Piramal Realty, the real estate unit of Piramal Group, is looking to build affordable homes with plans to expand its portfolio and double residential development to 30 million sft over the next year. Piramal Realty's decision to explore opportunities in the affordable segment comes at a time when the likes of Macrotech Developers, formally known as Lodha Group, and Oberoi Realty are either entering or focusing on mid-income or affordable housing.
As per the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, under-construction homes priced at up to Rs 45 lakh are categorised as “affordable". As per carpet area, homes of up to 30 sqm (323 sft) in metros and 60 sqm (646 sft) in non-metros are defined as affordable.
According to Gaurav Sawhney, president (sales and marketing), Piramal Realty is of the opinion that the market landscape is changing fast and the company sees a value in being part of the growing affordable housing segment. "This is one of the areas that we would like to explore. If this is important to the customer, then we think Piramal would like to participate and play a key role in the segment," he said. He further added that there is a huge opportunity for developers as a large chunk of deals in the residential segment is happening in affordable housing. Piramal Realty would look to build affordable homes as part of a larger residential project.
The business opportunity for realty majors also stems from various reports prepared by property advisory firms, such as Liases Foras, which state that apartments priced below Rs 50 lakh comprised 57% of total sales in the September quarter across 35 cities. The reports also highlight that the highest number of new launches were in the Rs 30-50 lakh bracket, contributing almost one-third (31%) of launches in the quarter.