Latest Property News on 'Kolkata'

Kolkata has the Highest Purchasing Power among Metros

An ongoing study at Indian Statistical Institute, or ISI, has revealed that Kolkata has the highest per capita purchasing power among all metros. The reason: smaller population and low poverty compared with other metros. Household expenditure in Kolkata was found to be Rs1,822 per person per month on average, which is much higher than other metros such as Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore. Chennai comes second, with a monthly per capita household expenditure of Rs1,570. Hyderabad comes third, followed by Mumbai, Bangalore and New Delhi. Data for the study was collected in 2004-05 by the National Sample Survey Organisation, or NSSO, under its so- called large sample survey of household consumer expenditure, which is conducted every five years. Under the survey, NSSO collects data on consumption of almost all household goods and services. For the first time, the data is being analysed separately for all rural and urban districts.

The data collected by NSSO was adjusted for regional price variations and differences in cost of living in each city, according to Buddhadeb Ghosh, associate scientist at ISI’s economic research unit, who is conducting the study. Real estate developers tasted Kolkata’s purchasing power during the economic downturn “The formula that we used to adjust the data was discussed and agreed upon by statisticians of ISI,” he added. For instance, Jatinder S. Dhindsa, regional manager of Maruti Suzuki India Ltd in Kolkata, who said “In Delhi, Maruti sells around 12,000 cars a month, whereas in Kolkata, we sell 1,600. Kolkata is yet a very important market for our company, but it’s very surprising that purchasing power in Kolkata is higher than in Delhi or Mumbai.” Read More »

Commercial Rentals Witness Steep Decline in Metros

Commercial real estate rentals in Mumbai and New Delhi have seen a steep decline of 24 per cent in the January-March quarter over the previous quarter of the financial year 2008-09, according to a research report by Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj (JLLM), a property consultancy firm. “The biggest decline in commercial rentals have been in Mumbai and Delhi, down 24 per cent in the January-March quarter, followed by Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune, which were down 10-15% from the previous quarter,” the report said. Further, as inventory piles up, rentals for commercial property do not appear to be heading north anytime soon. According to the report, “By the end of 2009, the total stock of ‘Grade A’ office space in Mumbai would exceed Bangalore, which has the highest stock at present.”

“There is plenty of inventory available. So, there is lot of scope for negotiation. Rentals have fallen across parts of New Delhi, but Gurgaon and Noida have seen the biggest decline. The average rate in Connaught Place, the business district of New Delhi, is around Rs 400 per sq ft,” said Ajay Rathore, CEO of Century 21 Integrated Property Solutions, a brokerage firm in New Delhi. “India’s property market has cooled down following several years of rapidly rising rentals and aggressive development activity. Prime office rentals in the best sub-markets of Mumbai and New Delhi have fallen by 10-25% from the levels recorded at the end of 2007. Both cities continue to have huge development pipelines. However, financing woes have led to delays in planned projects,” said a research report from Knight Frank Newman Global’s annual review of global real estate. Read More »

Downturn Forces Ahmadabad Developers to Foray in Education Sector

Sensing that the downturn in the real estate business is here to stay for some time, a number of city-based developers are turning to the education industry to earn the big profits they used to earn as realtors. The shift of interest is so pronounced that sources in the real estate sector expect as much 2,000 acres of land in Ahmedabad with almost 2 crore sq feet of construction, to be occupied by education-related businesses. Ritesh Hada, director of United World School of Business, had earlier investments in the real estate business as well, but he has now restricted his activities almost completely to the education industry. He is launching an MBA institute at Gurukul, near Drive-in road, and at two other places — Mumbai and Kolkata — simultaneously.

Explaining his limiting himself to the education sector, Hada said that thousands of students of the state migrate to metros or foreign countries every year for higher education. “We realised that there is a need for more institutions for higher education,” he said. “Hence, we decided to use our ongoing real estate projects to house new education institutes.” Hada said that his experience in the education industry had convinced him that institutions that offered an MBA degree with practical exposure were urgently needed. He said that the institute that he plans to open would have state-of-the-art facilities and faculty from IIM-A. Read More »

Kolkata SEZs Stuck Because of LLRD Refusal

Several SEZs in West Bengal are stuck even after receiving all formal approvals, because of the refusal of the state land and land reforms department (LLRD) to record the change in status of the land from farm land to one eligible for industrial use. The failure of the land reforms department has also held up finalisation of the financing package for the SEZs because the proposals could not be placed before bankers with the land recorded as agricultural land. For instance, the IT park adjoining the Calcutta Leather Complex in Bantala has become a dumping ground for pollutants.

