India Inc must focus on strengthening infrastructure

Manoj C. Benjamin is a pioneer in the rapidly developing Indian Infrastructure & Housing sector. Among the first approved FDIs in the nation, he was recognized by India's Business & Economy with a rank of 21 among the top 100 people for 2007.

RIRIC is launching multi-billion-dollar master-planned township communities under its Royal Garden Villas & Resorts and Royal Garden Cities brands, 135 hotels in various Indian cities under the Choice Budget brand, and a national exclusive chain of Jack Nicklaus PGA courses.

When India opened its economy to the world in 1991, Benjamin started on the path to realizing his vision: to build communities that would stand out on the world's stage as being progressive and of the highest possible standards. Today that dream is becoming a reality.

"We see the integrated township format as a key driver of future housing supply and as a catalyst for the much-needed infrastructure investments in the rapid urbanization of India. The Indian government has spelled out key incentive policies to ease the flow of private investments, and the Royal Garden City is one of the first to have been conceptualized and planned to meet this objective," says Benjamin.

According to Anil K. Agarwal, President of ASSOCHAM, leading international investors including Royal Indian Raj International, Blackstone Group, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup Property Investors, Morgan Stanley, and GE Commercial Finance Real Estate are showing keen interest and establishing their presence in Indian real estate.

Over a projected 12–15-year program, RIRIC will inject an estimated $10 billion into its premier real estate developments under the Royal Garden Cities and Royal Garden Villas & Resorts brands. India is truly emerging as the quiet lion about to roar. Benjamin's drive and vision are to create an economic and technological connection between East and West.

On India's housing demand: "India has a 27-million housing shortage today, a population increasing by 180 million every ten years, requiring 3 to 5 million new homes annually, and a population set to reach 1.6 billion by mid-century. Urban infrastructure and housing as a sector is still enormously inefficient and lacks the capital structure to prosper internally. Based on demographics alone there is incredible upside in the under-represented real estate economy."