Rajathi join hands with Merlin Group for real estate business

Chennai: Chennai-based Rajathi Group has joined hands with Kolkata’s Merlin Group to form an equal joint venture — Rajathi Merlin Projects Pvt Ltd — to foray into the real estate business in Tamil Nadu.

The Rs 410-crore Rajathi Group has diversified business interest with presence in the hospitality (has 90 per cent stake in the Chennai-based three-star hotel Breeze), agri export, mining, biotech, engineering sectors.

Merlin is into the construction business and has developed, apart from residential and commercial projects, some of the Kolkata State Government’s housing and infrastructure projects under public-private partnership.

According to Mr R.S. Ashok, CEO of Rajathi group, the company has a land bank of over 300 acres in and around Sriperumbudur and in places such as Padappai and Old Mahabalipuram Road. This will form part of the company’s investment in the joint venture.

“The idea of the joint venture is to develop residential townships and commercial projects with an investment outlay of Rs 1,000 crore over a period of three to four years,” he said. The new company may also develop properties in Coimbatore, Madurai and Tiruchi.

“The joint venture would bring to the table the real estate expertise of the Merlin group and Rajathi Group’s knowledge of the Tamil Nadu market,” said Mr Sushil Mohta, Managing Director of Rajathi Merlin.