Tata Sons' affordable housing arm to raise $50 mn from IFC

Smart Value Homes Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Housing Development Company Limited, is planning to raise $50 million from International Finance Corporation (IFC) to fund the development of affordable housing projects. Meanwhile, the company is keen on developing affordable housing projects in other emerging markets, particularly in the SAARC region.

Tata Housing, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons, ventured into real estate development in 1984. To date, Tata Housing has completed 17 residential and seven commercial projects spread over 3.8 million square feet across the country.

Smart Value Homes Limited headquartered in Mumbai and has seven ongoing projects in the states of Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Karnataka. The company plans to sell approximately 50,000 affordable housing units in India over the next five years.

IFC is proposing a financial investment of up to $50 million in SVH to partially fund the development of affordable housing units. The sites for IFC-financed projects are yet to be determined.

IFC's investment would provide long tenor financing, which is not readily available on reasonable terms, to the affordable housing sector in particular.

Tata Housing and IFC are keen to explore opportunities to develop affordable housing projects in other emerging markets, particularly in the SAARC region, said the Corporation.

The corporation said increase in housing supply for low income households - the Project will contribute to the alleviation of the current affordable housing deficit in India.

SVH will adopt sustainable development practices to construct "green" buildings via the use of alternative materials and renewable energy sources.

This is a Category B project according to IFC’s Environmental and Social Review Procedure as the potential adverse environmental and social impacts presented by the project are few in number, site-specific and have been or can be readily addressed through mitigation measures.