Infrastructure major IVRCL is gearing up to unlock the value of its idle real estate.The company has nearly 3,300 acres lying around in various parts of the country. But, with real estate prices hitting a low in the last two years, it was not able to monetise these tracts, estimated to be worth a whopping Rs 1,600 crore.Now, with real estate prices on the rise again, it has started working on a plan to monetise this land bank.“We have already started talking to potential buyers and the market too has started looking up,” IVRCL managing director E Sudhir Reddy told DNA. “We are working on a plan of accruing at least Rs 100 crore every year by churning the land bank. I think the initial benefits of this strategy in the form of revenue would be visible in 2010-11 itself. However, significant benefits should start coming in the last part of 2011-12 and the next year from there,” he said.The company will adopt a multi-pronged strategy, including developing pockets of land located in prime cities on its own and selling off the land in other parts to other developers.The company is interested in keeping about 400 acres with itself. However, the total acreage it keeps with it would depend on the success of two projects being executed to test the markets — development of about 100 acres in Noida and development of about 700 acres for a theme-based residential complex at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu.Though the company has decided not to talk about these projects much at this point, Reddy confirmed that the projects are being executed at a fast pace but cautiously. “In Noida, we wanted to set up an IT SEZ. That we have put on hold due to prevailing market conditions. But, the development of residential layout of the area is continuing. The Tamil Nadu project is going to be very important for us to decide on our future strategy. We are developing a golf course with premium housing complex and the pricing is going to be aggressive. We will do plotting and also build large houses in this layout, primarily targeting the high-end employees of various multinational companies in and around Sriperumbudur,” he said.Going by the designs and the initial response from the market, the company might just handle the Sriperumbudur project on its own, without involving any partner.The entire land bank with IVRCL is under IVRCL Prime, a company that has been recently mandated to take up BOT projects in addition to the intended portfolio of developing urban infrastructure, including housing. “We have not included the returns from our real estate operations for future estimates of IVRCL Prime or IVRCL itself. In the next three years, if it pans out as per our plans, the networth and the bottomline of IVRCL is going to be completely different from what we have today,” said Reddy.

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