Sunder Lal in Calcutta on Friday. Picture by Kishor Roy Chowdhury

Calcutta, Aug. 4: Sahara India’s township project, which includes commercial development like malls and multiplexes, has attracted big names like Pantaloon, McDonald’s and PVR.

The firm is building 217 towns across the country, each of which will have a mall, a multiplex, hotels and hospitals.

Though construction is yet to begin, Pantaloon and McDonald’s have already approached Sahara.

“We have received a number of offers, both written and informal. However, we are yet to sign an agreement,” a Sahara executive said.

Real estate circles said retailers could be keen to tie up with Sahara since it will widen their reach.

“Every one is up to grab land or built-up space. Sahara is offering them access to 217 pockets in one go,” they added.

However, the project may be too big for any single player taking up an anchor retailer role in all places.

Pantaloon’s willingness to partner Sahara can also be seen against the backdrop of Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries’ foray into retail space, industry observers said. Reliance plans to complete its rollout by March 2008 and garner revenue worth $20 billion by 2010.

Sahara City Homes, the nationwide township project, has projected a total commercial built-up area of 326 lakh sq ft. Each township will have 125,000 sq ft retail space on an average. Depending on the location, this could go up further.

While retailing remains a hot pursuit for many, Sahara was also open to the idea of partnering with hospitality majors that may run its hotels.

Again, there will be many players involved, since hotels in different cities will operate at different price levels.

Bengal project

Sahara has acquired 200 acres at Rajarhat for an integrated township in Calcutta. It is now getting clearances from various government agencies.

“We hope to launch the Calcutta project in six to nine months from now,” said Sunder Lal, senior adviser to Sahara India Pariwar. It will also set up towns in Durgapur, Kharagpur and Siliguri. Lal said the Siliguri project would kick off by early 2007.