The Hindu Business Line : IDEB Projects builds land bank

In the offing
Talks are on for development of 550 acres of land in Pune for a gated community project.
IDEB consortium short-listed for the 9,000-acre satellite township development at Bidadi, Karnataka.
Has bid for Phase II of the Delhi Metro project, for airport projects at Varanasi, Mangalore and Khajuraho and a steel melting and sinter plant at the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant.

Bangalore April 6 The Bangalore-based real estate and infrastructure developer IDEB Projects, which received $34-million (Rs 151 crore) private equity funding from the US-based Samsara Capital LLC in February this year, has used the funds to build its land bank and ramp up the existing projects, said Mr Harkirat Singh Bedi, Managing Director, IDEB Projects.

The company has overall funds of $60 million within the group. "We plan to leverage the money higher at the special purpose vehicle level to attract more investments," he said.

The company has acquired 200 acres of land in Uttarakhand. It also plans to launch nine projects across the country this year, starting with Pune this weekend. Other cities include Mysore, Goa, Chandigarh, Bangalore (two residential projects) and Jaipur. Last year, four projects were launched in Bangalore and Dehra Dun, Mr Bedi said.

"We developed one-and-a-half million sq ft of space last year. This year, we plan to develop four million sq ft," he added.

Community project

Discussions are on for development of 550 acres of land in Pune for a gated community project, Mr Bedi said. "In the next 3-4 months, we would be launching two projects in Pune and Ludhiana."

Satellite project

Mr Bedi said that the IDEB-Shanghai Urban Construction Group consortium was one of the 18 pre-qualified bidders short-listed for the 9,000-acre satellite township development at Bidadi, Karnataka. The Government would be issuing bid documents soon, he added.

"We are also looking at hydel power projects in Karnataka and Uttarakhand, to be developed on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis. We have submitted bids for these plants," he said.

The company also plans to bid for more road projects — similar to the two 55-km BOT road projects it won in Punjab; "we are also looking at road projects in Madhya Pradesh," he said.

Metro projects

IDEB Projects, which has bid for Phase II of the Metro project in Delhi, also plans to bid for the Metro project in Bangalore. Besides, the company has also bid for airport projects at Varanasi, Mangalore and Khajuraho; and a steel melting and sinter plant at the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant.

IPO vs pvt equity funding

The company did not take the IPO route for funding because "we think the real estate model is yet to mature. We felt that the private equity market was a surer way to success, and that's why we went for private equity funding," he said.

He commended SEBI's recent regulation on land-title disclosure for real estate companies going in for IPO as well as the Government's measures that he felt "would make sure the market is not overheating. The government is making sure that there is demand from genuine buyers".