Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor will help create five new cities: Knight Frank

Pune: The first phase of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) will lead to the creation of five new cities along its various nodes and the urban centres that will benefit through the first phase are Noida, Greater Noida, Gurgaon, Manesar, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Indore and Aurangabad.

These are amongst the key findings of a comprehensive study on the DMIC released by Knight Frank India.

The report, which is the first in a series of studies undertaken by the company, will serve as a ready reckoner for all stakeholders and as well as those who wish to get an idea of the possible impact of the DMIC on the districts of Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Surat.

Amongst the takeaways of the report is that close to two crore jobs (direct and indirect) will be created by the seven nodes in the first phase. Assuming there are four members per household, the new cities in the first phase will house a population of nearly four crore.

Built-up demand

Providing a snapshot on the impact on real estate by the first phase of the DMIC (figures estimated till 2040) the report says that the total residential built-up demand will be 800 crore sq ft, while the total built-up commercial demand will be 251,622,000 sq ft. The total number of hotel rooms will be 18,233.

In a statement, Shishir Baijal, Chairman & Managing Director, Knight Frank India said, “A total of 24 nodes have been planned along the entire stretch of the DMIC. Once all the phases of the project are completed, job creation along the DMIC will be unprecedented. The resultant effects of this astronomical job creation will lead to immense real estate development across verticals in and around the project areas. As these new urban agglomerations take shape, they will also attract interest from other sectors of the economy. Increased job opportunities, coupled with a superior quality of life offered by these new cities, would provide boost to the migration of businesses and people to these cities.”

Restricted focus

Samantak Das, National Director & Chief Economist, Knight Frank India, added, “There is no denying the fact that the DMIC and other corridors will have a major impact on real estate. However, for the purpose of this study, we have restricted the focus to the impact of the DMIC along its influence area in its first phase. According to our study, there will be a rub-off effect of the implementation of DMIC initiatives on the smaller urban centres in proximity of the respective nodes and going forward, these are expected to grow at a faster rate than the present-day major urban centres.” Source: Business Line

Housing.com to set up online platform for realtors body CREDAI

Housing.com today signed an MoU with the Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Associations of India (CREDAI) to set up an online platform to help developers engage with customers in a hassle free and effective manner. The MoU will be effective for a period of three years.

"The objective of the MoU will be to improve the overall ecosystem and create a new age platform that will enable the developers to engage with the consumers in a focused manner," Housing.com said in a statement.

CREDAI is the national body of real estate developers associations from across the country. With 11500 members in 154 city chapters spread across 24 states. On the other hand Housing.com is the leading online real estate platform.

Housing.com’s Chief Business Officer Jason Kothari said, "The partnership is a testimony of changing times in the manner developers have been traditionally operating in the real estate space". He further said that the the association would redefine the way developers have been approaching the buyers across India; adding that the alliance would make the real estate community more transparent and consumer centric.

CREDAI National President Getamber Anand said the synergy with Housing.com would help in bringing an additional credibility to the real estate space by way of professional brokering and large footprint.

The MoU provides Housing.com privileges to actively participate and be represented at all events and forums of the association. On the other hand, CREDAI will leverage Housing.com's technology superiority and innovation to create online proliferation for its communities.

Housing.com has raised over USD 100 million in capital from leading investors, including Softbank.

The portal has made some major appointments recently. Rishabh Gupta was appointed as interim CEO in July, while Jason Kothari was appointed as the Chief Business Officer in August to drive the company's growth in India. PTI

Goldman inks $300m realty JV with Nitesh

MUMBAI: Wall Street bellwether Goldman Sachs is set to invest $300 million (Rs 1,850 crore) in a joint venture company floated by listed developer Nitesh Estates, which will own and operate commercial real estate assets in India, people directly aware of the matter said.

Goldman will hold 74%, leaving Bangalore-based Nitesh Estates with 26% in the JV entity with plans to acquire rent-yielding office parks, shopping malls and luxury hotels, sources added. The impending deal is a proprietary investment from the Goldman Sachs balance sheet which has assets estimated at over $900 billion.

