Arihant shifts Rs 4,800 crore Town Villas launch to FY28

Arihant has moved the Rs 4,800 crore Town Villas launch out of FY27 and into the next financial year because approvals for the 58 lakh-square-foot development remain under progress. Management said there had been movement on approvals but ruled out a Town Villas launch during the current financial year.

Why has Arihant delayed the Town Villas launch?

Arihant delayed Town Villas because its approvals have not yet been completed. Management said the approvals were under progress and that it was seeing some movement, but said the launch would be pushed to the next financial year rather than take place in FY27. The response addressed an analyst’s question on how a previously anticipated Q4 launch would be phased.

Management did not identify the outstanding approvals, set out a revised launch quarter, or provide a sales target for the Rs 4,800 crore development. The timing of approvals is therefore the disclosed unresolved factor. Town Villas is one of only two Arihant projects that had not started, alongside a separate 7-8 acre project in Panvel.

How large is Arihant Town Villas now?

Arihant said Town Villas now has about 58 lakh square feet of saleable area and an estimated gross development value, or GDV, of Rs 4,800 crore. The land area has increased from around 76 acres a year earlier to almost 99.5 acres, and management said the additional land lifted the potential development area.

Design changes have also increased the scheme’s saleable portion, according to management. The increase from around 76 acres to almost 99.5 acres, together with the design revisions, changed the project configuration cited by Arihant. Management did not disclose a unit count, phase-wise launch schedule, pricing plan or construction-completion date for the 58 lakh-square-foot project.

The Rs 4,800 crore GDV is an estimate of the development’s potential sales value rather than reported revenue or presales. Management linked the deferred launch to pending approvals, not to a stated change in housing demand, selling prices, construction capacity or financing availability. That distinction matters because the project has not entered the active launch pipeline in FY27.

What does the delay mean for Arihant’s development pipeline?

Arihant said Town Villas at Chowk and a 7-8 acre Panvel project were its only two projects yet to begin. The company said it does not keep a conventional idle land bank because it converts acquired land into projects. It is working on 320 acres in total, with the rest of the portfolio already started and set to be developed in phases.

At almost 99.5 acres, Town Villas is substantially larger than the separate 7-8 acre unstarted Panvel parcel. The delay therefore leaves a sizeable part of Arihant’s future project pipeline without a current-year launch date. The company gave no indication that the Panvel project’s timing had changed during the call.

Arihant described its Jodhpur portfolio as a sell-and-build operation, under which it intends to develop one building at a time rather than commit substantial upfront capital expenditure. Management said land had been acquired and approvals were in place for that portfolio. It also said the clubhouse at Arihant Anchal had been completed and could help build sales momentum, though it gave no GDV or booking target.

What sales evidence has Arihant disclosed for villas and presales?

Arihant said it had launched Phase 1 of a separately discussed villa development comprising about 178 villas and had sold about 60 units. Management expects the remaining villas in that phase to be sold over the next two years. It said construction of the villas and surrounding infrastructure was progressing, with expenditure expected to support pricing and revenue over time.

An analyst referred to a villa development with a GDV of about Rs 1,200 crore and 391 villas, while management responded with the 178-villa Phase 1 and about 60 sales. The transcript does not explicitly establish that this villa phase is the same configuration as Town Villas, which management described separately as a 58 lakh-square-foot, Rs 4,800 crore development.

An analyst also said presales had declined 27% year on year, with units sold falling from 280 to about 236. Management attributed the decline to launch timing and its focus on selling existing inventory at projects with multiple phases. It said more launches were planned in Panvel in Q3 and Q4 and that the second half has generally performed better over the past four to five years because of festive-season buyer activity.

How does Arihant plan to support revenue and cash flow?

Arihant expects revenue to grow 20% in FY27, according to management. It cited project completions and expected occupancy certificates, or OCs, for one tower at Arihant Aspire and Arihant Advika in Vashi by the end of the financial year. Management said remaining inventory at Arihant Advika could support revenue over the next six to eight quarters.

Management is targeting earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, or EBITDA, margins above 25% for the full year. That compares with an EBITDA margin of 20.97% in the first half, against 27.44% a year earlier. Management attributed quarterly variation to revenue mix and the timing of costs, presenting the 25%-plus figure as its full-year target.

Arihant said operating cash flow from its other projects was expected to remain positive, while its hotel and Club 10 Gymkhana assets would require financing for construction because they currently have no sales. Hotel work was expected to begin in Q3. Management expects annuity income from the hotel and Gymkhana to begin contributing to profit and loss from FY30.

Conclusion

Arihant has expanded Town Villas from around 76 acres a year earlier to almost 99.5 acres, producing a plan with about 58 lakh square feet of saleable area and estimated GDV of Rs 4,800 crore. Yet the enlarged project will not launch in FY27 because approval work remains unfinished, moving a prospective future sales event into FY28.

The next disclosures to watch are progress on the unspecified Town Villas approvals and any eventual launch phasing, prices or sales targets. Before then, management has identified expected OCs at Arihant Aspire and Arihant Advika by FY27-end, planned Panvel launches in Q3 and Q4, and the start of hotel work in Q3 as nearer operational milestones.