A Kerala-based private company has proposed to set up a chain of service apartments at the major pilgrim centres in South India with the debut project coming up at the temple town of Guruvayur.
With a target of Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) turnover in three years, the apartment projects are being planned in Palani, Velakanni, Tirupati and Puttaparthi, Sudhir Gopi, chairman and managing director of Sudhir Gopi Holdings, pioneers in the field of higher education told a press meet .
In Guruvayur, the Sudhir Gopi Developers Pvt Ltd (SGDPL), the real estate arm of SGH, is coming up with 12-storeyed 76 fully-furnished and airconditioned apartments--'Vaikundam Retreat', costing between Rs 60 lakh (Rs 6 million) and Rs 70 lakh (Rs 7 million).
The two-bedroom apartments would have a built-in area of 1400 square feet and would be completed by April 14, 2009,
he said.
Gopi said he was expecting a Rs 50 crore (Rs 500 million) turnover from the Guruvayur project.
The SGDPL also had investment plans in West Asia with the company planning to construct 1000 free hold apartments, each costing 400 million dirhams at 'Little India' in UAE for the expatriate Indians. A major portion of the savings of the Indians in the Gulf was spent on rentals, he said. The group's idea was to build integrated townships for the Indian community.
Apart from small residential units, the township would have Indian colleges, schools, shopping outlets and cinema halls. Negotiations were on with the government on land acquisition, he said.