Lohia Global enters real estate biz; to invest Rs 1,000 cr to develop housing projects

New Delhi: Lohia Global, which is mainly into handicrafts exports and automobile businesses, on Thursday said it has entered into the real estate business and will invest Rs 1,000 crore over the next five years to develop projects across Delhi-NCR and Uttar Pradesh. Delhi-based Lohia Global is a privately held company with an annual revenue of around Rs 1,200 crore from four businesses - handicraft exports, electric vehicles, tiles and solar energy.

It has formed a separate entity Lohia Developers Pvt Ltd for real estate business. The company has a land bank of around 200 acres across various cities in North India.

"We are entering into the real estate business as we feel it is the right time to monetise our land bank. Market condition is supportive," Lohia Developers Director Piyush Lohia told reporters here.

"We will be investing Rs 1,000 crore over the next five years to develop housing projects in Delhi, Moradabad and Lucknow. This will be funded through a mix of debt and equity," he said.

The company plans to develop 3-4 housing projects in Moradabad and one each in Lucknow and Delhi over the next 4-5 years. In total, it is targeting to develop more than 1,500 apartments with a total area of 30-35 lakh square feet.

"We will be launching our first housing project at Moradabad in July this year. The price range will be around Rs 1-1.5 crore," Lohia said.

He said the company is acquiring more land for future development.

"Real estate will be contributing significantly to our total group turnover," Lohia said.

He noted that housing demand would sustain in the coming years as consumers prefer to invest in property both for end-use and investment purposes.