Founder of Aakash Educational buys farmhouse in Delhi for Rs 96 cr

Founder of Aakash Educational Services, JC Chaudhary, purchased a five acre farmhouse in south Delhi for around Rs 96 crore. Chaudhary's purchase of Pushpanjali Farm at Bijwasan is his second big ticket real estate transaction in the past two months. It comes close on the heels of ed-tech platform Byju's acquisition of the tutorial chain in a cash and stock deal for $950 million. Chaudhary bought a 2,000 sq yard property in South Delhi's Vasant Vihar area for over Rs 100 crore in the first week of April. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has halted his growth plans. The revenue has dropped from Rs 1,200 crore in FY20 to Rs 1,000 crore in FY21. Property brokers and developers told the media that most people are looking for farmhouses amid the ongoing second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, massive farmhouses in and around the national capital are in demand. Wealthy business people and executives are looking for sprawling properties after being home bound during the lockdowns last year and now. According to the property brokers, over fifty such transactions have been closed in the last six months, compared with an average of two to three deals a month before the virus outbreak. They said that about 300 farmhouses ranging from Rs 10 crore to Rs 150 crore are on sale in areas like Sultanpur, Vasant Kunj, Radhey Mohan Drive, Ansal Satbari, Westend Greens, Pushpanjali and DLF Chattarpur. Delhi is the only city in India that designated certain areas for farmhouses in its master plan. These areas are in clusters around Panipat, Rajokri, Chattarpur, Mehrauli and Bijwasan. Similarly, Khopoli and Karjat near Pune, Igatpuri near Nashik and areas next to Thane near Mumbai are also generating interest for farmhouse developments. The same is true for many outlying regions around Bengaluru and Chennai. India's premium sanitaryware company Jaquar purchased three farmhouses recently in Delhi's Westend Greens for around Rs 235 crore. Around 4,000 farmhouses are there in 18 villages in and around New Delhi, spread over half an acre to 2.5 acre each. Image Source Also read: Raheja's purchase three duplexes at Rs 427 cr from own project in Worli Also read: Birla Estates will launch premium Worli project by October