Usha Martin eyes bigger pie in realty, education

The Rs 3,500-crore Usha Martin Group, a leading manufacturer of steel wires and rods, is giving a big push to its real estate and education verticals. The Kolkata-based group has already launched an affordable housing project in Boisar, on the outskirts of Mumbai, and plans to launch similar projects in Pune and Bangalore by the year-end.

“We want to sell 1,000 residential units a month in the next four years and expect a revenue of Rs 750-1,000 crore from the real estate sector by then,” Usha Martin Ltd Chairman Prashant Jhawar said. Overall, the group is expecting revenues of Rs 7,000-8,000 crore from its business verticals in the next four years, he added.

According to government estimates, India is facing a housing shortage of 25 million units. Companies like Tata Housing, Purvankara and Unitech, among others, have already launched low-cost housing projects to tap the demand for houses in the sub-Rs 10 lakh category.

Usha Breco Realty, the realty arm of the Usha Martin group, plans to sell houses in Rs 9-20 lakh category, the company’s Chief Executive Officer Uday Dharmadhikari said. “Both the proposed projects would have 4,00,000-5,00,000 sq ft of developed area, which can be completed in 24-36 months,” he said.

250 ‘K-12’ schools
On the education front, the group plans to set up 250 schools in K-12 category (pre-graduate education) in the next 10 years, which will have a “reasonable fee structure”. The group has already set up 12 such schools across the country. In addition, the group plans to set up pre-primary schools and vocational training schools, among others.

“Besides the business opportunity in value housing and affordable education, we want to go in for inclusive growth,’’ Jhawar said. For funding, the group will tap family funds and resources of privately-held companies, he added.

On steel business, Jhawar said the group would increase tonnage from 3,60,000 tonnes to 6,00,000 tonnes within this financial year and 8,00,000 tonnes by 2012-13.

Due to the slow recovery in the global economic and subdued prices of finished products, Usha Martin Ltd posted a 9 per cent in decline in its profit after tax at Rs 168.62 crore in the financial year 2010, as compared with Rs 185.34 crore in 2008-09.