By IANS,
Kuala Lumpur : Malaysia’s Emkay Group and Bangalore-based Embassy Group are planning to build low-cost houses in southern India, adding to their joint ventures in both countries.
The first venture abroad for Emkay, headed by businessman Tan Sri Mustapha Kamal, was in 1993 when it built houses in Namibia.
Embassy Group chairman Jitu Virwani said the company wants to build low-cost houses in Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune with Emkay to fast-track developments and meet demand.
“Mustapha Kamal is an expert in low-cost housing. We are exploring the opportunities to work together. We already have a good working relationship and now want to build on each other’s strengths,” Virwani told Business Times here.
The partnership between Embassy and Emkay dates back to 2005 with the development of MKN Embassy Techzone, an IT park at Cyberjaya in Malaysia.
Techzone comprises four commercial blocks worth 350 million ringgit ($110 million) under phase one and eight blocks worth over 600 million ringgit under phase two.
Techzone is Embassy’s first investment in Asia, while Emkay is its first and only Malaysian partner.
“We are planning a long-term working relationship with Emkay and it won’t stop with Techzone. We are also exploring new projects such as building student housing and residential developments in Cyberjaya,” Virwani said.
“We are looking at a campus kind of development with hotels, housing, retail and common facilities,” he added.
Over the last decade, Embassy has set up several business parks in India and tenants include IBM, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Goldman Sachs, among others.
“The whole idea of being here (Malaysia) is to expand the relationship with our clients and bring them to Cyberjaya. Embassy itself is keen to be in Cyberjaya as it has the ingredients of what a company typically looks for,” Virwani was quoted as saying by The Star.