If you happen to walk in any of shopping areas like Jagat Farm, Central Market or Ansal Plaza at Greater Noida, you will notice that young boys and girls outnumber the married couples and kids. Bulk of these young boys and girls are students of professional educational institutes.

Greater Noida Authority is developing “Knowledge Park” with the aim of providing quality institutional facilities for education and research. The underlying idea is to develop educational and knowledge base for its basic educational, technical, vocational, research and cultural needs. As per Greater Noida Authority website, it has earmarked 1400 acres for the Knowledge Park. Allotments have already been made to 150 institutions. These institutions include Schools, Management Institutes, Vocational Training Institutes, Institutes for the Handicapped, Maritime Institutes, etc.

We did an extensive study of the operational and also under-construction educational institutes at Greater Noida. There are 49 institutes that are offering Engineering, Management, Medical, Law and other types of vocational training. Some of the prominent institutes are, Galgotia College of Engineering & Technology, Noida Institute of Engineering & Technology, Sharda Group of Institutes, IEC College of Engineering & Technology and Greater Noida Institute of Technology (GNIT).

Total number of students registered with these 49 colleges is over 50,000. These 50,000 students are an extremely important part of the local economy. Several businesses at Greater Noida are focused on these students. You will find these students flocking to cyber cafés, food centers, stationery shops, garment outlets, bakery shops, etc. To cater to the growing needs of these students, several hostels and PG accommodations have come up in the city. Houses on rent are available in sectors like Alpha-I, Alpha-II, Beta-I, Beta-II, Gamma-I, Gamma-II, Builder’s area (P-III, and P-IV).

We have seen construction activities going on in at least 12 new plots and these new institutes will be operational in near future.

Availability of trained manpower is one of the key criteria for setting up any new venture.

Over 10,000 professionals are estimated to be graduating out of these Greater Noida colleges annually. This great pool of trained and qualified professionals will be of immense help for the upcoming IT sector and other companies in Greater Noida.

Nobody knows the Real Estate market better than the local property dealers. These dealers operate in specific areas and hence know their market inside out. They can sniff opportunities and predict trends with unbelievable precision. GroundTruths had the opportunity to bring together three key property dealers of Greater Noida to discuss the market trends.

Mr. Pavneet Singh (PS) of Saran Estates, Mr. Rajen Ahuja (RA) of Blessings Realtors and Mr. Vijay Kumar Goel (VKG) of Bhagwati Properties participated in the discussion that was moderated by GroundTruths Team(GT).

GT: Big Consulting agencies are saying that Real Estate Market has crashed by 25% to 30%. Our in-depth study of Greater Noida market did not indicate the same. We would like to know your views?

VKG: It’s important to understand the period under consideration. Around the time Mayawati government came in there was a big boom in the market. It was largely driven by the investors. If you ignore that “artificial boom period” as it was an aberration phase of the market and compare pre-period price and price today, actually the market is up by at least 10% to 15%. In the three key Sectors of Greater Noida, Alpha, Beta and Gamma the current market price ranges from Rs. 28,000 to Rs. 30,000 per square meter (for 60 to 120 sq. m plots). Before Mayawati Government came into power, the rate was lesser by about 10% to 15%.

GT:  There is a negative sentiment in the market. How do you counter the current market situation?

PS: Small units are USER based whereas bigger units are INVESTOR based. “USER markets” have not been affected. “Investor Markets” are down. “Transaction” and “Occupancy” continue in the USER market. Plots measuring 60 sq. m, 120 sq. m and some times even 200 sq. m plots fall in the USER category. Plots of 300 sq. m and more fall in the INVESTOR category. Today in Eta, you can get a 500 sq. m plot at the rate of 16,000 to 17,000 per meter. Same plots were previously sold for as high as Rs. 23,000 per meter. The investor market is not showing much activity in the current scenario. In today’s market, we do not follow-up with the client. If a client comes to my office, we show him the property; if he is satisfied he is sure to come back. I will never call him back to check up if he has made up his mind. Today people have ample time and so before investing any person will go to several agents. He will strike a deal with a person with whom he is most comfortable.

