Paras Pharma founder Girish Patel will invest Rs 2,000-crore for building low-cost houses in Viral Gruh Nirman's township project Sanand near Tata Motors Nano plant in outskirts of Ahmedabad

Paras Pharma founder Girish Patel will invest Rs 2,000-crore for building low-cost houses in Viral Gruh Nirman's township project Sanand near Tata Motors Nano plant in outskirts of Ahmedabad



Patel's company, Viral Gruh Nirman LLP, in which he owns 50% stake, will launch the township project at Sanand, near Tata Motors' Nano plant on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. A 170-acre parcel of land, 2 km away from the car plant, will see 7,000 residential units come up by 2021 for rural and urban workforce in Sanand, which is being pitched as the next Gurgaon.

The eldest of the three siblings, Patel was running Paras till it was bought by British multinational Reckitt Benckiser. He sold the company, known for brands like Moov, Itch Guard and Krack, for 3,200 core.

He will begin work on the township project this year and will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state government during the forthcoming Vibrant Gujarat Investment Summit starting Friday.

Sanand, the dusty town that borders Gujarat's throbbing financial capital of Ahmedabad, went for a 360-degree transformation with the coming of Nano in October 2008. So far, Ford Motors, Hitachi Hi-Rel Power Electronics and Bosch Rexroth (India) have chosen Sanand for their manufacturing facilities. The industrial units in the town currently employ 38,000 workers from Ahmedabad and neighbouring villages.

"Housing has not kept pace with industrial development in the region. Workers commute for hours to reach their workplace and we hope to minimise the travel time which could enhance their productivity at the workplace," Patel said. He would mentor the project, to be executed by his son Arpit and his partner Nikul Patel.

The units ranging from service apartments to two BHKs would be priced between 9 lakh and 30 lakh. The promoters expect corporates working in the region to opt for institutional buying for their staff that includes workers, supervisors and managers.

People in the real estate business however, have apprehensions about a 9-lakh house in Sanand. Unless a company has a perfect strategy to ensure good sales, it would be difficult to attract migrant workers, who think twice before investing. There is a possibility of institutional sales or rental partnership, but that would need to be backed with good schemes.

Ahmedabad has witnessed a flood of townships in the last three years. Godrej, Tata and Adani have already come up with projects in Ahmedabad while Arvind has been offering one-room-kitchen houses starting at 8 lakh. All townships offering premium properties are facing tough times as sales have gone down. There is a huge demand from lower middle-class section.

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