The Hindu Business Line : Shriram Properties plans Rs 900-cr project on Standard Motor land

SHRIRAM Properties Ltd, which has emerged the highest bidder for the 57.84-acre Standard Motor Products of India Ltd (now under liquidation) property in Chennai, plans to develop an IT park and a commercial and residential complex on the land. The cost of the proposed project is estimated at Rs 900 crore.

The bids for the property were opened on Wednesday and it was announced that Shriram Properties Ltd, which had quoted Rs 154.10 crore against the upset price of Rs 142 crore, was the highest bidder. The bid is expected to be confirmed by the Madras High Court on Thursday.

The Chairman of Shriram Group, Mr R. Thyagarajan, told Business Line on Wednesday that the group is likely to rope in a foreign partner for the project. Shriram Properties is also on to another large-size project in Chennai — a 1 million sq. ft. IT park at a cost of Rs 300 crore.

Mr Thyagarajan said that the company, wholly owned by the Shriram Group, has projects coming up in Coimbatore and Bangalore too.

Shriram Properties usually takes project-specific partners. In the past, the Ceylinco group of Sri Lanka and the Ramky group of Hyderabad had joined hands with Shriram for property development. The company's Web site says that it has constructed property on 2 million sq ft and has 1.8 m sq ft property under construction.

The Standard Motor property first came up for auction in November last year, when Mr T. S. R. Khannaiyann, a Coimbatore-based industrialist, with a bid of Rs 140 crore, emerged as the highest bidder.

However, a sequence of events led to the Madras High Court ordering for fresh tendering of the Standard Motor property, as it saw "possibilities of getting a higher price" than the Rs 140 crore offered at the auction held by the company on November 24, 2004.

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