VKG: In today’s market, it’s better to leave the buyer on his own. Earlier we used to follow-up with the clients after a day. We used to follow-up again after a week. But today we have a different strategy – we are doing our duty by providing the relevant information. We do not follow-up. If we get the call back, we do not show too much eagerness. If the customer calls the second time, we get into action, as we get to know that the person is genuinely interested in buying.

VKG: Today about 65% to 70% of the dealer market is in a state of coma.

GT:   There is development all across

India. Why choose only Greater Noida from investment perspective?

RA: Greater Noida boasts of a great infrastructure. Talks about F1 race track and night safari are really heartening. I am receiving calls from even abroad. The Gautam Buddha University is world class. Education hub is evolving here!

PS: Greater Noida is very well planned. Each work is executed in a planned manner. Each execution is properly maintained!  Greater Noida is far better than Noida. Even people from Delhi come up with praises even when they are not buying property here. Actually, initially only USERs will come to Greater Noida. The growth of the city is IT dependent. People talk about industry but industry is labor dependent. It will take at least 3 years for IT companies to establish themselves here. This, together with better infrastructure, amenities, planning and execution makes it a self-sufficient city. You will stay here only if you have a requirement here. If my workplace is at Noida or at Delhi, I will stay there. But employment here will increase in the coming days.

VKG: Except for a few sectors in NOIDA, Greater Noida is by far the best. Greater Noida has good roads. Water quality is good. All villages here are separated by high-rise buildings in a planned manner unlike Noida where villages merge into city seamlessly at several places. Now that we live in Greater Noida and have got used to the Greater Noida roads, we find it difficult to drive at several places in Delhi and Gurgaon. We are relieved only when we hit back the Greater Noida roads with no traffic signals or jams. If we call someone from Sector 18 in NOIDA, we can accurately predict the time of a maximum of 30 minutes that one will take to reach here. No excuse for delay on account of traffic jam is valid here!

RA:  One good thing about Greater Noida is that there are no overhead cables here.

VKG:  There is a lot of greenery here. If the entire “Horticulture Plan” of Greater Noida Authority is implemented, this will be one of the Greenest Cities in India. There will be greenery round the year.

GT: Will you advise investors to invest in this market? And why?

PS: If you have an investment horizon of 3 to 4 years then you can invest here. Every investor market will need a USER. I would not advise that to people who are looking for 1 to 2 years of investment horizon. Rs. 1200 per sq. m is administrative and registration cost for a plot, which is reasonably high and is not helpful if the investment horizon is less.

RA: Next year and the year after that the rates will skyrocket. It will be beyond the reach of common man. These prevailing rates will not be there.

PS: I don’t say that you will get a good price. Unfortunately, 20% return is not seen as a good return by investors as they are spoiled by the quick “doubling” of investment in the past. I expect that one can double the investment in 4 years and hence I recommend a longer investment horizon. I agree with “Buddha” that you will not get the same prices in future as options will start getting limited then. For good returns, do wait.

VKG: In the Sectors of Alpha, Gama

and Beta one will not be able to get a good property. Sector 36 and Delta will also fall under this category. A buyer may even now not be able to get a good property in these sectors.

GT: Should I say that this is a good time to buy and can one get a good deal now?

RA: This is the right time to buy for user and investor.

PS: Definitely a good time for “users” to buy. Also, for investors, if you have a long-term investment horizon.

GT: There are some seasoned investors who know how to play the market. However, there are several new investors who have money to invest but do not know much about real estate investment. Where should they invest plot, commercial or flat?

PS: First land, second commercial, third flat.

RA: First land, second flat, third commercial.

PS: Four years back, flats were Rs. 1,500 per sq. ft., commercial (ground floor front facing) was 6,000 per sq. ft. and land price was 6,500 to 7,000 per sq. ft. in Swarna Nagri. Today land price at Swarna

Nagari is 28,000 to 30,000, commercial

front on ground floor is sold for Rs. 18,000 per sq. ft and apartment 3,200 per sq. ft. So history clearly indicates land is most profitable, followed by commercial and then flats.

