Ashwin Sheth Grp plans to invest Rs 2,000 crore in next five years – Economic Times

MUMBAI: Realty player Ashwin Sheth Group is planning to invest around Rs 2,000 crore over the next five years to create a portfolio worth Rs 10,000 crore.

The city-based company, which has a significant portfolio in the residential segment, is also looking to set up more retail and commercial projects to cash in on the growing demand for such space.

"There is indeed a slowdown in the realty sector, but I believe this is the best time for serious developers like us to expand our portfolio. We plan to invest around Rs 2,000 crore in the next five years and create a strong portfolio of residential as well as commercial and retail spaces, mainly focused in the Mumbai metropolitan region," its director Chintan Sheth told PTI.

At present, the developer has a portfolio of around Rs 4,000 crore, which includes 150 lakh sq ft of completed and 50 lakh sq ft of under-construction residential projects. Besides, it also has eight lakh sq ft of commercial space -- including three lakh sq ft of ongoing projects and another 16 lakh sq ft of retail space.

"With this kind of investment, we will be able to increase our portfolio to Rs 10,000 crore worth of assets in the next 5 years," Sheth said, adding that the investments would be largely funded through internal accruals and debt.

He further said the company will now focus on increasing its commercial and retail portfolio, given the slowdown in the residential sector.

"At present, almost 90-95 per cent of our portfolio is residential. But now we want to shift our focus to commercial and retail space especially because of the growing demand in these segments with tech driving the growth," he added.

According to property consultant CBRE, leasing activity for the office segment increased by more than 30 per cent annually to cross 470 lakh sq ft during the first three quarters of 2019 as compared to the previous year.

Sheth said that going forward, 70 per cent of the portfolio would be residential, while the rest would be a mix of retail and commercial.

"However, the model that we are looking at is more of a commercial/ retail development in and around the residential developments. We already have a mall with GIC as our partner and we are looking at acquiring stressed retail assets as well as developing greenfield malls," he said.

Similarly, the company will also develop small size office spaces ranging from 25,000 sq ft to a lakh sq ft depending on the demand in a particular market.

"We will cautiously choose locations and the sizes we would offer. I don't want to develop a structure which doesn't yield returns. Also in case of stressed asset acquisition, we will finalise projects which are value accretive and only after complete due diligence," Sheth added.

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Ashwin Sheth Grp plans to invest Rs 2,000 crore in next five years - Economic Times