The government-backed last-mile financing platform Special Window for Completion of Construction of Affordable and Mid-Income Housing Projects (SWAMIH I) has made an investment in a large affordable housing gated-community project in Thane near Mumbai.
The fund has invested over Rs 94 crore in the project Panvelkar Estate-Oxford spread over 11 acres in Badlapur locality, said persons with direct knowledge of the development.
The project with nearly 0.5 million-sq-ft saleable area is being developed by Panvelkar Infrastructures. This is one of the large investments being made by the fund and nearly 1,000 homebuyers are expected to benefit from this financing support.
“It’s a large project with around 900 residential units that needs funding to ensure that the homes are delivered on time, which is the SWAMIH fund’s mandate. We have already completed 11,000 homes across the country and are on track to complete 10,000 homes every year,” Irfan A. Kazi, Chief Investment Officer, SWAMIH Investment Fund, told ET.
Kazi, however, declined to comment on the specific disbursement to this project stating the information is confidential.
“This is one of the biggest funding received by any project in the Badlapur-Ambernath zone and also the first such exposure for SWAMIH fund here. Given the affordable pricing, this Mumbai and Thane’s peripheral market usually witnesses good sales activity, but the momentum was broken due to the pandemic-driven mobility restrictions,” said Vaibhav Jain, director, Sambhav Consultancy, a Mumbai-based boutique realty-focussed investment bank that facilitated the deal.
With SWAMIH’s support and post-pandemic normalcy returning in the market, Jain expects the project to see faster turnaround and timely delivery to homebuyers.
The project was started in 2018 and the developer has completed around 40% construction work so far. While the earlier delivery was scheduled in December 2022, the SWAMIH funding is expected to now help expedite the work and complete the project by March 2024.
The project comprises a total four towers, however, the financing is made available to first three towers with ground plus 16 storey structures as the fourth tower is yet to be launched. The project has affordable housing units with configurations of one-room kitchen, 1 and 2-bedroom apartments priced between Rs 15 lakh to Rs 35 lakh.
In the backdrop of pandemic situation, the project has already received an extension from the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) to complete the work until December 2023.
The developer will be applying for additional 3-4 months’ extension for project delivery following this financing from the government-backed fund.
SWAMIH is a category II alternative investment fund (AIF), which was announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in September 2019 and was approved by the cabinet in November 2019.
The Rs 12,500-crore fund, with a green-shoe option of an additional Rs 12,500 crore, aims to provide financing to enable completion of stalled housing projects and ensure delivery of apartments to homebuyers.
The fund has provided final approval to 116 projects with sanctions worth more than Rs in excess of 11,500 crores, which will complete over 70,000 homes. It has already completed over 11,000 homes across 20 projects and is on track to complete at least 10,000 homes every year.
