Benami Act, which prevents the hoarders of black money from registering their

properties and assets under other people’s names, such as poorer family
members/servants etc. The benami owners of the property and other assets would
have to provide source of income for the said acquisition and if the person was
unable to name the source of income (even if gifted), then the property/asset would
be sealed. An added prevention method of linking Aadhaar card further demotivates
benami properties from being registered. These steps will decrease the amount of
cash being pumped into the real estate segment.

The real estate sector is one of the most globally recognized sectors.
In India, real estate is the second largest employer after agriculture and is slated to
grow at 30 per cent over the next decade.

The real estate sector comprises four sub sectors - housing, retail, hospitality, and
commercial.

The growth of this sector is well complemented by the growth of the corporate
environment and the demand for office space as well as urban and semi-urban
accommodations.
Office space has been driven mostly by growth in ITeS/IT,BFSI, consulting and
manufacturing. Office space leasing increased by over 10 per cent to cross 20
million square feet in the first half of 2018.

It is also expected that this sector will incur more non-resident Indian (NRI)
investments in both the short term and the long term. Bengaluru is expected to be
the most favoured property investment destination for NRIs, followed by
Ahmedabad, Pune, Chennai, Goa, Delhi and Dehradun.

Market Size
The Indian real estate market is expected to touch US$ 180 billion by 2020. Housing
sector is expected to contribute around 11 per cent to India’s GDP by 2020. Retail,
hospitality and commercial real estate are also growing significantly, providing the
much-needed infrastructure for India's growing needs.

India is expected to witness an upward rise in the number of real estate deals in
2018, on the back of policy changes that have made the market more transparent.

Sectors such as IT and ITeS, retail, consulting and e-commerce have registered high
demand for office space in recent times. Office space demand in the country
increased 23 per cent year-on-year in January-March 2018.

Private equity inflows in office and IT/ITES real estate have grown 150 per cent
between 2014 and 2017 with tier 1 and 2 cities being the prime beneficiaries.
backed by a strong attraction towards office sector.
Investments/Developments

The Indian real estate sector has witnessed high growth in recent times with the rise
in demand for office as well as residential spaces.

Some of the major investments in this sector are as follows:

 In May 2018, Blackstone Group acquired One Indiabulls in Chennai from

Indiabulls Real Estate for around Rs 900 crore (US$ 136.9 million).
 In February 2018, DLF bought 11.76 acres of land for Rs 15 billion (US$
231.7 million) for its expansion in Gurugram, Haryana.

GOVT
The Government of India along with the governments of the respective states has
taken several initiatives to encourage the development in the sector. The Smart City
Project, where there is a plan to build 100 smart cities, is a prime opportunity for the
real estate companies. Below are some of the other major Government Initiatives:

 In May 2018, construction of additional 150,000 affordable houses was

sanctioned under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), Urban.

Road Ahead
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has given its approval for the
Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) platform which will help in allowing all kinds of
investors to invest in the Indian real estate market. It would create an opportunity
worth Rs 1.25 trillion (US$ 19.65 billion) in the Indian market over the years.
Responding to an increasingly well-informed consumer base and, bearing in mind
the aspect of globalisation, Indian real estate developers have shifted gears and
accepted fresh challenges.

The most marked change has been the shift from family owned businesses to that
of professionally managed ones. Real estate developers, in meeting the growing
need for managing multiple projects across cities, are also investing in centralised
processes to source material and organise manpower and hiring qualified
professionals in areas like project management, architecture and engineering.

The growing flow of FDI into Indian real estate is encouraging increased
transparency. Developers, in order to attract funding, have revamped their
accounting and management systems to meet due diligence standards.
Exchange Rate Used: INR 1 = US$ 0.0155 as on March 30, 2018
India's real estate market is expected to reach US$ 180 billion
by 2020 from US$ 126 billion in 2015. Emergence of nuclear
families, rapid urbanisation and rising household income are
likely to remain the key drivers for growth in all spheres of real
estate, including residential, commercial and retail. Rapid
urbanisation in the country is pushing the growth of real estate.
More than 70 per cent of India’s GDP will be contributed by the
urban areas by 2020. Housing sector is expected to contribute
around 11 per cent to India’s GDP by 2020.

The Government of India has been supportive to the real estate sector. In August
2015, the Union Cabinet approved 100 Smart City Projects in India. The Government
has also raised FDI limits for townships and settlements development projects to 100
per cent. Real estate projects within the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) are also
permitted 100 per cent FDI. Government of India’s Housing for All initiative is
expected to bring US$ 1.3 trillion investments in the housing sector by 2025. Under
Union Budget 2018-19, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) (Gramin) was
allocated Rs 33,000 crore (US$ 5.10 billion) while the urban programme of the
scheme was allocated Rs 31,500 crore (US$ 4.87 billion).