L&T sees realty arm in top league, LTIMindtree among top 5 IT companies: Subrahmanyan

L&T CEO and Managing Director S N Subrahmanyan.

L&T Realty Ltd, the real estate development arm of Larsen & Toubro Group, aims to be the country's top developer in the next few years.

The deal with Singapore-listed CapitaLand India Trust Management Pte Ltd, trustee-manager of CapitaLand India Trust (CLINT), is structured to ensure rotation and re-investment of funds, said SN Subrahmanyan, CEO  and MD of L&T, in an exclusive interview with CNBC TV18.

L&T Realty and CLINT have inked a pact to develop close to 6 million square feet (0.56 million square metres) of prime office spaces across Bengaluru, Chennai and Mumbai in India. L&T Realty will build and develop office projects, while CLINT will market them.

He further said that CLINT would acquire ownership of projects within two years of construction, and the company entered into an agreement with HDFC Capital to ensure land is purchased in the joint venture.

The engineering and construction company aims to place LTIMindtree, the company formed after the merger of L&T Infotech and Mindtree, among the top five information technology companies, said the CEO, adding that the company is open to acquisitions in the IT space.

He said the number of new IT orders are rising, but older clients slowing a bit. He sees a clear pick-up in the company's private capex plans because private orders now stand at 27 percent of projects manufacturing versus 22 percent last year. Margin for infra firms have been on a downtrend this year because of spike in commodity prices. It will, however, normalise soon, asserted Subrahmanyan.

L&T is committed to ESG (Environment Social Governance) goals and the company have audited all &T factories for emissions and green cover. It drew up a plan to make every location water neutral and low on emissions, he said.