Track2Realty: Office space demand slowed down in the first quarter of 2014, with around 6.3 million sq. ft. of office space getting absorbed across the leading cities of the country as against 6.6 million sq. ft. in Q1 2013—a drop of approximately 5%. Transaction activity was dominated by the National Capital Region (NCR), Bangalore and Chennai—representing about 70% of the total space transacted during the quarter.
Track2Realty: The prime office space segment across key cities in India witnessed a supply infusion of more than 20 million sqft in the first six months of 2013.
Track2Realty Exclusive: What is the level of understanding and willingness among the Indian developers to create smart cities in a country which has been branded as a ‘reluctant urbaniser’ by many international experts?
Ravi Sinha: In 2013 when most of the PE Funds are maturing, they may not be investing again in the real estate. So, from where will you generate the funds?
Ravi Sinha: I have a question here, and I will be very frank with Mr Tripathi. Any journalist who writes on real estate finds it very amusing that the sector has always tried to put the ball in the government’s court. Since you have been part of the government, how far will you agree to this?
Ravi Sinha: All said and done, land acquisition bill is going to be a reality. What are the issues that make you so critical of it? Is it just the fresh cost of acquisition?
Ravi Sinha: The point here is how feasible are the wishful thoughts of the sector in 2013?
Sunil Dahiya: The commercial essence of our product has been taken out. Now the consumer is saying let me wait for something, and he is waiting in eternity for something better to come. What he is waiting for, we also don’t know. So, the consumer has been loaded with confusion, and we are loaded with a product which is dead.
Ravi Sinha: I think Mr Tripathi has a very valid point that the CCI has emerged. You have also seen the wrong side of consumer activism in a Noida Extension kind of a situation. When we think of reforms, government is looking for a regulator and a whole lot of sector’s wish list has not gone down well with the government. Do you think that the sector will move ahead with some sort of reforms in the year ahead?
I welcome all the panelists in the final roundtable for Track2Realty Focus 2013. As we come to the end of 2012, it is time to look in & look ahead as far as the prospects of the realty sector are concerned. In this discussion, we would try to wrap up the year 2012, and see where the sector has been heading to in 2013. So, when you look at the year Mr Sharma, don’t you think “oh! what a waste.” So much was expected this year but nothing has moved forward, be it in terms of administrative reforms, fiscal reforms or land reforms; nothing has gone right for the sector.
Industry bodies like NAREDCO can become ideation centers. NAREDCO is actually taking some concrete steps in getting the consumers and developers to connect with the policy makers. Ideally, we need to identify the next line of growth centers. Every city will have its own growth center. That is when we can realise that the consumer is buying what he wants and not what is available.