GT: How have online portals impacted your business?

PS: Online portals are helping our business. Users today are computer savvy and before coming to us have already seen the prices on the Internet. So when they get a deal that is better than what is listed online, it makes our job easier!

GT: Last question, lot of people are scared to go to a dealer. Why?

PS: You will be the best one to answer this!

RA: One rotten orange spoils the market. One or two such dealers spoil the name of entire business community.

PS: – If you have no other option, you start dealing in property. There are too

many uneducated people in this field as there are no fixed criteria to join this business. Unfortunately, the image of dealers is linked to this large mass. When we started dealing in the year 2000, people asked how come educated people like you are in this business.

RA: “Because I am a dealer, it was

difficult to marry off my daughters as this profession was not associated with respectable people.

GT: Thank you very much for coming over and participating in the discussion. It was an interesting discussion. I can therefore conclude:

- Greater Noida is a great place to stay as well as invest.

- If you are a user – fish for deals in Greater Noida, this is a good time.

- If you are an investor with long-term horizon, good time to invest now. Speculative gains of the past will not be there.

- There are several good property dealers in Greater Noida. Identify them and deal with them.

Actual site images of Wipro IT Park by AUGTICS, Sep-08

Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority website indicated that since the NCR has emerged as a hub for IT industry, Greater Noida could emerge as a premier IT destination of the future, leveraging its proximity to the national capital and availability of quality urban infrastructure, including housing.

There is absolutely no doubt that Greater Noida has world-class infrastructure and facilities. There are numerous new initiatives (F1 race track, Night Safari, etc) that will add to the glamour of this futuristic city. There is going to be huge supply of quality residential apartments (ref “GroundTruths of Residential Apartments” AUG-SEP 2008 issue). Additionally, there are numerous malls that will come up (read “Mall Culture at Greater Noida” page.19, this issue) in near future. Greater Noida is also fast emerging as “Education Hub” producing over 10,000 students annually (refer “Education Hub” page. 52 this issue) offering an attractive option of manpower availability to the IT companies.

All new housing and malls will require “users”. The “property dealer community” of Greater Noida (refer “Property Market – Informed View from Greater Noida Dealers” page. 54 this issue) is laying a lot of importance and emphasis on IT as the key driver for the growth of Greater Noida property market. In near future, IT sector is expected to fuel the “demand” of real estate.

AUGTICS Real Estate Research team carried out an extensive survey of the existing and upcoming IT facilities at Greater Noida and unearthed a few facts:

A. few BIG IT companies have Greater Noida mapped in their plans:

1).  ST Micro Electronics has taken a lead in moving to Greater Noida. A world-class facility spread over 25 acres at “Knowledge Park III” is

fully operational.

2). WIPRO was the next in starting IT operations at Greater Noida. 10 acres out of a 51-acre plot of Knowledge Park IV is operational.

3). WIPRO also has a 100-acre plot allocated in “TechZone” and this is expected to be operational in the next few years (construction has not yet started).

4). NIIT Technologies and NIIT Multimedia also have plots

(20 & 10 acres, respectively) allocated in “TechZone”.

5). NIIT Technologies building is under construction and is

likely to be operational by the next year. Construction has not yet started at NIIT Multimedia plot.

6). We can expect that a few other known IT companies will

follow Wipro and NIIT in starting facilities here at Greater Noida.

B. Several IT Parks will become operational in near future:

1). Construction is in full swing in ten new IT/SEZ parks at Greater Noida.

a. These ten IT parks are spread over 230+ acres.

b. All these parks boast of “world class” specification and high quality working space.

c. This will create about 19,000,000 sq. ft. (19 million sq. ft.) of space by 2010 (see details of each project at page-)

d. Most of these IT parks have integrated space (shopping, commercial and residential)

e. Assuming 60% of the space is to be used for IT operation and assuming per seat space to be of 100 to 120 sq. ft., there will be about 100,000 seats created in these ten IT parks.

f. If and when these 100,000 seats are fully used, there will be a tremendous impact on the real estate market in Greater Noida.

