Omaxe to put in Rs 2,200 cr

With nearly 40 shopping malls and high-end luxury apartments coming up in Punjab by the end of 2010, the state is all set to witness a major retail boom. More than 30 of these projects will be ready within two years.

The development of shopping malls and luxury apartments is attracting investments worth thousands of crores of rupees.

Omaxe, one of the leading players in this field, is coming up with an investment of around Rs 2,200 crore in Punjab, which includes five shopping malls "" two each in Ludhiana and Amritsar, one wedding hall in Patiala and luxury apartments in Ludhiana and another residential project in Dera Bassi.

They are also coming up with a group housing project at Baddi in Himachal Pradesh. Out of this Rs 2,200 crore investment in the state, Rs 1,100 crore will be invested in Ludhiana alone "" Rs 900 crore on the luxury apartments and around Rs 100 crore each on the two shopping malls.

Giving details about Omaxe's residential project in Ludhiana, Amitabh Bhattacharya, vice-president (corporate communications), Omaxe said the apartments had been named Royal Residency.

"This project will include 2,000 high-end luxury apartments and penthouses. They will come up near Sterling Resorts on Pakhowal Road in Ludhiana. Right now we have a total of 36 acres of land area there and we are in the process of acquiring another 6 acres soon. The total investment on this project will be between Rs 900 crore and Rs 1,000 crore and it will be ready in a maximum of two months.''

Royal Residency will include luxury apartments, luxury duplex apartments and penthouses. "These apartments will have all the basic amenities of modern day living and will be available in three different sizes "" 2,000, 3,000 and 4,000 square feet. The penthouses will be at least 5,000 square feet."

On Omaxe's second residential project in Dera Bassi he said, "In Dera Bassi, we are coming up with 640 residential flats of 1,200 and 1,600 square feet. Total investment there will be between Rs 200 crore and Rs 250 crore."

Commenting on the pricing of these luxury apartments, penthouses and flats at both these projects, Bhattacharya said they would be fixed once the project starts. "I promise that prices will be very nominal," he said.

According to an Images-CII study on "Retailing in Punjab: 2010 and Beyond", Punjab has been consuming more than other states and is significantly higher than the all-India average in almost every retailing category.

As per estimates, average monthly consumption expenditure during 2004-05 in urban Punjab was Rs 1,182.90, which is higher than the national average of Rs 1,149.52.