Garnet plans Rs 450-cr township in Panvel

Mumbai-based real estate firm Garnet Construction is planning to build a Rs 450-crore township by 2010 in Panvel near the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.

Spread over 400 acres, the township will include an IT park (100 acres), residential buildings (200 acres) and educational campus (100 acres). The company has acquired 305 acres and expects to acquire the rest by April 2007.

"We will invest around Rs 300 crore in developing the residential complexes, Rs 110 crore for the IT park and Rs 40-50 crore for the educational campus," said Arun Kedia, director.

He said the residential complex would have apartments, row houses and independent bungalows, in the range of Rs 5-40 lakh. "The real estate pricing has been done in such a way that township is not confined to a particular section of the society," said Kedia.

Kedia said that the IT park would be leased out to tech majors and the educational campus to foreign varsities. "We are in talks with a few American universities. Our educational infrastructure will support elementary as well as higher education," he said.

The funding of the project would be through debt and internal accruals. Kedia said Rs 125 crore would be invested in the first phase. "Of this, we will borrow Rs 15-20 crore from banks, Rs 70-80 crore will come from our overseas investors, and Rs 15-20 crore from internal accruals," he added.

The company would start raising funds for the second phase by October next year.

Garnet is also developing a residential project in Lonavala. It plans to build 117 bungalows.

The complex has been designed for two, three and four bedroom bungalows with gardens, terraces and parking space. "We are planning to invest Rs 35 crore in the project, which will be completed by 2007," said Kedia.

The projects are being marketed globally by the Dubai-based real estate marketing company Sternon Group. With corporate offices in the UAE, the US, and UK, the company caters to a wide clientele across the globe.