Gaursons buys 300 acre land

In a major land deal, realty firm Gaursons India Ltd today said it has bought 300 acre on Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida from Jaypee greens for more than Rs 1,500 crore to develop an integrated township.

The Ghaziabad-based company will launch the township by the end of this year and plans to construct about 15,000 apartments in affordable segment.

"We have purchased 300 acre land from Jaypee greens on Yamuna Expressway for more than Rs 1,500 crore. The agreement between the two companies has already been signed," Gaursons India Managing Director Manoj Gaur told PTI.

Gaur said the company has already paid about 25% of the total amount of the deal. The funds have been arranged through bank loans and internal accruals.

When contacted, the spokesperson of the Jaypee greens- promoted, interestingly, by the namesake of Gaursons MD - declined to comment.

Jaypee greens have a huge land bank of 6,000 acre on Yamuna Expressway starting from Noida, going up to Agra. The saleable area of the five townships alongside Yamuna Expressway stands at 530 million sq ft, of which over 310 million sq ft falls in NCR. So far, it has sold over 50 million sq ft.

According to sources, Jaypee Infratech has sold this land to reduce its debt, which stood at about Rs 7,000 crore before this deal.

Gaur said the rate at which the company has purchased this land is "fairly reasonable" as the land is available at about Rs 5-6 crore per acre in this area.

Delhi-NCR has witnessed many big-ticket land deals during last seven years. Wave Group had bagged 151 acres in Noida for about Rs 6,500 crore in 2011 making it the biggest land deal.

Country's largest realty firm DLF was involved in two high-value land transactions. It had bagged a 350-acre plot for Rs 1,750 crore in Gurgaon in 2009 and acquired 38 acres in the heart of Delhi for Rs 1,675 crore in 2007.

Unitech had won 340 acre in Noida through auction for Rs 1,582 crore in 2006. BPTP had bagged 95 acres of land in Noida for Rs 5,006 crore through an auction in 2008, but the deal fell through as the company was unable to make full payment.

Giving details about the proposed township on the land, Gaur said: "We will launch the township in six months. The project will have about 15,000 flats, plots, school, hospitals and other infrastructure facilities".

The flats would be sold in the range of Rs 25-40 lakh.

The township would be in the vicinity of Jaypee group's F1 Track, Gaur said. He noted that land is clear as Jaypee greenshas taken it from the authority.

Gaursons has big presence in the Ghaziabad, Noida and Greater Noida region. It is developing a 240-acre township Gaur Yamuna city in Noida Extension in partnership with realty firm Saviour. About 25,000 units are being developed in this township at an investment of about Rs 5,000 crore.