The real estate sector is expected to witness more joint developments and joint ventures to complete stressed projects.

Gaurav Sawhney

- COO, Piramal Realty

What is your outlook on the RE sector in Mumbai, the growth drivers, and how sustainable the growth trends?

MMR has led the revival in residential property sales as well as new launches in the second half of this year. We have witnessed a consistent increase in sales over the last few quarters across our entire portfolio from value housing segment in Thane to luxury apartments in South Mumbai. The recovery is close to pre Covid-19 levels and this growth in the last quarter was fueled by the positive government interventions around stamp duty, interest rate cuts and offers by developers.

Currently, most of the evolving suburbs in Mumbai are witnessing projects that are designed to suit the budgets of end consumers and are well connected in terms of social and physical infrastructures. We expect this momentum in sales to continue through the year.

These suburbs offer superior infrastructure, excellent connectivity, access to healthcare facilities, educational institutions and entertainment facilities that position them as ideal destinations for residential housing.

With improving connectivity between the business districts and peripheral areas, considerably reducing transit time, there is a potential for markets like Thane, Navi-Mumbai, Kalyan-Dombivali belt, making them established real estate destinations within the city.

What are the current challenges, and what further regulatory / policy reforms do you expect for the sector's sustainable growth? 

The Government's decision to reduce stamp duty and premiums in Maharashtra along with reduction in interest on home loans has helped boost sentiments towards residential real estate. The importance of home ownership has gained precedence over renting during the pandemic. We expect the sector to consolidate further and the market share of reputed developers would continue to grow during the next few years. 

The real estate sector is expected to witness more joint developments and joint ventures to complete stressed projects. This trend will eventually benefit only the consumers, as financially weak developers are weeded out, and incomplete projects will see the light of day. We believe that a liquidity-starved realty sector needs more stress funds. Institutions need to consider establishing such reserves and extend credit facilities to a developer for last-mile funding to complete stalled projects.

With the economic situation seeing improvement in the second half of 2020, most of the efforts have been directed towards the execution and delivery of projects. The need of the hour is to support the real estate sector in the form of project finance as the industry helps generate jobs, thus augmenting economic growth.

How Information Communication Technology - ICT and digital platforms have impacted the sector in the entire eco-system?

Globally and in India, the real estate sector has been adopting digital tools to reach out to their customers, and Information Communication Technology has been a game-changer in transforming the industry. At Piramal Realty, we have employed innovative and cutting-edge technologies across our projects, as we believe that technology and real estate will become inseparable going forward. The current pandemic is likely to increase the influence of online channels even further.

The year 2020 saw us introducing unique propositions across our portfolio. We introduced real time booking of apartments for our consumers and enabled them with a virtual journey to enable ease of booking. With this offering, our customers were able to experience an enriched journey to view and select apartments on their desired floor without leaving the comfort of their homes. Some of the other emerging tools being developed are 3D tours, AR & VR, artificial intelligence, amongst others. 

Tell us about your footprint in Mumbai and projects on the pipeline in Mumbai.  

Our current portfolio offers an array of luxurious residential establishments across the city - Piramal Mahalaxmi, Piramal Vaikunth (Thane), Piramal Revanta (Mulund), Piramal Aranya (Byculla - Rani Baug) and state-of-art corporate park, Piramal Agastya (Near BKC). We have delivered the first phase at Piramal Agastya, which is situated in Mumbai's business district, Kurla. The property offers a unique business address with premium offices for our customers.

The focus for this year has been directed towards the execution and delivery of projects. We expect to deliver the first phase of our projects in Thane, Mulund and Byculla in next 1-2 years. We have always been mindful of our vision and values that are deeply entrenched with the culture and traditions that we follow. We aim to showcase our projects by building a community of culture and tradition that binds family-living. All our projects are centrally located and built near iconic places with exceptional connectivity and amenities, making it an ideal choice for homebuyers.

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