Parsvnath bags 38 acre Railway land in Delhi for Rs 1,651 crore

Indiabulls, the only other bidder in the auction conducted by Indian Railways, offered Rs 1,257 crore for the land adjacent to Sarai Rohilla railway station.

"We are proud to win one of the prestigious projects in the heart of Delhi, four km from Connaught Place. We will create another landmark on this land to provide luxury housing, commercial space and other civic amenities," Parsvnath Chairman Pradeep Jain told PTI.

Jain said the company will develop this project in tie-up with private equity firm Red Fort Capital.

"The total developable area in this project will be about 5 million sq ft, of which 0.5 million sq ft would be Railway land Development Authority (RLDA). We will invest another Rs 1,000 crore on the construction," he said. "Financial closure has been completed for this project".

This is the second biggest land deal in Delhi after the 2007 deal of DLF, which acquired 38 acres near Moti Nagar, not far from the site of today's auction, for Rs 1,675 crore from DCM group.

Jain said the company will have to pay 20 per cent now and the remaining amount in the next 4-5 years.

RLDA Vice Chairman Pankaj Jain said: "We received two bids and the highest bid was for Rs 1,651 crore. The contract will be awarded in a couple of days".

RLDA's Jain said the final bid in auction for the 38 acre land was more than the reserve price, but did not say how much the reserve price was.

The entire project, which will be primarily housing, is expected to be completed in 10 years. In sq.ft terms, the winning bid works out to nearly Rs 4,000 a sq.ft, although the price of fully developed homes is expected to run into crores.

In other major deals in the national capital region, DLF had bagged a 350-acre plot for Rs 1,750 crore in Gurgaon last year. BPTP bagged a 95-acre plot in Noida for Rs 5,006 crore in 2008, but later surrendered it as it was unable to arrange funds for the payment.

Unitech had won 340 acres in Noida at Rs 1,582 crore in 2006.

In Mumbai property market, Indiabulls bagged NTC's 8.3 acre of Bharat Textile Mills land in Worli area of Mumbai for a whopping Rs 1,505 crore, while Lodha Developers acquired 25,000 sq metre plot at Wadala here for Rs 4,050 crore, which was termed as the costliest deal in the city so far.