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Founder's Message

Founder
MR M.R. JAISHANKAR
CMD
jaishankar-cmd

Half of calendar year 2023 is over. Unfortunately, there isn’t much ‘feel good’ news in the world, except in India, Middle East & few countries in Southeast Asia.

The mindless war between Russia & Ukraine continues. Other than helping clear the stockpile of weapons in few western economies & securing billions of dollars of fresh orders for manufacture of weapons, it has only resulted in destroying large areas in Ukraine & displacing millions of its citizens. The war resulted in much of Europe to go into recession. From a unipolar world with United States ruling the roost since the disintegration of USSR during 1991-92, the world is getting back to a bipolar world with the 2nd largest economy of the world, the communist China supporting Russia.

While politically the world has become bipolar again, economically countries have become more interdependent than ever before due to globalisation & WTO policies. This is posing a huge challenge to different economies, particularly to the United States and to the countries in Europe.

The Indian Government has played its cards smartly. Our country is beginning to see the benefit of China+1 strategy of the developed economies, not only for sourcing their product requirements, but also because they see India as a good investment destination. This has greatly helped the Indian economy to become resilient and not be affected so far by the war in Ukraine. The best indicator is the stupendous increase in Sensex & Nifty indices and Indian foreign exchange reserves crossing US$ 600 billion again. Many senior bankers feel that for the 1st time after many many years, all sectors of business are doing well. One can only hope this good show sustains for a longer time thereby helping Indian GDP reach US$ 5 trillion, sooner than later. The spoil sport can be poor monsoon, interest rate increase and unexpected events like political turmoil.

The ruling party at the centre got the shock of its life by badly losing State Elections in Karnataka. The smart electorate of Karnataka has punished the unexpected poor performance of the previous Government, apart from succumbing to the lure of multiple freebies offered by the winning party. While this has invigorated the opposition parties against the ruling party at the centre, it has also made the 2024 parliamentary elections more unpredictable. Anything can happen. What India requires is political stability and retaining its position in the world order & the goodwill generated during the past few years. What all this means to the business is the question? Uncertainty to a great extent. One never knows when the current positive sentiments will start turning negative, though there is absolutely no indication at present.

The Residential Real Estate sector is continuing to grow in a healthy way. Financial year 2023 is the best so far for the sector. The WFH/ A (work from home/ anywhere) culture continuing in a big way in USA & Europe has created millions of square feet of vacant office space in those countries, which has resulted in cautious approach by Indian & MNC companies in the tech sector to sign up new office space. Most experts feel this could be a cyclical and temporary phenomena. The good news is many MNC companies are increasing the size of their GCCs (Global Capability Centres) in India as a way to cut costs by offshoring work thereby helping to retain/ improve their profitability. This is the saving grace for the Indian Office Real Estate sector. The data localisation policy of the Indian Government has also resulted in increased demand for Data Centres. So also, the growing organised retail business has increased the demand for Fulfilment Centres/ Warehouses.

In such a macro environment, Brigade is trying to play its cards well but carefully. We have made headway in increasing our presence in Chennai significantly. We are trying to do the same in the highly competitive real estate market of Hyderabad.

While a number of new launches are slated in this financial year, obtaining civic authorities approvals is becoming more challenging than ever before, for a variety of reasons. By adhering to the multiple rules, administrative procedures and after overcoming red tape, if one succeeds in real estate business in India, they deserve to receive accolades and a pat on their back.

Rightly, the new Congress Government in Karnataka is talking of ‘Brand Bengaluru’ – to improve the image of the city which has taken a beating due to severe traffic congestion, insufficient infrastructure planning & implementation. Bengaluru deserves much better treatment by the State Govt.

Bengaluru, which contributes more than 50% of the tax revenue of the State; should receive similar share in the expenditure budget of the State to improve its infrastructure. Bengaluru is not just a city of Karnataka, it is now a Global City, known for innovation and home to 100s of MNCs.

Hyderabad with its superior infrastructure is already breathing down Bengaluru‘s neck and sure to overtake Bengaluru as an attractive investment destination, if the Karnataka Government continues to be complacent.

The advent of ChatGPT & AI (Artificial Intelligence) into our lives, slowly but surely, will have a profound effect, not fathomed by us so far. It will become a necessary evil in the years ahead. While there would be demand for people with new skills, it may also lead to thousands of job losses. So, it is very important for people and businesses to gear up the skills to keep pace with the ever changing technological advancements.

The festival season is approaching. My warm season's greeting to all our readers.
JAI HIND.


—Jaishankar CMD, Brigade.

 

ARCHIVE INDEX
"A few thoughts…" is a column that our CMD Mr M.R. Jaishankar writes regularly for our house journal Brigade Insight. A few of his columns are reproduced here."
December 2019

Celebrating the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi - the Father of our Nation is a great way to recall the principles of this noble man, in this chaotic and materialistic world, especially to Millennials & Generations X - Z. I wonder what may have been the status of our country if the Mahatma had not succeeded in securing independence through his non-violence movement. India as a country did not exist before 1947. It was just a collection of hundreds of princely states within a geographical region. What a daunting task it must have been for Gandhi & his band of leaders to bring all the diverse, multicultural states under one umbrella. What is noteworthy is that our country is growing from strength to strength on its journey (to become the 3rd largest economy in the world) by trying to overcome the economic & political challenges one can expect with an over 1.2 billion population. We have a visionary leader in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and he needs all the good wishes to steer the country towards the right path, to eliminate poverty and to give the vast population of India a decent quality of life.

Diwali, the Festival of Lights, is indeed a festival to celebrate the victory of Good over Evil. This is aptly demonstrated by the elimination of the ISIS leader, thanks to the relentless American efforts. What a contrast between a violent leader and a leader who is an epitome of non-violence!

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s resounding election victory, one expected the growth of the Indian economy to go northwards at a faster rate. Unfortunately, that is not the case. It appears that the laws of economics are stronger than the wishes of the population. To me, it seems like a cyclical slowdown affecting the economy, and it appears like a 10-year business cycle. Our country did witness economic slowdown / recession, particularly for the real estate sector, during the years 1988-1991, 1998-2001, 2008-2011 and now. The current recessionary cycle for real estate started quite early in 2016-2017 due to DeMo, the introduction of RERA & GST. The slowdown has taken a huge toll with few large and most one-time, small-medium sized developers exiting the real estate sector. The complexity of doing business has vastly increased due to regulatory changes and challenges. It is seriously, not for the weak-hearted.

Thankfully Brigade, with its diverse portfolio, but more importantly due to following its core corporate values, is managing not only to survive but also to grow. Recessionary & slowdown times create a lot of opportunities for the wise and people with money. This is the time for smart people to make investments but after a proper study of the pros & cons. There are many good real estate projects worthy of investment in our portfolio. While preparing to launch new projects in Chennai & Hyderabad, our focus has been to complete many ongoing commercial & residential projects, apart from launching the next phase of large projects in Bengaluru.

I am delighted to mention that the Indian Music Experience was formally launched with an outstanding music event by Padma Bhushan Ustad Zakir Hussain on the 27th of July 2019. I am elated with the continued appreciation for the concept & content of IME by all those who have visited the museum. It has encouraged the team to work harder and innovate more.

I am also very happy to have signed an MoU with the reputed St. John’s Hospital to set up a ‘Not for Profit’ Health Centre to start with, and a Hospital subsequently for the benefit of the neighbourhood at our large residential project - Brigade Meadows, in Bengaluru South.

Season’s Greetings & Best Wishes for 2020.



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