DLF’s joint managing director and chief business officer Aakash Ohri has said that the Delhi-based company will foray into the Mumbai residential market by the second half of FY 2024-25, and counts on differentiation as key.
Elaborating on the company’s re-entry into the Mumbai market, he said that the company “is here to stay (in Mumbai).”
“We will bring the Delhi-Gurugram residential lifestyle to Mumbai with the launch of our project in Andheri and we see everyone as our competitor in Mumbai,” he said.
“Right now, I will say that everyone is our competitor in Mumbai. I am coming from outside and I have to say this. The company will essentially do what other developers are doing in the Mumbai real estate market when it comes to real estate projects. But what we will do different is that we will package our product differently,” Ohri told HT.com
“I do not say we are bringing the Delhi-NCR product to Mumbai but we will bring the concept here. The way I see this is we can repackage the product better, deliver differently and create a great product. The amenities, living experience, the lobbies, lift, elevators, good service, the clubs, comfort is all part of the whole story,” Ohri said.
To a question on the company’s plans for Mumbai after the Andheri launch, he said, “We are here (in Mumbai) after the launch of our Andheri project. Having said that, I do not want to comment on what we will do in Mumbai after the launch.”
“Currently, we are talking about around ₹11,000 crore of topline for Andheri across 5 million (50 lakh) sq ft. Of this, we will launch around 9 lakh sq ft in the first phase and perhaps 1 mn (10 lakh) sq ft later every year,” Ohri added.
Also Read: DLF plans to launch housing project in Mumbai by December 2024
Company expects a positive response from NRIs for the Mumbai project
Non-residential Indians (NRI) constitute almost 25% of the total annual business for the company, Ohri said.
“Our focus is global, we do global launches. Our Mumbai product is not just for Mumbai but for a global audience,” he said.
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DLF’s re-entry into Mumbai’s real estate market
DLF group had purchased 17 acres of prime mill land in Lower Parel at a National Textile Corporation auction in 2005 for ₹704 crore, the highest bid at that point in time. After the 2008 economic crisis, it decided to change its plans and in 2012 sold the land to Lodha, also known as Macrotech Developers for ₹2,700 crore.
In July 2023, the company announced its re-entry into the Mumbai real estate market. During the investors call for Q1FY25, the company had said it plans to launch its first project in Mumbai by December 2024.
Also Read: ₹2,700 cr: Lodha buys DLF’s Mumbai plot
The company’s first launch in Mumbai’s Andheri is expected to be a premium project and will tentatively have apartments in the range of ₹6 crore to ₹8 crore. The company is expected to have 3 BHK and 3 BHK plus apartments. The first phase of the project consists of nearly 1 million square feet of development, the company had said.
