Think Tank

The real estate sector is the source of much debate with viewpoints voiced by experts and enthusiasts alike. Compiled below are a few think pieces and articles on private equity investments and the real estate sector from KRF team members.

• Economy Tracker

The turning point in RBI's monetary policy. The RBI cut the CRR by 50 bps to 5.5%, thereby injecting liquidity of about Rs320 bn. While the CRR has been viewed previously more as a monetary policy tool, given the liquidity situation the RBI had to use the CRR. While this seens to shift the use of CRR as a liquidity tool, the RBI's move also signaled a turn in monetary policy ("the reduction (in CRR) can also be viewed as a reinforcement of the guidence that future rate actions will be towards lowering them").
Read More

• GameChanger Residential land prices

Modeling land prices in India. We build a demand-side model of the residential land market in India which has seen phenomenal price increase over the last few years. Our model suggests that this has happened due to (1) dramatic increase in per-capita incomes of non-agricultural workers and (2) a decrease in expected rental yields. As the economy moves away from agriculture-dependence, pricing of land is now being determined by the ability to pay for it rather than the produce of land. A sudden spike in yields remains a wild-card in continued land price rise.
Read More

• The Real Estate Promise
  Guest Column by S Sriniwasan, CEO, Kotak Realty Fund
  The Economic Times, December 2011

The Indian economy is now facing the reality of a significant moderation in growth. One sector, in particular, that continues to be buffeted by bad news and has few sympathizers is the real estate industry. Of the many charges made against the industry, ‘exorbitant’ or ‘unrealistic’ pricing leading to profiteering is often the main complaint. But is this really true? In a fragmented industry such as this, how can developers dictate pricing?
Read More

• India Economic Outlook 2010


• Indian Real Estate Revisited - Coming Out of the Trough
  S Sriniwasan, CEO, Kotak Realty Fund Group
  The Institutional Real Estate Letter – Asia Pacific, September 2009

With the financial meltdown, the number of players left standing has dramatically altered, and capital is now scarce. The Indian economy is still chugging along and is expected to clock a growth of 6 percent or more — down from nearly 9 percent but still a robust growth rate when compared to other economies around the globe.
Read More



• Asian Real Estate Fund

The economic downturn in the global markets has not affected allocations to Asian real estate all that much. According to a report in The Economic Times newspaper, private equity real estate funds actually increased their allocations to Asian markets marginally in 2008, to over $16 billion.
Read More