With this increase in demand, many developers including Ansal API, Unitech, DLF, Emaar MGF etc are jumping into this business and plan to launch huge number of housing projects within next six months, where the cost of each single unit will be over Rs. 2 cr.

According to the executive vice-chairman and managing director at Emaar MGF, Shravan Gupta, since the recession period is over and job market is looking up, there are chances of realty boom too.

Within six months, cities like Punjab, Gurgaon, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kerala will be overloaded with such projects.

Another instance, a recent one is the Tuscan City by TDI in Kundli. As per the words of Mr. Kamal Taneja of TDI, the landscapes, the market squares, gardens, picturesque scenes and the artistically conceived architecture actually belong to the scenic region of Italy’s Tuscany and have become an inspiration for Tuscan City.

Nowadays, people want to have good lifestyle with an affordable price when buying house. Although the cost of flat is the major factor, but the buyers nowhere compromise on their lifestyle and comfort level.  Developers added that times have changed and thus people are moving fast towards the western lifestyle.

Pirojsha Godrej, the Director of Godrej Properties Ltd. said on Wednesday that GPL is now operating in 11 cities including NCR.  The project is a residential one which includes flats and penthouses. The best features of this project are its flexibility with respect to various configurations, extensive green and open areas and cherry on the cake is that it faces a 36-meter wide green belt.

The project is located in NCR’s growth corridor and near NH-8. Some of the landmarks are the industrial township of Manesar, 20km from the Indira Gandhi International Airport, near Metro station.

There will be adjacent mid rise options along with the three high-rise residential towers which would essentially be the tallest towers across the whole North India. This Victory Valley will come up with a wide range of choices for the consumers, varying from the 2 BR apartments to 5BR apartments in penthouse/ simplex/ duplex formats. It would have 51 stories.

There will be total 762 flats in the tower. The inaugural base price is Rs 5,500 per sq feet for the bookings of the flats. As per the company plans, the project is likely to complete within 3 years after the commencement of construction.

This project is located at Sector 67, Gurgaon and is spread in an area of 25 acres. Security, comfort and convenience will be the three major pillars of this tower.

I think companies are doing dual cost cutting by moving their offices to other areas. First cost cutting is clear to everyone that is by reduction in rental cost. Second one is bit indirect. As it is known that gurgaon is well known commercial area. Every company provides conveyance facility to their employees because most of the employees come from other areas. If company shifts, the transportation cost will definitely reduce.

“The rate cuts will revive demand, which had cooled off in the past couple of months,” DLF CFO Ramesh Sanka says. He says some of DLF’s projects in New Gurgaon and Chennai, which offer homes for about Rs 28 lakh, will benefit. Prompted by a huge demand in the Rs 20-25 lakh category and incentives extended by banks, India’s largest listed developer plans to have ‘many’ launches in the coming quarters in this category.

Smaller developers, which have been building budget homes, expect more large developers to join them. “Developers are already reducing the size of apartments and offering fewer facilities to bring down the cost of dwelling units,” says Gaursons joint MD Manoj Gaur, who has sold several budget homes in Ghaziabad.

Many developers and analysts feel the impact of rate cut will be limited. “The rate cut is not going to help us. At present, we are not building houses priced close to Rs 20 lakh. And, who has the money to purchase cheaper land now to start a new project for cheaper homes?” pointed out Omaxe chairman Rohtas Goel.

Rupesh Sankhe, a real estate analyst with brokerage firm Centrum, says: “A home buying decision depends on prices, interest rate and the sentiment. Prices still need to come down by another 15-20% even in Tier II and Tier III cities to increase the affordability.” Home buyers in smaller cities also have a lower income level and, therefore, would buy only when prices come down further, he adds.

Anshuman Magazine, property consultancy firm CB Richard Ellis’ South Asia MD, feels the sentiment is the most important factor at present. “There is a crisis of confidence right now. If people are afraid of losing jobs, they are unlikely to buy homes.”