2).  At least 20 additional IT parks are in pipeline.

a. We have been able to located 4 of these 20 plots and there is no construction work in progress on them. For the rest of the 16 plots, allocation information is available on the Greater Noida website.

b. Exact size and plan of these plots is not k

nown. However, we do expect that these 20 projects will generate additional several million sq. ft. of IT space in Greater Noida.

It will be extremely important for all these new IT parks to sell their space and attract the IT companies to start operations here at Greater Noida. If and when that happens, Greater Noida economy will truly have a positive impact.

By the time this article goes to print, I am sure every second person in the urban world would have read at least one article covering the looming US economic recession, the mortgage market meltdown or the historic fall of a few supposedly ‘infallible’ financial institutions. So, why post another brick on a wall already plastered with articles, analysis and forecasts? My corporate finance professor at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad used to say – “In the big scheme of things nothing really matters”. But then does it really matter to us that the US economy is nearing a recession that is turning out to be as big if not bigger than the Great Depression in the 1930′s? Does it matter that scores of layoffs have taken in firms across different sectors in developed nations? Does it matter to us that house builders in the developed nations are facing acute pressures from severely depressed home valuations and an increasing inventory of unsold homes? Does it matter that the sub prime crisis in US is likely to cause about 2.2 million foreclosures and leave about 10 million households with negative equity on their home investments in US?

How will these ‘catastrophic’ events affect us as individuals in the Indian real estate market? Two pages surely cannot do justice to a topic as vast as this. However, it will be my humble attempt to explain in simple terms what happened or what is happening in the US, why did it happen, what are reasonable impacts of the same in India and most importantly how we as real estate consumers, producers or service providers can brave stormy seas looming ahead.

What is happening? The US economy is currently undergoing what is being termed as its worst financial crisis in this century. What started off in 2007 as a housing sector financial crisis in the US has now spread across to credit and financial sectors with tremors felt in markets across the globe. Home prices in US are expected to fall by 20% to 30% and in some places by 50% of their values in 2006. This fall in house price makes it uneconomical for many in the US to keep servicing their loans and more sensible to just hand over the house to the bank!

The housing sector sub-prime crisis started with lenders (mortgage originators) granting loans to sub-prime borrowers (borrowers without a good credit history and poor FICO score) by charging higher interest rates and taking little or false documentation as proof of income. As a result of this, sub-prime borrowers got access to credit and provided lenders an opportunity to charge fees and earn interest. Lenders in turn passed on their risk to hedge funds and securities dealers who made money in turn by selling securities to investors and charged commissions on underwriting. Investors loved this structure since it gave them greater liquidity and an opportunity to diversify their portfolio irrespective and unmindful of the last mile sub-prime borrower. This castle however started falling apart in mid 2007 with many borrowers failing to service their debt. Lenders soon started facing the heat and stopped approving home loans as well as sub-prime mortgage loans. Global hedge funds that had borrowed lot of money to invest in sub-prime mortgages were forced to sell their mortgages at extremely low prices to pay off lenders and investors who wanted out and dumped their stock resulting in plunging stock prices worldwide.

Increasingly, the financial industry and the US federal government awoke to the realization that the banking system had a fairly large exposure to this underlying real estate bubble and the housing crisis could lead to a more systemic financial crisis. There were other factors playing mayhem as well. Subprime defaults were slowly spreading to near

prime and prime mortgages. Private consumption, considered to be over 70% of aggregate US demand, was slowing down and the US consumer already burdened with rising debts was also witnessing a slowdown in income and labor markets. This in turn led to a slowdown in commercial real estate markets and a rising default rate in hitherto healthy corporate default rates. With recent bail out of AIG, bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and the last minute sell out of Merrill Lynch to Bank of America, recession is now no longer ‘news’.

