The Hindu Business Line : Singapore-style housing in Chennai soon

Mr Lee Soon Teck, Chairman, Lee Kim Tah Holdings Ltd, and Mr M.B.N. Rao, Chairman and Managing Director, Indian Bank, at a presentation made by Lee Kim Tah for the proposed integrated township in Chennai. - Bijoy Ghosh

Chennai , May 7

CHENNAI will soon have a taste of Singapore-style living.

A joint venture, Singapore Realty Private Ltd, has got the State Government's go-ahead to set up an integrated township at Siruseri on the Old Mahabalipuram Road, about 20 km south of Chennai.

With 6,000 two- and three-bedroom apartments built in condominium-style, the township will be self-contained, providing its inhabitants international quality facilities - basic and recreational.

The promoters are targeting the `young and yuppie' information technology professionals working in the software companies on the Old Mahabalipuram Road, being promoted as the IT corridor by the Tamil Nadu Government.

Land along this road has emerged a prime choice for information technology companies to set up shop. Over the next few years about 35,000 professionals are expected to be employed in the area.

The township will give those who are yet to go abroad, a sample of the lifestyle in international quality townships, and those who have been there and seen it, a chance to continue that experience at home, said Singapore Realty officials.

Singapore Realty is a joint venture between Lee Kim Tah Enterprises and an Indian partner, BP Ventures.

At a presentation of the project on Thursday, Lee Kim Tah officials said that 300 - 400 apartments will be constructed in the first phase. Bookings are expected to commence later this year, with the company hoping to put up a few model apartments by September.

Each apartment will be around 1,250-1,350 square feet and is expected to cost around Rs 1,000 a square foot. They will be a part of six- to 12-floor high rises, a cluster of which will form a precinct. Thus the township will be made up of several precincts, each of which can be maintained by residential associations, they said.

The precincts will be arranged in such a way that the residents will not be more than a 10-minute walk away from the common facilities. The State Government has assured them of a continuous water supply (the new Veeranam project pipeline runs close by the project site) to meet the estimated requirement of 3 million litres a day.

A modern water treatment facility will ensure "residents can drink water directly from the tap," said officials. The Lee Kim Tah group also has access to advanced technologies in water treatment, they said.

For Lee Kim Tah, which has been in the business for six decades with projects across the globe, this is the first experience in India, and as such is expected to be a learning experience in dealing with the market here, not to speak of the officialdom.

The joint venture and the local officials see it as an opportunity to see how the other side works.

They are working on various models for maintaining the facility since the local bodies by themselves do not have the resources to handle such modern project, they said.

The company has purchased 100 acres of land belonging to State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT) and is in discussions with government agencies further clearances. SIPCOT has sold the land `at cost,' and according to Singapore Realty officials, the price ranged between Rs 13 lakh and Rs 16 lakh an acre.

Singapore Realty is a joint venture between Lee Kim Tah Enterprises and an Indian partner, BP Ventures.

Lee Kim Tah Enterprises leads a consortium that holds about 97.87 per cent of the $5.75 million equity, with the Indian partner holding 2.13 per cent.

According to company officials, Lee Kim Tah Enterprises holds 65.43 per cent, and about 30 per cent is with India International Insurance Pte Ltd and First Capital Insurance Co Pte Ltd, which are likely to park a part of their offshore insurance fund in the project.

India International was incorporated in Singapore in December 1987 by merging four Indian subsidiaries of General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC) — National Insurance Company Ltd, The New India Assurance Company Ltd, The Oriental Insurance Company Ltd and United India Insurance Company Ltd.

Indian Bank has also evinced interest in the project, and its Chairman and Managing Director, Mr M.B.N. Rao, said that its Singapore branch had helped catalyse the project.

The bank was looking at funding the project and extending credit support to buyers purchasing apartments in the township.

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