ABHINANDAN LODHA FLOATS 'PLOTS-ONLY' REALTY MODEL

IN the old days, especially in the smaller cities and towns, a 'developer' meant the chap who had the pluck to convert some agricultural land to 'residential use'.

- GURBIR SINGH

He would then divide it up, provide water and electricity connections and sell plots to families to build their own houses.

What came up was a bit of a mess, but that's how residential communities flourished. Over time, the definition of a 'developer' changed. By building row houses, or flats in multistorey buildings, the 'developer' added more value and increased his profit margin. For a buyer, it was a neater home without the hassle of putting brick and mortar together.

Now meet someone who has gone on reverse gear, moving from developing buildings and flats to selling plots in residential layouts. Abhinandan Lodha, a young 42-year old entrepreneur, son of the famous builder-politician Mangal Prabhat Lodha, has extricated himself from the shadows of his father and brother, Abhisheck Lodha, to build scale with 'plotsonly' realty projects.

FAMILY BREAK-UP

I first met the young Abhinandan over a decade ago, when the Lodha Group had acquired Mumbai's Shrinivas Mills and had launched the now famous 'World One' tower in Parel. It was a chance meeting at the office of a senior HDFC Realty officer. The Lodha scion was then negotiating a crucial Rs 500 crore loan for the Shrinivas project.

"We couldn't go ahead without the HDFC loan. Though it was sanctioned by the realty team, HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh said 'no'. It was the post-Lehman Brothers period of tight finance, and though I tried my best, the Parekh refused," recounted Abhinandan in a recent interview.