Maharashtra attracts Rs 3 lakh crore investment in realty sector

MUMBAI: Maharashtra accounted for nearly 20 per cent of the total Rs 14 lakh crore outstanding investments attracted by the real estate sector as of March 31, industry body Assocham has said.

The state attracted Rs 3 lakh crore outstanding investments in the real estate sector as of March 2013, Assocham said in its report.

Realty sector accounts for over 11 per cent share in total outstanding investments worth over Rs 122 lakh crore attracted by different sectors from various public and private sources across the country.

Maharashtra is one of the top five states, including Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, with the highest share for attracting maximum outstanding investments in the real estate segment across India, the report said.

However, new investments in the realty sector in Maharashtra plummeted by over 55 per cent during FY12 and FY13, it added.

"New investments in the realty sector in Maharashtra dipped from over Rs 16,000 crore to just over Rs 7,000 crore during the period," Assocham national secretary general D S Rawat said.

Currently, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh account for over 70 per cent of the total outstanding investments attracted by realty sector across India.

According to the report, outstanding investments in real estate have risen by over 25 per cent throughout the country during the five year period of 2008-09 and 2012-13.

However, new investments in the real estate have dried by over 54 per cent from during 2011-12 and 2012-13 across the country as the sector has been jostling with slowing sales and rising inventories.

"The real estate sector in India has been plagued with serious problems of late like falling sales, rising construction costs, dampened market sentiment overall, sluggish economic growth, high interest rates, high inflation and poor industrial production ( IIP), due to which leading players in the sector had to sell off their land to reduce debt...
"Private equity players have trimmed their exposure in the realty sector and general slowdown in various industries has hit commercial real estate," he said.

However, certain positive developments like Parliament's approval of foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail that would attract foreign investments would give a fillip to the retail industry and simultaneously boost the demand for commercial real estate in the country, Rawat added.