| The development of real estate in India is estimated to | | | | Another case in point is Gurgaon, one of the national |
| be around US$ 15 billion and it is growing at a rate of | | | | capital regions of India, which has seen a fundamental |
| 30 per cent every year. Almost 90 per cent of real | | | | change in not just its skyline but also in its fundamental |
| estate developed is residential space and the rest | | | | urban demographics. Gurgaon, a few years ago, was |
| include office, hotels shopping malls and hospitals. This | | | | described as just a small town built on a cow pasture. |
| kind of double-digit growth is primarily attributed to the | | | | But in the past seven and eight years, it has witnessed |
| off-shoring and outsourcing businesses, such as | | | | 20 malls with many more under construction and has a |
| high-end technology consultation, call centers and | | | | skyline of shining new office buildings and call centers. |
| programming houses which in 2004 are estimated to | | | | Gurgaon is considered a shopper's paradise and the |
| have accounted for 12 million square feet of real | | | | malls are similar versions of their US counterparts: five |
| estate development. | | | | story big bazaars which house almost every |
| The demand from the information technology sector | | | | international brand like McDonalds, Levis, Nokia, Nike |
| certainly has changed the urban landscape in India. | | | | and Tommy Hilfiger along with multiplex cinemas, |
| According to estimation in India, there is a demand for | | | | escalators and large parking lots. The arrival of call |
| nearly 70 million square feet of IT & ITES space | | | | center industry, information technology houses and |
| over the next four and five years. Several multinational | | | | other such BPOs in India has led to an inflow of more |
| companies continue to move their organizational | | | | than 900,000 new jobs. Outsourcing business has |
| operations to India to take advantage of lower | | | | changed the real face of commercial real estate in |
| manpower and other costs. Providing human | | | | India, but its greater impact has been the demographic |
| resources and home at their work place assume great | | | | shift characterized by rising disposable incomes and |
| significance and therefore the requirement to create | | | | increased consumerism. |
| space for people to live and work that in turn cause | | | | The real estate market in India remains unorganized, |
| the development of other related infrastructure. It has | | | | fairly fragmented, mostly characterized by small |
| been a predominant trend to set up the world's best | | | | players with a local presence. Traditionally, real estate |
| business centers, often campus-style establishments, | | | | developers were viewed with an element of skeptical |
| bearing a distinguishing corporate stamp. Some of | | | | attitude. Developers were often identified with dealing |
| these locations are so distinctive that they are termed | | | | with large amounts of unaccounted money, lacking |
| as the "temples of new or modern India". It is just an | | | | transparency and would use unscrupulous means to |
| indication of the extent that the development of real | | | | acquire a variety of regulatory approvals. |
| estate taking place. | | | | |