Palatial residences are not just about the super rich flaunting their wealth, which is one aspect, but there is a wider and deeper implication. Much of it is good at best or inconsequential at worst to the market in general, argues Mr Anuj Puri, Chairman and Country Head, Jones Lang LaSalle India, an international property consultant.

In a statement on high-end homes, whether the 27-floor high-rise home, the Antilia, in Mumbai, or the White House, a penthouse spread over an acre in Bangalore, there are more elements to these super-homes than meets the eye, says Mr Puri. Of course, it is to a great extent a lifestyle statement but apart from being a residence, they have a number utility value — as business centres and entertainment complexes.

These residences have strategic importance to their owners and are not mere indulgences. They generate considerable employment and commerce in the localities they occupy.

For instance, Mr Puri points out, Mr Mukesh Ambani's Antilia will provide jobs to over 600 people from all levels of the services industry. Many of the supplies that go into building such houses and keeping them operational must necessarily come from the local markets. Coupled with the employment-generation factor, they should be seen as economic dynamos in their own right. On the real estate market they may push up the price tags of luxury and premium homes in the immediate vicinity, but in general have little impact on the market as they occupy a small niche.

Indian residential property sector operates on three distinct levels. The largest is affordable or budget housing which is not in prime areas where the elite are present; next comes mid-income housing, which is sensitive to price movements; and finally the premium and luxury housing, which does happen in the neighbourhoods in which India's mega-rich build their homes. This rarefied segment caters to a class of buyers that tends to be, at least to a large extent, insulated from the usual financial concerns of home loan interest rates and percentile increases in property rates. In the super-luxury housing segment, home buying is also a lifestyle-related undertaking. Increased property rates can and are often borne as long as there is a commensurate increase in the capital value. The ground reality is that the homes of India's super-rich play a role in boosting commerce, even as the larger industry remains insulated and focused on the needs of the masses.

Suntech takes Sanjay Dutt on board

The Mumbai-based developer Sunteck Realty has appointed Mr Sanjay Dutt, Executive Managing Director (South Asia) for Cushman & Wakefield, as an Additional Director (Independent Director) on the board with effect from May 30.

A press release quoting Mr Kamal Khetan, Chariman and Managing Director, Sunteck Realty, said, Mr Dutt has held a management position at international property consultants Jones Lang LaSalle, and earlier led the Corporate Services North & West (India) at CBRE, the world's largest commercial real estate services firm. He is also on the board of RE Zone, a real estate fund in India

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