MUMBAI: Piramal Realty, the real estate development arm of the Piramal Group, plans to spend Rs 16,000 crore over the next four years on executing projects and buying land. At the consolidated level, the investment will be about Rs 40,000 crore, including Rs 22,000 crore by real estate investment vehicle Piramal Fund Management, a top group official said. “We will be investing this Rs 16,000 crore on land acquisition and execution of ongoing projects over the next four years. Majority of this will go towards construction of current projects. We are also scouting for opportunities in land acquisition and joint development space,” Anand Piramal, Executive Director of the Piramal Group, told ET. “Availability of capital is a key source of competitive advantage in the current scenario of the real estate sector.” International investors Goldman Sachs and Warburg Pincus infused about $434 million in Piramal Realty last year, the largest private equity commitment to Indian real estate. Piramal Realty will invest Rs 4,300 crore in a residential project Piramal Aranya in Mumbai’s Byculla locality. The project is spread over seven acres and has a development potential of 3.7 million sq. ft. over the next four years. On Thursday, the company launched three- and four-bedroom apartments priced at Rs 8 crore and Rs 12 crore, respectively. The company had acquired land next to Byculla zoo from textile major Mafatlal Industries for Rs 606 crore in June 2011 and is launching the project now after securing all approvals. “As a policy, we would like to launch projects only after getting certainty over approvals. We don’t want to over-promise and under-deliver – we would rather do the reverse,” Piramal said. “The government’s measures on ease of doing business have been showing positive results and we are optimistic that the approvals scenario will improve.” Started in 2012, the company has over 10 million sq. ft. under construction spread over five projects across Mumbai in the Worli, Byculla, Mulund, Kurla and Thane localities. Piramal Realty also plans to acquire land and sign joint development agreements. “We will be looking at opportunities that match our investment criteria,” Piramal added.