SWAMIH Investment Fund I to invest in Imperia Group’s residential project ‘The Esfera’ in Gurgaon

The transaction exclusively advised by JLL, will benefit about 450 homebuyers

New Delhi, August 13, 2021: The Government of India sponsored Special Window for Affordable and Mid-Income Housing SWAMIH Investment Fund I (“SWAMIH”), has committed to invest in completing the phase II of Imperia Group’s residential project ‘The Esfera’ in Gurgaon. As an outcome of this investment, Imperia Group, the developer will be able to revive and complete this project resulting to benefiting close to 450 homebuyers.

The Fund is managed by SBICAP Ventures, a 100% subsidiary of SBI Capital Markets, which in turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of the State Bank of India. JLL is the exclusive transaction advisor for the deal. The Esfera, Gurgaon was launched in 2012 as a 1.2 million sq. ft. mid-segment residential project spread over 11 acres in Sector 37C, Gurgaon.

As a lifeline to the residential real estate segment, the Government of India launched SWAMIH, providing relief to developers struggling to complete their unfinished projects. In November 2019, the Government of India had announced INR 25,000 crore – Special Window to help complete over 1,500 stressed housing projects comprising of around 4.58 lakh housing units. Due to the impact of the pandemic on the economy, fault lines in the real estate sector had started appearing since last year. Many developers saw their cash flows drying up overnight due to various factors including market condition, economic scenario amongst others, leading to unfinished projects and impacting many home buyers.

“The residential market in India has emerged much more resilient post the second wave of the pandemic. In Gurgaon micro market, new launches have already started. In the last two years, the supply was restricted in this market due to the circle rates and lack of stamp duty benefits. But the situation is turning positive with an array of tier I launches in the city. In fact, this micro market has been leading in sales of upper middle and high-end segments within the entire NCR region in the past few quarters. Prices have remained benevolent, but we see fair opportunity of appreciation in the coming few months to years,” said Manish Aggarwal, Managing Director, North and East, India, JLL.

Home sales in H1 2021 increased by 18% as against H1 2020. The sustained levels of residential sales present clear signs of demand and buyer confidence coming back to the market. The need for secured tangible assets and aspirations to own larger homes as remote working becomes the new norm is driving sales of residential properties across the country.

“The fund objective is to provide capital to stressed projects to help the home buyers realize their dream of living in their own homes. With this capital being provided, we are confident that close to 450 home buyers will soon be able to move into their dream homes,” said Irfan A. Kazi, Chief Investment Officer, SWAMIH Investment Fund I.

“We are extremely pleased to have been reposed with the trust and confidence of the SWAMIH Investment Fund. With the new influx of funds, we aim to reach the delivery deadline for The Esfera at the earliest and plan to achieve greater benchmarks in quality, safety and customer experience.” said Harpreet Singh Batra, Managing Director, Imperia Structures Ltd.

Corporate Comm India (CCI Newswire)