Tata Housing bullish on Rera, GST; to invest up to Rs 800 cr in FY18

Portfolio will be a combination of greenfield and brownfield projects: MD & CEO

Tata Housing is planning to add 8-10 projects to its portfolio in 2017-18 involving an investment of up to Rs 800 crore, a top company official said.

They will be a combination of greenfield and brownfield projects, Tata Housing Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Brotin Banerjee told PTI in Mumbai.

The implementation of Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (Rera) and goods and services tax (GST) is likely to spur consolidation in the sector, which presents an opportunity for Tata Housing to expand its portfolio, he added.

"There is already a slowdown in the sector and now with the addition of new regulations of Rera and GST, those with access to very large land banks or projects and not in a position to sustain in future are looking at consolidating. We see this as an opportunity for expanding our portfolio," he said.

Banerjee said the company wants to expand its portfolio substantially and is looking at three routes — joint venture, joint development and outright buyout of assets.

When asked whether the valuations were attractive and the sellers ready to take a haircut, he said, "Sellers are far more reasonable now about valuations and land prices. This is one good thing that has happened due to the slowdown. Hopefully, rightly priced projects or land banks can be acquired and rightly priced inventory can be sold."

Out of these 8-10 projects, around 3-4 would be under its affordable housing division Tata Value Homes, he said.

"We are looking at 3-4 projects which are in the affordable segment. We are also waiting for the public-private partnership policy on affordable housing to be formulated, which is likely to come in the next couple of months," he said.

The company is looking at cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Hyderabad, among others, for expansion.

"At the moment, we are not looking at smaller, tier-II or tier-III Indian cities," Banerjee added.