Tata to do a Nano in urban housing in Gujarat

Tata Housing, Tata group's real estate wing, has signed an MoU worth Rs1,000 crore with the Gujarat government for building townships in the state.

The unique thing about these townships will be that they will also offer houses priced at less than Rs10 lakh a unit.

But the company is yet to acquire land for the townships it plans to build. "We have been looking for land in the state," said Brotin Banerjee, MD & CEO of Tata Housing Development Co Ltd. "We will acquire the land on our own or in public-private partnership but we want 30 to 50 acres, preferably near Ahmedabad."

Banerjee further said that the company hopes to begin work on at least one project in the financial year 2011-12. "In the township that we plan to build, there will be all kinds of houses - from value to premium," he said.

"Elsewhere in the country, we have been building houses priced at Rs10 lakh or less per unit under the Shubhgruh category. In the New Heaven category, we have built houses priced at between Rs10 lakh and Rs20 lakh." Banerjee said the company can make the affordable houses if it gets a big chunk of land for the purpose.

Tata Housing has already announced affordable housing schemes in Mumbai. "In Mumbai, we are offering more than 5,000 houses at less than Rs10 lakh per units," Banerjee said. "We can do the same thing in Ahmedabad provided we get sufficient land," he added.

The company has been looking for land in Gujarat for its township project since long. "Landowners' demand for payment in cash (at least in part) is one of the major hurdles for us in buying land in Gujarat," he said. "This problem is not limited only to Gujarat; it is there everywhere in the country. Now, our hopes are pinned on land from either the state government or some private party."