ICICI Venture-Nagarjuna project to finally start construction  

February 17, 2010

Two years after launching an ambitious plan, Hyderabad-based ‘Jubilee Hills Landmark Projects’ will finally see the light of day. ICICI Venture Funds Management Co Ltd and Nagarjuna Construction Co Ltd, the joint venture partners, have decided to start the construction of the project within the next three months.

“We have got most of the permissions in place and we will be commencing construction in the next three months,” said Sanjeev Dasgupta, president for real estate, ICICI Venture.

The project was launched three years ago. However, due to the slowdown in the realty market, the joint venture partners were not sure about the viability of such a high-end project. The civic authorities were also not very co-operative while giving the necessary permissions.

“Hyderabad has gone through lot of changes in the last eighteen months in its development regulation which has blocked most of the approvals for new developments,” said Mr Dasgupta.

The project is coming up at a prime location, near the 350-acre KBR Park in Hyderabad, with a five-star deluxe hotel, service apartments, retail showrooms and premium residential space. This project was supposed to start in 2006 but could not take off as the group failed to get the required permissions in place.

Again, due to lacklustre demand for high-end projects during the past one year in Hyderabad, most developers stayed away from such projects. During the last year, the city witnessed sales of only affordable homes or those in the price range of Rs15 lakh to Rs30 lakh, said an industry source.

ICICI Venture and Nagarjuna are planning to start with the hotels, which will include retail showrooms. However, the partners are still not sure about developing the premium residential space, which they had planned. They want to wait and watch the market for some time before taking action on the residential project.
— Pallabika Ganguly