News: IVR Prime plans to invest Rs 6,000 crore in 5 cities

(BS 31/08/2006) Hyderabad - IVR Prime Urban Developers Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the IVRCL Infrastructures & Projects Limited, has lined up investments to the tune of Rs 6,000 crore for developing integrated townships, business parks, hotels and hospitals in Delhi, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad during the next four years.

The company is planning to come out with an initial public offering or go in for private placement of equity in six months' time to part finance the proposed projects.

It has recently secured an enabling resolution in this regard.

"We are open to both domestic and international investors with regard to private placement of equity," IVRCL director, E Sunil Reddy, told Business Standard.

At present, IVR Prime has an equity base of Rs 50 crore.

While IVRCL holds 80 per cent of the equity, the remaining 20 per cent is held by the promoters of IVRCL.

The current market value of the company is estimated at Rs 3,000 crore.

In Hyderabad, IVR Prime is constructing a mall, an IT park, a 300-room seven star hotel besides residential and commercial accommodation located at Gachibowli and Hi-tech city, all in the newly carved out Cyberabad.

The total cost of the ongoing projects in the city is estimated at over Rs 2,000 crore.

Similarly, the company is jointly developing a 500-acre land near Sriperumbudur near Chennai where it will be constructing a business park, resort, a 90-room deluxe hotel, a hospital, colleges and a residential complex besides an 18-hole golf course at an estimated cost of Rs 2,000 crore.

It has engaged the services of the US-based golf course designer, Ronald W Fream, for laying the championship golf course. This apart, the urban development company has acquired 330 acres of land at Minjore in Tamil Nadu to take up a Rs 300-crore residential project.

IVR Prime's other projects include joint development of a 100-acre site at Pimpri in Pune where a business park, residential complex hotel and a hospital are planned to be built.

The company has also purchased 500 acres in Lonavala for developing a resort and residential plots.

The company has also taken up a Rs 300-crore project involving construction of a hotel, a club house and a residential complex on a 30-acre site adjacent to the Hosur Road near Bangalore.

It has also acquired two pieces of land measuring 3.5 acres and 25 acres at Whitefield on the outskirts of Bangalore for construction of a residential complex and independent houses at a cost of Rs 140 crore.

The New Okhla Industrial Development Authority had allotted 43 acres of land to the company last week for construction of group houses.

The project is estimated to cost Rs 125 crore.

IVRCL vice-chairman and managing director, E Sudhir Reddy, said all these projects would be executed simultaneously in a span of four years.

The 850-strong team of IVRCL building division would now be engaged in the execution of these projects. Apart from being a major urban infrastructure company in the country, the company's vision is to emerge as a 1,000-room hospitality enterprise with its hotels spread across India by 2010.