Townships as a fully evolved and implemented concept are still a rarity in India. Apart from the Hiranandani project in Powai, Mumbai and Magarapatta City in Pune, there have been no instances of full-fledged townships being launched in the formal configuration. While it is true that seven real estate groups have come together for developing Crossings Republik near Greater Noida, this project is, despite its immense size, by no means a township that complies to all the prescribed regulations for such projects.
While the township concept is definitely the format of the future for India, it is currently fraught with problems that have a lot to do with the lack of maturity depth in the Indian real estate market.
When a consortium of developers plans to launch a project on such a massive scale, a high level of cooperation and consensus on key issues is of paramount importance. Such a degree of cooperation is not achievable without the presence of a governing entity that makes the most important decisions and regulates the development of the project. In many other parts of the world – most notably the Middle East – the concept of a Master Developer who then aligns himself with other players while at all junctures retaining a pivotal role has worked well, leading to a high success rate for consortium-based townships.
India, however, is still a largely unregulated and ungoverned market, and there are still residual elements of a mercenary approach to project development. Even the organized component of the Indian real estate market works best only when a single developer conceptualizes, blueprints and executes a project. There is a tendency to disagree on a whole swath of issues which, if not settled in a timely and progressive manner, can lead to the stalling of a large project practically at any stage. The unfortunate fact is that, despite its immense potential, the Indian property arena is not yet mature enough for the kind of orchestrated effort that is required for a consortium to bring a full-fledged township project to completion.
Individual developers have the benefit of being able to take unilateral decisions at all stages of the project, which would indicate that – at least for now – a large township would have better chances of seeing completion if undertaken by a single entity rather than multiple ones.
For further information please contact:
Arun Chitnis
Assistant Vice President, Marketing
Mob: +91 9322738464
Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj
2, Brady Gladys Plaza
1/447, Senapati Bapat Marg,
Lower Parel, Mumbai – 400 013
Tel: (022) 2494 1404 Fax: (022) 2494 1321
