DLF begins to sell land parcels

DLF Ltd, India’s largest realtor by market capitalisation, has embarked
on a land-selling spree. The company recently sold 500 plots of 200-400 yards
in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, mopping up around Rs 110 crore at
an average Rs 800 per square feet.

More sales are being consummated, some in south India,
which will garner slightly larger amounts than Indore, said
sources. Rajiv Talwar, group executive director at DLF,
confirmed the development but said he cannot disclose price detals.

“The valuations were reasonable. We are also looking to sell some
hotel plots etc,” he said. After DLF’s exit from the Bidadi project in
Bangalore and Dankuni in West Bengal, its landbank fell to 425 million
square feet compared with 751 million square feet.

It added another land parcel of 350 acre through bidding at
Haryana State Industrial Infrastructure Development
Corporation, Gurgaon.

At present it has a landbank of 432 million square feet.
In the September quarter, DLF had sold two land parcels in
Mumbai, which was bought by serial entrepreneur Sivasankaran.
Rising prices have also helped. Samir Jasuja, chief executive of
PropEquity, a real estate data and analytics provider said project
launches from April 2008 to April 2009 have seen price escalations,
especially since the absorption in metros has been good.

“The prices in some cases have even gone up by 5-15%, and
I expect the land prices to remain stable or slightly go up now
on,” Jasuja said. DLF had earlier said that it is looking to sell
land assets in 2009 to raise Rs 2,000 crore in a bid to retire debt.

The plots included hotel land, residential plots and commercial land. 
DLF has plans to monetise its assets and was able to bring in cash 
worth Rs 550 crore through asset sale in the last quarter which takes
the total amount to Rs 1,064 crore. The company has a net
debt of Rs 12,135 crore it expects to raise another Rs 4,436 crore
through asset sale.

The company is also looking to sell its windmill business for a 
valuation of Rs 1,100-1,200 crore for which it is unable to find
a buyer, said sources close to the development.