Tata Housing managing director Brotin Barnerjee at a past event. [Photo/ thehindubusinessline.com]
Indian company Tata Housing Development Company has announced plans to raise Sh15 billion to be invested in commercial and residential property in major towns in Kenya and Tanzania.The firm, associated with billionaire Ratan Tata will join Reliance Industry, another Indian firm owned by the country’s richest man Mukesh Ambani in the Kenyan real estate industry.Mukesh’s Delta Corp East Africa has already invested billions in commercial office space and residential space locally.In a statement to newsroom, Tata Housing said it has signed a deal with Indian National Housing Bank to venture into international projects beginning with Kenya and Tanzania.The statement signed by Tata Housing managing director Brotin Barnerjee said the company targets developing over 4.5 million square feet of mixed-used townships starting January 2018 over a period of four years.Barnerjee said the Kenyan and Tanzanian projects targeting middle income earners will retail at between Sh7.5 million and Sh10 million.“The investment in both projects is expected to be more than Rs1,000 (USD150 million) across the phases over the next 3-4 years,” the statement read.“Our early success in Sri Lanka and Maldives gave us the impetus to further expand our international footprint. Starting with Kenya and Tanzania, we will cater to the mid-income segments and fulfill their demand for superior quality housing,” he added.One of Delta Corp’s projects in Nairobi is the Delta Centre located in Nairobi’s Upper Hill. The project was sold to the World Bank for close to Sh2 billion.The other project is the 21-story twin Delta Corner in Westlands which, was sold to consultancy firm PwC and the University of Nairobi Staff Pension Scheme for a reported Sh4 billion.