Listed Indian firm Tata Housing Development Company has announced plans to raise Sh15 billion for residential and commercial properties in major towns in Kenya, Tanzania and other countries.
The firm, part of the Tata Sons associated with billionaire Ratan Tata joins Reliance Industry, owned by India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, in the Kenya real estate space. Mr Mukesh’s Delta Corp East Africa has invested billions in commercial office space and residential estates locally.
In a statement, Tata Housing said it has inked a deal with the 30-year old Indian National Housing Bank and an unnamed real estate firm to venture into international projects starting with Kenya and Tanzania.
The statement signed by Tata Housing managing director Brotin Banerjee said the company targets to develop more than 4.5 million square feet of mixed-used townships starting January 2018, over a four-year period.
Mr Barnarjee said the two projects, which target middle-income earners, will retail at between Sh7.5 million to Sh10 million each.
“The investment in both projects is expected to be more than Rs 1,000 Crores ($150 million) across both the phases over the next 3-4 years,” the company said in a statement.
“Our early success in Sri Lanka and the Maldives gave us the impetus to further expand our international footprint. Starting with Kenya and Tanzania, we will cater to the mid-income segments and fulfil their demand for superior quality housing,” he said.
Tata Group in recent years sold off its 50 per cent shareholding in government-owned Kipevu Petroleum Refineries Ltd.
One of the landmark projects by Delta Corp is the Delta Centre, located in Nairobi’s Upper Hill, which was sold to the World Bank Group for close to Sh2 billion.
The other is 21-storey twin-tower Delta Corner in Westlands, sold to consultancy PwC and the University of Nairobi Staff Pension Scheme for a reported Sh4 billion. Delta Riverside, a gated complex of four office-blocks targeting small and mid-size companies, was also sold off but Delta Corp did not disclose how much it made from the project.
-Business Daily