Real estate companies mopped up the most amount through initial public offers on stock exchanges during 2007, industry body Assocham said today."Despite high interest rates, the real estate sector remained buoyant during 2007 primarily because of the strong underlying demand, aggressive marketing, entry of new players and upsurge in retail and multiplexes. This is reflected by the highest share occupied by the sector in IPO market during the year," chamber president Venugopal Dhoot said.Property developers mobilised as much as 42.7% of the total funds through IPOs, Assocham said in a statement.Of the Rs 34,119 crore raised in the primary market from January 1, 2007 till mid-December, Rs 14,591 crore was raised by reality firms. DLF mobiled Rs 9,187 crore, Housing Development and Infrastructure Rs 1,707 crore and Puravankara Projects Rs 858.7 crore.It said nine real estate companies raised money through public issues, which also included IVR Prime Urban Developers (Rs 778 crore), Omaxe (Rs 650 crore), Brigade Enterprises (Rs 671 crore) and Akruti Nirman (Rs 361 crore).Power and telecom sectors mopped up Rs 4,519.18 crore and Rs 2,964.06 crore respectively during the year, it said.Assocham said 101 companies across 29 sectors raised money from IPOs amounting to a total of Rs 34,119.7 crore during the year gone by.
