April 13, 2010

In order to face the competition from foreign rivals, the local brokers plan to renovate their image by turning themselves from brokers to consultants. To give a tough competition and appear professional, their idea is to transform their appearance. Laptop in hand, Necktie, some executive finesse and changed destination might assist the task of refurbishing the image.

Mr. Vibhoo Mehra,a broker from the western suburbs protested that they should not be addressed as real estate brokers. It sounds very downmarket. They should rather be called realtors or consultants. Even a conference took place on this concern which was attended by around 600 real estate agents.

Brokers must look professional and presentable is the belief of some panelists at the conference organized by the National Association of Realtors India (NAR).

NAR treasurer Kalpesh Shah said that not just the outlook will be changed; rather they want brokers to be well informed about their projects too. It will gain the attention of buyers. He also informed that the international broking firms are posing a threat to local brokers since they have started biting a chunkier share of the day-to-day brokerage pie.

City builders like Sunil Mantri, Niranjan Hiranandani and Pravin Doshi were also seen in the conference.

The company signed an MoU with the Special Area Development Authority, Gwalior, to carry out the project under public-private-partnership model, the company said in a statement.

As per the MoU, the realty firm would set up a Hi Tech city over an area of 2,000 acres, comprising 25,000 housing units.

The company has already acquired 375 acres for creating housing for the low and mid-income people.

Around 5,000 houses would be provided in this project and the developments work would be commissioned by October this year.

It is currently developing three new projects in Gwalior, consisting of residential, a shopping mall cum multiplex and commercial spaces.

Commenting on the deal, Mr. Sunil Mantri, Chairman, Mantri Realty said, “Having made a mark in real estate sector, we will make a major foray into the infrastructure sector with our power projects. Through our subsidiary Mantri Power Ltd, a 540 MW thermal power plant with an investment of Rs. 2,400 crore would be set up near Nagpur. The plant will be fully functional by 2012 and 60% of the power generated out of the plant will be supplied to the Maharashtra state power utility.”

Mantri Realty has recently launched projects in Bangalore and Hyderabad. The company is also developing 2 SEZs, IT Parks spread over 50 acres and 25 acres of land and one large township spread on 400 acres of land in Nagpur. Mantri Realty client list boasts of several large corporates including Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, Mercedes Benz India Ltd, HDFC bank Ltd, SAIL, NSE and SBI Homes Finance Ltd. The company has tie-ups with major Housing Finance Companies and Banks to devise loan schemes for its various projects.