International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector investment arm of the World Bank, may lend up to $30 million (over Rs 180 crore) to the civil construction and real estate major Shapoorji Pallonji & Company Ltd (SPCL) for the development of affordable housing projects, it said on Friday.
SPCL is mulling an investment of $200 million to establish a platform that will develop 15-17 million square feet of affordable housing projects across India over the next eight years. It will itself contribute 30 per cent of the capital, while rest will be contributed by IFC and other investors, the disclosure showed.
IFC will lend the money through long-term tenor to partially fund the development of affordable housing units in India that are expected to include large and small metros such as Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Indore, Gurgaon, Manesar, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Neemrana, Lucknow, Kanpur, Haridwar, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Cochin and Kolkata.
SPCL offers conventional contracting, general contracting, design and build, engineering procurement and construction services. SPCL entered the affordable housing segment last year with its first affordable housing project in Rajarhat, Kolkata, with SP Shukhobrishti.
It is the flagship company of billionaire Pallonji Mistry, the largest shareholder of Tata Sons, the holding company of the diversified business conglomerate Tata Group. His son Cyrus is currently the chairman of Tata Sons.
Last year, IFC had also lent $25 million (as against proposed deal worth $50 million) to Tata Housing Development Company’s affordable housing arm Smart Value Homes Ltd (SVH).
It had also invested $11.06 million in Jerry Rao's Value and Budget Housing Corporation, through the equity route.
Besides, it has backed various housing finance companies in India with an objective to boost mortgages for affordable housing projects in the country.
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)
