Dr Niranjan Hiranandani, the patriarch of Indian real estate, offers insights into Indian real estate and urges NRIs to invest in the Indian real estate that is now transparent and offers better value per AED or US$ spent
- Investment by expatriate Indians in Indian property doubles, from $5 billion in 2014 to $10.2 billion in 2018
- Indian real estate market expected to touch $180 billion by 2020
- New housing launches across top seven cities in India increased 27% y-o-y in January-March 2018
- Housing expected to contribute around 11 per cent to India’s GDP by 2020
- Rise in real estate deals through 2018 driven by policy changes and enhanced transparency
- Private equity investments in Indian real estate increased 15 per cent year-on-year in January-March 2018 to Rs16,530 crore (US$2.56 billion)
- Private equity investments in Indian real estate are estimated to grow to US$100 billion by 2026
- India’s construction sector received Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) equity inflows to the tune of US$24.67 billion in the period April 2000-December 2017
Sound regulatory environment, increased transparency and accountability as well as the establishment of escrow accounts under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA), coupled with a favourabe exchange rate for Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) make investment in Indian real estate a lucrative options against other asset classes, according to Dr Niranjan Hiranandani, President of the National Real Estate Development Council (NAREDCO), which works under the aegis of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India.
“New housing launches across top seven cities in India have increased 27 per cent year-on-year in January-March 2018,” Dr. Niranjan Hiranandani, who is also the Co-Founder and Managing Director of Hiranandani Group, told the GCC media at a press briefing in Dubai.
“The Indian Government has launched various initiatives, including ‘101 Smart Cities’ as also ‘Housing for All by 2022’, which have led to positive results. Similarly, the focus on affordable housing as a segment which has been given infrastructure status as also other benefits including taxation benefits and subvention schemes has resulted in this segment getting a boost. It all leads to a positive situation, which is apt for expatriate Indians to invest in.”
Buying a ‘home, back home’ is a matter of sentiment; but Investments by expatriate Indians in Indian real estate have steadily grown over the past few years. Recent media reports mention investments by expatriate Indians in Indian real estate having doubled ‑ from US$5 billion in 2014 to US$10.2 billion in 2018.
To a large extent, this follows the new regulatory regime which has made Indian real estate more transparent and increased the Indian real estate developers’ accountability in terms of possession deadlines and quality of construction. The recent global currency value fluctuations have made it a sweeter deal for the expatriate Indians, whose purchasing power vis-à-vis the Indian rupee has gone up.
Growth in the Indian real estate market is being driven by the fast rate at which urbanization is happening. A recent survey mentioned India’s urban population as expected to reach 800 million in the next 30 to 35 years, becoming equal in size to India’s rural population. “Given this, it has become imperative for the Indian Housing Industry to accentuate and rise to the occasion and match the demand,” said Dr. Hiranandani.
Hiranandani Group, which is among the leading luxury real estate developers in India. Based in Mumbai, the Hiranandani Group and its affiliated companies have on-going projects in Mumbai, Thane, Panvel and Chennai, where expatriate Indians have traditionally bought 12 to 18 per cent of the total off-take in their projects across the past few years.