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Investment Opportunities
Jan
29
Logistics & Courier in India: Where there is a Will, there is a Way!
Filed Under India Business, Metros | 1 Comment
The Wall Street Journal online featured a video on Logistics & Courier services in India, and the complexity of imprecise addresses in managed.
If you have lived in India and also Europe/America, you will understand the difference.
The Indian approach of asking directions with the local shop keepers and residents is so common, that when some of us went to the US and Canada for the first time many years back, it was difficult to use just the map and get to the final destination (in a few months, that adjustment happened).
Europe is a bit closer to India in that respect because of the higher population density, but then not everyone speaks English. But in the end, Where there is a Will, there is a Way!
Nov
28
Indian Real Estate - Time for bigger Investments & Change
Filed Under Emerging Sectors, India Business, India Investment Opportunities, India Real Estate, Indian Companies, Indian Government, Metros, Tier-2 Cities, Tier-3 Cities | Leave a Comment
The Times of India reports of a conference in Chennai hosted by Dun & Bradstreet about ‘Dynamics of the Real Estate Market: The Investment Perspective’. As per the conference, the Indian Real Estate Market is pegged at around $14 billion. Although the article presents a summary on the major discussions, 2 major points of discussion emerge.
1. Foreign Investment into Real Estate
This aspect has been well explained in previous posts on this website. The article on FDI in India puts Real Estate as one of the top 3 attractions for Investment.
And the article on Indian Commercial Real Estate also discusses the potential there is in Real Estate. But just to add an interesting fact here – Financial Institutions are among the biggest investors in Real Estate Projects in India.
Merrill Lynch is paying about $377m for a 49 per cent share in a portfolio of residential projects managed by DLF- Indian’s largest listed developer, in one of the biggest deals of its type in India. The transaction, Merrill Lynch’s sixth in Indian real estate, brings its investment in the sector to about $550m.
Late last year, JPMorgan announced its first investment on its own balance sheet in Indian property, paying $60m for a stake in a residential project being developed by Mumbai group, Lodha Builders.
2. Innovative products by Financial Institutions
The Times of India article quotes S. Sridhar, Chairperson and Managing Director, National Housing Bank:
“the real estate community needs to think out of the box and offer wide range of products, which suits the pockets of even people in the low-income group.”
Perhaps new financial products are needed various rate increases by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had serious impact for the retail loan segment.
Borrowers have declined in number and default has increased as the interest rates became unbearable and the burden of a rising EMI became too much for the average borrower. The resulting slump has made it difficult for the banks to match previous year’s record breaking credit growth.
Banks have tried to counter the retail loan growth decline by offering discounts on home loan and other retail loan interest rates and associated processing fees during this festival season. This led to a small increase in retail loan off-take, but the results didn’t match the expectations. Home loans have been worst hit - with the segment not taking off as expected, even after festival-season discounts.
About the Author: Ishan Sethi is a Sales & Marketing professional with keen interest in emerging sectors and India business opportunities. He is an alumnus of Indraprastha University and IIM Lucknow. He can be reached via the Contact page.
