Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd (BCCL) has picked up Rs 60 crore worth preference shares in Mumbai-headquartered real estate major Mantri Realty Limited, which has operations in both Mumbai and Bangalore. Mantri Realty is an associate concern of Mantri Enterprises. The company, which has so far completed over 35 residential and commercial projects with over 3 million square feet built up area across 15 cities, has a land bank of more than 1,400 acre. Mantri Realty will use these funds for developing new projects.
Commenting on the deal, Mr. Sunil Mantri, Chairman, Mantri Realty said, “Having made a mark in real estate sector, we will make a major foray into the infrastructure sector with our power projects. Through our subsidiary Mantri Power Ltd, a 540 MW thermal power plant with an investment of Rs. 2,400 crore would be set up near Nagpur. The plant will be fully functional by 2012 and 60% of the power generated out of the plant will be supplied to the Maharashtra state power utility.”
Mantri Realty has recently launched projects in Bangalore and Hyderabad. The company is also developing 2 SEZs, IT Parks spread over 50 acres and 25 acres of land and one large township spread on 400 acres of land in Nagpur. Mantri Realty client list boasts of several large corporates including Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, Mercedes Benz India Ltd, HDFC bank Ltd, SAIL, NSE and SBI Homes Finance Ltd. The company has tie-ups with major Housing Finance Companies and Banks to devise loan schemes for its various projects.