Message From MD January – 2022

Dear friends,

God loves you! He offers you purpose, understanding and forgiveness. The best example of the above statement was the year 2021. Almost every aspect of our lives changed due to the pandemic, and I am grateful for how we responded. Yet, no matter how we move forward, we know that it will never be the same.

The current times will be the subject of history, economics and social science studies for generations to come. The work we do every day is groundbreaking, and it will continue to be.

My world has never felt smaller than it did over the last twelve months. Yet, at the same time, this year was a reminder that our world is more connected than ever. 2021 was full of monumental events with global repercussions, including extreme weather events, the ongoing effects of the pandemic, and geopolitical changes.

Every time you look at the news, you are reminded of just how an event happening on the other side of the world could affect you at home. But this crisis also has provided us with the opportunity to think differently. It has allowed us to examine how we can take advantage of technology to be more flexible in meeting the needs of every customer. I can think of no better example of what it means to be “All in for Asset!”. For that, I am beyond grateful to all of you.

But above all, as we come to the end of this very unique and often challenging calendar year, I would like to take a moment to say – OH MY GOD, THANK YOU SO MUCH !!! 2021 was a challenging year for many people, including me, but I’m hopeful that 2022 will be better. Here’s hoping that the new year brings us lots of new and exciting opportunities in our lives. This new year will be our year. Happy New Year to all Assetians !!!

After a tumultuous two years marred by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Indian economy is showing signs of recovery. Most economic indicators have either reached pre-pandemic levels or close to those levels. As a result, the RBI is projecting a GDP growth of 9.5% for the Financial Year (FY) 2022. The real estate sector is poised to benefit from this economic activity surge, with sectors like residential, office, warehousing and data centres expecting an increased demand. Knight Frank has identified the top five trends for Indian real estate in 2022, summarised as follows.

1. Residential market on a strong wicket.
After a prolonged period of falling and then stabilising, residential prices are likely to rise again. They project around 5% capital value growth for the residential property segment in the country in 2022. Many of the supply and demand-side factors assessed over the last decade have started putting upward pressure on house prices. Residential sales momentum is expected to continue in 2022 as prospective homebuyers’ preferences for bigger homes, better amenities, and attractive pricing will keep them interested in sealing the deals. This can be around 10% in the Kerala market as our basic sales price per Sq.ft. are lesser than other states.

2. Office sector has tailwinds of record IT Sector hiring
The upswing will drive office markets in Information Technology Sector’s leasing momentum. According to Knight Frank Research, the top-five IT companies’ incremental demand for office spaces is projected to be nearly 1.08 mn sq m (11.67 mn sq ft) soon. In addition, we will have a decent share of employees in these companies, which will make our residential markets also grow.

3. Co-working in flexible occupier workspace strategy
Businesses want to remain flexible on most cost components in the uncertain times created by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this turn of planning patterns, the co-working sector will benefit as the pandemic reinforces the need for agility like never before. Agility, a keyword associated with the co-working industry, will drive the demand rebound for flexible office spaces despite the return of normalcy.

4. E-commerce boom to benefit warehousing sector
The E-commerce segment will drive growth in the warehousing sector, with its share in total warehousing transactions increasing to 36% in FY 2023 from 31% in FY 2021. As a result, overall warehousing transactions are projected to grow at a compound annual growth of 20% in FY 2023. In this scenario, speed and technology will emerge as key considerations for occupiers’ warehousing strategy.

5. Digital consumption and policy impetus to drive data centre growth
With the imminent implementation of 5G and data localisation norms, the need for data storage to be closer to its users assumes greater importance and requires the country’s data centre capacity to scale up quickly to meet the needs of the country’s user base. Given the significant volume of capacity already under construction, they estimate that approximately 290 MW of IT load will be added in 2022 to the market, to take the total-built IT capacity to 735 MW by the end of the year.

The indicators are very positive and let’s hope for a year of growth and success waiting. As a team we should focus on customers, their demands and changing requirements, right from design to services. Customer delight and support leaders face a wide range of challenges, including a competitive talent market, customer interaction preference shifts, and the increased impact of service in driving loyalty. Customer centricity remains the bedrock of the organization’s focus, so customer service and support leaders must find new, innovative ways to demonstrate value back to the business and drive enhanced customer outcomes.

As I look into the year 2022, I’d love to share a big idea. Nothing but something I say almost every day. CUSTOMER FIRST !

The customer’s expectations continue to evolve. Customers are smarter than ever. They no longer compare a company or brand to its direct competitor. Instead, they compare the experience to the best they’ve had from any business or brand.

To remain competitive, we must keep up with what customers feel important, including customer service and convenience. While these were competitive differentiators in the past, they are now hygiene factors. When customers interact with the companies and brands, they expect knowledgeable and friendly employees, easy access to help/support when needed, fast response, transparent communication, genuine guidance and an easy/frictionless experience. Those are more important than ever, and will be even more important in the future. Hence let us try to make 2022 an year of ‘beyond delight’ for each and every customer.

Regards
Sunil Kumar V
Founder and Managing Director