Ansals in India's Real Estate Growth

1) Residential
Ansals API ventured into residential property development in the 1980s and 1990s.  The group made inroads with integrated townships and apartments in Gurgaon, Lucknow, Mumbai, Bangalore, Vaishali, Ghaziabad, Haridwar, and Bhopal covering a combined acreage of 949. Residential apartments occupy another 2.1 million sq. ft of area.

In the last decade, AHCL has penetrated further the markets of Ghaziabad, Greater Noida, Agra and Ludhiana, stepping up its quality of construction with every project to meet growing demands.

ABL has developed an array of housing units in Sushant lok II and II, Gurgaon for the middle-income group. Its current projects aimed at the higher end of the market are in progress in Delhi and Gurgaon. It is also in a joint venture for a residential apartment complex in Kathmandu with the Choudhary Group in Nepal.

2) Commercial
Since 1969, the Ansals have pioneered the commercial spaces segment with marquee projects like Amba Deep, Antriksh Bhawan, (with India’s first revolving restaurant, Parikrama), Tolstoy House, Indra Prakash, Prakash Deep, and Naurang House, all in the capital. Its current trend is towards building commercial spaces within integrated townships throughout NCR and North India. AHCL has largely concentrated on 8 commercial projects in Delhi – NCR in the last couple of years.

3) Retail
The first shopping mall, Ansal Plaza in Delhi was developed by API, setting a trend in the retail space market. It has ambitious plans for similar formats in the NCR and within the integrated townships.
 
AHCL set up what could be India’s first discount mall, with the opening of the Ansal’s Plaza in Vaishali.

4) Overseas Projects
API has executed civil and commercial projects in Bangladesh, and Iraq prior to the US invasion, and in Thailand on condominium projects, serviced apartments and a hotel, in collaboration with Maxwin Construction Co. Ltd., Thailand.

AHCL’s residential project in Sri Lanka, the 88 acre Perth Paradise marks the company’s lateral spread to the SAARC market.

5) Farm Projects
As a real estate developer, Ansal API is committed to the environment, and all its projects carry a strong emphasis on developing green areas. It has undertaken afforestation projects on the bare slopes of a section of the Aravalli hills near its Aravalli Retreat farmhouse project near Sohna. Its 4 farm projects so far are largely around the NCR region.

6) Hospitality
Venturing into neo-age hospitality, Ansals have made forays into hotels, serviced apartments, and clubs. It has Chancellor Clubs and resorts as part of its housing colonies in various cities. API constructed the Marriott Welcome Hotel in Saket, New Delhi, and the prestigious PVR-Anupam, the first multiplex in Delhi.

AHCL is in collaboration with the Radisson Group for a nationwide network of restaurants, two of these are already operational in Noida

7) Infrastructure
Furthermore, Ansals have diversified into high-tech infrastructure projects around the country. Some of these include, the Baner Hydel Project, Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd., Thoubal multipurpose project in Manipur, the R & D centre of the department of Telematics, Ministry of Telecommunications in Chhatarpur, New Delhi, and a road development project in Assam. Also within its purview are irrigation projects, construction of expressways, viaducts for railways, power houses and tunnels.

Road Project: ABL has executed a road construction project in Morigaon, Assam, and has secured contracts worth Rs. 45 crore in the North-East.

Academic Institutions: Socially committed, Ansals have promoted schools in their housing projects. The Gyan Bharati School in Delhi, Chiranjiv Bharati schools in Sushant Lok and Palam Vihar, Gurgaon and the Ansal Institute of Technology and the Sushant School of Art and Architecture are recognized schools of learning. Totspace marks the group’s entry into pre-school education.

8) SEZs and IT Parks
Ansal API has two SEZs coming up in Murthal, and Neemrana-Behror.  Ansal’s investment will be around Rs 7300 crore in these two ventures covering a combined area of 2,755 acres.

To be completed in 6 years, the Neemrana SEZ will have processing and non-processing areas. The non-processing area will include residential zones, commercial complexes, community structures, hotels, banks. 30 to 35 % area will be covered by residential spaces, 15 to 20 % to commercial and 25 to 30 % area to common infrastructure like roads, parking areas and green belts.

IT parks are on the anvil at API, and will be executed at Lucknow, Chandigarh, Panipat, Meerut, Jaipur, Jodhpur and Patiala.

The group has already obtained a formal approval for an IT-based SEZ in Greater Noida.