The average home loan size in India is estimated at Rs 7.5 lakh. So, the rate cuts for loans up to Rs 20 lakh can potentially have tremendous impact. However, developers and experts beg to differ. Property prices have risen by three fol d in most markets and an average home costs upwards of Rs 50 lakh in Delhi or Mumbai and Rs 25-30 lakh in tier II cities. Therefore, the government’s move is aimed at addressing the need of home buyers mainly in smaller cities besides some metropolitan suburbs.

“We are looking at divesting up to 100% stake in all six properties, comprising 1,000 rooms. We are also talking to a few private equity funds for this, but a deal hasn’t been clinched yet,” a top executive at Unitech’s hospitality arm told ET. He said the company had also scaled down its target for hotel business. Instead of 15 hotels with 2,500 rooms as planned earlier, Unitech has decided not to go beyond the 1,000-room capacity.

“We are proceeding with our hotel business as planned earlier. Six of our hotels are under construction. The first will open in January 2009. Unitech is in the business of developing properties and looking at monetizing its real estate assets. We are evaluating a divestment of equity at both individual assets as well as a group of assets. Depending on the price, we will be looking at minority or majority or outright sale in these assets,” Unitech MD Sanjay Chandra said.

Unitech’s first hotel project will be the 199-room mid-market property, which will be managed by Marriott and sport the ‘Courtyard’ brand. A person briefed on the matter said that Unitech was seeking a valuation of Rs 250 crore-Rs 300 crore for the property, but had been offered a lower Rs 200 crore by a private equity investor. He said the two parties may close the deal soon at the lower end of the band.

Other two hotels of Unitech, for which the company has management tie-ups with Marriott and Carlson hospital chains, will be ready in one-and-a-half years.

Mr Chandra had said that Unitech planned to build 35 hotels, including 15 in the first phase. The company expected to raise $350 million through private equity in the current fiscal for its hotel business. The global financial turmoil, however, has made fund-raising difficult for real estate firms.

With equity as well as debt becoming increasingly difficult to raise, a capital-intensive business like hospitality has taken a backseat for developers. Even DLF has shifted its focus from hotel and mall business to other segments where revenue realization is quicker and easier.

The project, spread over thirteen acres, is likely to be completed by 2011, the company said in a statement.

Earlier in the day, Parsvnath said it expects revenue of 400 million rupees from its just-launched housing project in Pune.

According to a senior official of the IL and FS backed QVC, it plans to use a portion of the funds, Rs 200 crore, for the development of its Rs 2,000 crore township project in Gurgaon. Delhi-based Uppal Group is a partner in this project.

“We will need funds to acquire land in the southern metros. We propose to acquire about 100 acres each in Bangalore and Hyderabad, close to the new airports in these cities, because we believe that both cities will grow in the direction of the airports. We will require funds to develop current projects,” said QVC’s promoter Prakash Gurbaxani.

According to Mr Gurbaxani, IL and FS is likely to invest up to Rs 400 crore in the company giving it the option to raise debt or bring on board a strategic investor into the SPV implementing the Gurgaon township. IL and FS has already invested $100 million into QVC in April, 2007.

QVC Realty, has six projects under various stages of development: integrated township projects in Gurgaon and Pune, apart from stand alone developments in Pune, Bangalore and Chikmagalur in Karnataka totaling about 20 million square feet.

The company has also partnered with Bangalore’s Sobha Developers and New Delhi’s Chintels India for its second township project in Gurgaon.

The company formally launched its Rs 150 crore Bangalore residential project – QVC Hills. It will construct 100 premium villas, priced upwards of Rs 5,500 per square feet, on a 26-acre plot located in close proximity to the Devanahalli airport.

Plans include developing an additional 50 acres in the coming years, investing additional Rs 250 crore, Mr Gurbaxani said.

According to commissioner (town and country planning and urban estates) D S Dhesi, the norms on building height have been relaxed keeping in mind that there is increased housing demand in Gurgaon. He said, “There is technology available to construct such buildings and the builders have to follow the National Building Code. Moreover, the height of the highrises is subject to the clearance from Airports’ Authority of India (AAI)”.

