Vancouver, BC, July 17, 2012 - As of April 2010, the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) has formally closed their investigation into Royal Indian Raj International Corporation® (RIRIC).
Allegations of fraud and irregular land acquisition processes surrounding RIRIC's township development activities in India were brought against the company in early 2005 by a former local employee looking to undermine the hard-earned reputation of RIRIC in both North America and India. In addition to RIRIC's early brand incubation of such names as Choice Hotels (15,000 rooms), Century 21, and Caldwell; exclusive rights to the Jack Nicklaus golf courses and Academies; a $1 billion strategic financial relationship with The Greenwich Group; consultancy associations with Jones Lang LaSalle and CPG Corporation (former Singapore Public Works Dept); and financial relationships with Global Emerging Market Fund on a 300,000,000M (GBP) Equity Line of Credit the following townships were presented to the Indian government and proposed for development subsequent to land negotiations and Township master plans submission:
- Royal Garden City Bangalore (2004) - 3,000 acre (146.36 million sq. ft. built-up) "Smart" City, Bangalore, India
- Royal Garden City Mumbai (2004) - 5,000 acre (217,800,000 sq. ft. built-up) "Smart" City, Mumbai, India
- Royal Garden Villas and Resort (2005) - Phase 1: 17 gated communities (600,000 sq. ft.buildable), proposed expansion to 137 acres (5-7M sq. ft.) Bangalore, India
- The Italian Village (2007) - 1,136 acre gated community, Bangalore, India
- Golf India (2007) - a series of prestigious, planned golf course communities across India by golf legend Jack Nicklaus
- The Special Economic Zone (2008) - 12,500 acres for commercial development, State of Meghalaya, India
After an exhaustive review, BCSC lead investigator David Martin determined there were no grounds for prosecution.
"At the end of [that] process, we concluded that there was insufficient evidence to sustain allegations," said Bob Abrams, BCSC Investigations Manager.
"We are very pleased with the BCSC's decision," says RIRIC's chairman Manoj C. Benjamin. "As RIRIC is very vigilant at keeping well-documented records of its cross- border activities in the new emerging market of India and elsewhere we remained confident with the investigation's outcome. The process has nevertheless delayed our progress.We are eager to put the last few years behind us and get our inaugural township project in Bangalore, India, off the ground in mid 2012, move on to other proposed townships as well as internationally incubate big name brands through our vertically integrated development portal.".
The Asia-China-India markets will make up 50% of the world's economy by mid-century; a transformation which, in India, will be "the scale and speed of which has not happened anywhere except China" noted a recent report from Morgan Stanley. International real estate groups have only been allowed to actively invest in the Indian markets since 2004. RIRIC is well-versed in the risks and challenges inherent to developing Eastern markets and is readily equipped to handle the multiple facets of its projects.
"Our vertically integrated proprietary "Smart" township model is unique - and a significant undertaking by any company's standards, " notes Benjamin. "It requires vision, the pursuit of excellence and a hard-headed business acumen. In India it requires additional mastery over many complex risk factors and procedures prevalent in these types of emerging markets such as poor regulatory environments, undefined real estate laws/practices, prolonged re-zoning issues, continuously changing governments, and excessive governmental red tape for project permissions with average approvals taking up to six to eight years. It takes patience, perseverance and personal contacts at the highest political level. RIRIC has all three in abundance."
RIRIC initially entered into their township development projects in 2000. They received Indian Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB ) approvals under India's newly created "Integrated Township Sector" programme in September 2004, and became the first Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) permitted under this initiative. However, government delays of five to ten years, the aforementioned employee's internet sabotage campaign, and other influencing market factors reversed the precision planning and effective advancements to date; it was the perfect storm to stall the company's stellar reputation, integrity and project validity.
The clearance by the BCSC, combined with finalized Indian government permit clearances at the central and state levels, will allow RIRIC to commence phase one of its inaugural Royal Garden Villas & Resort (RGV) Live-Work-Play community in 2013 with phase two and its proposed 3-4 million square feet development anticipated to follow. The RGV project has received over 12,000 sales inquiries in its pre-launch stage. The entire project will be completed in several phases over approximately 5-7 years.
