Red Fort Capital’s Rs 2,700-crore plan for real estate

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New Delhi, Jan 27: Private equity firm Red Fort Capital plans to invest about Rs 2,700 crore in real estate by 2009, including acquisition of 2,500 acres of land in over 20 cities across the country.

“By 2009 we will have invested about Rs 2,700 crore in development projects in Indian real estate. Of which, about 70% will go toward acquiring 2,000-2,500 acres of land in suburbs of metros and tier II cities,” Red Fort India Real Estate Fund’s managing director Parry Singh said. The company will develop properties worth Rs 12,000 crore, he said adding “... the respective developers will also invest their share of the remaining equity amount on a project-by-project basis.”

Red Fort Capital (RFC) has already acquired over 1,000 acres of land in different parts of the country, he said, while adding “We are actively looking at 21 cities, with a strong interest in Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Kolkata and Vishakhapatnam markets.” Having committed a significant portion of the first fund of $425 million, Red Fort is now in the process of utilising the recently launched Rs 1,000 crore domestic fund. “About Rs 800 crore of the domestic fund will be put in land acquisition,” he added. The company is in the process of acquiring about 200 acres of “comparatively cheap” land in the outskirts of Mumbai, he said.

The company would develop residential, commercial, hotels, hospitals and retail spaces in these lands. “The recent controversies have made us further gun-shy of developing Special Economic Zones,” Singh said.On tie-ups with developers, Singh said, “We tend to focus on mid-size developers, given our ability to add financial strength as well as technical capabilities in project development and execution.”

The company would develop about 10,000 residential units in Bangalore over the next eight years, whereas it would create about 2,000 dwelling units in three years in Hyderabad, Singh informed.

Besides, RFC is also currently developing properties in Chennai. On its possible raising capital from the public markets, he said: “The domestic fund has potential to be listed in the next three years.”

He, however, declined to divulge any details. Asked whether the existing floor area ratio (FAR) in the country should be increased, Singh said, “If infrastructure is poor, then FAR shouldn’t be increased. Developers should be allowed to build infrastructure and then increase the FAR.”