A substantial raise to the low interest rate cap for loans will highly be beneficial for the realty sector.

What are the key continuing challenges which you foresee impacting the economy as a whole, and the real estate sector post easing out of lockdown in stages?

Covid-19 has affected economies and industries across the world in different ways and with varying levels of severity. The fundamental challenge remains the same: to continue operating and doing business in a world where physical human interaction is inherently risky. This will remain until vaccines have been approved and rolled out to the majority of the population. As a direct result of this, job creation will be a key hurdle to overcome in order to revitalise the economy. Our hope is that as infections peak and the curve begins to flatten, the pace of our recovery will quicken.

In terms of real estate, we have seen the residential sector already making strides towards pre-pandemic levels since July 2020. We foresee other sectors following suit in the near to medium term. This will, of course, be closely linked to continuing governmental support and further reductions in interest rates.

Are there any green shoots visible after the announcement of the stimulus packages / and RBI's rate cuts on the realty sector?

While the efforts thus far have provided much needed support, more needs to be done - to maintain stability of the sector, and aid us further in job creation and successful completion of projects. With India's infection rate rising to the 2nd highest in the world, and vaccine approvals, production and subsequent rollouts expected in early-to-mid 2021 at the earliest, continued support from the government and the RBI is vital.  We are witnessing a steady rise in demand from homebuyers. This can be attributed to both the lowering cost of finance and increased time at home. Never before has a well-designed home with access to beautifully preserved public spaces and world-class amenities been so desirable. We, at Prestige Group, are proud to be able to offer our customers exactly that.

Has it brought a positive change in the cash flow and the supply chain?

Cash flow and supply chain issues have eased somewhat but additional support and intervention from the government is required to prevent recurrences of the problems the industry witnessed earlier in the year.

What is the expected time frame for the economy to be back to normalcy? What further measures do you expect?

Everything depends on India's ability to contain the virus and the eventual inoculation of the population. The gradual easing of lockdowns and the advent of the festive season have already begun to positively impact the economy. We are seeing increased footfalls in our malls, higher rates of occupancy in our office parks and robust sales in our residential offerings.

Further positive policies and interest rate reductions will also help tremendously, and our hope is that the government and RBI will continue these measures into 2021 as well. A real estate specific change that we would consider highly beneficial would be a substantial raise to the low interest rate cap for loans, which at present is at INR 30 lakhs. Opening this to higher loan amounts would considerably boost sales and ease cash flow issues.

Post gradual opening-up, how do you see the impact on the investment scenario in realty sector?

Throughout this year, we have witnessed strong interest from investors especially in the NRI segment, and expect this to continue in tandem with the current interest climate. As things open up, we see domestic investor sentiment improving as well. Even at the moment, money is available for the right kind of asset and investors are simply evaluating projects more thoroughly. Presently, we are witnessing healthy demand in the residential segment.

As a leader in the industry, this is actually proving beneficial for Prestige Group as our impeccable reputation and track record is more attractive to prospective investors than ever before.

What further measures, steps should the government undertake towards the migrant labourers and employment creation in the realty sector?

The pandemic has laid bare a number of areas that require improvement in order to increase the resilience of the economy going forward. In realty and a number of other industries, the complete lack of protection for daily wagers has been brought to sharp focus. Huge numbers have been adversely affected by this crisis. According to the 2011 census, India's internal migrant population stands at 45.36 crores or 37% of the population. Hence, regulation in this area is a dire requirement. For example, at the start of the pandemic, the central government allotted nearly 52,000 crore as short-term relief to construction workers across the country. However, due to the disorganisation of the sector and the lack of registration of these workers with their respective state welfare boards, a huge number of them could not access the funds and were left in the lurch.

Having said this, at Prestige Group we believe in taking care of our own. As soon as the lockdown was announced, through the Prestige Foundation, we started providing freshly-prepared meals and provisions to daily wage workers, underprivileged children and the needy across the cities of Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kochi daily. Over the course of the lockdown, we served over 1.3 mn meals, as well as provisions and medical kits for the month to over 20,000 families, hospitals and orphanages. Moreover, we also set up a 24-hour national helpline to aid the needy.

However, developers alone cannot be and should not be relied on to take care of such a large segment of the population. Therefore, it is imperative that the government learns from this crisis to start putting more regulations in place to protect this sector better.

Post pandemic era, how do you envision the transformation of design / construction processes, marketing and supply chain management, especially with the advent of disruptive technologies?

The future of every business has been affected in ways both large and small by the pandemic. With respect to real estate, I expect an increased appetite in investments in automated construction techniques and a virtualisation of marketing and other activities. The industry will want to be less vulnerable to similar crises going forward and will adapt accordingly. In recent years, disruptive technologies such as 3D printing have begun to emerge and we anticipate an increase in research and development into technologies such as these.

For instance, in the not too distant future, brick and mortar retail which is best exemplified by malls, and online retail will begin to converge, and will borrow best practices and business models from each other. Brick and mortar will start using technology as an accelerator for growth. The advantages of data and analytics, which are today the exclusive domain of online retail, will be harvested by brick and mortar retail as well. With that brick and mortar retail will become more capable of predicting customer behaviour and individualizing customer satisfaction. This will also lead to changes in business models and cost structures including distribution channels, which will ultimately lead to brick and mortar retail becoming more service-oriented as well as points of fulfilment for online orders. The mix in brick and mortar retail will also change with greater focus on social connect, sustainability and becoming the community platform for the catchments they serve. In the evolution of brick and mortar retail, the trajectory of change had begun even before Covid-19, and the interruption caused by Covid-19 will only serve as an accelerator whose origins predate the interruption.

How have you been able to realign the business creating value through different strategies during this pandemic?

Over the three and a half decades, we have seen many crises come and go. This has built our resilience, adaptability and an unwavering belief in ourselves and our employees' ability to overcome adversity.

Adapting to this crisis, all our launches since the pandemic began have been completely virtual. This has allowed our customers, stakeholders and the general public to be involved from around the world -  something we had not taken advantage of previously physical launches required people to be present at the property. Through virtual site tours, video calls and innovative visualisation, Prestige Group empowers consumers to make informed property purchase decisions. The adoption of VR ensures that customers don't feel cheated of the property buying experience that they are accustomed to. For those who are not so tech-savvy, we have dedicated executives trained to handhold customers through the virtual process.

What is your outlook for the next couple of years and what will be the major trends and how geared up is Prestige?

We believe that the post-pandemic era will be a continuation of the Indian growth story that has been unfolding since the early 1990s. We see every crisis as a test of our resilience, adaptability and an opportunity to identify and eliminate vulnerabilities in our business. With that view, adversity provides valuable learnings that the discerning eye can identify and capitalise on for the future. We already see homebuyers realising the value of purchasing their homes from a reputable developer like Prestige Group. Our track record gives them the assurance that regardless of future crises, their investment will be in safe hands. We also see that prospective homeowners now appreciate the value of a well-designed and constructed home, in a future where a lot more time may be spent at home. With globalisation increasingly under threat and many Western nations moving away from pro-immigration policy, we have witnessed a rapid increase in NRI investment appetite, and this should continue to grow with time.

Prestige Group is well placed to capitalise on these and many more opportunities that will present themselves going forward. As our many launches (both completed and upcoming in 2020) will attest, we approach the future with unbridled optimism and a desire stronger than ever to offer our customers world-class residential, commercial, retail and hospitality products and services.

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