Gurgaon paves way for luxury housing

Gurgaon has emerged as one of the most vibrant satellite cities in India, a city that has attracted billions of dollars in investments from both domestic and international firms wanting to have a presence.
A top executive of one of the leading developers of the National Capital Region (NCR), Ambience Pvt Ltd, who has developed a signature integrated township, Ambience Island complex, and one of the largest malls in India, Ambience Mall, is confident that the real estate sector in Gurgaon and other parts of the NCR will continue to grow.
"We are upbeat about Gurgaon and Noida," says Aman Gehlot, Director, Ambience Pvt Ltd. "We keep getting new queries from companies, even from the Gulf region. In fact, we are in talks with a couple of them for office space in Gurgaon."

Ambience Tiverton in Sector 50, Noida.
Gehlot believes the real estate sector in India, particularly the NCR, will continue to grow, despite the recent slowdown. "We have bottomed out and the market cannot go down any further," he says. He admits there are issues related to infrastructure in Gurgaon, but the government is tackling them.
According to him, demand continues to remain steady, though there has been an excess of supplies. "In real terms, there is demand. The same number of apartments is being sold every year, but the inventories are more," adds Gehlot. "People still need houses. Indians, unlike people in the west, always aspire to own a house."
Ambience was established in 1986. It constructed its first major project, the Ambience Island, on the Gurgaon-Delhi border spread over 150-acre plot of land. The project is an integrated township that includes the Lagoon, a residential complex, the Ambience Mall and the Leela Ambience Hotel.
The Lagoon residential complex was developed in 1999. Gehlot remembers selling apartments at rates of Rs1,600 a square feet. Today, flats are resold at rates of Rs14,000 a square feet and upwards in the complex.
The company also promoted a luxury condominium called Catriona in Gurgaon in 2007, selling 8,000 square feet apartments at a price of Rs9,000 per square feet. "We still have a few apartments left, which are being sold at Rs24,000 a square feet," says Gehlot. About 10 penthouses of 16,000 square feet are still to be sold.
Ambience is also promoting Creacions in Sector 22, Gurgaon, with prices ranging from Rs9,000 a square feet. The company has also forayed into Noida and is promoting Tiverton at Sector 50. "We launched it last year. These are smaller apartments but with ready-to-move-in features," says Gehlot.
The company has also been targeting the NRI market, participating in exhibitions in Dubai and Singapore. Gehlot says the company does not plan to get into affordable housing, and will restrict itself to the luxury space.
Ambience is also active in both the commercial and retail space. "Demand has picked up for commercial properties," he notes. "We have a built portfolio of two million square feet of commercial space, and already leased out 250,000 square feet to Panasonic. We are in talks with two to three big companies for another 750,000 square feet of office space."
It also has another large office building at Vasant Kunj close to the metro station and is in the process of signing an agreement with an embassy from a Gulf nation.
Asked about the Real Estate Regulatory Authority legislation that the Indian government is planning to introduce, Gehlot says that it is a good measure and would help consumers gain confidence in builders. However, most of the delay in delivering apartments is because of the failure on the part of local government agencies to give the approvals in time.
"There are too many agencies and there is no time limit on the approvals process," says Gehlot. "Even if we have to dig land for a basement, we need to get approval from the mining board. There are so many approvals that need to be obtained."
According to him, since developers borrow funds at high interest rates, it is not in their interest to delay a project. "Why would a developer delay handing over possession and tarnish his reputation built over the years?" he said.
Another problem that developers face in the NCR is the absence of skilled manpower. Most of the labourers are migrants, who head back home during the monsoons. "There is a shortage of skilled manpower, especially masons," he adds.
Ambience has a land bank of about 1,500 acres in the NCR. It also has land in Panipat, Sonepat, Udaipur and Vizag.

• India