The realtor in a new playground

The imposing seven-storey glass and steel building at Vile Parle East in this city’s suburbs is clearly not used to the spotlight it found itself in on Friday. The headquarters of Kamla Landmarc was kept out of bounds for the media by half a dozen security guards, who kept on saying no boss was in town. However, the response to phone calls on the company’s land line numbers was different, and the same through the day -- senior executives are busy in a board meeting. They, obviously, didn’t have any time for the waiting media outside.

Kamla Landmarc isn’t a top-of-the-line property developer but its promoters do not lack in political connections and donating money for a cause. The imposing Jain temple in the neighbourhood where the company’s headquarters is located is an example of the latter.

The group was promoted in 1974 by Ramesh Jain, joined later by his two sons, Jitendra and Jinendra, and son-in-law Ketan Shah. It has undertaken around 30 projects in Mumbai, with a total constructed area of 1.08 million sq ft. The group’s website says it has a cumulative land bank of 15 million sq ft. It entered the commercial real estate space in 2004 and has aggressively expanded in recent years. According to rating agency Icra, the group is currently implementing 23 projects, of which 14 are residential.

The group has also planned to diversify into a chain of luxury hotels around the world and says the plans are firmly on course.

The Jains are known to be close to former Maharashtra chief minister Narayan Rane, now the state’s industry minister. And, enjoy a rapport with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) boss Sharad Pawar, former Bharatiya Janata Party councillor Parg Alawani and Shiv Sena legislator Vinayak Raut. Shivram Dalvi, the company’s vice-chairman, twice elected to the Maharashtra legislative assembly, was in the Shiv Sena before changing his loyalties to Congress and then the NCP in May. His son, Siddhivinayak Dalvi, vice-president, contested as an independent in the recent elections to the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation.

Siddhivinayak's brother, Gopal Dalvi, a director in the company, handling corporate affairs, is also vice-president of the NCP’s state youth wing.

According to the balance sheet of Kamla Landmarc, the company has taken Rs 250 crore of loans from banks. As of March 2012, its authorised capital was Rs 72.72 crore. The company has not filed its 2011-12 balance sheet with the registrar of companies.