Since its inception in 1975, Puravankara has believed that there is only one mantra for success: Quality. This credo combined with uncompromising values, customer-centricity, robust engineering, and transparency in business operations, has placed it among the ‘most preferred’ real estate brands in both residential and commercial segments. While talking to Estrade, Mr. Ashish Puravankara, MD Puravankara Projects Ltd spoke about the parameters they consider before taking up any project, the market scenario and ‘Housing for All by 2022’ and ‘100 Smart Cities’ a government initiative.
Give us an understanding of your company’s journey since its inception?
Puravankara Projects started its journey 40 years back in 1975 with one clear vision – to build a company that aspires to provide quality homes with the highest levels of integrity and transparency. We pioneered in providing the amenities of a luxury home at affordable prices.
We commenced our operations in Mumbai and over time, we built up a strong presence in other metropolitan cities such as Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Coimbatore, and Mysore. We have a sizeable overseas presence in Dubai, Colombo and Saudi Arabia.
Over the years, Puravankara has grown from strength to strength – having successfully completed many residential and two commercial projects. Currently, we have 24 million square feet of projects under development. The company has now laid out a detailed five-year plan to achieve an annual sales of over 13.3 million square feet by 2020. The area under execution is targeted at approximately 55 million square feet, thereby increasing our development capacity by more than double in the next five years.
Apart from sales, we have recently embarked on an organizational transformation exercise to charter our next phase of growth. We aspire to transform Puravankara into a performance-driven, lean and strong organization by leveraging our expertise in the areas of land acquisition, design and innovation, and marketing. Our main focus will be to bring in more efficiencies and ensure timely deliveries.
How do you see the real estate market poised in India Today?
The Indian real estate market is cautiously optimistic. We have witnessed that key micro markets are continuing to do well and are stable. There is an increasing demand for the right products offered at the right prices. Modern homebuyers want value for money, finishes with finesse and top-of-the-line amenities. There is a demand for luxury and premium projects by Grade A Developers, especially at the launch stage and this is reflective of the consumer behaviour.
The South Indian markets have been more stable as these are end-user driven with stable economic activity, migratory population and an excellent socio-cultural background. The pricing of real estate in the Southern markets have been more realistic and are still very affordable.
“There is also an increasing demand for Commercial development, as large Global corporations are setting up their Headquarters in various cities, resulting in substantial housing needs across all segments.”
REIT and FDI, which will dominate the market for Real Estate and Infra projects over next 2 years?
FDI has always been available for the Real estate sector. FDI offers stability of over 3 – 5 years medium to long term and the current relaxation in FDI norms has also been a significant boost. With reference to REIT, we are awaiting clarity on tax exposures which may get addressed in the upcoming Budget.
What parameters do you consider before taking up a project?
We consider location to be one of the most important parameters while taking up a project. Apart from well developed areas across regions, we invest in micro markets that have the potential for rapid infrastructure development and price appreciation. Excellent connectivity to central areas of the city, commercial activity and the social economic fabric are some of the essentials for housing communities.
Which segment, Real Estate, commercial or infra, do you think will contribute maximum, in revenue terms, over the next 2 years?
In the medium term, Real estate is set to do well with significant activity returning across segments. The Residential segment is seeing growth with different micro markets being developed, providing rapid infrastructure growth leading to vast housing needs. Developers are offering projects catering to all segments of the society starting from low cost, premium affordable to theme based luxury projects. Consumers are now able to choose to invest in a project at the pre-launch, the construction stage or even ready to move in apartments, depending on their needs and disposable income. The commercial space absorption across locations has also been very high, leading to an increase in the market share. Due to the long gestation periods, infrastructure projects will start yielding revenues in the longer term.
How do you think realty firms would benefit from government’s flagship schemes such as ‘Housing for All by 2022’ and ‘100 Smart Cities’?
We see large opportunities with the Government’s new Housing for All by 2022 and 100 Smart Cities Initiative. Puravankara has already pioneered premium affordable housing for the mid income group back in 2006, with Provident Housing. Our Provident projects across locations in the South are a step in the direction of ‘Housing for All’. We will continue working on similar initiatives and are awaiting further guidelines from the Government to plan our next course of action
In the next two years, what are the two trends that will define the future of the industry?
In the near future, the Regulatory Bills on Affordable Housing, GST and Monetary policies will define the Real Estate sector.
Please share some insight on the current construction sector in your region?
We see a lot of focus on Technology today, with developers keen on innovation in construction methodology. As part of our continuous improvement process, we use a wide range of solutions which are suited and customized for each of our projects. We work extensively with Mivan and were one of the first movers to bring this technology into India. Followed by an extensive research, we have now implemented a new and innovative form of precast solution for some of our projects. At Puravankara, we believe that staying ahead of Technology will improve quality, time and effective utilization of resources for our large housing projects.
How has the company´s financial performance been this year? What are your expectations for the next fiscal?
The first quarter of this year has been subdued in the current Market scenario. Going forward we expect this trend to reverse with on the ground changes and Government policies.
Interview with Mr. Ashish Puravankara, MD Puravankara Projects Ltd
