An unfinished apartment block in Mumbai
Metal and concrete skeletons scattered across India are reminders of project management challenges in the country's real-estate sector. Nearly 1 million unfinished apartments, together valued at US$130 billion, stand in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this year.
Major delays have occurred for a simple reason: Sponsoring organizations ran low on cash. In 2011, India's rapid growth slowed, leaving some organizations short on funds. Most of the stalled apartment projects were launched between 2008 and 2010, with targeted completion dates between 2013 and 2015. Home buyers who made down payments on undelivered apartments have sued Unitech Ltd., one of India's biggest real-estate developers.
“When you start losing momentum on the sales, and the money doesn't come in as you expected, then the project gets stuck,” Rajeev Bairathi, executive director at real-estate consulting firm Knight Frank India Pvt., told the Journal. —Abbie Kraus