Why is it happening? The genesis of the crisis can be seen to be built around 3 fundamental human attitudes – greed, risk-aversion and herd-mentality. Lenders and brokers in order to earn higher commissions went overboard in giving loans to sub-prime borrowers bypassing basic fundamentals of banking. Home appraisers supplied inflated housing values to satisfy banks. Wall Street investors backed loans without adequate verification of underlying risks and competed against each other in financial innovations. Borrowers, who eventually have the maximum to lose were responsible in that they entered into loan agreements, trusting their brokers, which they could not really afford. Last but not the least, the US government underestimated the housing crisis and have only from early 2008 started to take drastic measures to tackle this crisis.

Impact on Indian real estate and how you can protect yourself: The US real estate industry witnessed a boom between 2001 and 2005, with property prices soaring to historic highs due to low interest rates and other factors. Does that sound familiar? Till about a year back, industry reports in India too were highly optimistic about the growth of the industry and we have all seen a tremendous growth in real estate construction across different asset classes across the country. Fortunately for us, we had much lesser exposure to mortgage market and an even lesser exposure to inflated realty assets, as a percentage of GDP compared to US or other developed markets. Also the Indian market did not witness the development and application of complex financial structured products on the lines of instruments developed over mortgage in the US.

This along with highly cautious and prudent regulations have averted the crisis to spread its arms into the Indian banking system. However, liquidity crunch is a reality and a global phenomenon that the Indian industry

cannot avoid. Real estate developers are now increasingly finding it difficult to get access to funds. Even private equity fund houses are overtly cautious on their investments and are getting thorough professional due

diligence done on their proposed and current investments.

Real estate markets are inherently correlated and cyclical and impacts on the economy have cascading effects on real estate markets. A slowdown in global economy means a curb on expansion and expenditure which translates to a reduction in growth of IT/ITES and banking sectors. Slowdown in banking sector itself impacts the IT/ITES sector acutely. Such slowdowns over a period of time start affecting demand for a host of professional services from advertising to consulting, to research & development and ancillary back office services besides bringing rate of consumption down. When this continues on an unending spiral, demand for commercial and residential space plummets amidst an over supply of space and prices fall. Falling prices further erode home owner equity and foreclosures and defaults start taking place. Residential markets are already seeing a slowdown with some markets showing clear evidence of corrections. So, if you are in the process of buying a house, negotiate, negotiate and then negotiate even more. The US markets actually have a term for this – ‘Gazundering’ whereby homebuyers take advantage of the housing slump to cut the price of properties at the very last minute to secure a deal.

So, what strategies can one adopt in the immediate term that can reduce vulnerability to market forces and reduce risk. As a developer, I think it is vital today to adopt best practices and create affordable properties that are fundamentally good. When prices take a plunge, competition will intensify and properties that are built on a good location following sound design and construction principles and providing adequate amenities and facilities will stand a better chance of retaining value. It is vital therefore to adopt proper construction project management techniques and adopt rigorous execution risk management to save cost. If you are hunting for funds, it is time to really look hard at your project documentation and if necessary seek professional help.

As a home-buyer whether it is for staying or for investing you need to assess your requirement to buy property at this stage closely. Do you really want to buy that house now or can you afford to wait a while longer? Some words of advice. 1) The real estate market is and will remain local in nature: Inspite of developments around the world, you may actually beat the market even in a downturn by making an investment in an area where local demand supply warrants buying a house now. Variations around the mean value will be much lesser for a sound property in a good location than an average property in an average location 2) Invest before it becomes a buzz: If everyone is talking about a new locality in some faraway region as the next best investment, think twice and check out fundamental demand in that region. 3) Develop your own perspective: Real estate professionals are by nature optimistic people and will sell you the world. How can you not be optimistic when you are in the business of making buildings from mere dreams? 4) Treat forecasts with caution: If you don’t believe me just read forecasts of the market in years 2005 / 2006 and compare with present realities. You see, there are only two directions for value of a property – up or down and in a mature market they keep going up and down cyclically so it is really hard for anybody to give an accurate prediction! 5) Get your personal sensitivity quotient prepared: Everyone loves your money be it the banking, retail, entertainment, healthcare, hospitality, insurance, automobile or just any sector. Before you sign up that next holiday package with an attractive EMI scheme, do analyze your personal balance sheet, especially on the debt side and check out scenarios for increase in debt and expenditures. Do the Maths before you increase your debt. Before I close for this issue, I must bring your attention to this rather beautiful ‘financial’ graph shown above, that I found the other day on the web on a blog by Mike Shedlock, which I am replicating here. My take is that we in India are in between anxiety & denial – what do you think?

