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Is Rupert Murdoch’s interest in the Indian housing market growing?

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Sonal Desai
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MUMBAI, INDIA: Building on the new trend of consolidation in the e-commerce segment, Rupert Murdoch-based real estate portal has acquired Makaan.com.

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Confirming the development, Elara Technologies, the parent company of PropTiger said that it had entered into a transaction with the owners of Makaan.com; the move will strengthen its positioning in the secondary real estate market. Both portals will initially run as separate entities. Elara's other investors include SAIF Partners, Accel Partners and Horizon Ventures.

According to a report in DNA, Rupert Murdoch-led News Corp had acquired 25 percent stake in PropTiger for $30 million (Rs 185 crore) as part of its strategy to expand presence in digital media, last year.

Earlier this month, PropTiger had acquired Bangalore-based Out of Box Interaction (OoBI), a digital interaction design company that specializes in displaying real estate projects in an immersive way, DNA said.

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Since 2011, around 12,000 homes worth $1.2 billion have been purchased through PropTiger's platform, the newspaper reported.

The Noida-based firm has a proprietary database that contains information and transaction data on residential real estate sector in 20 major Indian cities.

Founded by entrepreneur and investor Anupam Mittal, who also co-founded Shaadi.Com and Mauj Mobile, Makaan.Com, has around 200,000 active property listings and relationships with 40,000 brokers in 50 Indian cities.

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Going by the National Housing Bank (NHB) Residex Index report, residential property prices show an upward trend in the second half of 2014, and the trend would continue in 2015. Plus the RBI and the SEBI have also introduced several positive measures to encourage the segment.

According to ProjectVendor.com, the real estate market will see a 10 to 15 percent increase in growth from FY2014 to FY2017, 11 percent growth in FY2015 itself. Of this, residential and commercial projects, organized retail will contribute to this growth significantly.

Real estate construction market is poised to grow by 20 per cent between now and 2017.

Why then, should Murdoch not be enticed?

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