Latest news with #TheHinduTamilNaduRealEstateSummit2025
The Hindu
7 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Affordable housing needs collaboration between Centre and State, say panellists
The State and Central governments must collaborate and work together for providing affordable housing, and address issues of equity and financial inclusion. This was one of the major insights shared at the discussion on 'Affordable Housing: Bridging the Urban Housing Gap' organised as part of The Hindu Tamil Nadu Real Estate Summit 2025 in the city on Tuesday. The topics deliberated include the need for inclusive housing, challenges faced by private developers, and the role of the government in providing affordable housing. Noting that housing for marginalised communities cannot be ensured with a one-size-fits-all approach, cannot be done in a one-size-fits-all approach, Vanessa Peter, founder, Information and Resource Centre for the Deprived Urban Communities, said basic requirements should be met without compromising on traditional livelihood spaces. Underlining the challenges in ensuring affordable housing for socially disadvantaged people, she said communities must be consulted before designing houses, and a robust third-party quality monitoring mechanism put in place to reduce design flaws. Speakers also stressed the affordability of housing for urban poor population under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) by waiver of beneficiary contribution to some extent. When asked whether incremental housing would be developed in satellite townships, A. Srivathsan, professor, Head of the Centre for Research on Architecture and Urbanism at CEPT University, said Arumbakkam Sites and Services Scheme was one of the best examples for incremental housing. The area has turned beyond recognition over a generation as people have become economically strong. However, such housing is only possible with design and legal modifications, given land cost limitations. Pointing out that housing for economically weaker sections is largely covered by the State, he said that land availability and construction cost were some of the challenges. Private players are more interested in promoting housing for higher income groups. Though developing a grid of roads would be ideal for structured housing development, people are often willing to suffer lack of infrastructure and focus on the land cost. Highlighting that inclusive housing was a critical component of equitable growth, R.V. Shekar, chairman and managing director (MD), Lancor Group, spoke on the need for creating an environment to collaborate with the Central government to develop integrated satellite townships at subsidised cost. A pilot project, with up to two lakh houses, could be planned near Chennai. P. Suresh, MD, Arun Excello Group, spoke on integrated township in Oragadam that aims at improving lifestyle. However, obtaining land parcel for developing such townships was a challenge. The government played a pivotal role in allotting land parcels to develop housing for communities. The Central government should consider restoring the benefits offered under the earlier version of the PMAY, and reduce taxes to resolve issues of affordable housing to low and middle income groups. ing. R. Sujatha, former Deputy Editor, The Hindu, moderated the session. The event is presented by Casagrand and co-presented by G Square. The Green Energy partner for the event is Swelect and the Sports Ecosystem partners are SDAT and Tamil Nadu Champions Foundation. The event is supported by CREDAI Tamil Nadu, Lancor, Namma Family Group. The Strategic partner is MMA (Madras Management Association) and the TV and digital partners are Puthiya Thalaimurai, the Federal voice of the States respectively.
The Hindu
7 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Experts highlight cost-effectiveness of using sustainable materials and solar power's game-changing potential
Solar power is going to be a big game changer in the future, C. Velan, Chief Executive Officer of Ceebros Group, said during The Hindu Tamil Nadu Real Estate Summit 2025 held in Chennai on Tuesday. During a panel discussion titled 'Green is Gold: Sustainable Construction and Energy Efficient Buildings', Mr. Velan said new technologies had been coming up in the solar space. In response to a query on the perception that energy-efficient buildings have higher upfront costs, Mr. Velan said the additional expense was relatively negligible and that opting for green buildings would always be advantageous. He highlighted the district cooling system and how it could be implemented. Sumitra Vasudevan, associate partner of APRObuild, said materials, which were considered unaffordable 10 years ago, had become much more accessible today. 