praveen

TURMOIL AND TANTRUM

The coming year is the ideal time to be an investor in Indian property, Nanda said, because land prices should fall after quadrupling in many areas in the last three years.

However, after a cooling period, long-term demand will be huge for new apartments, shopping centres and offices in an economy growing at around 8 percent a year, he added.

"I'm quite excited with what's happening," Nanda said. "I feel the market will go through six months of turmoil."

Singh, at Red Fort, expected land prices to fall by between 15 and 50 percent, depending on the location, with prices in land-scarce Mumbai holding steady.

"We've been shamelessly making offers of a third of the asking price," he said.

But British developer John Hitchcox, who with designer Philippe Starck founded property firm Yoo and who has invested in two residential projects in India, advised foreign funds against taking on too many partners.

"It's like having five girlfriends," said Hitchcox, who once dated supermodel Elle McPherson. "They all know of each other and don't like it, and are masters of the tantrum."