Royal Ghorpade family enters infrastructure business

With a land-bank of more than 18,000 acres, members of the royal Ghorpade family have entered the infrastructure development and real estate business in Western Maharashtra and north Karnataka regions.

Under the title of Mudhol Land Holdings, the family has set up an IT park in Pune while an agro-special economic zone (SEZ) has been planned for Satara district.

Vijaysinh Maurya, managing director and chief executive officer of Modhol Land Holdings told Business Standard that the company would develop IT complexes and malls, and lease them out to big brands and companies.

"The Ghorpade family from the Maratha kingdom owns property in Pune, Kolhapur, Satara and Mudhol (in Karnataka). The property remained unused for years. The company now plans to develop state-of-art infrastructure on this land and lease it out," Maurya said.

Mudhol Holdings has set up Cybernex, a 58,000 sq ft IT complex along Shankarsheth Road in Pune.

"The park is registered with Software Technology Parks of India (STPI). Reliance Life Insurance and Axis Bank have already set up software backup units here. Other major IT players are also planning to buy space here," he added.

The company plans to set up a shopping mall in Viman Nagar in Pune. "We as a company cannot sell the land owned by us. We will develop this land and lease it out on a long term basis. We have over 3,000 acres of land in Satara district, where we plan to have an agro-SEZ in the near future," he said.

Other major projects are in pipeline for their lands in Kolhapur and Mudhol.