Hot spot

May 3: The Gurgaon-based DLF group is planning to invest another Rs 500 crore in a new 2.5-million sq feet infotech park in Calcutta. The company is setting up a 1.3-million sq feet park in the city. Both the projects are in the Rajarhat area.

The project will be launched in October.

Speaking to The Telegraph on the sidelines of a realty seminar in Mumbai, a senior DLF official said, “The total plan outlay for Calcutta is close to Rs 1,000 crore and we will have close to 4.8 million square feet of land developed in the city for IT parks.”

The anchor client for the first infotech park is IBM.

The company is also looking at developing a few malls in the city. “We have not yet finalised a project and will not be able to comment on the same,” he added.

The company has also acquired land near the IT park for mall development.

Most of the funds for the project will come from internal accruals, he added.

According to the official, the effects of the interest rate increases would be felt in a couple of years down the line. “At the moment, we do not see any slowdown,” he added.

The company entered the real estate market in Mumbai with a successful bid for the 17-acre plot of NTC mills. The land cost DLF Rs 702 crore.

DLF is ready to tap the primary market in June and is expected to come out with a private placement of 3.5 crore shares. The company expects to mop up close to Rs 10,500 crore from the market. It also plans to increase its presence from 18 cities to 35 cities over the next two years.

After the IPO, the shareholding of DLF promoter K.P. Singh and his family would come down to 87-88 per cent from 99.5 per cent at present.

MRTPC stand

The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission has found DLF Universal Ltd guilty of indulging in “unfair pratices” by charging extra money from its customers in the construction of luxury apartments in Gurgaon.

MRTPC has ruled that the company charged escalation cost for the increase in prices of building materials and did not finish construction within the stipulated time. The commission has directed DLF to pay interest at the rate of 9 per cent to its consumers.

“DLF is not entitled to claim escalation charges and has indulged in unfair trade practice by claiming the same,” MRTPC chairman B.K. Rathi said in its order.

The issue reached MRTPC after some of DLF’s customers filed a compensation application along with a request for unfair trade practice inquiry against the company.

In 1993, DLF came up with plans for a luxury residential apartment complex ? Regency Park ? at Gurgaon, where it promised modern amenities such as private swimming pool, tennis court, health club-cum-gymnasium, sauna and steam bath, club house with a restaurant and bar to occupants.

At the time of purchase, DLF offered attractive schemes. In the first offer, it had a provision for full cash-down payment and in the second and third offer, occupants were to pay 40 per cent in the first 30 months (the period of construction) and after that have an option to pay the rest in either 30 months or 10 years.

According to the sales agreement, DLF was to hand over the flats in the stipulated time of 30 months or by mid-1995. However, it could not finish the construction and handed over flats after six years.

At the time of handing over of possession, DLF claimed Rs 11.97 lakh extra from each customer towards cost escalation. It also demanded charges for “so-called improvements” in the form of things like spacious balcony that were not in the original plan.