The property market of northern India has scaled great heights in the last few years: Says Mr Rajiv Gupta, CEO, Wave Infratech
Wave Infratech was established as the real estate arm of the Wave Group. Since then it has evolved into one of the leading players in the real estate sector and is envisioned to soon become one of the largest real estate developers in the country. It is building outstanding integrated townships which include Wave City, Wave City Center, Wave Estate and Wave Royal Castle in addition to its ground breaking commercial projects such as Wave One, Wave 1st Silver Tower and Wave HUBB. Makaan IQ team got an opportunity to have conversation with Mr Rajiv Gupta, who serves as the Chief Executive Officer of WAVE Infratech Private Limited. He is closely associated with WAVE Group for the past 14 years. He has been instrumental with the success of varied ventures of WAVE Group in the areas of film distribution, real estate (commercial), and sugar and liquor distilleries. Lets see what he has to say about realty sector and Wave infratech.
Q1. What is your medium term (9-12 months) outlook for the real estate market in India in general and North India in particular?
Considered to be the backbone of the country and second largest employer (after agriculture), the real estate sector is recovering. With consistent doses of energy from the government, we foresee that the sector is on the way out of the slump.With FDI in construction becoming a reality, the year 2015 will see the return of real estate investors. We expect that the thrust on infrastructure and sustainable economic growth will benefit the sector in the long run. We feel that the Budget's direction is positive with several macro factors making way for a better economic regime.
The budget also seems to be aligned with the agenda of Housing for all by 2022. The intention to construct 6 crore housing units for rural and urban India housing by 2022 were a positive move. This will help to fill the huge demand supply gap in housing sector and will make housing the next booming sector in India.If North India in particular is looked at in terms of real estate, Delhi NCR is one of the biggest retail markets of the country comprising nearly 27 per cent of the overall retail stock amongst the metro cities in India. The region has an interesting mix of retail development between the five micro-markets of Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, Faridabad and Ghaziabad which has evolved over the years.
Q2. How is real estate in North India different from rest of the regions in the country?
The property market of northern India has scaled great heights in the last few years. From Gurgaon to Noida to Ghaziabad and now Bharatpur to Bhiwadi in Rajasthan, the property market of northern India has evolved to a great extent. As real estate has started booming in this part of the country, Noida has clearly emerged as the most sought after realty destination in Delhi NCR.
As the country’s economy started gaining new grounds, the real estate landscape also underwent tremendous changes. Now, in the last five years, major cities across north India has joined the realty boom bandwagon. Among them tier II cities like Ghaziabad, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Manesar and Neemrana are worth mentioning. The real estate market, especially the residential segment in these cities has proliferated rapidly over the last five years
Q3. What is your opinion on Luxury or Public Housing? As a developer, which is more sustainable?
The behavior of an end- consumer has changed with time and has led to introduction of new trends & concepts in Indian real estate sector.Today people are shifting from the concept of traditional home to luxury homes to even smarter public homes, leading to the growing demand for residential property in India. This is the reason why NCR-region is observing more real estate activities mainly in Noida-Greater Noida and Ghaziabad. People aspiring for an international lifestyle and down- town concept of living are now aggressively investing into luxury and public homes.
Q4. Having so many projects completed in Delhi NCR, which of the other cities do you think home buyers should opt for a property purely from Investment purpose?
With improving connectivity, expanding cities, more and more home buyers are looking at places close to Metro cities. Some emerging locations are Manesar (Haryana), Neemrana (Rajasthan), NH8 Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh), Narela (Delhi), Dharuhera (Haryana), Bhiwadi (Rajasthan), Yelahanka (Karnataka) and Ranjanapada (Maharashtra).
Q5. What policies you look forward to from the Government and RBI that will be a relief to home buyers across India?
We expect the government to take up the impending issues which are critical for the sector’s growth, as it is India’s second largest employer and a significant growth driver for the economy. Fast-track approval process, a policy for affordable housing, an infrastructure status to real estate and setting up of a sector regulator are some of the key issues which needs attention. A regulatory environment has become imperative for the real estate sector to claw out of a crippling slowdown. This would set a framework to ensure fair practices and transparency.
Q6. What is the current trend in the Commercial Real Estate Market? How are developers meeting the increasing demand of the corporate sector? Which are the upcoming corporate bases?
With ‘tax pass through’ status for Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), commercial real estate is expected to be the next big thing in 2015.As the sector is reeling through an acute funding pressure, this initiative will give a much-needed fillip to the sector.REITs will also act as the investment vehicle in the industry. Noida has developed at a superb pace, and is today, a much sought-after destination for people and businesses alike, with some of the top most players of India Inc. setting up shop here. Noida has attracted varied industrial giants to establish a permanent base here. It is turning out to be a model city because of its development in the areas of industry commerce and trade. Noida has also emerged as realty hotspot for commercial and residential properties making it the next world class city with planned infrastructural development. Due to this impressive growth in terms of infrastructure, a large number of corporate houses have set up offices here and many more have envisaged huge expansion plans.
Q7. What can the home buyer’s expect from Wave Infratech Group over next 1-2 years?
Wave Infratech is one of the leading players in its sector, and is en route to becoming one of the largest real estate developers in the country, with ground breaking projects like Wave City Center, Wave One, Wave 1st Silver Tower and outstanding integrated townships like Wave City and Wave Estate.With its pioneering spirit, passion for excellence and commitment, Wave Infratech has already delivered quality projects such The Wave Silver Tower in Noida, Plumeria Garden (its first residential project) in Greater Noida, and Wave Greens in Moradabad.