'Most of the components we now use in sustainable buildings do not add significant incremental cost,' she asserted. Ms. Vasudevan added, 'One of the things in residential developments is that if you mention sustainable or eco-friendly, they think it's traditional or an old kind of building. They do not think of it as something modern.' Ajit Kumar Chordia, Managing Director, Olympia Group, India, said: 'A sustainable building is a building that is being built with a lot of common sense and looking at the ancient wisdom and knowledge. If someone copies something without applying their mind to it, whatever that thing is will not last long.' Need for new initiatives Mr. Chordia added how Tamil Nadu was a pioneer in rainwater harvesting. 'If you really look at Tamil Nadu, we were one of the first States to introduce rainwater harvesting as a concept, and even made it mandatory for buildings. But after that, we have not taken any great measures. I appreciate the policy of the Government of Telangana. They have come up with the White Roof Policy. As part of this, roofs are coated with reflective paint and terraces have gardens to reduce heat absorption by the buildings. Tamil Nadu needs to think of something new similar to that,' he said. Integration costs Nataraj S., senior assistant vice-president, Swelect, spoke about the costs involved in solar integration and the pace of solar adoption. 'The pace of solar adoption depends on the ecosystem where we are located,' he said. Mr. Nataraj added: 'For example, Gujarat has installed solar power capacity of close to 1.5 GW as compared to 127 MW in Tamil Nadu. The fundamental reason is the design component of the building. While we have apartment-type buildings, Gujarat has house ownership model, where homeowners directly approach the government for solar installations.' Geetha Srimathi S., Senior Reporter, The Hindu, moderated the session. The event is presented by Casagrand and co-presented by G Square. The green energy partner for the event is Swelect and the sports ecosystem partners are SDAT and Tamil Nadu Champions Foundation. The event is supported by CREDAI Tamil Nadu, Lancor, Namma Family Group. The strategic partner is MMA (Madras Management Association). The TV partner is Puthiya Thalaimurai and the digital partner is The Federal.
The Hindu
7 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
RERA can grade real estate promoters to increase credibility, feel industry experts
The Tamil Nadu Real Estate Regulatory Authority (TNRERA) could start grading the promoters based on their good practices, Jayaprakash Padmanaban, senior partner, Fox Mandal & Associates said at The Hindu Tamil Nadu Real Estate Summit 2025. While speaking at a session on 'Policy to Prosperity: RERA, Ease of Doing Business & Regulatory Outlook', he said, grading the promoters will help the public. 'One of the critical aspects of RERA is to ensure the accountability and credibility of the promoters. They can also be incentivised for such practises. The list of promoters could be published, making the process transparent. It will also encourage people to follow good practices and will benefit the public significantly,' he said. Sanjay Chugh, city head and director, ANAROCK Property Consultants Pvt. Ltd., Chennai, said, over the last eight years, RERA has been carrying out a fantastic job in Tamil Nadu by executing its regulatory role. 'Now, RERA can take on a larger role, like enforcing green building norms or safety audits. They could get more involved in sustainability. Now, RERA can spread its wings to a larger cause protecting home buyers,' he added. With respect to redevelopment of apartments, Mr. Chugh said, the challenge the developer faces is that there is a lot of confusion within owners of properties about the issue. 'Developers spend a lot of time talking, engaging with them. Some of the projects take a long time for redevelopment. RERA can play an important role in educating, setting certain guidelines which one has to follow,' he said. He noted that Chennai has potential for vertical growth and the time has come to focus on it. Sridharan Swaminathan, chairman, Sabari and LYRA Properties Pvt. Ltd. and Executive Committee Member, CREDAI National, New Delhi, said, if a city has overgrown and has to grow further, then vertical development is the way forward. Otherwise, people must move to satellite towns. 'The focus should be on giving the best infrastructure available to the extended areas of the city. Greater concentration on infrastructure and transportation will make it a success. Now, Metro Rail is coming up on Rajiv Gandhi Salai. But if there is no Metro Rail connectivity to that area, then, commuting to OMR will be a nightmare,' he added. Kunal Shankar, Deputy Business Editor, The Hindu moderated the event. The event is presented by Casagrand and co-presented by G Square. The green energy partner is Swelect and the sports ecosystem partners are SDAT and Tamil Nadu Champions Foundation. The event is supported by CREDAI Tamil Nadu, Lancor, Namma Family Group. The strategic partner is MMA (Madras Management Association). The TV partner is Puthiya Thalaimurai and the digital partner is The Federal.
