Provident Housing CEO Mallanna Sasalu.
Credit: DH Photo
Bengaluru headquartered realty major Puravankara Limited’s affordable housing arm Provident Housing plans to launch five projects spanning 5.8 million square feet this fiscal year, Chief Executive Mallanna Sasalu informed DH in an exclusive interview on Wednesday.
While the five upcoming projects are valued at a combined estimate of Rs 3,800 crore, the brand is eyeing Rs 700-800 crore in revenue from past launches, Sasalu added.
The first of the five projects - Provident Ecopolitan - is set to break ground on August 19. The project will be spread over 11.25 acres in KIADB Aerospace Park on Bagalur Road in North Bengaluru. It will comprise 1,262 apartments ranging between 616-1,390 square feet each, across five high-rise towers.
The remaining four projects will be located in North Bengaluru, East Bengaluru, Kochi and Chennai. Sasalu sees the completion of the five projects within 3-5 years.
With products priced between Rs 30 lakh-1 crore, Provident Housing contributed 19 per cent to Puravankara’s overall sales revenue during the first quarter of FY24. The budget housing arm saw an 8 per cent year-on-year dip in the number of apartments sold during the quarter at 315 units, roping in Rs 215 crore in sales value. Puravankara Ltd posted a 50 per cent year-on-year jump in revenue during the quarter ended June 2023, while registering a loss of Rs 17 crore.
Provident Housing currently accounts for 52 per cent of Puravankara’s overall launch pipeline, which appears to be in line with the Group’s strategy.
Elaborating on trends dominating the affordable housing market in recent times, Sasalu attested to a demand for larger homes amongst the target customer base. Furthermore, the price of affordable housing has gone up, he said.
“The definition of affordable housing has changed in the market whereas on paper it remains the same,” Sasalu noted. He sees the Rs 60-70 lakh bracket as affordable and believes that the sub Rs 1 crore segment will continue to dominate the Indian residential real estate market in the foreseeable future. He however sees some room for improvement in administrative procedures tied to approvals in the realty industry. “Sometimes it is still people-dependent,” Sasalu stressed.