Emaar India open to group housing projects in Mumbai, plans Rs 2,000 crore investment in region

Emaar India CEO Chakrabarti said that the company would be open to projects in key micro markets in the Mumbai region

Real estate firm Emaar India is open to pursuing group housing projects in the Mumbai metropolitan region and is looking at investing around Rs 2,000 crore in the Mumbai market towards all kinds of projects, its chief executive officer Kalyan Chakrabarti said in an interaction with Moneycontrol.
Chakrabarti was speaking after the company, a subsidiary of the Emirati real estate giant Emaar Properties, announced its entry into the Mumbai metropolitan region market through the Casa Venero villa development in Alibaug.

"We have done villa projects in our other markets in India. The opportunity for a villa project in Alibaug presented itself, and we took it to enter the Mumbai market. We will be open to pursuing group housing projects across various markets in Mumbai, and we are here to stay," Chakrabarti said.

Till date, Emaar India has developed projects in the National Capital Region, Mohali, Hyderabad, Indore, and elsewhere, part of them with its erstwhile joint venture with the MGF group.

Alibaug project

The Casa Venero development will include 84 "bespoke" villas on a 25-acre land parcel, located near Alibaug, with unit prices ranging from Rs 9 crore to Rs 15 crore. The project is expected to be delivered in three years.

The area has been a hub of activity for villa and plotted development players looking to cash in on second home investments by high net-worth individuals. Other prominent players in the segment include the House of Abhinandan Lodha, which has set up a plotted development project in Alibaug. While some investors have chosen such locations to set up their primary and secondary homes, others have also sought to use such land to set up homestays for commercial use, with Alibaug and its surroundings being a popular weekend destination for Mumbai's residents.

Investment plans

During the interaction, Chakrabarti said that Emaar India is investing around Rs 400 crore into the Casa Venero project, excluding land cost, and expects sales of around Rs 700 crore. While he did not comment on the company's upcoming projects in Mumbai, Chakrabarti said that major micro-markets in the city are being considered, and deal flows are being looked into.

Emaar is largely known for marquee commercial and residential projects in Dubai, such as the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, and the Dubai Mall. With the number of Indian investors in the Dubai real estate market increasing, Chakrabarti said the company could look at attracting investments from Indian investors in the Dubai and larger UAE markets if those investors choose to park part of their investments into Indian real estate.