• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Somasroy Chakraborty

In West Bengal, a majority of the real estate projects are developed jointly with the State Government and hence are "not attractive" .

Kolkata May 20 Foreign direct investment expected in the country's real estate sector during this calendar year is likely to bypass West Bengal, according to industry experts.

During January to October 2006, according to the Reserve Bank of India estimates, FDI flow into Indian real estate was nearly $703.31 million. "Based on our estimates, I would imagine if all goes well, FDI in Indian real estate might touch $1.5-2 billion during the calendar year. FDI in eastern India, however, will not be significant," said Mr Ankur Srivastava, Managing Director, DTZ India, a global property advisory firm.

According to Mr Shubhendu Saha, Senior Manager, Investment Advisory, DTZ India, foreign investors mostly prefer the private equity route through which they pick up some stake in the local real estate companies.

State `unattractive'

In West Bengal, a majority of the real estate projects are developed jointly with the State Government and hence are "not attractive" to these foreign investors. "The (West Bengal) market is still dominated by regional players," Mr Saha told Business Line.

Besides, issues like operational flexibility and a plethora of regulations are also creating obstacles in the free flow of foreign funds to this sector in West Bengal. "There is also some concern after what happened at Singur and Nandigram," an analyst said.

In 2007, Kolkata is expected to have a supply of nearly 8.3 million sq ft of commercial real estate space compared to an estimated demand of nearly 5 million sq ft.

More Stories on : Foreign Direct Investment | Real Estate & Construction | West Bengal

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Bonds perk up as inflation fears subside

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line