RESCOM Summit – Event Report

By Team IAnD

Photography: Courtesy IDE Global

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IAnD has been the media partner for IDE Global's interior and architectural summits twice over and has been watching the professionalism of this B2B platform reaching out to cross-sections of the building industry across India...

At the recently concluded Rescom Summit at Bengaluru (1st & 2nd Aug.'13), addressing the real estate industry in South India, the format was succinct and focussed, with just 3 hard-hitting panel discussions besides the statutory face-to-face meetings, sponsor presentations and networking.

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Leading builders and developers like Sunil Mantri of Mantri Realty Ltd., Sandeep Mehta of Jain Housing, Vishal Mirchandani of the Brigade Group and Amit Oberoi of Colliers International discussed the pros and cons of the real estate bill, with a consensus on single-window clearance as the need of the hour; thereby optimizing on time and prospecting on the likelihood of timely project completion amongst other factors. While the discussion closed on ‘transparency’ and ‘standardization’ as the two spearheading regulatory aspects of a rapidly growing real estate industry in India, the big question remains – “Is the industry ready for this standardization?”

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Ably confronting the haphazard growth of our urban spaces were developers Arun Kumar of Casa Grande, Amit Puri of RMZ, Nand Kishore of Ramky Estates and Somy Thomas of Cushman & Wakefield, who dissected Urban Treat Vs. Urban Threat, lauding the role of divergent developers in the evolution of infrastructure in tier 2 and tier 3 cities, stressing on the role of the government in effecting a balanced growth by reducing the mega-city vs. small township divide. While their discussion was centered around real estate scenarios in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai, the matrix of public-private synergy that evolved, could universally be applied across India.

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Stalwart panelists Anthony Barnett from Bownam Riley Architects, Ar. Bobby Mukherjee and Diwakar Chintala, Design Director Gensler, on the ‘Role of Architecture in Society’ were rather disheartening to say the least. Coming from strong design sectors, an outcome that could have been full of beans and perhaps with strong recommendations for the fraternity, turned out to be a dampener, making the architect out to be a mere yes-man in the hands of the developer. A very negative, dejected viewpoint emerged, lamenting the architect’s limitations in the given bureaucratic scenario; the panelists seemingly disinterested in sharing their social-responsibility contributions, if any.

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The two-day conference saw 160 delegates from West and South India, with conversations veering from one aspect to another under the gamut of the building industry. IDE’s multichannel industry expertise sure seemed to be paving the way for effective B2B sales and marketing, networking professionals, building businesses.