DLF to invest over Rs 6,000 cr in Gujarat

Real estate major DLF Ltd will be investing over Rs 6,000 crore in Gujarat in next 2-3 years.

The Delhi-based company would be taking projects like IT parks, residential, retail and other projects through this investment. It is already investing Rs 3,000 crore of these for setting up three IT Parks, one each in Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad and Vadodara.

Moreover, the company is interested in investing for port, airport and other infrastructure projects in the state. DLF is eyeing major cities of Gujarat like Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot for these projects.

"We are launching our first IT Park in Gujarat at Gandhinagar and will be building another two in Ahmedabad and Vadodara at a total investment of Rs 3,000 crore. We are also interested in building at least one airport at an investment of roughly Rs 5,000 crore as well as a greenfield port at an investment of again Rs 4,000-5,000 crore," said Rajiv Singh, Vice Chairman, DLF Ltd, adding that the company has responded to EoIs to the government of Gujarat.

Spread across an area of 25 acres, the IT Park at Gandhinagar is expected to be completed in 18 months, with the first phase to be completed in nine months.

To be built at an investment of over Rs 800 crore, the IT Park has received a formal status of a special economic zone (SEZ) and is expected to generate employment for around 30,000 persons.

Singh informed that the company will also be setting up around 6-7 hotels under a joint venture (JV) with Hilton Group of Hotels. The JV would be setting up 70-100 hotels across the country in the next 5-7 years.

"According to a recent Nasscom report, the IT-ITES exports of India, which was $26 billion, will be $60 billion by 2010. Therefore, there is still a lot of scope for the business and Gujarat seems to be an emerging IT hub after Bangalore and Pune," added Singh.

Meanwhile, Singh said that the company's subsidiary, DLF Assets will be raising a couple of billion dollars and may possibly raise it through an IPO in a year or two.

The real estate company earned a turnover of around Rs 3,000 crore in the 1st quarter and is expecting to grow by over 20 per cent.

With diversification in mind, DLF has recently entered into a JV with USA-based Prudential Insurance for introducing several financial products including life insurance.

The company, with a stake of 74 per cent in the JV, has applied to IRDA and is expecting a license soon in the current fiscal, said Singh.