Around 130 acres, out of the 1,200 acres of the leather complex, was sanctioned for the IT park in 2006, and the facility was to be commissioned by the first quarter of 2010. Around 17 companies, including Cognizant Technology Services, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra and Patni Computers, purchased land for approximately Rs 75 lakh per acre. However, as of now, hardly 25 per cent of the 130 acres has been developed. According to officials in Infinity Infotech, which had acquired four acres, work could not start if pollution levels were so high. According to Ramesh Juneja, the president of the Calcutta Leather Complex Tanners’ Association, a leather complex and an IT park cannot exist side by side as leather is a polluting industry and IT requires a clean environment. Read More »

Kolkata IT Sector looks for commercial space

As the real estate market has started showing signs of stability, several IT and telecom companies have already started actively looking at space in the city, especially in Rajarhat and Salt Lake Sector V areas, for setting up operations. According to Mayank Saksena, head – transactions, Kolkata, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, “From January onwards, we have been tackling an increase in live enquiries in Kolkata. The rate of enquiries is significantly higher than in cities such as Hyderabad. Chennai, Pune and Bangalore, primarily because Kolkata has a large number of old business houses that have been occupying prime spaces in the central business district (CBD). These entities are now in the process of shifting to suburban locations such as Rajarhat and Sector V in Salt Lake because of the huge difference in the cost of occupancy as well as the quality of buildings there. Typically, these clients have been occupying B-grade projects in the CBD, due to a dearth of A-grade buildings. However, these suburbs now offer A-grade buildings, which are available at reasonable occupancy costs in the suburbs.”

“While Kolkata has not, so far, witnessed the rate of company consolidation evident in cities like Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi, we expect a step-up in consolidation in the coming quarter. This is because occupancy costs are now becoming a primary criterion even in Kolkata,” Saksena said. Real estate developers Srijan and P S Group have jointly built what is Bengal’s first telecom park to house telecom and ITeS companies. According to Shyam Agarwal, chairman of Srijan, “Srijan and P S Group have jointly invested Rs 100 crore into the 5 lakh sq ft telecom park. Already Tata Teleservices and Idea Cellular have taken possession within the building.” Read More »

Marlin Group Unveils New Residential Project in Kolkata

Kolkata-based real estate company Merlin Group has unveiled a premium residential complex called Merlin Cambridge. Coming up along the Prince Anwar Shah Road, the Rs 100 crore, high-end residential project spread over 1, 61,698 sq ft, is expected to be ready by 2011. Merlin Cambridge will have 92 dwelling units in three sizes – 1,840 sq ft, 2,078 sq ft and 3,910 sq ft. The price would range between Rs 97 lakh and Rs 2 crore, according to its top official. Demand for high-end houses is still there. Despite the economic crisis, there has been an increase in the number of double-income families, high-salaried people. Their high purchasing and borrowing powers and easy availability of home finance, have contributed significantly to the growth of luxury housing segment. We are targeting consumers who want to upgrade their lifestyle and living standard in terms of quality, infrastructure and world class amenities,” said Sushil Mohta, MD, Merlin Group.

Prince Anwar Shah Road is one of the most upcoming arterial roads of south Kolkata, well-connected to high-end residential area — Jodhpur Park, Southern Avenue, New Alipore, Alipore, Golpark, Ballygunje and Bhawanipore. It has high-end residential complexes, malls, departmental stores and other facilities. The locality hogged the limelight when the South City project, the tallest and biggest housing project in eastern India came up here last year. The complex housing a 23-storey building would have a landscaped rooftop garden, community hall, children’s play area and parking facility for 200 cars. “The Princeton Club would have a lounge bar, a multi-cuisine restaurant and banquet facilities,” Mohta added.

Nano Pushes Housing Sales in Kolkata

Nano has turned out to be a freebie option for real estate developers lookingto perk up housing demand. One Kolkata-based real estate company has decided to give the car “free” with a flat for its first 50 buyers. RDB Developers has booked around 50 Nano cars with Tata Motors for giving it free with flats in one of its residential projects in Sonarpur, South 24-Parganas. The realty firm has sold 24 apartments in the last two days, said Ravi Pincha, director, RDB Industries. “We have seen an overwhelming response for the the apartments, and have received more than 130 enquiries in the last two days,” he said. The company might place orders for more Nanos, said Pincha.

