The first phase of the Sahara Infrastructure and Housing project, a part of the multi-crore Sahara India group, will be kicked off in Gujarat in November.
Under the project, at an initial investment of Rs 3,300 crore (Rs 33 billion), Sahara will set up 11 townships in Gujarat.
The company hopes to complete the project by 2008.
Sahara will not opt for any debt funds for the projects as company officials said the investment will be made through its own resources.
"Construction work for the Sahara Townships in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Bhavnagar and Rajkot will begin next month, while in December we will start work at our Jamnagar project. Of the 11 townships, major projects will be in Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Rajkot. We have estimated that around Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion) will be pumped in each project and we expect to complete five projects in three-and-a half years," said I Ahmed, chief of housing, Sahara Infrastructure and Housing, on Friday.
Work on the rest of the six townships will begin in the first quarter of the next calendar year. Company officials are confident of completing the townships by the end of 2008.
In Ahmedabad, the Sahara Township will be located at Bopal on the Sarkhej-Gandhinagar Highway, which is at present being considered as the most happening area of the city.
In Vadodara, Sahara has decided to construct the township on the Agra-Mumbai Highway.
"Every township can accommodate 3,500 families and minimum construction area for a township will be 100 acre. In some cities, it may be even 200 acres as we are planning to keep an open plot of 17 acres which can be used by the residents of the townships," said Ahmed.
It may be recalled that earlier this month, Sahara India had announced its plan to enter the real estate segment with 217 townships in same number of cities across the country with an investment of Rs 1,18,000 crore (Rs 1,180 billion).
While Sahara's first housing project, Amby Valley, is widely known as a project for the niche segment, Sahara Townships will also have an option for the middle-segment with prices of flats beginning from Rs 450,000.
For the upper-segment, flats will be priced higher which may go up to the range of Rs 27-30 lakh (Rs 2.7-3 million).
"We have recently tied up with few leading nationalised and private banks which will provide easy finance for aspiring buyers. Booking for our Ahmedabad and Vadodara townships have been opened. For booking a flat the buyer will have to make a five per cent initial payment which will attract interest from our side and rest of the money can be paid before taking possession of the property," said Ahmed.
The existing marketing network of Sahara India's para-banking segment will handle the marketing of its housing projects under the supervision of a core marketing team specially created for handling sales of these upcoming properties.
