Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday invited Indian real estate developers to partner with Israeli companies to boost productivity and profitability.
“You can increase the productivity and profitability of your enterprises by partnering with Israelis who are eager to partner with you to seize the future together,” Netanyahu said while addressing the realty developer’s apex body Credai conference here through video messaging.
Israel and India are already collaborating on many areas such as security, agriculture, cyber and IT, and now construction and real estate.
In terms of growth opportunities, Indian office stock is expected to touch 1 billion sq ft by the end of 2030, from the current level of 600 million sq ft, said a Credai-CBRE joint report released here. According to the report, India is projected to have a $9-billion economic opportunity by 2030, wherein the per capita income could touch $5,625 for a population of around 1.5 billion with required annual infrastructure spending of 7-8% of GDP.
“India continues to remain a highpriority market for its long-term growth potential as is evident from the increased investment flows in the past few years. The government’s $5-trillion mission and vision of a ‘New India’ imply that top industries contributing to our economy like real estate need to usher in transformative measures which can help shape these goals,” said Credai president Satish Magar.
Real estate, which remained under the spotlight over the past five years for various policy and regulatory measures, is now seeking government’s attention mainly to resolve the liquidity crunch to help complete stalled and delayed projects.
A series of reforms including the implementation of Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Act, 2016, the Goods & Services Act, amendment to Benami Transaction (Prohibition) Act and the decision to demonetize high-value currency notes has certainly been helping in formalising the sector.
However, residential real estate has been witnessing sluggish sales momentum causing liquidity pressure for realty developers. The liquidity crisis had been growing for a while, and the IL&FS and NBFC crisis in the second half of 2018 further added to the stress. This, in turn, has led to a major challenge: stalled and delayed projects across the country.
“The recent changes (in business environment and at the policy level) have made developers more customer-centric…we need to find a solution to stalled projects and their financing,” said HDFC MD Renu Sud Karnad.
She believes that while the sector is going through a tough phase, it’s a passing one. However, it’s time for developers to relook, review and build robust compliance for businesses.