NBCC-Building Better Cities

 NBCC (India) Limited, formerly known as National Buildings Construction Corporation Ltd., is a blue-chip Government of India Navratna Enterprise under the Ministry of Urban Development. In conversation with Realty Plus, Anoop Kumar Mittal, CMD, NBCC spoke about company projects and development strategy.  With the Government’s focus on redevelopment and infrastructure, what are the projects in the pipeline for NBCC? Presently we are redeveloping Kidwai Nagar which is an ongoing project. There are three other projects which Government has allotted to NBCC i.e. Nairoji Nagar, Netaji Nagar and Sarojini Nagar. Other than these three projects, there are two other projects of All India Institute of Medical Sciences. One is West Campus and other is Ayurvigyan Nagar. So these are five major redevelopment projects wherein, we also have to regenerate money. The organization is redeveloping Pragati Maidan too with a new model but, in this project the money will be provided by the Government. What will be the action plan to monetize the spare land of 74 PSUs that have been asked to provide relevant information? Monetizing the spare land of 74 PSUs is good move from the government.  The benefit of such an engagement is that the public sector undertaking’s lands that are presently locked and lying unproductive will be unlocked and earn money for the PSUs to help clear their dues. Some of the sick PSUs might get revived, revamped and restructured for better performance. As per Government guidelines NBCC has written to all the public sector undertakings (PSU) and now they have to come out with their land details. Then we will offer our services and prepare the detailed project report (DPR). The administrative ministry of PSUs will also be on board and once DPR is prepared then only line of action will be decided. Broadly, as per the guidelines, once a PSU appoints NBCC, it will charge 0.5 percent fee for each land parcel of the PSU and will offer services on parameters that will be part of the DPR. Are there any plans to tie-up with private players for development of government land? Before approaching the private players we will be working on few models to utilize these land parcels. The priority is for the land to be used by the PSUs themselves, secondly they can be offered to the Central Government for Make in India and lastly, the land will be offered to the State Government. Once, these options are exhausted and still there are no buyers then we can look at involving the private developers.. NBCC role in government initiative of Housing for All NBCC is contributing in many ways to Housing for All initiative of Government of India. It is providing housing through land redevelopment and as a real estate developer by constructing housing for many State departments and Central Government. We are also building houses under Rajiv Gandhi Awas Yojna and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna. Apart from these, we are also working on slum rehabilitation and redevelopment. Furthermore, NBCC under the administrative control of urban development (MoUD) as LMA (Land Management Agency) will manage and utilize the idle land of different sick PSUs in time bound manner. This will definitely boost economy and give housing development opportunities. How is NBCC gearing up to contribute towards fast paced urbanization of Indian cities? The government focus on infrastructure development envisions a 35 year plan whereby the endeavor is to fulfill the infrastructural needs by 2050. As per the Government, in next 15 years all the major cities will be connected with National Highways and have airports. NBCC will continue to be part of the government development initiatives in real estate and infrastructure. Currently, the company has projects worth Rs. 1.0 lakh crore estimated to grow to almost Rs. 50 lakh crore in near future. In addition, the Urban Development Ministry and Railway Ministry have signed a MoU that railway stations will also be part of Smart Cities. In response, NBCC will be developing 10 railway stations that are Varanasi, Jaipur, Kota, Sarai Rohilla (Delhi), Thane, Margao (Goa), Bhubaneswar, Lucknow, Tirupati and Puducherry. Right now our order book is over Rs.75,000 crores. If we continue to work in the same pace, it will reach somewhere near Rs.85,000 crores. In next five, I see the CAGR growth somewhere to be around 25 percent.