Financial services firm ASK Investment Holdings Pvt. Ltd, has floated a real estate company, Pashmina Developers. The Mumbai-headquartered venture aims to develop properties across India and has acquired land in Bangalore, Pune and Mumbai. Asit Koticha, Chairman of ASK will be Pashmina’s chief investor.
SK Investment, named after Koticha and brother Sameer, has a diversified portfolio that includes a wealth management arm and a realty-focused private equity fund that is raising Rs.1,000 crore for investing in residential developments.
Pashmina could mark the beginning of another phase of real estate start-ups by financial experts. The previous round was in 2009-10, when a number of entrepreneurs ventured into real estate development with a focus on affordable or budget housing.
Among them were ex-Citibankers Jaithirth Rao and P.S. Jayakumar, who launched Value and Budget Housing Corp. (VBHC), and Ramesh Ramanathan, who set up Janaadhar Constructions Pvt. Ltd.
Pashmina has an immediate project pipeline of nearly 3.8 million sq. ft. and expects its first four projects to earn a total revenue of Rs.2,500 crore in three years.
According to company sources Koticha has always been interested in real estate and strategic land buys and was only waiting for the right time to enter the industry.
Koticha admitted Pashmina’s land bank was created over a few years with a plan to enter into the real estate business either on his own or with other developers. Eventually, he decided to pursue it on his own.
Pashmina has a robust pipeline that includes a host of redevelopment projects in central Mumbai’s Dadar area, a second residential project in Bangalore and a 100-acre land parcel in Pune for developing a township.
The company’s first project, Pashmina Waterfront, is a 16-acre residential development with eight 32-storey towers to be built in phases along Old Madras Road, an arterial road in Bangalore. It will be launched this year.
Bangalore was the natural choice to launch Pashmina’s maiden venture, said Koticha. “Bangalore is in the radar for any developer… it’s a cleaner market in terms of computerized land titles and smoother approvals,” he said.