It joins a growing list of marquee global investors like Blackstone, Brookfield Asset Management, Qatar Investment Authority and GIC of Singapore which have been buying into India's over 400-million-sqft commercial real estate market over the last few years.

India's services-led economy - the fastest growing in the world - has thrown up a stable market for income-generating commercial real estate, giving investors a chance to list these assets through real estate investment trusts (REITs). These trusts are listed entities holding income-generating real estate assets from which earnings are distributed to shareholders. The Indian market regulator came out with REIT guidelines last year to help real estate and infrastructure developers list their rent-yielding assets, and providing large and small stock market investors with an inflation-indexed product.

Goldman Sachs is partnering with the first-generation entrepreneurial company Nitesh Estates, founded by 37-year-old Nitesh Shetty, to create a platform of assets worth almost $1 billion in the next few years. The still unnamed JV, on which a battery of top lawyers are completing due diligence, is expected to employ leverage financing of up to three times the equity commitment to go on a shopping spree.

Shetty, who built India's first Ritz Carlton Hotel, has in the past worked with several big global investors including Och-Ziff, Apollo Management and Citigroup. When contacted, he declined to comment on speculation. Goldman Sachs, too, offered no comments on this story.

Last week's Union Budget provided some tax clarity on REITs even though certain structuring challenges still remain. Four Indian developers - Embassy Office Parks (Blackstone), K Raheja Corp, RMZ Offices (Qatar Investment Authority) and Prestige Group - are readying to list their assets, which could translate into at least a $20-billion REIT market in the next few years.

The Indian market would rival or surpass Mexico's REIT market, often cited as a successful new world experiment, launched three years ago and with a current market value exceeding $18 billion. New York, London and Singapore have hogged the limelight in developed market.

New York-listed Brookfield Asset Management, with real estate and infra assets worth over $200 billion globally, struck the single largest deal when it acquired the office parks of Unitech for $1 billion - $400 million in equity and $600 million in debt. Private equity giant Blackstone Group, too, struck office park acquisitions worth more than $1 billion in recent years in India.

Blackstone-backed Embassy Office Parks and Brookfield India, with 21 million sqft and 17 million sqft portfolios, are among the top five office landlords in the country.

DLF tops the list with around 30 million sqft.

While foreign investors have mostly invested in office buildings, that too specifically in 125-million-sqft IT SEZs until now, they are turning to the country's hotels and shopping malls which have remained undervalued or, in some cases, distressed assets for a while.

Mumbai-based realty portal Makaan.com may sell or form JV with MagicBricks or Quikr

By Biswarup Gooptu, ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: People Group, which owns and operates real estate portal Makaan.com, has entered into talks with potential buyers, to sell the venture, at a time when the country's online property space is being seen as the next battleground for global risk capital and strategic investors. 

MagicBricks. com and online web and mobile classifieds company Quikr are among those believed to have held early-stage discussions with the promoters of Makaan.com, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the development.

A potential transaction could see promoters of Mumbai-based venture, either outright sell its entire stake, or enter into a joint venture with a new backer, which could see the promoters divest up to 50% of their ownership, and which will also have a long-term payout component built into the agreement.

Anupam Mittal, the founder and promoter of People Group, declined to speak on the developments, while emails sent to Magic-Bricks.com and Quikr did not receive any responses at the time of writing the story.

Separately, Info Edge, which owns real estate portal 99Acres, and was speculated to be in talks with promoters of Makaan, denied they were looking to pick up a stake in the venture. Info Edge, which owns a clutch of Internet properties, had raised Rs 750 crore through a qualified institutional placement in September.

According to some reports, Info EdgeBSE -0.25 % planned to use the proceeds for potential acquisitions for 99Acres. Mittal, who owns about 80% of the property website, runs a slew of internet properties, such as matrimonial website Shaadi.com and mobile media company Mauj.com.

The People Group is backed by risk capital investors, such as Sequoia Capital, Saama Capital, Intel Capital and Citibank.

India's online real estate has been attracting substantial attention from risk capital investors, drawn by the massive demand for housing, combined with increased internet penetration, especially on the mobile platform.

