DLF freezes projects, fires staff

The liquidity squeeze-induced slump in demand has forced real estate leader DLF to fire some employees, put a number of hotel and housing projects on hold and yearn for 7 per cent home loan rates.

"We must have laid off some employees somewhere," DLF chairman K P Singh said, but did not give the number of jobs that were cut.

The company has also deferred some of its projects due to poor demand. "In hotels, residential and commercial everywhere... deferred because of lower demand and liquidity crisis," he said, again without sharing the specifics.

Singh also said high interest rates have taken a toll on demand. "There are no takers for housing sector... Ideally, the interest rate should be around 7 per cent."

Asked if the current prices of the realty projects are inflationary, Singh denied and said: "It cannot be inflationary as it has to be competitive. It also depends on supply and demand."

Because of demand going down, many projects have been closed down by many developers across the country, he added.

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