Investors who have missed the soft- ware boom have not missed it all they are all set to capitalize on the real estate boom. The real estate boom is apparently spreading unabated across the length and breadth of the country. Of late, investment in this sector has been vindicated to be the best and the most fruitful option in India. The Indian real estate market has been estimated to grow from US$12 bn to US$50 bn by 2010. Saroj Kumar Poddar, President, FICCI, also opines that the real estate industry is estimated to grow at a rate of 30% per annum by contributing to 14-15% of national GDP.
Real estate, also known as realty, includes immovable property like land along with anything that is permanently attached to it like buildings, fixtures, etc. Until 1990s, real estate industry in India was highly fragmented with a large number of small players. There were very few major players with wide presence. Most of the real estate space was controlled by state-owned development bodies. Stringent legislations and lack of transparency hindered the growth of this sector. Nevertheless, during 1991-95, the industry witnessed an upturn which was followed by a subsequent downturn during 1995-99.
However, post-1999, the property prices have stabilized and looked more realistic. Liberalization of real estate industry coupled with booming Indian economy has facilitated the robust growth of Indian real estate market in the past few years. In the earlier days, only residential and office spaces contributed significantly to the realty space. However, this perception has undergone a paradigm shift in recent years, when its scope increased to include space for other sectors like IT and IT-enabled services (call centers), retail (shopping malls), hospitality (hotels and restaurants), entertainment (theaters and resorts), SEZs, etc. The development of these sectors has also driven the growth of real estate industry. |
