Lodha Developers, the builder of Mumbai’s Trump Tower and the city’s 117-storeyed World One, claimed to be the world’s tallest residential building once completed, plans to pare its debt by ₹4,500 crore in the current fiscal year, Abhishek Lodha, MD & CEO, said.
“We are in the process of raising resources to reduce debt by ₹4,500 crore,” he said ahead of the company’s IPO. The firm has filed the prospectus with the SEBI.
As on March 31, the company had debt of ₹18,000 crore which, he said, would be reduced ‘substantially’ in 3-4 years.
“Our residential development side of the business will be zero debt by 2022, while we will have a sizeable portfolio of commercial assets which will give us assured rental income. The value of these assets will match our debt level [at that time] estimated to be around ₹13,000 crore,” he said. The firm, known as a luxury housing player, would also focus on affordable and middle-income group housing as well and commercial realty, including office and retail space for leasing, he added.
Commercial aspirations
By 2022, the firm plans to have a commercial realty portfolio of 10 million sq. ft. as against its current portfolio of 1.7 million sq ft and will increase its rental income by more than five times.
The office and retail space portfolio is aimed at supporting the firm’s large-scale affordable housing projects in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
The company is now undrtaking large scale developments in more than 4 locations in the MMR including the 4,500 acres Palava. The company has enough land to construct 5,00,000 more homes across its projects.
So far, the company has delivered 25000 apartments with a combined area of 20 million sq ft. Last year, it handed over 11,000 homes.
Having developed the affordable housing project at Palava, an integrated smart city, the company is now planning to replicate it at other locations in the MMR, Mr. Lodha said.
Last year, the company reported a turnover of ₹9,700 crore and a net profit of ₹790 crore.