List of Top Real Estate Companies in India;A Sector Plagued by Scams and Scandals

Organized Real Estate Industry in India is only a couple of decades old .Real Estate Industry in India took off with the global boom in the Realty Sector which percolated down to India as well.Lack of clear land titles and litigation has made this industry one of the most opaque and corrupt ones.Due to the massive price appreciation and huge valuations,Land Scams have become quite common with Chief Ministers,Generals,Top Bureaucrats all involved in the murky environment of Real Estate in India.The most recent scam related to bribing of top public banks officials in the LIC Housing Finance Scandal has again put question mark on the fundamentals of the industry.Valuing the industry and making a real estate investment remains one of the most difficult investing tasks in the Indian Stock Market.Even Fund Managers are staying away from the Sector due to lack of trust in the Financial Statement given by the industry.That said modern India presents a booming picture of tall buildings and huge office areas & shopping malls. A list of the chief players in Indian market is given below:

• DLF: DLF’s chief business is to develop housing, marketable and retail properties. Currently it has undertaken the development of 70 million sq ft of housing projects which it intends to finish in the next three years. DLF has joined hands with Delhi Development Authority to develop townships in Amritsar, Pune, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Chennai and Goa. DLF has been the construction company behind different malls in the major cities in India. The company is also developing 50-75 hotels along with Hilton Hotels and infrastructure and SEZ in India in collaboration with Laing O’Rourke (UK).The current market cap is around Rs.51,832.22 crore.
• Tata Projects: Tata Projects registered an annual turnover of Rs 2,300 crore on July 1, 2007. With more than 1,500 professionals the company has emerged as one of the chief player in EPC projects. Over the last four years, it has attained a CAGR of 50 per cent which quadrupled its annual turnover of 2006-07. Tata Projects functions in concentrated divisions like broadcast and distribution, steel, power production, oil, gas and hydrocarbons and industrial infrastructure.
• Sobha Developers Ltd: With an annual turnover of Rs 1,189 crore, Sobha Developers Ltd was initiated by the now chairman PNC Menon in the year 1995. On June 30, 2007, the company has 3,706 skilled professionals working for it. At present it owns Rs 3,500-acre land in eight Indian cities namely Coimbatore, Bangalore, Mysore, Chennai, Thrissur, Kochi, Pune and Hosur. The company’s clientele include some of the top players in IT, hotel and construction sector such as Hewlett Packard, Mico, Infosys, Ramaraju Developers, Dell, Timken, etc.
• Shapoorji Pallonji & Co: The Company has more than 3,500 professionals working for it and is largely driven by its loyalty to consumer satisfaction. Some of the major projects undertaken by Shapoorji Pallonji & Co are World Trade Centre, Mumbai; TELCO industrial complex, Pune; Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Kalpakkam; HSBC Bank, Mumbai; Hotel Taj Intercontinental, Mumbai; Bank of India, Mumbai; Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, etc. the company has created magnum opus of construction and has been a consistent executer of challenging projects.
• Unitech: Recently Ramesh Chandra, Unitech’s Chairman has declared the investment of $ 720 million by his company in the coming four years to develop 28 hotels along with Marriott International. The market capitalisation of the company is Rs.16,867.40 crore.Its chief activities include construction, expansion of real-estate, consultancy in associated sectors, hotels, electrical broadcast and information technology.
• India Bulls Real Estate: One of India’s largest listed developers developing residential and commercial real estate. Being a focused regional player, more than 90% of IBREL’s portfolio by value is in the three major markets of Mumbai, NCR and Chennai. Established in 2000, the company has grown into one of the leading Indian business houses with its companies being listed on Indian and overseas financial markets having a combined net worth in excess of Rs. 18,000 crores. the current market cap being Rs.6,545.17 crore.
• HDIL: Ranked as India’s fastest growing real estate company by Construction World-NICMAR in October 2007 & with a current market cap of Rs.8,567.76 crore, Housing Development & Infrastructure Limited has established itself as one of India’s premier real estate development companies, with significant operations in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. HDIL is a public listed real estate company in India with shares traded on the BSE & NSE Stock Exchanges. With operations spanning every aspect of the real estate business, from residential apartment complexes to towers & townships, commercial premium office spaces and retail projects like world-class shopping malls. it is India’s largest slum rehabilitation company, & was given the Mumbai International Airport Slum Rehabilitation project in October 2007,one of the largest urban rehabilitation projects in India..
• Emaarr-MGF: One of the world’s leading real estate developers company in India and Development of properties in the residential flats, Commercial Properties, premium apartments etc. The ‘Commonwealth Games Village builder’ is still trying to get listed on NSE. Currently not listed.

Note this is hardly a complete list of all the realty companies in India but a sample of the big listed companies.A couple of realty players like Oberoi Realty and Prestige Estates recently listed on the India markets

More Real Estate Industry Links

1. Why do people invest in Indian real estate companies
2. India’s Corruption Infested Realty Sector gets Raided by Tax Department in another Futile Exercise
3. How Indian Real Estate Companies Inflate Revenues through Creative Accounting
4. India’s Unloved Real Estate Sector tries to make a comeback through the IPO Market yet again
5. Emaar,Lodha rethink their IPOs as Investors of recent Real Estate IPOs face big losses
6. India’s Junk IPO Market – Real Estate IPO Nitesh Plunges 6% on Listing