Macrotech expedites ₹2,800-cr real estate projects

Macrotech Developers has planned to double its investment to ₹2,800 crore in the current fiscal to speed up construction work at various projects which remained in limbo due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mumbai-based player, earlier known as Lodha Developers, is one of the leading real estate firms in the country. MD and CEO, Abhishek Lodha, informed that the company remains bullish on the real estate sector, especially the residential property market, despite the second wave of the pandemic. The housing demand has been slow during April-May, but it is likely to pick up from the next month. In fact, sales are happening but there is an impact as prospective homebuyers cannot go for site visits because of the restrictions on movement. The company will focus on the development of residential and warehousing properties in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region and Pune over the next few years. Like the e-commerce sector, these two segments have gained importance during this pandemic. Lodha informed that the company's construction spend stood at around ₹1,400 crore. In the current fiscal year, its construction spending is estimated at ₹2,800 crore. He pointed out that the total expenditure on construction declined last fiscal as works on the project sites were impacted for almost six months. The company delivered 2.7 million sq ft area last fiscal year as against 15.7 million sq ft in 2019-20. In 2019-20, its construction spends were north of ₹3,000 crore, which is a normal annual run rate. When asked about sales bookings, Lodha replied that the company clocked pre-sales of about ₹5,970 crore during the last fiscal year. About 90 per cent of pre-sales came from the residential segment and that too in the affordable and mid-income category, while 10 per cent contribution was from land monetization in warehousing and industrial space.