IVRCL's Vanaprastha for the retired

Hyderabad-based IVRCL Infrastructure & Projects Ltd has embarked upon a Rs 2,000-crore 'IVR Vanaprastha' to cater to the needs of the people over 50 years. The project involves construction of 'long-term care' centres for the elderly in 50 cities across the country in 10 years.

"The idea is to build at least 50,000 one to three bedroom houses over the next decade for the people who want to celebrate retirement to help them lead a life of wellness and good health," IVRCL chairman and managing director E Sudhir Reddy told Business Standard.

To begin with, Vanaprastha centres would be set up in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Puducherry, Pune, Panvel and the National Capital Region. Each centre will have 500 to 750 dwellings units spread over an area of 75 acres to 150 acres.

"Lands for the project have already been identified. The work on the Bangalore centre will be started immediately," Reddy said.

He said the Vanaprsatha centres would be located in close proximity to the cities and hospitals. In Bangalore, it is being established at Anekal, about 12 km from the Electronic City.

For construction of houses, old-age friendly architectural design would be employed. This includes skid-proof flooring, grip bars and handles, low-rise stairs and ramps and special toilets.

Besides round-the-clock medical and ambulance services, the centres will have a library, reading room, Internet access, massage centre, swimming pool, indoor and outdoor games facilities, jogging track and call bells in bedroom or toilets. There will be guest rooms for the stay of visiting children or grandchildren.

"There will be a host of other facilities too. Our focus area at Vanaprastha is to create a positive approach to retired life and old age. To celebrate retired life with a new style," the IVRCL chief said.

The houses at the centres either will be sold or given on lease. The basic criteria for sale, among other things, is that the buyer's age should not be less than 50 years. This condition applies even in the case of re-sale of the property. The company will also offer buy-back options.

Reddy said the Vanaprastha project would also provide an opportunity to the company to set up hospitals at each centre in future. Keeping this in view, IVRCL would be setting aside 5-10 acres of land in each centre for future use.

Of course, it is not just the young and working people, even the growing old-age population in India provides good business potential to the infrastructure sector.