Shriram Properties Ltd. is planning to mark an increased presence in the affordable housing segment, managing director M. Murali said.
Talking to The Hindu after making some announcements regarding the Shriram Grand City project, he said this was the firm’s largest single-location housing project, comprising 25,000 dwelling units, spread across 314 acres.
Mr. Murali said currently 50% of SPL’s properties were now in the affordable housing segment, with prices ranging between ₹35 lakh and ₹75 lakh. “We will increase our exposure in the affordable segment by 10 percentage points within 18 months,” he said, adding that 90% of the company’s projects were residential.
‘Exploring acquisitions’
The company’s focus areas include distressed assets. “A lot of consolidation will happen in this space on account of demonetisation, RERA and GST and we are looking at acquisitions,” he said, adding that these targets were primarily in South India.
Highly-leveraged small developers have begun looking for exit routes, he observed.
The company has already held talks with about 100-odd developers in this respect. The firm, which recently raised funds, is also exploring an IPO.
On the Kolkata project, he said that this offers 33 million square feet of residential, commercial and entertainment facilities. Currently 24 towers are being built to offer 2343 units. The total cost of this phase is Rs 650 crores.
Shriram Properties has so far delivered 18 million square foot projects with about 20 million square feet under construction. In future it plans to take up 70 million square feet in the residential segment.