The “Investment Environment & Funding Mechanisms in Real Estate Development” conference organized by the NCR chapter of the Confederation of Real Estate Developer’s Associations of India, (CREDAI) and Cushman & Wakefield concluded on a positive note on the 14th of September, 2007.

A comprehensive Directory of Real Estate Developers in electronic and print format was launched during the occasion, carrying vital information on the real estate developers in India.

During the opening session on Urban Economics: The Basis for Development, participants from the industry, Rajesh Ramnaney of Bentley Systems; V Suresh, Director & CEO, Aerens Goldsouk; and Dr. MP Mathur, Professor, National Institute of Urban Affairs discussed the organic growth in Indian cities, and the consequence of this growth on the infrastructure.

The speakers called for serious planning to manage their rapid growth. Today’s burning question, “Is the real estate market getting saturated?” was taken up by Ashwin Ramesh, Principal, Primary Real Estate Advisors, Arvind Pahwa, MD, JP Morgan India; Sanjeev Dasgupta, CFO & Head-Investments, PHF Investment Advisory; Sanjay Dutt of Cushman & Wakefield; and Pradeep Jain, Chairman, Parsvnath Developers.

The speakers conferred on ways to sustain the demand for real estate, and debated on whether the high interest rates had really impacted the industry.

Growth Strategies for New Entrants was taken up by Sanjay Bansal., Partner, Ambit Corporate Finance, Abhishek Kiran Gupta of Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj; and Manish Uppal, MD, Uppal Orchid.

Addressing the all important issue of Funding of Infrastructure & Real Estate Projects, speakers Yesh Nadkarni, Head-Real Estate Investment Management, Prudential ICICI Asset Management Company; Mr. Subhash Bedi, Managing Partner, Red Fort Capital; Mr. Ishan Singh, CEO, RE Capital India Fund; and Mr. Rajneesh Agarwal, VP, Avendus recommended the organized route to raising capital to meet their requiremnts