towards enabling the private sector through important decisions such as, Industry Status, Single window clearance and smooth implementation of RERA across the country. What are the future growth plans of the company? Signature Global (India) Private Limited was formulated in the year 2000, as one of the key stakeholders of SMC Group, the leading financial investment group of India with pan India presence. The company plans to come up with several real-estate projects across the country in coming years. We are looking at 1,00,000 units by 2022. In this financial year, the target is to construct 20,000 units under affordable housing policy. Besides, Gurugram, the projects will be in Delhi, Mumbai, Karnal, Ghaziabad, Lucknow and Aurangabad