Hcc Lines Up Real Estate Foray

According to Ajit Gulabchand, chairman and managing director, the company has drawn a Rs 200 crore plan to set up a shopping mall, office park, and 4-star hotel at the company's existing site in Vikhroli, Mumbai. It has already appointed KPMG as the project manager.

The commercial complex which is to be constructed over a 4 lakh sq ft area is awaiting clearance from the Bombay Municipal Corporation. The company has conducted demographic studies and found that there was demand from the people residing in the vicinity of eastern suburbs for a shopping mall and a 4-star hotel. Gulabchand is hopeful of initially attracting 5,000 people to the shopping mall on weekends. For office plaza, the company is already talking to 30 to 40 leading corporate houses.

 

Additionally, the company is developing another 5 lakh sq feet of land currently occupied by slum-dwellers for more than 20 years. The company has submitted a new plan to the state government to house slum dwellers in reconstructed houses and convert the additional FSI available into residential complexes.

It has already entered into agreements with 800 of the 1,850 tenements. For this purpose it has already appointed Consol Architects Pvt Ltd as consultants and architects.

The project is estimated to cost Rs 92.01 crore.

On the civil engineering front, the company has bagged orders worth more than Rs 561 crore in the first eight months of the calendar year.

The company, which specialises in building power projects, bridges and dams reported a turnover of Rs 246.95 crore for the year ended June 1996 against Rs 220.37 crore last year.

The net profit of Hind Construction, however, dropped to Rs 10.50 crore against Rs15.63 crore.

The construction industry is witnessing heavy competition due to which margins are under squeeze.