Punj Lloyd exits realty business, sells its 50% in Ramprastha JV

NEW DELHI: Engineering and construction company Punj Lloyd is making an exit from its real estate business by ending its two-year-old joint venture with NCR-based realty firm Ramprastha group. Ramprastha group will buy Punj Lloyd���s 50% stake in the joint venture company that was supposed to develop 29-acre residential project in Ghaziabad.

���We are no more interested in being a developer. Ramprastha will buy our stake and a deal is being worked out,��� Punj Lloyd chairman Atul Punj said, adding that a bad real estate environment had prompted this decision. Punj Lloyd was supposed to do the entire construction for the Ghaziabad housing project.

Mr Punj said his company will continue to take housing construction orders, but had abandoned its ambition to become a developer. The company is executing some state-promoted housing projects in the middle-east.

On the possibility that a stable UPA government will mean more infrastructure projects and thus more business from India for the company, Mr Punj sounded sceptical: ���It will depend on how fast the government moves on with the infrastructure projects. Allocation has never been a problem in India, but implementation has been.���