Mr. Dhesi also said before the decision was taken, the department of town and country planning (DTCP) had surveyed many cities, including Mumbai, where highrises have come up in substantial numbers. He said, “We found there are not many highrises in these cities. The cost of construction increases when the height of the building is more. The developers have to leave open space as per the building norms”.

Sources in DTCP said till date, no developer has applied for permission to build such multi-storeyed buildings. However, they are hopeful the major developers will come up with such plans in future.

The present population of Gurgaon is over 17 lakh and the Gurgaon-Manesar Urban Complex Plan 2021 projects to accommodate 37 lakh people. Citizens’ organisations have claimed that the figure will cross 60 lakh by 2021. Mr. Ramesh Chander Aggarwal, urban and regional planning consultant, said, “To accommodate more people in a city like Gurgaon, there is no other option than to go vertical. Given the expansion in economic activities in Gurgaon and its adjoining areas, high rises hold better hope”.

Mr. Aggarwal said that as per norms, all constructions over 30 metres in height and within a 10 kilometre radius of the airport have to be cleared by the AAI. However, in Manesar, the height limit is 60 metres. Further he said, “If we don’t go ahead with vertical development and conserve the land, the development will eat into the agricultural land”.

Mr. Amit Kumar, Director, Landmark Group, said,“Currently, our twelve projects are undergoing in the North, which will be completed in the next three to four years. We will be investing about one billion dollar in developing these projects”. Further he added that the company would fund the projects through internal accruals and funds from private equities.

He said, “We will try to fund our projects through our own resources, but also, we do not mind private equity players’ participation. Starting from twenty-five percent, we are ready to sell up to forty percent to private equity players in different projects”.

The NCR-based firm has planned to develop three hotels, 2 5-star and a budget hotels in the coming three years, which could entail an investment of about seven hundred crore rupees.

Mr. Kumar said that Landmark Group is developing a three thousand room 5-star hotel in dharuhera and a budget hotel in Gurgaon with more than hundred rooms. The other five star hotel would come up at Bawal in Haryana.

Even prime areas in Delhi such as Friends Colony, Maharani Bagh, GK I & II, Prithviraj Road and Hauz Khas have witnessed a 5-10 percent fall in the prices.

Chandigarh: DLF, a leading real estate player in the country, plans to invest Rs 1,250 crore for the development of its multiplex business. The company has planned to add minimum 500 screens in the next four to five years across the country.
DLF’s entertainment arm DT Cinemas will set up a megaplex, which will have 12 screens with a total capacity of 2,500, as part of their upcoming project, Mall of India, at Gurgaon.
Expected to be one of the country’s biggest malls, it will cover an area of 40 lakh sq ft.
DT Cinemas announced the opening of their multiplex at DLF Infocity, IT Park, Chandigarh. Infocity covers an area of 1,90,000 sq ft and most of the space has been leased out. The mall will start operating within the next 10-12 days.
Kajal Aijaz, CEO, DT Cinemas, said that with the multiplex offering state-of-the-art facilities like Christie cinema projection system, excellent acoustics, wall-to-wall carpeting, extra legroom with comfortable slideback seating and push back armrests for the audience, they were eyeing about 66 per cent occupancy at the multiplex in the first year.
With DLF planning to set up another 120 malls in different parts of the country, DT Cinemas would be the chief attraction in most of these malls.
Apart from Ludhiana and Jalandhar, where multiplexes would be opened in a couple of years, the company is also opening multiplexes at Savitri-GK2, Shalimar Bagh, Vasant Kunj and Saket in Delhi and Star Mall, Gurgaon, this year, Aijaz said.
DT Cinemas will also set up multiplexes in Hyderabad, Chennai, Kochi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Goa and Kolkata.

The company is also ready to start assembling its, yet to be launched, A4 variant in the country with an investment of 10 million euros.