The Hindu
7 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Today's home buyers need not even have to visit the site: Casagrand Chairman
Owing to advancement of technology in real estate sector, today's home buyers need not visit a site as they can virtually view and pay online to purchase a property, said Arun M.N., Founder, Chairman and Managing Director of Casagrand at Chennai on Tuesday (August 5, 2025). During a fireside chat with R. Rosella Stephen, Senior Associate Editor of The Hindu on 'Vision for Tamil Nadu's real estate growth' at The Hindu Tamil Nadu Real Estate Summit 2025, Mr. Arun said: 'When our [company's] revenue reached around ₹40–50 crore, we set an ambitious goal of becoming a ₹1,000 crore company — a milestone we proudly achieved in a record time of just five years.' 'Since then, our vision has only grown bolder and today, we are close to ₹10,000 crore in sales value,' he added. Mr. Arun also highlighted how one-tenth of Casagrand is now owned by employees. 'They own 10% of the organisation. I've diluted the ownership to them before going in for an IPO, so that the stock options would hopefully reward them,' he said. To a query on Casagrand's role in the Tamil movie 3BHK, said: 'Today Instagram and Facebook is feeding so much information. And these celebrities being present is extra eyeballs.' Sharing his views on the technological developments in the real estate sector, Mr. Arun said that today, a home buyer does not have to come to a site. He (consumer) knows what it is on a video through which he can get the whole site experience. 'He can book online, paying via [debit or credit] card. So, that's how simple and progressive we have made it.' Gone are those days where one used to have many staff to handle customer calls and enquiries. 'Today, we have chatbots, voice calls and WhatsApp conversations.' When asked about the new generation consumers, Mr. Arun said: 'They don't really see a need to own a home as they would want to travel and add experiences. That's for the population, which is about 5-10% of India.' The event is presented by Casagrand and co-presented by G Square. The green energy partner is Swelect and the sports ecosystem partners are SDAT and Tamil Nadu Champions Foundation. The event is supported by CREDAI Tamil Nadu, Lancor, Namma Family Group. The strategic partner is MMA (Madras Management Association). The TV partner is Puthiya Thalaimurai and the digital partner is The Federal.
The Hindu
7 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
With consistent government investment on education, infrastructure, Tamil Nadu is poised for growth: experts
The Tamil Nadu government has been consistently investing on education and infrastructure for over decades, said Julian Francis, senior vice-president, Asset Management, Chennai, and head of Industrial and Logistics (I&L) at RMZ during The Hindu Tamil Nadu Real Estate Summit 2025 held in Chennai on Tuesday (August 5, 2025). While speaking at a session on 'Tamil Nadu @ $1 Trillion: Role of Real Estate in Urban Transformation', he said, Tamil Nadu has worked on these fields for decades. 'Today, people are coming to India for skill and scale. This is culminating in the creation of local talent which people are globally tapping into today. This target of 2030 [by Tamil Nadu] to become a $1 Trillion economy] is definitely achievable,' he added. Kunal Shankar, Deputy Business Editor, The Hindu, who was the moderator for the event steered the conversation on how Tamil Nadu's real estate sector is a crucial pillar in its ambition to become a one trillion-dollar economy. W.S. Habib, president, CREDAI Tamil Nadu said, while it is an ambitious target, the State government has come out with a good vision, and it is possible to accomplish it. 'Real estate sector plays an important role since it contributes 7-8 percent to the GDP,' he added. He noted that if we have to reach the target, our cities also have to be more liveable and planned well. Jerry Kingsley, Head of Value and Risk Advisory in India and City Capital Markets, Chennai JLL, said, commercial real estate sector, in a year, sees 75-80 million sq. ft of demand in India. 'Of that, Bengaluru is the frontrunner with close to 20 million sq. ft. This is followed by National Capital Region (NCR) which contributes about 15 million sq. feet. Mumbai too is a sizeable contributor. But, Chennai competes with Hyderabad and Pune on an annual basis. Last two years has been pretty good for Chennai overall and there was an absorption of nearly 8-9 million sq. ft. We see that demand this year as well,' he added. With metro rail coming up, there is further expansion and the office segment in the city is seeing good growth. He said, the good thing about Tamil Nadu is that, unlike many other States, it is not dependent on one specific sector. C.G. Sathish, Deputy Managing Director, Casagrand said, there is a lot of development and the focus on infrastructure development is extremely good. Hence, Tamil Nadu is poised to witness this kind of growth. Sripriya Ganesan, co-founder, Studio Neon, noted that transit-oriented development in the State has to be mindfully planned. The event is presented by Casagrand and co-presented by G Square. The green energy partner is Swelect and the sports ecosystem partners are SDAT and Tamil Nadu Champions Foundation. The event is supported by CREDAI Tamil Nadu, Lancor, Namma Family Group. The strategic partner is MMA (Madras Management Association). The TV partner is Puthiya Thalaimurai and the digital partner is The Federal.