"They're now the primary source of visibility for consumers and have become default search parameters. This is only going to get bigger, especially in a country the size of India," said Anuj Puri, chairman and country head for realty services consultancy JLL India.

Source: News Published at the Economic Times

WB keen to fund city's two new mega Metro projects

By PTI | 15th September 2014

The proposed Dahisar-Bandra-Mankhurd Metro line is estimated to cost Rs 28,900 crore

Mumbai, September 15: With the Japanese government taking a lead in funding the megapolis' many signature infrastructure projects, the World Bank has evinced interest in funding the proposed Charkop-Dahisar and Wadala-Teen Hath Naka Metro projects.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has already committed to fund the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority's (MMRDA) two ambitious projects-- the just announced Rs 23,136-crore Colaba-Seepz Metro and the 22 km Rs 9,630-crore Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL), which still remains on paper.

"The MMRDA is undertaking large infrastructure projects which require huge investments. Recently, the JICA has committed to funding two major projects in the city and it has also shown interest in funding some more projects as well.

"At the same time, the World Bank has also expressed interest in funding two other proposed metro projects which we will be soon taking up," MMRDA additional metropolitan commissioner Sanjay Sethi told PTI here.

The World Bank had earlier funded two phases of Mumbai Urban Transport Projects implemented by the authority. While phase I involved Santacruz-Chembur and Jogeshwari-Vikhroli link roads, phase II was to strengthen the suburban railway networks and improving its operational efficiency.

The state government recently merged the stalled Charkop-Bandra-Mankhurd Metro line with the proposed Dahisar-Charkop corridor by converting the entire line underground instead of the originally planned elevated line.

The proposed 40.2-km Dahisar-Bandra-Mankhurd Metro line is estimated to cost Rs 28,900 crore with all the 37 stations underground.

The cost of 32-km Charkop-Bandra-Mankhurd corridor was originally pegged at Rs 7,660 crore, while the 7.8-km Charkop-Dahisar corridor was estimated to cost Rs 4,680 crore.

The state has also cleared a 30.8-km-long metro link connecting Wadala on the easter fringe to Teen Hath Naka on the northwestern fringe that will have 31 stations. The link will have 10 underground stations while the rest will be on elevated line.

Source: www.igovernment.in

Piramal Fund invests in Lotus Greens’ Noida residential project

BY  Swet Sarika, VCCircle

Piramal’s realty investment unit plans to invest as much as $1 billion towards real estate this fiscal.

Piramal Fund Management, the real estate investment arm of Piramal Group, has invested in a residential project by north-based developer Lotus Greens, two people familiar with the development told VCCircle. The investment has been made in the form of structured debt.

VCCircle could not immediately ascertain the size of the investment but it could be in the same range as its other recent deals.

Piramal recently sealed a deal with Satya Group for a Gurgaon project, where it invested Rs 100 crore. In the first deal from its separate alliance with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), it invested Rs 110 crore in a luxury residential project of Advance India Projects Ltd in Gurgaon.

The latest investment has been made in a project called Lotus Greens Arena located at sector 79, Noida. This luxury residential project is spread across 10 acres and offers 3 & 4 BHK apartments ranging from 1,495 sq. ft. to 2,395 sq. ft. The project forms a part of developer’s township Sports City.

“The deal was closed recently,” said a source quoted above.

Emails written to Khushru Jijina, managing director, Piramal Fund Management and P Sahel, vice chairman, Lotus Greens, did not elicit any response till the time of filing this story.

Lotus Greens is present across residential, commercial, hospitality, education and healthcare verticals. Founded by Nirmal Singh and led by its vice chairman P Sahel, the company has ongoing projects in Noida and Gurgaon.

As for Piramal, it plans to invest as much as $1 billion towards real estate this fiscal. In the last four months, it has invested Rs 2,000 crore on behalf of proprietary debt book and funds business. In a recent interaction with VCCircle, JIjina said he will be approving between Rs 600-800 crore of transactions every month through the rest of the year.