Indian property developers woo Gulf expats amid financial crisis

By Aroonim Bhuyan, Dubai, Oct 22 : With property prices and rents spiralling in the Gulf and the rupee depreciating, Indian real estate developers are actively promoting their products among expatriate Indians in the Gulf.

"Because of spiralling rentals in Dubai and elsewhere in the region, Indians working here prefer to keep their families back home," Haseeb Ahamed, chairman of the Calicut chapter of the Kerala Builders' Forum (KBF), told IANS here Wednesday.

"Also because of the depreciation of the rupee, Indians here can invest their disposable income in real estate back home. Given the current global financial crisis, it is better to invest in real estate in India instead of investing in stocks or other investment options," he added.

KBF Calicut is holding a Malabar Property Show here Oct 23-25 to showcase villas, apartments and commercial space.

"It is a rare region-specific real estate exhibition coming from India," Ahamed said.

The show is bringing 16 builders from the Malabar region of northern Kerala, who will promote projects in Kozhikode, Kannur, Thalassery and Malappuram.

Of the around 1.5 million expatriate Indians in the UAE, a large number hail from Kerala.

According to Ahamed, Malabar, a trade and tourism centre of yesteryears, is slowly coming back to the limelight after a period of neglect.

"Malabar has been witnessing a lot of development in the healthcare, education, hospitality, transportation and tourism sectors in recent times," he said.

"The presence of a number of world class hospitals have also come up in the region," he said, adding Kozhikode was also becoming an educational hub with some premier institutions setting up base.

"Also with the opening of Karipur International Airport, there is good air connectivity with several international airlines coming in," Ahamed said.

According to KBF Calicut secretary Nityanand Kamath, a lot of expatriate Indians are already investing in property back home.

The government has announced a new airport in Kannur. "Also, two IT parks are being set up in Malabar by the Kerala IT Mission and Kinfra (Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corp)," Kamath said.

Developers participating at the Malabar Property Show are Ace Structures, Alfaone Builders, Alhind Builders, Apollo Build Tec, Crescent Builders, Cosmos Builders, Galaxy Builders, Hi-lite Builders, Calicut LandMark Builders, Malabar Builders, Prisunic Buiders, PVS Aparments, Queens Habitat, Sea Star Holdings, Seiken Proerties, Skyline Builders and Sreerosh Properties.

Leading Indian banks State Bank of India and HDFC Bank have also been brought into offer finance options to prospective buyers at the show.

--IANS