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G. Krishnaswamy

Mr S. Pochendar, Chief Executive Officer of Lanco Hills, at the construction site in Hyderabad on Wednesday. —

Our Bureau

Hyderabad, Nov. 12 Lanco Hills, a special purpose vehicle of Lanco Infratech, has hiked the cost of the mixed development project that includes a special economic zone near Hyderabad from Rs 6,000 crore to Rs 7,200 crore.

The Chief Executive Officer of Lanco Hills, Mr S. Pochendar, announced that the company has achieved financial closure for Rs 6,000 crore project initially planned. However, in view of the cost escalation, additional funds would be mobilised through internal accruals during the project execution over the next two years.

Addressing newspersons at the company’s project site about 20 km from the central business district, Mr Pochendar said over 8,200 workers are currently engaged on the site and another 7,000 workers would be added within couple of months.

Admitting to delay due to some litigations, Mr Pochendar said they have put that behind and have now embarked on a rapid execution mode. In fact, the delay had meant additional payment to contractors.

Asked about the impact of slowdown, Mr Pochendar said they have had no cancellations. However, two broad trends come out – people are tending to adopt wait and watch for new properties and another relates to demand for lower cost apartments and villas.

Lanco Hills is developing 30 million sq ft of built up space which includes residential area, IT towers in special economic zone, retail and hospitality and non-SEZ area. Of the 12 IT towers, work on three towers is now underway. However, he refrained from divulging the names of companies for whom the project is being executed.

The 100-plus storey Signature Tower, claimed to be the tallest residential building, planned in the project is awaiting clearance from the Civil Aviation authorities. “We expect to secure it by early next year,” he said.

Referring to expansion plans, Mr Pochendar said Lanco plans to take up projects in Chennai, Bangalore and the NCR region later and expects to invest about Rs 3,000 crore.

The company has already acquired land in Chennai, Bangalore and NCR region. In Bangalore, it proposes to develop villas, and in Chennai residential property.

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