Mr. Benoit Tiers, MD, Audi India, said, “We are expecting to sell 1,200 of our cars in the Indian market in 2008 compared to 350 cars sold last year on the back of growing demand for luxury cars in the market”.

He said that the company has observed 80% growth during the first quarter of 2008 by selling 220 units in India.

Further Mr. Tiers said, “The sale of total luxury cars in India during first two months of this year posted 176% growth, while the car industry as a whole posted just 9% growth, which shows the demand for luxury cars is growing at a tremendous pace”.

When asked about the launches, he said Audi was considering introducing its smaller SUV Q5 here. “First it will be rolled out in Europe and UK then we will launch this car in India,” he said, but refused to give any timeline.

Meanwhile, Audi would launch its A4 version here in July. He informed, “We will also start the assembling of this car at our plant in Aurangabad which will have initial capacity of 800 units that will be doubled during next year. To start assembling this car, we would invest 10 million of euros”.

At present, Audi assembles A6 variant at its plant and has so far invested 20 million euros.

Audi also plans to open five exclusive showrooms in Ludhiana, Chennai, Kolkata, Cochin and Ahemdabad. At present it has showrooms in Delhi, Hyderabad, Gurgaon and now Chandigarh among others.

Sistema has confirmed an coalition with India Shyam Group, which has divested 51 percent stake in its telecom venture in favor of Sistema. The Sistema-Shyam joint venture will be developing a 22-acre property in Gurgaon, on the periphery of Delhi. The venture is Sistema’s first undertaking in the construction and real estate market outside Russia and Ukraine.

Platinum is the highest rating given under the US building council’s LEED system for green buildings world-over. The CTIRC will borrow elements from existing Platinum buildings in India like the ITC Centre at Gurgaon, Grundfos Pumps Corporate Office at Chennai and the IOC Corporate Office in New Delhi.

The complex will make use of a host of energy conservation techniques for low heat natural lighting in day. Rooms will be fitted with sensors that switch off the lights when there is sufficient natural light or when nobody is in the room. There will also be systems for ground water recharge, rainwater harvesting and use of solar energy. To prevent dangerous emissions internal roads for vehicular traffic will be planned along the periphery of the complex. The existing classrooms and hostels will be modified in energy efficient ways. The BMC has already invited tenders from contractors eager to execute the project.

On Jan 02, 2008, Parsvnath Developers has declared that the Company has got LoI from Director Town and country planning Haryana to develop an IT Park project on Main Gurgaon, Sohna Road just 3 kilo meters away from Rajiv Chowk, Gurgaon.  Approx Rs 650 crore is expected as a profit from this project within two financial years.  The project is expected to start within three months and will be completed within 2 years.  Parsvnath Developers already has one IT Park in Chennai.

On Dec 28, 2007, Parsvnath Developers Ltd has announced that the Company has achieved the completion and possession certificate from NOIDA Authority for its Group Housing project at Noida, Parsvnath Prestige for the second phase.  

On Dec 27, 2007, Parsvnath Developers Ltd has declared the beginning of its premium commercial project in the city of Raipura, Punjab.  The project is named as Parsvnath Highway Mall.  The project is in particular designed to offer commercial space to house large format stores showcasing range of aspiration brands to customers and will have a total saleable area of approximately 2.30 lac sq. ft.

Mr. Oberoi said “Our first Oberoi Garden City’ in Mumbai will be ready in the next four years. In a tie-up with Starwood, the hospitality chain, we are planning to develop a hotel at Gurgaon. For developing hospitals, we are talking to developers and planning to partner with them. We hope to garner gross revenues to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore from one project in four years. We should do revenue of Rs 3,000 crore in the year 2009.”

Besides this, Oberoi Constructions is also planning to rise with an initial public offering (IPO) in September 2008. Mr. Oberoi acknowledged “We still have to evaluate the exact valuation for the IPO. Through the IPO, we are looking at developing close to 15 mn sq ft of real estate, which can accommodate homes, hotels and shops”.