The Indian realty market is evolving: Emaar’s Badri

As international developers come to India, the CEO of Emaar Properties highlights smart homes and build-to-sell units as among the several emerging areas of interest

Travelling from Dubai to Delhi, Hadi Badri, CEO Emaar Properties is full of optimism about India and this confidence is based on two things- the trend of consolidation in the industry and the developing regulatory environment which he says will eventually benefit all. Only a few players will survive and Emaar is here to stay for the long haul. He describes the Emaar MGF demerger as “shifting gears”in an exclusive conversation with HT Estates. Edited excerpts:

You entered India in 2005 with MGF group and invested Rs 8,500 crores. The joint venture ended in July 2018. In your words, what was the reason for the demerger?

We want to be in a position where we are driving the business. It is important for potential winners to shift gears. In the last twelve months, look at where we have come. As a business we launched 20,000 residential units and 90% of them are sold, occupancy certificate issued and 80% handed over. What we had launched, we are delivering.

The Indian market is in a transformative phase with introduction of certain new regulations. There are several cases of buyers taking builders to court, customers engaging in social media conversations etc. What is your take on the current state of Indian real estate?

We are very positive about the market. Our optimism is based on two things- consolidation and regulatory. Only a few will survive this and we are here to stay for the long haul. Indian real estate market is evolving and becoming transparent with new regulations like RERA (Real Estate Development and Regulation

Act). Emaar is focused on two things- one is quality and the other is delivery. So far we were only building projects and now we are delivering them. We look at real estate ten years at a time. India is already a big business and in a consolidation phase. With backing of our headquarters in Dubai, both in operational and financial matters, we have successfully completed our first decade in India.

But you know even two decades, while may seem a lot, is nothing significant in real estate business because you virtually spend five years just building a project. We are here for the long term and have many new plans and ideas.

You dominate the Dubai market. How do you compare the two markets and how will you take lessons and learnings from Dubai to Delhi?

We are a global brand, and the largest real estate company outside of China. As a developer that works in other markets, there is a lot of learning we take from Dubai to India. We have a play book and value every aspect of development right from land identification to design to product development and construction methods. Every new concept is tested in Dubai first and then tried elsewhere. For instance we recently introduced 3D printed homes in Dubai. We also launched co-working and co-living which are both very popular globally and sure enough it elicited great response. One thing that we follow across markets is our basic philosophy of creating mid end to luxury developments. In residential, what we create are lifestyle communities and not just an apartment or a villa.

What about affordable housing? What are the things you will never do as a developer and what are the few things you are open to experimentation?

Building affordable housing is not in our DNA. Neither is buildto-rent in residential real estate, where we only build-to-sell units.

There is a strong demand from people to buy property and we come and satisfy that demand. Co-working and co-living are new concepts that we tested in Dubai and we may be able to apply it elsewhere. Smart homes is an emerging area of interest and we recently launched “Emaar Digi Homes” at Golf Course Extn road. These are voice enabled automated homes with infinity temperature controlled swimming pool and a host of amenities.

What are your views on Insolvency? We understand that NCLT has admitted the plea of two residents from Emaar’ Palm Greens project?

Market is evolving and maturing and stakeholders will learn. We are in support of a strong regulatory environment and this will benefit all. We expect that by 2021 things will start to stabilize and settle.

What are your future plans?

We are primarily Gurgaon developers but we look forward to develop land banks in Jaipur, Mohali. Mumbai and Pune are on our radar as the new markets.

We are a global brand, and the largest real estate company outside of China. One thing that we follow across markets is our basic philosophy of creating mid end to luxury developments. In residential, what we create are lifestyle communities and not just an apartment or a villa

HADI BADRI, CEO, Emaar Properties