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The author is an urban planner from School of Planning and Architecture and a recent graduate of the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. He is currently working as AVP – Development Advisory at Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj,

Gurgaon. The ideas expressed on this site are solely the

opinions of the author and do not necessarily represent

the opinions of sponsors or firms affiliated with the

author. The author would love to hear your views at Saumyajit.Roy@gmail.com

Futuristic Hi-tech e-homes come to futuristic city Greater Noida

IImagine switching on the AC and the lights in your home on your way back with your mobile; getting messages in your mobile and remaining updated about your apartment’s status wherever in the world you are…….. You might have seen it or heard it or may even have experienced it abroad….. and wished so badly, for the same sitting here. Yes………, your wish is going to be realized that too right here in Greater Noida. DesignArch, the hallmark of quality and innovation in real estate, has taken responsibility of providing innovative lifestyle solutions and unique features in their latest residential project christened eHomes at Greater Noida

The Group was founded by architect J.K. Jain, an alumnus of IIT Roorkee, an associate of the American Institute of Architects, a fellow member of the Indian Institute of Valuers, an advisor to Delhi Urban Arts Commission and a member of the Indian Council of Arbitration. The idea of e-home is essentially his brainchild. What does the “E” in e-home stand for?

“E” in e-home essentially stands for electronic-savvy homes, environment-friendly homes and earthquake-resistant homes; homes that are equipped with entertainment features and provides an elite-class lifestyle; and homes that are built in excellent locations. Electronic-savvy Homes: This feature includes operating the lights, ACs, curtains, etc. by using mobile device, remote control or touch screen; intelligently supervised parking and automatic security barriers with wireless car identification; remote-controlled apartment lighting; in-built communication server in the apartment and availability of hi-speed wireless Internet in the entire complex; digital networked security force working 24×7 with digital card locks; biometric safety systems  and  e-surveillance.

Environment-friendly Homes: These features indicates that the houses should have lush greens walks, Japanese and ayurvedic gardens, jogging tracks and water bodies, facilities for management and recycling of water for gardening along with drip irrigation and well-planned garbage disposal techniques. The use of fly-ash blocks ensures less energy consumption. Earthquake-resistant Homes: This feature includes structural design as per the latest IS codes, use of shear walls, flexible method of foundation, rich mix of concrete to reach the numero uno status in the field of quake-proof construction and automatic fire detection sensors and sprinklers on every floor. Entertainment features comprise ayurvedic centre for meditation, yoga and natural healing; special club with swimming pool, gymnasium, indoor and outdoor sports areas and also banquet hall and TV lounge. The “Green Building” is known as sustainable building, designed, built, renovated, operated and reused in an ecological and resource-efficient manner.

J. K. Jain, M. D. Designarch

This upcoming project nurturing e-homes is located at a premium neighborhood on Surajpur Site C Housing Extension, less than 10 minutes away from Pari Chowk, Greater Noida.

An interview with

Q. How did the idea of e-home evolve in your mind?

The idea of “e-homes” came to my mindas I wanted to give a solution of an ideal home which could be electronically operated, having a high level of security, less energy consumption and better comfort.

Q. You have worked on over 100 projects as consultant and architect. What made you to take up the role of a developer?

As a consultant your vision and approach towards quality may be compromised, it hurts you at times. I thought the best way to deliver what I wanted or what people wanted is to become developer myself.

