BUSINESS
Union Budget 2024: Ensure low cost capital to buyers and sellers and lower taxation on real estate
Budgetary intervention has become critical in the real estate sector as affordable housing isn’t getting the priority it deserves from builders. From financing to taxation to providing a stock of low-cost rental housing, the Union budget has a number of instruments available to arrest this slide that is hurting the middle and lower middle class
BUSINESS
Will Dharavi’s global team create a landmark, humane project?
There is enough money and expertise to treat resettlement as an important part of the project. Can Dharavi planners do that?
BUSINESS
Telecom, data centres, power electronics bank on rapid urbanisation for 5G-driven growth
Reliance and Airtel are almost ready with their 5G capacity expansion and power electronics companies are gearing up for growth. The planning of urban nodes needs to lead the charge, if India’s growth has to be streamlined
BUSINESS
How Bengaluru start-ups turn wastewater into a resource
Experts and start-ups alike are working on new dynamics of water management and distribution in a mission to save groundwater and leave enough for lakes and water bodies to be recharged
BUSINESS
Cleaning up India’s opaque land title documentation needs more work
Many states have launched land records portals where people can check the records before buying land. However, the matches to cadastral drawings, the record of the history of transactions and the co-owners of the patta are not documented with any certainty
BUSINESS
Mindspace implosion of Hyderabad towers offers a rethink of redevelopment processes
Being a planned upgrade-driven implosion, the process can open the floodgates to the safe redevelopment of old or outdated commercial or residential real estate in crowded areas of cities. It also takes away the sting of court-imposed orders which have triggered earlier implosions
BUSINESS
How do you deal with crowing roosters and mooing buffaloes in city backyards?
The definition of pets in the city has just been redefined by some residents who keep roosters and buffaloes in downtown neighbourhoods. Complaining neighbours have to search for rules to file their protest
BUSINESS
Sikkim banks on green hydrogen for future urbanisation
Working with South Korean experts for technology transfer and feasibility studies allows Sikkim to create workable prototypes for Indian hill cities and for sustainable development
BUSINESS
How a Bengaluru-based start-up is making ‘rent as a service’ a popular concept
Kots offers landlords nine-year assured rental for customised buildings. For a landlord who invests Rs 50 lakh per apartment, with a 6 percent rental yield and 4 percent annual hike, and a compounded annual growth rate of 11 percent in asset value, the return on investment after 10 years can be 2.5 or 3x
BUSINESS
Infrastructure lending comes of age in India
India’s infrastructure investment format is evolving with a policy push backed by sovereign share of investment as well as global investors lining up to put their money in. But the requirements are huge and the focus needs to remain on bonds, equity and institutional frameworks
BUSINESS
Bullish on India: Why 2023 - 2047 could be the best couple of decades for Indian real estate
A young population in a need of completed housing is buying in an increasingly structured market. Data is freely available and policies are slowly taking over. As need and good industry practices flourish, returns too are being viewed from different lenses.
BUSINESS
Tax breaks can incentivise reprocessing of construction waste
Indian cities reprocess a mere one percent of construction waste. Planned tax incentives can push this into an investment opportunity. As natural calamities escalate, these measures need to be taken sooner than later
BUSINESS
Why states are considering green hydrogen for cleaner cities
The construction and real estate sectors are responsible for over 40 percent of global carbon emissions. With plenty of money to spend, they follow the investors today, users tomorrow principle. As Indian states embark on a green hydrogen journey, money and expertise come from future users
BUSINESS
As millennials opt to buy houses amid soaring rents, market set to tighten
Young working adults are being forced to consider purchase as rental housing stock falls drastically. The demand is greater at the lower levels but new supply is still a way off
BUSINESS
India's LEED ranking a boost for green building initiatives of top developers
The reason why developers such as DLF and conglomerates like ITC with large-scale real estate businesses can push compliance to green codes in premium corporate buildings is that their user groups are today demanding this too. There is green finance at the end of the tunnel, which pushes compliance. Any project that has a green tag is automatically able to raise more resources from structured lenders and at lower rates
BUSINESS
Redevelopment succeeds when original settlers are treated with respect
Good quality housing, an efficient network of roads and services and social facilities upgrade the quality of life and translated into goodwill and better values for the project
BUSINESS
Overdue Gurugram Metro extension to bring old and new town areas closer
The line will see mature, bustling markets getting decongested, with added connectivity. New hubs in New Town and Delhi’s development greens area may see fresh prospects
BUSINESS
Predictability of growth and demand pushes small town India’s fortunes
Post-pandemic acceptability, unprecedented highway and infrastructure growth has pushed a host of end-user consumers and real estate developers to move confidently to the hinterland.
BUSINESS
Highways and metros make peripheral localities hotspots for aspirational lifestyle
Connectivity and aspirational lifestyle are fast converting greenfield and redeveloped brownfield projects to aspirational localities in cities. As young users migrate there, real estate returns grow at up to a healthy 10 percent per annum
BUSINESS
User groups in real estate forced to evolve norms when policymakers fail
In the ad hoc world of policy-making on real estate and construction norms are evolved by those who suffer from the lack of it rather than from detailed studies executed before policies are laid out
BUSINESS
Building industry logs into green agenda to cut emissions
From manufacturers to materials technology providers and developers, the entire construction industry is seeking to lower carbon emissions. Accounting for almost 40 percent of carbon emissions globally, this corporate awareness of green practices is probably not a minute too soon
BUSINESS
Subvention issue in SC: Lenders might have to go easy on recovering from home buyers
When developers failed to pay the promised EMIs till possession, banks have gone after buyers in whose name the loans were disbursed. But the larger issue of lack of lender due diligence and broken promises will be at the heart of the SC battle
BUSINESS
Metros show how distant suburbs can be turned into hot properties
After Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru are waking to the prospects of better returns and occupancy where strong metro links to residential areas are witnessed
BUSINESS
Digitalising the construction industry is necessary for India to reduce emissions
A statutory push for lower emissions and regular monitoring of building management is a must, if India is to meet its globally committed green targets. The tools are today available and implementable
