Raghavendra Kamath

Stories by Raghavendra Kamath

Stand-off between retailers and malls over rentals worsens

Stand-off between retailers and malls over rentals worsens

Rediff.com   3 Jun 2020

At the heart of the matter are revenue-share rental agreements that retailers are mooting over fixed-rent contracts that they say are unsustainable, given the revenue loss they've suffered during the lockdown.

COVID-19: How Mumbai has been done in by poor planning

COVID-19: How Mumbai has been done in by poor planning

Rediff.com   21 May 2020

Urban planners and real estate experts say bad town planning in Mumbai and rising deaths during the ongoing pandemic are a "sad reality". Dev Chatterjee and Raghavendra Kamath report.

How India Inc is trying to save jobs

How India Inc is trying to save jobs

Rediff.com   21 May 2020

India's biggest firm, Reliance Industries, has decided to cut salaries by 10 per cent in its oil and refining divisions. Several smaller companies like Kajaria Ceramics have followed suit with cuts as high as 40 per cent for those earning more than Rs 50 lakh.

Wait for new home may get longer by 3 months

Wait for new home may get longer by 3 months

Rediff.com   13 May 2020

Developers are cautious about the timing of launches in the near term, given the relative uncertainty in demand pick-up and logistical challenges during the lockdown. However, affordable housing projects slated for the first quarter (Q1) of 2020-21 (FY21) may get launched this quarter itself.

Mumbai staring at massive labour shortage

Mumbai staring at massive labour shortage

Rediff.com   11 May 2020

Several on-site labourers in the city want to take special trains being run to transport workers back home. The rising number of COVID-19 cases in the city has caused anxiety among them.

COVID-19 deals a deadly blow to small realty players

COVID-19 deals a deadly blow to small realty players

Rediff.com   6 May 2020

Experts say that the lockdown and its aftermath will further quicken the consolidation in the real estate sector, which has been taking place since 2012, with more small players going out of the business and bigger, branded players dominating the market.

Pandemic, a wake-up call for city planners: Tata

Pandemic, a wake-up call for city planners: Tata

Rediff.com   21 Apr 2020

'High-value homes are designed and built on slum lands and slums are given residue. They do not have access to free air and live in close proximity of others.'

Residential builders stare at a bleak year

Residential builders stare at a bleak year

Rediff.com   9 Apr 2020

CREDAI-MCHI, a body of developers in Mumbai, has pegged the drop in sales booking at around 80 per cent in the February-March period this year. This is the second highest fall in residential sales in the past five years, after Q1, 2017, when the decline, due to the note ban, was 37 per cent.

Mall operators' revenues may take 30% hit amid coronavirus spread

Mall operators' revenues may take 30% hit amid coronavirus spread

Rediff.com   20 Mar 2020

The analyst said since servicing of principal and interest on loans will beome challenging for mall operatos in the next couple of months.

Coronavirus spread: Retailers, multiplexes, mall owners spar over rentals

Coronavirus spread: Retailers, multiplexes, mall owners spar over rentals

Rediff.com   20 Mar 2020

Retailers and multiplex operators want mall owners to either forgo rent for the period of the shutdown or lower rent in the event the mall is open but footfalls are low.

How companies deal with coronavirus panic

How companies deal with coronavirus panic

Rediff.com   17 Mar 2020

Employees asked to work from home... cancelled travel plans... curtailed meetings... Caution and precaution dominate Corporate India's response to Covid-19.

Why Mumbai 24x7 is not a thumbs up with mall owners

Why Mumbai 24x7 is not a thumbs up with mall owners

Rediff.com   26 Jan 2020

Experts feel that mall owners anticipate an increase in costs to the tune of 15-20 per cent annually, prompting a mixed response to the '24 hours' initiative. A mall owner said while the policy is good in spirit, implementing it would be a challenge as night shopping or eating out wasn't a habit in Mumbai yet.

India to see mall space addition of more than 65 million square feet by 2022

India to see mall space addition of more than 65 million square feet by 2022

Rediff.com   30 Dec 2019

Almost all the big mall developers/investors - such as Raheja-owned Inorbit Malls, Xander-APG joint venture Virtuous Retail South Asia (VRSA), property developer Prestige Estates Projects, and Blackstone-owned Nexus Malls - are looking to double their space in a year or two.

Canadian pension manager CPPIB may invest more in India

Canadian pension manager CPPIB may invest more in India

Rediff.com   5 Dec 2019

CPPIB, which started investing in the country in 2009, has invested in Kotak Mahindra Bank, L&T Infrastructure Development Projects, online education firm Byju's, energy company ReNew Power, logistics firm Delhivery, among others.

'Home prices will be flattish for another 12 months'

'Home prices will be flattish for another 12 months'

Rediff.com   26 Nov 2019

'After that, volumes and prices would move up.'

Realty majors hope to cash in on festivities

Realty majors hope to cash in on festivities

Rediff.com   21 Oct 2019

Whether it is DLF in the National Capital Region, or Godrej Properties and Oberoi Realty in Mumbai or Sunteck Realty, Prestige Estates and Sobha Realty in Bengaluru, most top players have launched or lined up a slew of new project launches during this season.

How HDIL MD Sarang Wadhawan's party ended

How HDIL MD Sarang Wadhawan's party ended

Rediff.com   11 Oct 2019

Analysts say that PMC Bank case is only going to make matters worse for HDIL and the Wadhawans.

PMC Bank chairman's HDIL link runs really deep

PMC Bank chairman's HDIL link runs really deep

Rediff.com   4 Oct 2019

While Waryam Singh was a non-executive director at HDIL, he is listed as one of the promoters of the company and had relations, including shareholding, with several other entities controlled by the Wadhawans, the HDIL founders.

Will student housing become cheaper?

Will student housing become cheaper?

Rediff.com   30 Jul 2019

Goldman-HDFC JV and OYO Hotels & Homes are betting big on student housing, says Raghavendra Kamath.

Japan's Sumitomo inks India's biggest land deal

Japan's Sumitomo inks India's biggest land deal

Rediff.com   9 Jul 2019

The plot C-65 in the G Block of Bandra Kurla Complex was leased to Goisu Realty (a unit of Sumitomo) for 80 years by MMRDA.