Parsvnath puts on hold 12 SEZ projects

Leading realty firm Parsvnath Developers Ltd today said it has put on hold 12 Special Economic Zone (SEZ) projects across the country due to credit crunch.

"We have put on hold some of the large projects, which is of luxury kind... Like SEZs etc, where we need to invest a large sum of money," Parsvnath Chairman Pradeep Jain told PTI.

Asked which large projects have been put on hold, he said: "At present, we are working at five SEZs and the rest 12 we have put on hold for acquisition of the land.

"Wherever we have already acquired the land, we do not want to put on hold, we want to go on with those projects."

On the SEZs that the company has put on hold, Jain said: "Like Chennai one, one in Pune and some other locations, where we are on the way to acquire the land, we have stopped to acquire the land at this point of time."

The company is currently developing five SEZs at Gurgaon, Indore, Dehradun, Hyderabad and Kochi.

He said the company is focusing on completion of its ongoing projects rather than taking new ones.

Due to the economic slowdown, the country's realty players are facing credit crunch for developing projects, as banks have almost stopped lending them. High interest rates have also taken a toll on consumers' demand forcing the government to cut the rates.

The company's subsidiary -- Parsvnath SEZ -- plans to develop 17 SEZ, having a total saleable area of 367 million sq ft, in various segments like pharma, gems and jewellery, IT/ITeS, biotech, handicrafts, leather, food processing and automotive sectors, apart from multi-product SEZs.