Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Kolkata realty firms make beeline for Chennai

Indrani Dutta

Stability of the real estate market lure the groups


Merlin Group ties up with Rajathi Group

PS Group to invest Rs. 1,500 crore


KOLKATA: Leading real estate companies from Kolkata are making a beeline for Chennai and its vicinities putting projects worth crores of rupees in the pipeline.

The strong growth of the State in areas such as IT, automobile and medical tourism and the stability of its real estate market are some of the factors luring the groups from this part of the country to make a southern foray.

Tier II cities

Projects that are set to change the skyline of the southern capital as well as some of the Tier-II cities in Tamil Nadu are both residential properties and commercial properties like malls with a group planning to set up a 9.5 lakh sq. ft. mall in Coimbatore and a 3.5 lakh sq. ft. mall in Chennai.

Investment by Merlin

One of the many real estate companies which are seeking to mark a footprint in Chennai, the Merlin Group, has tied up with the Rajathi group to build residential and commercial properties.

The Rs. 1,000 crore investment that they have proposed will have an allocation of 75 per cent for townships and 25 per cent for commercial projects.

Land banks

The group plans to develop land banks in East Tambaram, and Sriperumbudur. About 40 acres had already been procured in Sriperumbudur and plans are afoot to buy 300 acres at Ocheri on NH4.

Rajathi Merlin has plans to develop properties in Coimbatore, Madurai and the Tiruchi market. The group feels that the growth of the real estate and infrastructure development offers great opportunities.

Another Kolkata-based group, the PS group, shares this bullishness about the Chennai realty market.

According to its Chairman and Managing Director, Pradeep Chopra, Chennai is now the hardware hub of the country and is fast becoming the most-preferred destination of auto majors. It is also strong in medical tourism.

However, above everything else the stability of the market and the near absence of speculators is what makes it so attractive a real estate market.

“The growth is based on fundamentals and is similar to the eastern region, where people mostly buy for their own use instead of speculators picking up properties for investment. This leads to crashes of the kind seen in the west and the north,” says Mr. Chopra.

Shopping mall

The PS group is planning to pump in Rs. 1,500 crore through various projects, including a shopping mall at Velachery a housing complex on Old Mahabalipuram Road and another next to the Tamil Nadu Inftech Park at Siruseri.

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