Private equity (PE) investment, in both pure equity and debt form, fell in the housing, office, and retail segments in 2022, while it increased in warehousing assets.

As per the Knight Frank data, PE investment in warehousing increased 45 percent to USD 1,907 million this year from USD 1,313 million last year.

PE investment in office assets fell 19% this year to USD 2,331 million, down from USD 2,882 million in 2021. PE inflows were down 50 percent in the housing segment to USD 594 million in 2022 from USD 1,187 million last year. PE investment in retail assets fell 63 percent this year, to USD 303 million, from USD 817 million in 2021.

Overall, PE investment has fallen to USD 5, .134 million (USD 5.13 billion) this year from USD 6,199 million (USD 6.2 billion) in 2021.

“The investment climate in India moderated in 2022 as investors became more cautious in responding to escalating international tensions and worries about rising inflation and interest rates,” said Shishir Baijal, Chairman and Managing Director of Knight Frank India.

Despite these reservations, he stated that Indian real estate offered opportunities for both domestic and international investors. With an inflow of USD 2.33 billion this year, the office segment remained the most popular investment category, according to Baijal.

“The warehousing segment has proceeded to see a rise in interest from private equity investors, driven by strong demand from manufacturing, e-commerce, and third-party logistics occupiers,” he said.

On the viewpoint for next year, Baijal anticipates that inflation in most countries will moderate and the pace of raising rates will slow.

“Investments in India are expected to improve as investors focus on the economy, regulatory and governance framework, profitability, and valuations,” he said. From 2011 to 2022, the Indian real estate sector attracted USD 54.8 billion in PE investment through 659 transactions, according to Knight Frank.

Apart from the slump in PE inflow during 2020 because of the pandemic, PE investments in Indian real estate remained strong in the last decade, with an average investment of USD 4.6 billion per year from 2011 to 2022.

Across the top eight markets in India, Mumbai received the highest PE investments, accounting for 41 percent of the total inflow, followed by Delhi-NCR with a 15 percent share and Bengaluru with a 14 percent share during this year.

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Bangalore, 21 September 2022 – CapitaLand Hope Foundation (CHF), the philanthropic arm of CapitaLand Group, has launched its second CapitaLand Hope School in Bangalore, India to provide more than 400 children from underserved families with access to education.  CHF has contributed INR 50 million towards the construction of the school, which is the 31^st of the CapitaLand Hope Schools which span across India, China, and Vietnam.  Through the schools, CHF aims to provide children with a holistic education for a better start in life.

Located in Krishnarajapuram, Bangalore, the 20,000-square foot Government Kannada and English Medium Higher Primary School comprises eight classrooms, a staff room, a multi-purpose room, a playground, a kitchen, a sick room, library, computer and science laboratories, art & crafts room, and lavatories.  

CapitaLand staff volunteers and partners collaborated and built the school over a one-year period.  CapitaLand staff from International Tech Park Bangalore provided their real estate expertise to Karnataka Education Department including designing and managing the development of the school. Indian contemporary artist Madhuri Umashankar designed The Hope Wall which was unveiled at a ceremony for the handover of the school on 19 September 2022. 

CHF also partnered with an international non-profit organization, Room to Read, to set up the school library with materials to improve literacy amongst the children.  This is the 14^th library that CHF has established with Room to Read since they launched libraries across Bangalore to benefit some 2,000 children in March 2022.

 Mr. Gauri Nagabhushanam, Chief Executive Officer, India Business Park, CapitaLand Investment said: “We are extremely proud to complete our second Hope School in Bangalore to help over 400 children and their immediate families.  We are passionate about education and have contributed over INR 100 million to develop three schools, two in Bangalore and an upcoming school in Pune.  We take an active role in setting up the schools and continue to engage the children as well as contribute in various ways including donating various items and organizing activities for them.  It is extremely heartening to be able to reach out and touch the lives of the communities as we grow our business in India.”

Mr. D R Ramamurthy, Block Education Officer, South – 4, Krishnarajapuram, Bangalore said: “On behalf of the education department, we would like to extend our sincere thanks to CapitaLand Hope Foundation for building this state-of-the-art school in Krishnarajapuram for students from underserved families. These modern facilities are unmatched by any school across Bangalore and will immensely help our long-standing need to have this school and ‘Guru Bhavana’ (education office) in East Taluk. With deep appreciation and gratitude, we acknowledge CHF’s contributions towards the children and society, and we would like to continue collaborating with them for great work in the future.”

 CapitaLand #GivingAsOne campaign

CapitaLand is distributing 2,500 school kits to the CapitaLand Hope School in Mahadevpura as well as children across Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Pune as part of its #GivingAsOne campaign.  Each kit contains a notebook, a geometry set, a pen, a pencil, and a dictionary.  Held from September to October this year, #GivingAsOne brings CapitaLand staff and partners together to do good by uplifting the lives of vulnerable groups and supporting the environment in communities where CapitaLand operates.  Staff is also rallied to pen messages of hope and encouragement through #Pen4Hope for children and seniors in  Singapore, China, India, Malaysia, and Vietnam.  CHF will donate INR 1,100 for every message and volunteer hour contributed.  Other than the distribution of the school kits, CapitaLand will be unveiling the upcoming hope school in Pune.

