An entity that's seen-it-all during the past 60 years... glorious if we could call it, or rather successful with a touch of style - that's Eros Group for you!
Even today, the company is all set to grow bigger, getting bulkier by the day, having tasted success in all its previous ventures in the fields of real estate development, colonisation, hotels and restaurants and film exhibitions business.
With a land bank of roughly 500 acres in the most lucrative stretch of the National Capital Region (NCR), the company's upcoming projects include a township and a mall each in Gurgaon and Faridabad, a corporate tower in Manesar and a 700-room five star hotel in Gurgaon. An animated and enterprising Avneesh Sood, Director, Eros Group gets candid while discussing his plans with Business&Economy for the group and developments in the realty sector.
Q: Where do you see the Indian real estate sector today ?
Avneesh: The industry is booming like never before. It has observed significant developments over the last few months in all sides. Recently, the industry also observed some of the biggest land deals. From a state of being unorganised & non-transparent, we have matured into a much better space. However, a lot of efforts are still required to clean-up the space. Moreover, one need to safeguard against the fly- by- the night kind of developers. Developers like them dampen the mood in the industry and this can disturb the boom in the industry.
Q: So you mean there are chances that the real estate boom might not be sustainable?
Avneesh: It's not a ‘bubble’ for sure! The sector has been observing an upward trend forfive years now and bubbles really don't last that long ! At the moment, there is correction in prices which can be attributed to the interest rates scenario and excess supply in certain pockets. However, by and large the demand and the prices are stable. Therefore, the real estate growth story is still intact - ‘highly sustainable’. At least for the next few years the boom is going to sustain.
Q: What advice would you like to give an upper middle class family planning a property purchase?
Avneesh: An advice would be to go and purchase the asset right now! It's the right time to buy the property for the end-users, but from the well established developers who will deliver on time and as promised.
Q: What is your vision for Eros?
Avneesh: Our vision is to create a world class institution in the real estate industry. Over a timeframe of ten years, the group has successfully diversified within India, and now we're thinking of going ‘beyond national borders’. Moreover, going for a public issue will certainly be on our top priority list. Presently, there's just one thing on our minds - growth and we are testing all possible options to fund our growth.
Q: What are your plans within Indian subcontinent ?
Avneesh: Well, that has been our focus till date. For the short term, we want to stay close to NCR, and don't want to expand geographically. A lot of growth potential is still there to be tapped, and we're doing well. Till now that's our plan for India.
Q: Do you have any special plans for Diwali?
Avneesh: It has been observed in the past that during the festival season sales go up significantly. We are planning a variety of launches too. New projects, relaxation in payments, down-payment discounts to first 50 consumers and so on, are some of the campaigns we will introduce. We expect an increase of 20-30 percent in our sales during the festive season.
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