Private equity fund Fire Capital’s promoter has tied up with a clutch of US-based realty firms to form a new company that plans to invest Rs.6,000 crore in the next four years on developing 32,000 homes across the country.
The new venture ‘Astrum Homes’ is an FDI funded, real estate development company, which has been set up to develop projects in tier II and III cities targeting middle and upper middle income segments.
Astrum Homes, set up with an initial capital of $100 million (about Rs.500 crore), has been promoted by the founder of Fire Capital, Om Chaudhry, in partnership with leading North American realty development and investment firms including The Related Group.
“To start with, we are launching two housing projects at Panipat and Amritsar this week. We are targeting to build 32,000 homes by 2015 with an investment of Rs.6,000 crore,” Astrum Homes Chairman and CEO Om Chaudhry said.
The capital would be routed through Mauritius, said Chaudhry, who is also founder and CEO of Fire Capital that invests in Indian realty sector.
Astrum Homes would invest about Rs.500 crore to develop these two projects with a total built up area of two million sq ft. It would offer homes in a range of Rs.2,000-2,500 per sq ft in these two cities.
“We are excited to have presence in India. There is a huge pent up demand for housing. Key is to deliver on promises,” Related Group Founder and Chairman Jorge Perez said, adding that promoters would be providing capital for the development.
Private equity firm Fire Capital has invested in five township projects, which is spread over 1,300 acres and is currently being developed with an outlay of over Rs.7,000 crore. These townships are in Bangalore, Indore, Jaipur, Nagpur and Chennai.