 Mr. Tan Seng Chai, Chief Corporate and People Officer of CapitaLand Investment and Executive Director of CHF, said: “As a socially responsible company, CapitaLand is committed to contributing to the environmental and social well-being of our communities.  To provide a conducive learning environment and improve children’s access to education, we have helped to build 31 schools benefitting over 28,000 children in China, Vietnam, and India since 2005.  We also support seniors and conservation efforts through various programs.  Through our annual #GivingAsOne campaign, we galvanize our staff and partners to come together to give back as it is through collective action that we can truly make a positive and meaningful impact in the communities.”

 About CapitaLand Hope Foundation (www.capitalandhopefoundation.com)

CapitaLand Hope Foundation, the philanthropic arm of CapitaLand Group, was established in 2005. As a registered charity and grantmaker, the Foundation aims to nurture and inspire the young, improve the quality of life of seniors, and protect the environment for future generations, with a focus on communities where CapitaLand operates. Going beyond donations, the Foundation also advocates volunteerism as an integral part of building a caring and inclusive community.

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The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) is nearing completion of an agreement with Google to help geotag every property in the city, so that a simple unique alphanumeric digital id can designate these properties in order to develop a ‘Unique Address System’ (UAS) for the city, similar to Google’s ‘Plus codes’.

Once the UAS code is entered into Google Maps, it will assist persons in receiving meals and consignments, calling ambulances and cabs, receiving postal deliveries, and even assisting people in safely to your address. These distinct identifiers will serve as Amdavadis’ new ‘smart addresses.’

According to AMC sources, the civic body approached Google six months ago with a request to map city properties. For the past six months, talks have been ongoing to address “important problems” such as data protection. AMC has insisted that an MoU be inked only if Google’s India office, not its California headquarters, is involved in the agreement.

Google has now mapped its Plus Code addresses to a couple of Indian cities, including Pune and Kolkata. There are around 20 lakhs properties, over 15 lakhs of which are formally registered with the municipal corporation for property tax. UAN, or unique addresses for properties, are made up of a set of 20 alphanumeric characters. They won’t be case-insensitive and does not include vowels. On a trial basis, the AMC may ask Google to give codes to homes in a specific ward.

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The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said on Monday that it will auction up to 97 properties of the firms on September 25 at a reserve price of more than Rs 350 crore. Also, this auction will be an e-auction (online).

Land parcels, office space, a parking lot, and a shop in Maharashtra are among the properties up for auction.

In addition, the regulator will auction four cars owned by Royal Twinkle, Twinkle Hospitality, and Citrus Resorts for a total reserve price of Rs 8.28 lakh. Indica, Skoda Superb Elegance, and Mahindra Logan are among the vehicles included.

Apart from these, on September 17 the regulator would auction a few properties of the firms at a reserve price of Rs 68.54 crore.

Around 540 crore rupees worth of assets were auctioned off between November 2019 and January 2021.

According to a Supreme Court decision from December 2019, a committee headed by retired Justice J P Devdhar was directed to sell 114 properties owned by these firms within six months.

Citrus Check Inns and its directors were fined Rs 50 lakh by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in December 2018 for failing to comply with its decision prohibiting them from collecting public funds.

Several investor complaints had been filed with Sebi against Citrus, stating that Royal Twinkle directors were now administering their collective investment scheme (CIS) through Citrus.

After a four-year suspension in August 2015, Royal Twinkle and its four directors were found guilty of unlawfully generating more than Rs 2,656 crore in the name of timeshare schemes.

Furthermore, it had ordered the firm and its employees to refund the money as well as the promised returns to the investors within three months.

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The FIR charges the appellant with fraud, cheating, criminal breach of trust, and criminal conspiracy in violation of IPC Sections 406, 409, 420, 467, 468, 471, and 120 B.

MGF Developments Ltd and its subsidiary firms have filed an FIR alleging that Emaar employees falsified Board Resolutions of MGF subsidiary companies and issued general power of attorney (GPA) in favour of Emaar in relation to land owned by MGF subsidiaries.

According to the allegations, Emaar entered into a collaboration agreement in respect of the said land with a local builder of Gurugram, who then applied for a license for the development of affordable group housing in Sector 81, Gurugram, including the said land of MGF subsidiaries, on the basis of a fraudulent GPA.

According to MGF, the license is now being processed by the DTCP, and once the license is given in respect of such property, prospective buyers of the aforementioned proposed project would undoubtedly suffer. MGF has said that its subsidiary firms would be burdened unduly under RERA regulations for the abovementioned project despite the fact that they have committed no wrongdoing.

