Lodha Family Transfers Rs 21K Cr Stake to Philanthropic Arm

New Delhi, Nov 8 (PTI) Real estate tycoon Abhishek Lodha and family on Friday transferred an 18.09 per stake in their listed entity Macrotech Developers Ltd to the group's philanthropic initiative, taking a leaf out of the Tatas.

Macrotech Developers is one of the leading real estate developers in the country, selling properties under the Lodha brand. It currently has a market capitalisation of over Rs 1.17 lakh crore. The promoters own a 72.11 per cent stake in it.

At Friday's closing price of Rs 1,175.75 apiece, the value of total shares transferred is over Rs 21,000 crore.

According to regulatory filings, the promoters, Abhishek Lodha and family, have transferred 18 crore shares in Macrotech Developers to Lodha Philanthropy Foundation (LPF), a non-profit organisation that uses all its income and assets solely for national and social causes.

These 18 crore shares represent an 18.09 per cent stake. It was an "off-market inter-se transfer among the promoter and promoter group" and hence their total shareholding would not change.

On October 28, Macrotech Developers Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Abhishek Lodha announced that he and his family will transfer shares worth Rs 20,000 crore to the LPF.

"An advisory board will be set up in January next year to manage the social initiatives," he had said.

The foundation will carry out various social initiatives such as programmes in education, women's empowerment and sustainable urbanisation, through the dividend income generated from these shares.

On the family's decision to allocate a significant portion of their wealth to national and social causes, Abhishek Lodha had said, "About 100 years ago, the Tata family gave a major part of their shareholding in their enterprise to the Tata Trusts. The huge impact of this gift on India and the good work by the Tata Trusts has been a major inspiration for me".

Started in 2013, the foundation runs various programmes, mostly in the social sector, including 'Lodha Unnati', which focuses on increasing female participation in India's workforce by working with corporates in India.

It also supports the Institute of Applied Mathematics (IAM), which focuses on encouraging top mathematical minds of Indian and non-Indian origin to do high-quality research.

Under the Lodha Genius Programme, the foundation provides financial support, mentoring, infrastructure and advanced learning to meritorious children across India. It also provides scholarships to meritorious Indian students for further studies at the top global institutions for their undergraduate and post-graduate programmes.

As part of its sustainable initiative, the foundation has tied up with Rocky Mountain Institute, USA (RMI) to achieve net zero in the real estate and infrastructure sectors.

Macrotech Developers, erstwhile Lodha Developers, has delivered around 100 million square feet of real estate and is developing more than 110 million square feet under its ongoing and planned portfolio.