Pragnya Fund, a Mauritius based private equity real estate fund, has formed a joint venture with Bangalore-based developer Habitat Ventures Ltd for a mixed use project in the city. The deal involves an investment of Rs 20-30 crore from Pragnya, which will develop a residential cum commercial development at Whitefield, Bangalore. The project is located close to International Tech Park, on the Whitefield Road (ITPL Road).
The project plans to target higher income families working out of Whitefield & Outer Ring Road for its villas and high end apartments. It is expected to be launched in 2011. Habitat Ventures, which has been active in the Bangalore market for six years, has developed plotted developments, apartment projects and commercial projects.
Bangalore-based developers have raised $197 million private equity funding across 8 deals till date this calendar year, according to VCCEdge. Major deals include TPG Capital's $100 million in Shriram Properties, Urban Infrastructure Real Estate Fund's $43 million investment in Ozone Urbana Infra Developers and Temasek's $20 million deal with Sobha Developers.
The deal will be the first investment by Pragnya in Bangalore. The firm is currently started raising its second fund. Pragnya Fund has been sponsored by Subba Rao Dukkipati and Gopal Menon, two professionals with a background in the global financial services industry. It has till date invested in seven realty projects in India and Sri Lanka to deliver a total built up space of about 12 million square feet.
The fund’s current investments include L&T Eden Park, an 87-acre integrated township being developed in partnership with Larsen & Toubro in Chennai, L&T Tech Park - an IT SEZ project in Kochi, a mixed-use project in Colombo and two residential projects at Asansol and Barrackpore in West Bengal. It recently invested in a residential project by Chennai's VGN Developers.
“Our tie-up with Habitat Ventures on this interesting project in Bangalore is in line with the diversification strategy of our fund in to new real estate markets. Going ahead we plan to strengthen our presence in the city,” said Subba Rao Dukkipati, Managing Partner of Pragnya.