The realty sector has been one of the worst hit in the face of slowdown. High interest rates and a severe cash crunch have hit realty companies hard.

But for India’s largest real estate developer, DLF, the going is still steady. With a land bank spread over 32 cities, the realtor continues to tap emerging markets.

Operating across various verticals of real estate, the realtor has carved a distinct niche for itself over the years.

Differentiation and identifying growing avenues ahead of competition has made the real estate developer a market leader.

It announced a profit of Rs 18.64 billion during the first quarter of fiscal year 2008, a growth of 23% from the corresponding period last year.

Unitech, the second largest listed real estate developer in India, has a pan-India presence.

With a land back of about 16,000 acres, the developer also has major infrastructure construction projects to its credit.

However, in times of a slowdown, the realtor has changed its product portfolio.

“Our focus has been more on affordable housing in range of Rs 40 lakh-Rs 70 lakh in NCR. The demand is more in this segment now and has slowed down in luxury apartments,” says a Unitech spokesperson.

The realtor is, however, facing a severe cash crunch. Recent media reports said that the realtor has defaulted on two payments worth Rs 150 cr to the Greater Noida Authority on a housing project.

The Greater Noida airport plan may well be shelved on Tuesday, when the Group of Ministers led by finance minister P Chidambaram meets to take a final call on the issue.

According to highly placed sources, the ministry of civil aviation is expected to support scrapping any plan to build an airport at Greater Noida and cite the opinion of the Attorney General (AG).

Earlier, the GoM had referred this politically sensitive proposal to the AG to determine whether an airport at Noida violates the concession agreement between the government and GMR Group, the developer of the Delhi International Airport (DIAL). In his report subsequently, the AG clearly stated that till capacity at the existing DIAL is exhausted, no new airport should be allowed to come up.

DIAL is just about 70 km from the proposed airport site at Zevar and as per existing rules, any airport proposal within 150 km of an existing one needs to be examined for implications on existing infrastructure.

Even the current political scenario indicates that the chances of the Greater Noida airport proposal getting a nod are slim. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati, the main supporter of this project, is at loggerheads with the UPA government at the Centre and it is widely believed that the GoM would agree with civil aviation minister Praful Patel’s plan of scrapping the project all together.