Unitech buys Vizag tract for Rs 3,328 cr

Real estate major Unitech is learnt to have closed the country’s largest single land deal by buying a 1,750-acre plot in Vishakhapatnam from the Andhra Pradesh Infrastructure & Industrial Corporation (APIIC) for Rs 3,328 crore.

Unitech’s deal is enormous in that DLF, India’s largest real estate firm, paid Rs 1,675 crore this August for buying 38 acres from DCM Shriram Consolidated (DSCL) in West Delhi.

Though DLF did win a Rs 50,000-crore bid for developing New Bangalore, a 9,000-acre township at Bidadi, the project did not involve a single land deal. It is, however, the largest in terms of size and investment.

The company will get some portion of the 9,000 acres from the state government but will have to buy a big chunk directly from farmers at Rs 57 lakh per acre. The exact split is yet to be disclosed.

As for the Unitech deal, industry sources said the company outbid Dubai-based Al Hamrah Real Estate Development LLC. The company plans to develop a total built-up area of 100 million sq ft, comprising villas, high-rise apartments, a golf course & club house, IT park, eco resort, hotel, shopping centre, amusement park, hospitals and educational centres.

The project will be developed at an estimated investment of Rs 30,000 crore, phase-wise, over the next 10 years. Unitech is targeting a revenue of Rs 75,000 crore from the project on completion, a source said.

Incidentally, the last 15-18 months have seen India’s two leading real estate developers pitted against each other for the biggest land deals. Last year, Unitech bagged a 340-acre deal in Noida for Rs 1,560 crore. This August, DLF bought the prime Swatantra Bharat Mills property from DSCL for Rs 1,675 crore.

Though Unitech’s Vizag deal is higher in terms of total value, the DLF-DSCL deal, at about Rs 44 crore, is significantly higher on a per acre basis. It also continues to be the largest private sector land deal.