Shapoorji Pallonji Group in pact with top lenders to create 20,000 quality affordable homes in India

The Shapoorji Pallonji (SP) Group has tied up with Standard Chartered Private Equity, International Finance Corporation, the commercial lending arm of the World Bank Group, and the Asian Development Bank, to form a joint venture focusing on development of quality affordable housing projects in India.

With a capital commitment of $200mn (equivalent to Rs1,250 crores), this is one of the largest capital inflows in the affordable housing segment in the country where marquee investors and multilateral  funding agencies have joined hands with a premier real estate group to create a platform for developing affordable housing projects  across India.

Each of the investors has extensive experience in investing in real estate projects, including affordable housing across the world. A key reason that the Shapoorji Pallonji Group has embarked on this venture is their capability to execute end-to-end projects with an in-house development and construction expertise.

Currently, the SP Group is developing one of Asia's largest affordable housing projects in Rajarhat, Kolkata with 20,000 apartments of which nearly 7,500 homes have been completed.

The chairman of SP Group, Shapoor Mistry is strongly of the view that businesses should be aligned to national development objectives and this venture is one step amongst many which SP Group, is and will continue to undertake.

Jai Mavani, executive director, SP Group said, ''We are extremely happy to announce this venture on our 150th anniversary. Through this venture we are also privileged to meaningfully contribute to the Hon'ble PM's vision of providing 20 million houses by 2020.''

This venture will look to develop about 20 million sqft of quality affordable housing homes across the country spanning cities such as Mumbai, Pune, NCR, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad in the next 8 years.

The business plan of the entity envisages a focus on both tier-1 and tier-2 cities with project sizes in the range of 1.2 million to 5 million sqft. The new entity will have a dedicated team to build on the business plan and will launch these projects under a new Brand.

Venkatesh Gopalkrishnan, president (BD) & CIO, Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate said, ''We are delighted to associate with renowned international partners for our foray into the affordable housing space. This venture marks the beginning of a journey of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group to realize the dreams of the growing middle class by building homes in the affordable housing space. ''

The product configuration of these developments will predominately include 1BHK apartments of 500 - 600 sq. ft. and 2BHK apartments of 800-900 sq. ft. priced between Rs15-50 lakh per unit.

Constructed by Shapoorji Pallonji Engineering & Construction, the projects would be targeted at the aspirational and growing middle-class and will provide enhanced amenities including recreation areas, children play areas, health, sport and activity areas amongst other support facilities.