Affordable Housing And Smart City Concept To Drive Demand

What has been the CAGR in revenues for last year for your company and how much was the growth in revenues for FY2015-16 over FY2014-15?

The revenue of the company as compared to FY2014-15 has increased by 26.34 percent in FY2015-16 and by CAGR over last five years of the revenue is 51.86 percent.

What has been the CAGR in net profit over 5 years for your company?

The net profit growth CAGR over last five years of the company in FY2015-16 is 55.77 percent.

How is the new Floor Space Index (FSI) concept? How will it add value to the company or the sector as a whole? Any comment on RERA implementation ?

We have been continuously speaking about the need for RERA for several years now and furthermore a balanced RERA which is fair to all of its stakeholders and we hope that a balanced RERA is implemented asap - from our perspective the implementation of the same will be of competitive advantage for all of us as we have been following the spirit of the act for several years now. Regarding the FSI norms - the concept of creating a uniform FSI across the island city, Mumbai is very sound and we welcome it. For the affordable housing sector, MMRDA is key and the FSI norms in this region have been increased substantially which will not only benefit us but the entire affordable housing sector.

Looking at the current demand, are the prices of real estate facing some pressure or the prices have remained intact?

Real estate is a derived demand and with the GDP being sluggish, the sector also remains sluggish. Commercial rentals and absorption rates increased last year but residential remains under pressure with a lot of unabsorbed inventories especially in the luxury space. The affordable housing space has also seen price pressures over the last year and it is only the branded developers which include Poddar that have managed to buck the trend of price reduction - however prices did not rise in 2015 and it is only since March 2016 that we are witnessing more robust absorption and also price rises of about 10%. I foresee affordable housing prices to increase by double of inflation from here on.

Apart from tier 1 and tier 2 cities which are the other areas in the country which have high growth potential for the industry? Is Poddar Housing having any projects outside the tier 1 and 2 cities.

Poddar Housing is only a Mumbai and MMRDA player with no plans in the next two years to go to other markets such as the NCR and Bengaluru . Rural demand will pick up if monsoon is good this time but Poddar is focused on executing its existing projects in Mumbai and the MMRDA for the next two years and we will review the situation after that.

The government has thrilled the sector by announcing the Smart City programme and housing for all by 2022. Has the ambition of the Centre changed the vision of the companies like Poddar Housing?

We welcome the Smart City concept - Kalyan-Dombivali is declared as a Smart City and we have four projects coming up in this region. Other than this, like I said before, we are very focused on Mumbai and the MMR.

Does BREXIT look like a challenge for the sector in the long term? How do you read BREXIT keeping your industry in mind? 

The BREXIT hangover will last in my opinion for two years as a macro threat but I don't foresee any significant impact on the affordable housing space or our specific business.