Q. How do you ensure safety and quality in high-rise buildings?

After Gujarat/Ahamadabad Earthquake in 2001, all structural engineers and architects in India woke up and then our IS code was also revised. People realized that high-rise buildings require much more attention, care and quality consciousness. Use of treated water for construction, proper ductile detailing, use of best quality and branded materials, such as “UPVC Windows, Marc, Grohe, Duravit, Gaberit ( Germany ), RAK (UAE), Anchor Woods (UK), Modular doors, Masonite (USA)”  and all required regular mandatory tests can improve the life of a building and can safely and happily be used by our great grandchildren.

Q. You have pioneered the concept of automated homes in India. How’s the response of market and users to the e-home concept?

Both users and market response to e-home have been extremely encouraging and overwhelming so much so that we are now adding even more technologically advanced or next generation feature to our new project – eHomes at Greater Noida.

Q. How do you integrate comfort and convenience in order to elevate life style?

To make life more interesting all care is being taken to connect each apartment to a world class commercial and entertainment hub. Even through the Touch Screen Panel, which is being provided in each apartment as a standard feature you can place orders to our e-Mall at the campus and the items will be home delivered.

To solve the parking problem, innovative parking solutions have been worked out such as automated parking, considering future needs. So don’t you think that in such a well planned and futuristic concept, life will be most comfortable, classy and will elevate your life style?

Q. Now there are few other people who are coming up with e-home or i-home concepts. How are DesignArch e-homes di fferent from the rest of its competitors?

Our e-home is a complete package where in the entire house is operated electronically, built and designed using eco-friendly materials with green building concept.  Also an earthquake-resistant home with entertainment features.

Q. We have seen your e-home sample flats. The quality of construction, design and e-features are extremely high. How do you drive quality within your organization?

We have always laid emphasis on creation of innovative concepts and have infused latest building technologies to create value in our projects. Each DesignArch employee is personally responsible for the quality of his or her work and is empowered to initiate action to ensure both quality and continual improvement of our system and processes.

Q. Your projects are spread over several parts of NCR. And now a new project at Greater Noida! What prompted you to select Greater Noida for your latest project?

Greater Noida is outstripping all other cities of NCR in the race of development. Noida appears to be well ahead in the matter of better infrastructure and word-class projects. This is one of the reasons we have chosen Greater Noida for our next generation e-homes.

This city has its unique identity due to its World’s Fourth Night Safari, Taj Express Way, Taj International Airport, Gautam Buddha University, Mega Projects by the sides of Express Way, Formula One Race Track, Ganga Express Way, Transport Hub, Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, India Expomart Centre, Education Hub, Container Depot, IT city, etc.

Q. How would you justify the extra cost involved in executing Green Building concept?

It may be a bit costlier idea at the initial stage but in the long run it is rather economical. You do save for the rest of your life, better indoor air quality and hygienically maintained conditions improve productivity and efficiency of the occupants. Recycling of water and energy efficient systems help in conservation and ultimately contributes to the ecological balance.

Q. Real Estate industry is going through a bit of flat period. What’s your advice to the potential buyers?

Every property market has its ups and downs and this topic will always stay in discussion wherever property investment is so prevalent. This is a phase of price corrections and at this time people are holding back their investments and waiting for the market to stabilize.

My advice to them is that they should invest in quality project whenever it is available because temporary ups and downs of the market do not affect value of any quality product.

Q. The number of builders in the market is increasing considerably. What do you think about that?

Yes… many new players have entered this market since the entry barriers are veryfew in this industry but in the long run only those would survive and make it big who stick to the basics and just focus on development rather than short-term gains.

Q. How do you rate yourself in the current scenario?

We are confident that we would grow and make it to the top because our roots are strong and we focus on complete customer satisfaction rather than cash inflows. The values and the work culture that we have developed over a period of time are proving very fruitful for the company and also our stake holders