NEW DELHI: Real estate developer, Unitech Ltd., may soon announce plans for investments in real estate in southern India. According to Unitech's Managing Director, Sanjay Chandra, the company, which has just made a record bid for a prime property in Noida, has already begun a brand building exercise in Tamil Nadu.

Unitech bid Rs. 1,582 crore for the 340-acre Express City township project in Noida, outbidding DLF Universal, making this the largest ever land deal in the country.

Earlier, the most costly land was the deal for sale of a plot in the Bandra-Kurla complex by Reliance Industries at a price of Rs. 1,104 crore.

Mr. Chandra told The Hindu that such large deals were positive for the realty sector, as they would enable world class development of large sites instead of piecemeal purchase of plots. He did not agree with the view that the phenomenal rise in real estate prices is a "bubble" and, on the contrary, maintained that it was a reflection of rising economic growth.

He pointed to rising salaries and the growing middle class in this country which was adding to the size of the home-buying segment of the population.

Unitech has been "working quietly" with projects initially in the national capital region but has now expanded to Kolkata.

It is also eyeing the southern real estate market and has begun a brand building exercise in Chennai, he said. Some announcements on investments in this region may be forthcoming soon, he indicated.

Regarding infrastructure problems in Gurgaon, he said Unitech projects, which covered roughly about 100 acres, were fairly self sufficient in terms of power back up and water supply. At the same time, he conceded that there had been some lag on the part of the government in terms of connectivity.

He was, however, appreciative of the role of the new state government which had committed more funds for infrastructure in Gurgaon, recognising its key role as a driver of the state economy.

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