Tata Housing goes to Maldives with villas

Tata Housing on Monday announced a Rs 1,000-crore foray into Maldives with villas priced at a princely Rs 30 crore each. This is the first international project for the fully owned real estate arm of Tata Group.

The project is to be a public-private partnership between Maldives government and Apex, a special purpose vehicle formed by Tata Housing and Maldives-based developer SG18. Tata Housing owns 65% stake in the SPV.

HT first reported the plans of Tata Housing to go international and launching projects in Maldives and Sri Lanka, on January 19.

According to the agreement, the Maldives government has allocated four plots on an island on a 50-year lease to the SPV to develop residential apartments, of which 80% would be owned by the government to provide low-cost housing.

The remaining 20% would be sold by the SPV, apart from a 1.5-lakh sq ft land parcel which will have about 50 villas costing around Rs 30 crore each.

"We are expecting a top line of around Rs 2,000 crore from the project," said Brotin Banerjee, MD & CEO, Tata Housing.

"We have commenced the development of the project and are expected to finish it in around 30 months."

Tata Housing plans to raise half the funds through long-term debt, and meet the rest through internal accruals.

The company is also exploring ways and means to invest in Sri Lanka.

"We are in a due diligence stage and are looking at two projects, of which one could be affordable housing," said Banerjee.

The company could invest around Rs 250 crore there.

The company is also looking to invest in South Africa and Kenya, at a later stage, and has earmarked Rs 250 crore for investing in international projects every year.

"(However) the investment would depend entirely on the project," said Banerjee.

In India, Tata Housing is set to launch about 8 projects comprising of affordable housing, high-end housing and a small portion of commercial real estate.

It is looking at raising funds from Tata Sons and could issue fresh equity to the company, an official said.

Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com