Godrej acquires 18 land parcels in FY23 to build new projects

NEW DELHI: Enthused by strong housing demand, realty firm Godrej Properties Ltd has acquired 18 land parcels last fiscal for development of new projects with an estimated sales potential of around Rs 32,000 crore.

Mumbai-based Godrej Properties, which is part of business conglomerate Godrej Group, had given a guidance that for future development it would add land parcels that have sales revenue potential of Rs 15,000 crore.

However, the company's new business development, which means addition of new land parcels, jumped more than two-fold of annual guidance.

Godrej Properties acquires land outrightly and also enters into joint development agreements (JDAs) with landowners to create a pipeline of future projects and expand its business.

In a recent regulatory filing, the company presented its operational performance for 2022-23.

Godrej Properties highlighted that it has added "18 new projects in FY23 with a total estimated saleable area of nearly 29 million square feet and total estimated booking value of around Rs 32,000 crore." In the fourth quarter of last fiscal, five new projects were added with an expected sales booking value of Rs 5,750 crore.

Among big-ticket deals in FY23, the company acquired an 18-acre land parcel in Kandivali, Mumbai for Rs 750 crore to develop a luxury housing project with an estimated revenue potential of about Rs 7,000 crore.

It also acquired legendary film actor, director and producer Raj Kapoor's bungalow at Chembur in Mumbai to develop a luxury housing project.

In February last year, Godrej Properties Executive Chairman Pirojsha Godrej had said that the company would invest around Rs 7,500 crore over the next 12-18 months on the acquisition and development of new real estate projects.

Sitting on a huge cash pile, Godrej Properties entered aggressively into the market to acquire land parcels. In the last fiscal, it purchased more land outrightly than signing JDAs with landowners.

On operational front, Godrej Properties' sales booking rose 56 per cent last fiscal to Rs 12,232 crore -- an all-time high -- on strong demand for residential properties.

Pirojsha Godrej attributed the strong growth in FY23 to its strong portfolio of projects across the country.

For the first time, the company sold over Rs 2,000 crore of real estate in each of four focus markets of Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru and Pune.

Out of the total sales bookings last fiscal, housing segment's contribution was 99 per cent.

Pirojsha said the company look forward to building on this sales momentum in FY24.

During 2022-23, sales volumes grew by 40 per cent to 15.21 million square feet from 10.84 million square feet in the previous year.

The company delivered projects aggregating over 10 million sq ft across 5 cities in FY23.