Development Watch – Week #2 January ’23

Development News

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RLDA Land in Dwarka ready for leasing

A 30 acres land parcel owned by Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) in Delhi is available for 99-year lease. It is located in well-developed Sector 21, adjacent to the metro station in Dwarka, New Delhi. The reserve price for the 124,000 square meter land is Rs. 1,193 Crores. It is designated for mixed use (55% residential and 45% commercial). Developers such as DLF, Omaxe, Raheja, ATS, Godrej Properties, etc participated in the pre-bid meeting. The RLDA has stated down it’s development strategy including leasing of commercial sites and multi-functional complexes, colony redevelopment and station redevelopment. In FY 22-23, RLDA has leased out 22 sites across various cities in India.

Building materials industry projected to grow next 4-5 years

The government has given a boost to infrastructure, roads, metro, and airports is helping attain better connectivity and boosting urbanization efforts in India. Other factors responsible for this growth are rebound in real estate, healthy outlook for hospitality and health care sectors, and rise in discretionary expenditure of people. Building materials comprising tiles, plastic pipes, wood panels, may grow at a rate of 8-12% the next 4-5 years. Exports of tiles and laminates may go up. The wood panel segment would also see huge opportunities in the MDF and particle board markets. It is interesting to note that by 2025, 38% of Indian population would live in cities, while by 2030, 80% of Indian population would be middle class – up from 50% in 2022. Accordingly, Indian furniture market is also projected to grow 3 times during 2020-2035.

168 weekly flights to new airport in Goa

Indigo airlines has begun flights between new airport in Mopa and 8 destinations like Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Jaipur and Ahmedabad. Mopa airport provides direct connectivity to north Goa. While Dabolim airport also remains active in south Goa. The Mopa airport is built on 2132 acres of land and can handle 4.4 million passengers annually. It is being developed in phases. It started domestic operations on January 5. Equipped with new age facilities and sustainable infrastructure, it is named Manohar International airport as a tribute to former CM & Defence Minister Manohar Parikar.

Navi Mumbai Metro Rail Line to commence operations

In the last week of December, trial was completed on Metro Line No. 1 of the Navi Mumbai Metro. The trial run was held earlier between Central Park and Pendhar. Later, trial run was completed between Central Park to Belapur. Metro Line No. 1 from Pendhar to Belapur has a length of 11 km. It is one of the four elevated metro rail routes being developed by CIDCO in Navi Mumbai

Israel’s Haifa port purchased by Adani-led group

Israel’s Haifa port has been purchased for $1.15 billion by a consortium led by Adani group. Israel has been selling its state-owned ports and is building new private docks to bring down costs and cut waiting times for unloading of vessels. Nearly 99% of all goods move in and out of Israel by sea. Hence, port upgrades are necessary for economic growth. Last year, China’s Shanghai International Port Group (SIPG) also opened a new port in Haifa. Entry of SIPG and Adani-Gadot consortium would boost Israel’s position as a regional trade hub.

Delhi government to operate premium Intercity Buses

The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) has given in-principal approval to running premium buses within Delhi NCR, along with inter-city operations. DTC plans to introduce high-quality premium buses on longer routes for some time. DTC has approved running of battery or CNG operated premium buses on NCR routes up to 200 km. Bharat Stage (BS) VI buses would be deployed for inter-city routes covering more than 200 km. The DTC Board has also decided to provide free charging facilities to its employees who own electric two wheelers. Of the 38,000 employees, nearly 45% of them own electric vehicles. Employees would also be able to avail loans from financial institutes empaneled by the Delhi Financial Corporation as per Delhi EV Policy 2020.

Increasing office leasing activity across India

India’s office market gross leasing has gone past 2019 levels, as per a report by Cushman and Wakefield. 2/3 of the 2022 Gross Leasing Value (GLV) was recorded in 3 megapolis of Bengaluru, Mumbai MMR and Delhi NCR. The 3 cities also have a sizeable share in fresh leases. This accounts for 70% of annual new leasing across 8 real estate markets in India. The leasing volume amounts to 71 million sq ft. More than 80% of the GLV is contributed by new leasing (70%) and pre-commitments (11-12%). Only a small portion are renewals. The report also suggests that demand for office space will be strong throughout the year. IT-BPM sector had a 28% share in leasing, followed by engineering and manufacturing (15%) and Flex space (12%). Hyderabad saw the highest addition of new supply (13 million sq ft). Hyderabad and Bangalore together accounted for 48% of total supply in India in 2022.

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