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Pump in the Silicon Valley of India

Citrus Ventures' bouquet of offerings in Bengaluru include apartments and villas starting from Rs10 million

Unlike other real estate markets in India, Bengaluru has depth and the industry is also very transparent. According to Vinod Menon, Director and CEO, Citrus Ventures, the city absorbs about 12 million square feet of office space on an average every year.
"This has been happening for the last six years as software and services companies continue expanding operations here," says Menon. "Between 50,000 and 100,000 new jobs are generated by these companies, besides thousands more in ancillary and service sectors."
Interestingly, Bengaluru is also one of the most aggressively priced property markets in India, he says. Unlike in Mumbai or even Chennai, one can get a modest two bedroom apartment for Rs5 million. Every year, about 55,000 apartments and 45,000 villas/plots are sold in the metro.
"We also have a fairly professional set of developers," points out Menon. "Most developers have transparent dealings and provide all the necessary documents and approvals from various agencies to potential customers even before they sign the deal."
According to him, a buyer in Dubai can download and check approvals acquired by Citrus Ventures from various government authorities including title deeds. "We prepare a dossier for every project, which is approved by top lawyers and even banks and housing finance companies."
Buyers in Bengaluru are young and tech-savvy and expect these things from developers, he says. Menon says the city is popular both among resident Indians and NRIs for a variety of reasons.
It has an entrepreneurship culture, which spawns new businesses and companies all the time, generating new jobs. Thanks to the presence of a number of institutions of higher education, talented manpower is available all the time. Bengaluru is also a cosmopolitan city. And with properties being affordable, investors can also rent out flats and earn decent yields of three to four per cent, says Menon.
Citrus Ventures is a three-year-old company and has developed about one million square feet of real estate. It also has projects of about 4 million square feet. "The typical ticket size of our apartments is less than Rs10 million and the villas are priced between Rs12 million and Rs15 million," adds Menon.