Godrej to launch Ahmedabad township in January

Project finds place in Clinton’s CCI program

Expediting work on its mega township project in Ahmedabad, Godrej Garden City, Godrej Properties Limited will be launching the first phase by January 2010. Work on one million sq ft of the first phase of Godrej Garden City is expected to be completed within 24 months.

The Godrej Garden City has been declared as one of the 16 founding projects of the Climate Positive Development Program, a Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) program that will support the development of large-scale urban projects that demonstrate cities can grow in ways that are 'climate positive'. Climate Positive real estate developments are projects that strive to reduce the amount of on-site CO2 emissions to below zero.

According to Adi Godrej, chairman of The Godrej Group, initially about 500 residential units will be constructed in the first phase which will be ramped up to close to 20,000 units in 8-10 years. "The focus will be more on 1,000 sq ft homes. However, in the long run we will offer different kinds of residential units, with prices ranging from Rs 10 lakhs to Rs 25 lakhs," said Godrej, on the sidelines of a press conference announcing GPL's foray into capital market.

At the higher band of Rs 530 per equity share, GPL intends to raise about Rs 500 crore through the initial public offering (IPO). The issue, with a price band between Rs 490 and Rs 530 per equity share, opens on December 9 and closes on December 11, 2009.

Godrej said that the township project in Ahmedabad will span an area of about 40 million sq ft. "We will be building mostly 2 BHK and 3 BHK residential apartments, apart from 1 BHK, with sizes ranging from 500-1,000 sq ft," he said. Apart from residential properties, the Godrej Garden City will house hotels, schools and hospitals in its premises. "At its peak, it would have a population of one lakh," Godrej added.

In all, GPL currently has around 82 million sq metres of developable areas for commercial, residential and townships project. "Our focus is primarily on residential projects. We grow our business through joint development model and 85 per cent of our developable areas is through this mode," said Milind Korde, managing director of Godrej Properties Limited.

When asked about the recently launched township policy in Gujarat, Korde said, "We are yet to review the policy and will only know its implications on our project after that." The Gujarat government recently launched the much-awaited township policy which regulates residential townships in the state.