Post-COVID, the focus of real estate developers on land acquisition shows no signs of slowing down, so much so that in financial year 2022-23 (FY23), approximately 87 separate land deals were sealed, cumulatively accounting for over 1,862 acres, data from Anarock showed.
The previous year (FY22) saw 44 land deals accounting for approximately 1,649 acres being closed across various cities.
Of all deals closed in FY23, at least 76, accounting for approximately 1,059 acres, were in the top seven cities, and the remaining 11 deals, accounting for approximately 803 acres, took place in Tier 2 and 3 cities, including Ahmedabad, Kurukshetra, Lucknow, Nagpur, Panchkula, Panipat, Raigad and Surat.
Among the top seven cities, MMR saw the most with 25 land deals accounting for over 267 acres, followed by the National Capital Region (NCR) with 23 land deals spread across 274 acres. In terms of total land area transacted in the top seven cities, Chennai topped with about 292 acres changing hands in nine separate deals.
“With land becoming scarcer amid the unfettered real estate development boom, leading players are pulling out all stops to secure the best land parcels in key locations," said Anuj Puri, Chairman, ANAROCK Group.
"In the last financial year, the number of land deals has risen significantly ― from 44 in FY22 to 87 in FY23. However, in terms of area, the increase was just 13 percent, implying that several smaller plots were closed in FY23,” he added.
“With residential sales in the top seven cities scaling an all-time high in the last financial year (approximately 3.8 lakh units), large and listed developers have been cashing in on the unrelenting housing boom. With land being the key input commodity for real estate development, these players have been making strategic land investments across prominent micro-markets, and quite a few smaller deals took place in the last financial year,” he said.
The top developers who bought land parcels for various developments in FY23 include Godrej Properties, Birla Estates, Gaurs Group, Sobha, Oberoi Realty, Ajmera Realty, Mahindra Lifespaces, M3M Group, and Gera Developers, among others.
Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) saw the highest number of land transactions with 19 acquisitions proposed for residential or plotted developments accounting for about 193 acres, followed by NCR with nine deals for about 192 acres, and Chennai with seven separate land deals for about 194 acres, the data said.
In terms of commercial and retail-related land deals, there were 11 separate transactions for about 46.5 acres. Of these, nine deals accounting for approximately 38 acres were closed in NCR; Ahmedabad and Surat saw one land deal each, it said.
At least 714 acres acquired in eight separate land deals have been earmarked for mixed-use and township developments in cities including NCR, Bengaluru, Chennai, Panchkula and Panipat, the data showed.
Approximately 83 acres in three separate deals were closed for data centres in cities like MMR and Pune. At least two deals for over 13 acres were closed for warehousing and industrial developments in MMR and NCR. Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and hospitality, and yet-to-be-disclosed sectors, saw six deals for approximately 54.5 acres closed in cities including MMR, Hyderabad, and Chennai, it said.
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