Spread over 50 acres, the first phase of the RDB project at Sonarpur will be over by December this year. With a project cost of around Rs 50 crore, the company is selling flats at about Rs 1,755 per square feet, with a 918 square feet flat costing about Rs 17 lakh. The highest price of the apartment is close to Rs 26 lakh, spread over 1,430 square feet. The price is higher than the prevailing prices in Sonarpur, which are varying between Rs 800-1,000 per square feet at present. RDB has put about 176 apartments in six blocks for sale in the first phase. In the months of October-November last year, several property developers had started advertising freebies to attract customers. However, with the sale of residential projects gradually picking up, not many developers are offering add-ons to attract customers. Read More »

Retail and Real Estate Projects on hold in Kolkata

Around 100 small and large retail and real estate projects in Kolkata are being delayed or deferred due to the financial credit crunch. According to analysts and industry insiders, increased retail development in Kolkata and in its suburbs had nearly doubled real estate prices over the last few years. However, although 40 to 50 projects are lined up in the city currently, around 100 projects are delayed or deferred due to credit crunch as well as because of uncertainty over projects’ viability and sustenance.

As per report, projects like City Centre II, Lake Mall, Terminus Mall, Axis Mall and Avani Riverside mall in Howrah, are already running behind schedule. According to Mr Mayank Saksena head of transactions in Kolkata, Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj, around 40 to 50 projects are lined up for Kolkata while around 100 have been delayed. On an average, each of these projects is of approximately 200,000 square feet priced at an average of INR 3,000 per sq ft. Mr Saksena added that “The best performing local developer is currently Bengal Ambuja. Local developers deliver very satisfactory products at lower prices. For instance, Bengal Unitech is charging INR 3,200 per sq ft in Rajarhat, while other local developers charge INR 2,500 per sq ft for comparable projects.” Read More »

Residential Project Kolkata Gains Momentum

The real estate sector is finally showing signs of revival, on the back of an increasing investment in the residential segment. Property developers are of the view that there has been a significant improvement in demand in the last couple of months, and at lease one has increased prices in the last one month. Pradeep Chopra of PS Group, said he had increased prices for one of its projects by Rs 200 per square feet to Rs 1,899 per square feet in the last one month. Several real estate developers are also planning to launch new projects, which they have been holding for the last six months, which could be seen as a manifestation of demand revival.

“The demand for residential projects has started picking up, and the worst is probably over for the real estate sector. Property prices should look up in the coming months,” said Chopra. P S Group is planning to launch two new residential projects in Narendrapur and Rajarhat by May this year. Harshvardhan Neotia, chairman, Ambuja Realty, also agreed that demand for housing projects had started picking up since last month. Property prices in Kolkata and its fringes has seen a correction of almost 25 per cent in the last six months. Santosh Rungta, president, Confederation Of Real Estate Developers Association Of India (Credai), said, “The real estate scenario is now taking a turn for the better, not only in the eastern part, but across the country. For instance, in Mumbai, there are reports that one developer could sell 700 flats in just two days.” Read More »

Kolkata’s Real Estate Recovering Slowly

It’s still early days, but Kolkata’s property turf appears to be recovering slowly if responses at the city at the recently concluded property fair, Realty Expo 2009, is any indication. The city’s annual property exhibition witnessed record footfalls, enquiries and residential spot bookings. The state chapter of Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (Credai-Bengal) — the apex industry body and organisers of the fair, claims the number of spot bookings nearly doubled this year compared to the 30-odd recorded in 2008. What’s more. The fair saw an unprecedented degree of footfalls with some 12,500 people visiting this year, a near 20% jump against the last edition.

“We did not anticipate such a turnout for the fair, especially since market sentiment has been negative in the past few months. It has come as a pleasant surprise, especially for the 60-odd realtors who participated in the property fair. Apart from spot business, developers are now confident of accomplishing significant incremental business in the coming weeks,” feels Credai Bengal president Pradeep Sureka. Rough industry estimates suggest that spot business during the fair could well exceed Rs 10-to-15 crore. Credai officials, however, claim it’s the ‘quantity’ that matters in this market rather than the value. Says leading realtor PS Group chairman & managing director Pradip Chopra, “There were many more serious buyers this time. Consumers have long been waiting in the wings for a good deal and the fair offered just that.” Read More »