Piramal, Sunteck JV to invest Rs 1000 cr

To focus on high-end real estate projects in metros.

Ajay Piramal Group company Piramal Enterprises has entered into a joint venture with Sunteck Realty and Infrastructure to develop properties in the country.

The JV, called Piramal Sunteck Realty Pvt Ltd, will focus on high-end real estate projects in metros and tier-II cities and plans to invest Rs 1,000 crore in the next one year.

The joint venture will undertake its first project, a commercial/IT park of over a million square feet, at Sion in Mumbai. In addition to ultra luxury residential projects, the JV will develop commercial projects, mixed-use townships and SEZs.

"We are looking at various properties. We plan to create landmarks in the most attractive locations. Residential properties will comprise 65 per cent of our portfolio while commercial and others will constitute the rest," said Ajay Piramal, chairman, Piramal Enterprises. Piramal said the JV would fund the projects from the promoters' equity and private equity funds.

"We would like to set new benchmarks of quality by employing top-class professionals and by using world-class technology," said Kamal Khetan, chairman, Sunteck Realty Ltd.

"We will strive to leverage the synergies of both the groups to emerge as one of the top realty companies in the country in the coming years," he said.

The Ajay Piramal Group group already has exposure in real estate through its real estate fund Indiareit, which has a total corpus of $470 million. Indiareit has both domestic and offshore funds.

It has invested in a few projects such as Paranjape Schemes in Pune, Skyline Projects in Bangalore and pumped in Rs 400 crore into a real estate project in Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai.

Piramal Enterprises has interests in pharmaceuticals (Nicholas Piramal), pathology labs (Wellspring, NPIL Pathlabs and Diagnostics), glass containers (Gujarat Glass Limited) and financial services (Indiareit and Symbiosis, a healthcare focused private equity fund).

Banking on the higher yields from real estate projects, a number of companies have formed joint ventures to develop properties in the country.

Future Group company Kshitij had formed a JV with Singapore's Capitaland to develop malls while US private equity funds Starwood Capital and Walton Street Capital entered into a agreement with property developer Shriram Properties to develop a Rs 5,500 crore integrated IT township and auto park in Hindustan Motor's Uttarpara plant in West Bengal.