Released on: May 26, 2008, 2:14 am

Press Release Author: varma

Industry: Real Estate

Press Release Summary: Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), which is among the
largest property owners in India, is planning to acquire land worth Rs 2,000 crore
this year to develop commercial and residential complexes.


Press Release Body: Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), which is among the
largest property owners in India, is planning to acquire land worth Rs 2,000 crore
this year to develop commercial and residential complexes.

This will be in addition to the Rs 1,100 crore it spent last year for purchasing
lands across the country. The public sector insurance giant has identified Kolkata,
Jaipur, Agra, Vishakhapatnam and Bangalore as possible cities where it may acquire
land and develop it.

LIC had hired consultants, which had identified the growth centers in the country
and based on the report, the company intends to invest in real estate. "We will
evaluate the locations, which earn higher returns when we invest," a company
executive said.

The insurer is next only to Indian Railways in terms of property ownership in the
country and, at present, it holds 1,708 properties in the country which are
estimated to be worth around Rs 20,000 crore. In the eastern region alone, the life
insurer owns 187 properties.

While a part of the real estate has been acquired by LIC in the last five decades of
its existence, it also inherited a majority of the properties owned by it at the
time of nationalization in 1956. Most of the inherited real estate is in prime
location, typically in central business district in most cities, including the
metros.

A bulk of the commercial complex developed by LIC is being used to earn rental
income, company executives said.

In Kolkata, for instance, the state-owned company is developing around 700,000
square feet of commercial area opposite the Science City, LIC zonal manager R R Dash
said.

The company acquired the five acre plot from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation for
over Rs 276 crore through a bidding process and is working on a 50-storied
commercial building that may be the tallest building in the eastern city. It has
already short listed around 10 design consultants for the project that is estimated
to cost around Rs 400 crore.

LIC Chief Engineer BK Banerjee said that during the last five years, the PSU's
rental income has increased four folds and during 2007-08, in the eastern zone it
stood at Rs 22 crore.

"We expect that in the current fiscal the rental income would be close to Rs 30
crore in the Kolkata region. We would like to double this in the next two years,"
Banerjee said............

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