Lodha wins Mumbai plot in record deal
26 May 2010
Real estate firm Lodha Developers paid more than twice the asking price to win a plot of land in central Mumbai for Rs 4050 crore (USD 850 million), in what is seen as the single largest land transaction in the city.
Lodha, which plans to launch a USD 650 million initial public offering later this year, wants to build a Rs 10500 crore residential development on the 25,000 sq metre site, the company said on Tuesday.
"This is the biggest (financial) deal for a single plot so far in Mumbai," said Sanjay Dutt, chief executive at property services firm Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority had set a minimum price of Rs 1980 crore for the plot.
And the previous record for an Rs 1800 crore deal to build a commercial complex in neighbouring Navi Mumbai was set in April 2008.
"We think this is an aggressive price based on very optimistic demand forecast," Dutt said.