DLF to invest Rs 15,000 cr on affordable housing

Buoyed by robust sales in mid-income housing, real estate giant DLF today said it will invest Rs 15,000 crore over the next three years to develop various residential projects across the country in Rs 15-40 lakh range.

DLF, the country's biggest real estate developer, had last year announced its plan to enter into mid-income housing segment, realising the huge untapped demand in this category.

"We will be investing Rs 5,000 crore a year over the next three years on mid-income housing projects," DLF Home Developers Vice President A Harikesh told PTI.

"Mid-income homes will be our focus area and will witness significant growth in the coming quarters," he added.

DLF's investment plans for affordable housing coincides with announcement by public sector banks to boost the segment by cutting home-loan interest rates, putting caps of 9.25 per cent for Rs 5-20 lakh and 8.5 per cent for loans of up to Rs five lakh.

Harikesh said internal accruals, advances against sales and capital raised through private equity would take care of the planned investment. DLF had raised Rs 1,675 crore as private equity in eight projects in November 2007.

DLF Home Developers, the wholly-owned subsidiary of DLF, would construct about 40,000 housing units in the mid-income category, sizes of which would vary between 1,000 sq ft and 1,800 sq ft, he added.

The company has witnessed tremendous response for its mid-income housing projects and sold over 7,000 flats so far this year, despite slowdown in the housing demand for the last six months on account of high interest rate and capital value.

DLF has launched mid-income housing projects in Bangalore, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Indore, Kochi, Kolkata and Pune.