Indian realty records giant leap in global arena

In an encouraging development, India’s realty sector has made it to the top 10 countries that registered maximum improvement in transparency in the real estate sector over the last two years, concluded a survey by real estate consultancy JLL, which cites improved market fundamentals, policy reforms and liberalization of investment norms among reasons for the sharp spurt. In Jones Lang LaSalle’s (JLL’s) Global Real Estate Transparency Index (GRETI) 2018, India has moved up to the 35th spot from 36th in 2016 and 40th in 2014. The survey, which covered 100 countries and ranked them for transparency against over 180 parameters, placed the UK at the top of the list, while Venezuela was ranked as the least transparent. The improvement in transparency level in India follows a series of policy initiatives and reforms, including implementation of Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Act, 2016, land title insurance, the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, aligning the sector with the goods and services tax (GST), demonetization and opening up of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). Country’s remarkable improvement in the transparency scores across all markets has started to benefit the nation in the form of increased volumes of international capital being deployed in the country, claimed chief executive of JLL India, Ramesh Nair.