IVR Prime to develop integrated townships

Land identified in Karnataka, Maharashtra, TN and Delhi.

IVR Prime Urban Developers Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Rs 1,000-crore IVRCL Infrastructures & Projects Limited, is planning to develop integrated townships in major cities across India. The company has identified lands in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Delhi for this purpose.

"The proposals for these projects are at the drawing board stage," IVR Prime managing director, E Sunil Reddy, told Business Standard. The company, which had been set up with the intent of taking up mega urban infrastructure projects, is also planning to come out with a public issue to fund its future growth plans.

Reddy said IVR Prime would now be able to get back its Rs 200-crore investment "struck up in its Hill Ridge project for the past five years".

Following fulfillment of its contractual obligations with the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh (SAAP), the state government had permitted SAAP to register the flats and individual villas built by the company at Gachibowli.

In 2001, IVR Prime purchased 50 acres of land carved out of the University of Hyderabad campus at a cost of Rs 14.5 crore and had built an integrated township called "Hill Ridge" as a private-public partnership initiative. The company had entered into a memorandum of understanding with SAAP and AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation in this regard.

As per the terms and conditions of the MoU, the township had been initially handed over to SAAP for accommodating the participants in the national games held here four years back.

Subsequently, the company had sold the 600 apartments and 125 independent villas constructed at the site. However, as the land was purchased from the state government, registration had to be done by the government.

Due to various reasons, there had been a delay in the registration of the flats and independent houses. Consequently, the purchasers had made only partial payment to IVR Prime. Now, with the government permitting SAAP to register the built-up premises, the company would be able to realise the full amount.

According to IVRCL vice-chairman and managing director, E Sudhir Reddy, the company had initially invested Rs 140 crore for accommodating the 10,000 athletes who participated in the national games. Due to delay in registration of the constructed area, the company had to bear an additional interest burden of about Rs 78 crore.

IVR Prime is now building a 12-lakh square feet shopping mall and an IT park on the Hill Ridge premises at a cost of Rs 250 crore. It is also exploring the possibility of constructing a five-star hotel at the place. "The shopping mall and the IT park will be ready in two-and-a-half years," Sunil Reddy said.