Emaar India stated in a statement on the FIR that as a responsible business and a law-abiding firm, it guarantees that it is always in accordance with specified laws of the nation.

“Emaar India is a major real estate company in India, having been in the market for over 15 years. As a responsible corporate citizen and a law-abiding business, we make assured that we are always in accordance with the applicable laws. We have complete confidence in the country’s courts and will comply with the legal procedure as needed,” it stated.

MGF and Emaar have both been involved in legal squabbles. Emaar India accused MGF Group and its Chairman Shravan Gupta of attempting to fraudulently transfer a land parcel in Okhla in January.

Emaar cautioned in a statement against interacting with MGF Group, Gupta, and allies in relation to the land parcel, which was valued at almost Rs 500 crore in 2008 and might be worth considerably more now. Emaar has also made a public announcement to that effect.

In 2005, Emaar Properties joined the Indian real estate industry with a Rs 7,000 crore joint venture with Shravan Gupta-owned and managed MGF Development. The two partners separated in 2016 following a court-ordered demerger process.

Emaar has also requested Rs 2,400 crore in compensation and a detailed investigation by the NCLT into the alleged fraudulent and illegal acts of Gupta, Shilpa Gupta, MGF, and associates in breach of the Dubai-based realty giant’s fiduciary responsibility and trust imposed in the joint venture Emaar MGF Ltd. Emaar has reportedly requested a bank guarantee of at least Rs 2,400 crore to cover its losses.

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Maha Sinnathamby, Chairman of SCG, said: “Greater Springfield’s unique offering to Indian technology companies that are already in this country or planning to establish in Australia, is the chance to be involved in a fully master-planned city that offers innovation at its core. Greater Springfield is an economic powerhouse located in the heart of Southeast Queensland and provides a platform for companies to be innovative, entrepreneurial, and collaborative. Greater Springfield has, over three decades, solidified itself as a home for these types of organisations. With its own Data Centre, an extensive fibre network, a university, 15,000 students, and access to a population of over 500,000 within a 22-minute drive, Greater Springfield provides a true lifestyle within a 15-minute drive for employees that choose to work in the local Greater Springfield economy.”

Ashok Mysore, Chair of AIBC’s Information and Communications Technology and Digital Chapter said: “Indian technology companies have embraced Australia. It has proven a great place for them to access local talent and build a base of knowledge workers. These companies are projecting significant growth over the next decade and there is a tremendous opportunity for Australian engineers, software developers and innovators to be part of this growth and bring their own expertise to Australia. The opportunity is for Australia to show that it is the best place for these organisations to establish and grow.”

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According to a survey, as many as 355 infrastructure projects, each worth Rs 150 crore or more, have shown cost overruns over Rs 3.88 lakh crore due to delays and other factors. Infrastructure projects worth Rs 150 crore and above are regulated by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. Of those 1,623 projects, 355 recorded cost overruns and an escalation for 552 times.

“The cumulative original cost of implementing the 1,623 projects was Rs 19,33,390.22 crore and their expected cost of completion is likely to be Rs 23,21,502.84 crore, representing overall cost overruns of Rs 3,88,112.62 crore (20.07% of the original cost),” said the latest July 2019 ministry report.

The report says that until July 2019 the expenditure for such projects amounted to the sum of Rs 9,47,571,45 crore, representing 40.82% of the expected project costs. Moreover, it said, the number of projects delayed decreased to 451 when we calculate based on the latest schedule of completion.

It also claimed that neither the year of commissioning nor the timely gestation period was recorded for 670 projects. Of the 552 projects that were delayed, 187 are generally delayed in the range of 1 to 12 months, 121 projects are for 13 to 24 months, 132 projects are been delayed by 25 to 60 months and 112 projects reported delays for 61 months and above. In these 552 delayed projects, the average period is 29.07 months.

Delays in the acquisition of land, forest clearing and equipment supply are the main reasons for the extended time as stated by several projects implementing agencies.

In addition, the report stated that there are other reasons such as fund constraints, geological surprises, geo-mining conditions, the slow progress of civil workers, labour shortfalls, inadequate contractor mobilization, Maoist problems, legal cases, contractual problems, and law and legislation issues.

It has also found that construction agencies do not report updated estimates of costs and commissioning dates for many projects that show that time and cost statistics are underreported.

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By Realty Quarter Bureau

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its ex-post facto approval to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between India and France in the field of Renewable Energy on 10th  March, 2018 in New Delhi.

Both sides aim to identify research/ demonstration/ pilot project between National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE), India and Commissariat a I’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA), France in the mutually identified areas. Based on mutual agreement, both parties would work for implementation & deployment of pilot project in ISA member countries. Collaboration may occur through several means, including joint research projects, joint R&D, joint workshops, Research and Technology exchange including exchange of domain experts. The MoU also aims for exchange of expertise and networking of information.

The MoU will help in strengthening bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

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