The real estate division of the diversified Shapoorji Pallonji Group is focusing on a minimum of 6 new projects in India for FY2017-18. Two of these projects will be in the affordable housing category according to senior company officials. According to the chief executive of Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate, Venkatesh Gopalakrishnan, at least 6 projects will be launched in this financial year and two projects out of this tally will come up under the Joyville brand of affordable homes.
2-3 projects are planned for Mumbai along with 2 in Pune and one in the NCR (National Capital Region) according to Gopalakrishnan. The company already possesses a land bank of 40 million sq. ft. across India. The affordable housing project at Virar will be launched soon in September-October, 2017 according to Gopalakrishnan while the second Joyville project will be launched by March 2018 at Hinjewadi in Pune.
The Shapoorji Pallonji Group forayed into the affordable housing category last year itself by tying up with International Finance Corp (IFC) which is a division of the World Bank, Standard Chartered Private Equity and ADB (Asian Development Bank). As per the terms of the agreement, this partnership will pump in around $250 million for purchasing land and establishing initial infrastructure. The first Joyville project has already been launched by the company at Howrah in close proximity to Kolkata.
Gopalakrishnan also stated that the company already possesses the land required for these projects and hence necessary funds will be raised on a per project basis and majorly through debt. He also stated that GST and RERA will require developers to adapt quickly in spite of there being initial teething problems. He also stated that 5 ongoing projects have already been registered as per RERA with four of these in Maharashtra and one project located in Bangalore where the rules have been released. There are projects in north India and West Bengal where the rules have not been released yet according to Gopalakrishnan.
