Sushil Kumar Sayal - Inside Unreal Estate: A Journey Through India’s Most Controversial Sector

Buy land, they are not making it anymore.

Mark Twain

There is an old saying in northern India that three factors are at the root of all conflict: zar, zoru and zameen (gold, woman and land). Wars have been fought over the three from time immemorial. These have been the cause of much of the fratricide we see in history and have led to innumerable families being torn asunder. In modern times, it is often said that behind most controversies is zameenland or real estate.

It may be embroiled in scams and scandals, but land is a highly sensitive issue in India. Thats why emotions run high every time the issue of taking farm land away from cultivators for commercial or industrial purposes comes up. It is seen as a grand conspiracy to deprive the farmers of their only possession. Naturally, this is an issue that political parties just dont want to let go off as farmers make up a large chunk of the vote bank.

Theres a reason why Indians are so emotional about real estate. For several generations, we have been taught that our first investment should always be a house: a roof over ones head. Everything else can wait. Apart from education, it is the single possession that Indians value the most. A man who doesnt own a house is seen as incomplete or poor.

From the long-term perspective, almost all Indians see it as the safest investment. Not just in India, wherever Indians go in the world, they quickly emerge as the movers and shakers of the property market: London, New York, Singapore, Dubai.

Because it is perceived as preciousthe ultimate security against lifes unforeseen contingenciesand because it has been grossly unregulated, it is also one of the most maligned sectors of the economy; the breeding ground for a million scandals.

The thought of writing this book occurred to me some time back when I realized that the whole sector hadunfairlya very bad reputation. Everybody, whether perfectly honest or a crook, was painted with the same brush.

I would hear other industries talk with pride about their high ethical practices, stringent governance and absolute transparency; why, I would wonder, werent the countrys real estate barons talking about such things? Not everything was rotten in this sector.

There was good reason for it: nobody, including the common man, was prepared to believe that the business of real estate could be carried out in a clean and transparent way. I felt that somebody had to set the record straight.

At the end of the day, real estate development is a business like any other. Why should its rules and moral standards be different? Having always played by the rules, I felt it was important to tell my story; a journey of over three decades, where things got done only the way they should.

I also felt that the negative publicity around the sector should not deter youngsters from entering the field. India today produces some of the finest young talent in the world, but many of them choose to steer clear of real estate. Unless they are told that this sector, too, can be clean and free of manipulation, it will never be able to attract fresh talent.

Real estate as a sector is constantly evolving, though the changes may be slow. The big leap came when humans moved from caves to houses. Then in 1853, when Elisha Otis invented the elevator, construction began to grow vertically. It became possible for people to live in high-rise buildings. Had it not been for Otis, the world would not have seen skyscrapers. This contribution to human civilization needs to be appreciated.