Introduction
Contributing nearly 6% to India's Gross Domestic Product,
the real estate sector is a key industry of the Indian economy that
also drives various other industries such as cement, steel, paints,
building materials, consumer durables, retail, etc. The second
largest employment generator after agriculture, the Indian real
estate sector has shown healthy growth in the post- 1991
liberalized economy, encouraged by rapid urbanisation, favourable
demographics, increasing purchasing power, entry of foreign
investors, rapid growth of housing finance, influx of international
property consultancies, etc. And yet, this sector has not realised
its true potential. With the exception of Tier-I cities, the real
estate market in India remains largely fragmented and unorganised.
The absence of any single industry-specific regulatory body has
resulted in all sorts of unfair trade practices by builders as
highlighted in 2011 when the Competition Commission of India
imposed
