Realty Sector is on the Rise

“Established city developers have contributed greatly to Kolkata’s growth and after a lull of last two-three years, they would once again contribute to the development of the city as well as the state.”Harshavardhan Neotia Chairman, Ambuja Neotia Group   when it comes to cost of living, transportation and communication as also affordable rates on apartments, Kolkata is very competitive as compared to rest of India.   In fact, the current Kolkata real-estate market is more realistically priced as compared to other metro like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore or Hyderabad realty markets. The supply has been aplenty and builders are coming up with special offers like down payment scheme and easy finance options to lure buyers to invest in the segment.   With the properties in the main city area reaching a saturation point, fresh developments are taking place along the city’s periphery. New Town in Kolkata has an outstanding infrastructure already. It includes free and uninterrupted Wi-Fi connections, ramps to enable easy access to people using wheel-chairs, solar panels in parks and playgrounds, smart bus and e-rickshaw stands (app-based booking system), car-pooling, smart electricity meters, telemedicine kiosks and app-based health services, dedicated cycle tracks (smart bicycle project) comprehensive waste management, and so on.   The developers of Kolkata have shed their inhibitions of getting into low cost homes and are opening up to investing in lands which are even beyond the boundary of the city. The Recent Policy Developments The landmark RERA Act will enforce unprecedented transparency and accountability requirements for developers and increase consumer confidence. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) will also have a major impact on how many developers run their businesses. Developers have realized it is time now to revamp their existing business models if they want to remain in the business.   Analysts expect affordable housing project launches to continue to grow, driven by the demand, lesser time required for construction compared with mid-to-high end housing and government incentives for such units. However, residential demand including affordable housing is expected to pick up only towards the end of 2017 - the recovery will be sustainable and based on much sounder market fundamentals than transient sentiment.   The structural reforms and more liberalized foreign direct investment (FDI) regime and, increased transparency will bring higher investments into real estate markets. REITs will attract institutional and smaller investors alike because of their inherent nature to provide regulardividends at relatively low risk.   Consolidation will be the name of the game for the Indian real estate industry over the next five years. Larger players will peak in strength by around 2021, and smaller players will be eroded. Equity investment - or the lack of it - will play a deciding role. In 2017, the expectation of the buyers and developers ought to rise as the sector has witnessed lots of new government policies which will help it to be more organized and boost both residential and commercial real-estate. The Journey of the Company Neotia family has been an integral part of Kolkata’s business scenario for several decades. Group Patriarchs Late ShriVinodNeotia and Shri Suresh Neotia started their entrepreneurial career in the mid 1950’s along with their eldest brother Late ShriBimal Kumar Poddar and gradually expanded business with major forays in trading of Cement, fertilizers and petroleum products. This was probably one of the first wholly Indian registered partnership firms during the British occupation of India. Relying on its legacy, inmid-80’s the company promoted ‘Gujarat Ambuja Cements Limited (GACL)’. The real-estate business started nearly 30 years ago, witnessed a huge growth in 1990’s and has recently forayed in hospitality, healthcare and education.The group is credited for pioneering retail infrastructure with malls, Business Parks to meet the needs of global corporate and hospitality projects like hotels, resorts, villas, clubs & banquets and standalone eating outlets that aim to utilize the new opportunities arising in real-estate segment.