Shriram Properties, the real estate arm of Rs 25,000 crore Shriram Group, would launch two separate subsidiaries to promote projects in retail and hospitality segments, a top official of the company said.

M Murali, managing director of Shriram Properties, said the company would develop 15 shopping malls and 70-80 budget hotels in the next 3-4 years period. Each mall would absorb an investment of Rs 250 crore while Rs 30-40 crore would be pumped in for each budget hotel.

Initially, the company would develop malls covering two million sq ft with a combined investment of Rs 700 crore in the cities like Chennai, Vizag and Kolkata.

He said, “we are looking at strategic partners who can also bring value to promote mall and hospitality projects.”

SS Asokan, executive director of Shriram Properties, said the company is in talks with global players to promote mall and hotel projects. Without disclosing identities, he said the company held talks with retail and hospitality giants in the US, Europe and Japan. The budget hotels would be promoted both in Tier I and Tier II cities.

In addition, Murali said the company also has plans foray into low-cost affordable housing segment in the near future. For the cities like Bangalore, he said the company would launch projects with housing units in the range of Rs 15 lakh per unit. For Tier II cities, budget homes would be in the range of Rs 10 lakh per unit.

He said the real estate market has already witnessd around 20% dip and it would decline by another 5-10% in the next 6-9 months, but it would pick up once election in the US and India were over in the next year. In the long term, he said the Indian real estate market is reliable. The company, which currently owns a land bank of 1,520 acres across the country, is developing projects covering 73 million sq ft.