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The regime change in Uttar Pradesh is expected to ring in a change in the fortunes of key real estate and infrastructure companies, which had been pushed into the slow lane during the Mayawati rule.

Sahara India Parivar, promoted by Subrata Roy, is likely to bounce back due to its proximity to the Samajwadi Party (SP).

Ambitious group housing projects of the company worth Rs 5,000 crore, including some in Noida and Greater Noida that were stalled by the Mayawati government, are now expected to take off.

Sahara India Chairman Subrata Roy
Sahara Prime City Ltd, the real estate flagship company of Sahara India Parivar, has entered into a joint venture with Turner Construction Company, America's largest building construction contractor, and the Acropolis Capital Group for constructing 'Sahara City Homes' worth $25 billion over the next 20 years.

The company is expecting to deliver projects worth $2.5 billion over the next five years and a majority of them are in UP.

"It is too early to comment. However, the group will clearly see progress on works which were held up due to vindictive politics," a senior functionary from Sahara Housing said on condition of anonymity.

Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) chairman Anil Ambani, who is close to SP president Mulayam Singh Yadav is expected to see more opportunities opening up in the power and other infrastructure projects in the state. His gas-fired Dadri power project, planned during Mulayam's previous dispensation, could well get a new lease of life.

Other big-ticket infrastructure projects may fall into his lap with SP returning to power - more so, now that SP has a clear mandate and will be forming the government on its own.

Mayawati, soon after taking over as chief minister in 2007, had scrapped Anil's special economic zone (SEZ) project on the ground that there should be no forcible acquisition of land.

Reliance Power has set up a 1,200 MW power project at Rosa in UP. A 900 MW plant under this coal-fired project was commissioned on December 31 last year and the remaining portion is expected to go on stream soon.

According to realty companies, the Mayawati government was clearly favouring developers like Jaypee and Ponty Chadha's Wave Group, while giving a tough time to DLF and Ansals API. Now, with the change in regime, all those projects which were launched during Mulayam's earlier government are expected to get fast-tracked again.

Conversely, the Wave Group, which had emerged as a hot favourite of the Mayawati government, is keeping its fingers crossed. Apart from the exclusive rights to sell liquor, Mayawati had also allotted them large tracts of cheap land in Noida and Greater Noida.

The group has realty projects valued at Rs 11,900 crore. While Rs 9,400 crore has been allocated for residential projects, the commercial segment accounts for Rs 2,500 crore.

Among the commercial projects, Wave One in Noida has been conceptualised as a 37-storey tower while Wave 1st Silver Tower is being set up in a posh location at Sector 18 in Noida.

Apart from that, they were allotted huge land banks on the outskirts of Bareilly, Ghaziabad, Meerut and Moradabad for opening malls, multiplexes and housing projects.

The Jaypee Group has the largest land bank, which is believed to be around 1.2 billion square ft. The company has five residential townships along the Yamuna Expressway Corridor with a total area of 6,175 acres and the company has real estate projects worth Rs 150,000 crore.

"Many developers were in wait-and-watch mode for their project launches in the Noida and Greater Noida region. Now that the poll verdict is out, it will be easier for the developers to get a clear picture," an analyst with Investor's Clinic, a realty brokerage firm said.

"Also, many projects which were still awaiting go-ahead by Noida and Greater Noida Development Authority may get clearance," he added.

Importantly, it will be worthwhile to see who attends Mulayam's swearingin ceremony on Sunday.

Some of the biggest names in industry, who steered clear of UP over the last five years, may well have an impact on the state's infrastructural roll out from hereon.

Meanwhile, the UP poll results had their impact on the stock markets as well.

The bellwether BSE Sensex index touched a high of 17,691.96 points around 11 am on Tuesday on the news that SP would be in a position to form the government in the largest state of Uttar Pradesh with the help of the Congress.

However, it lost steam later as it emerged that SP would be able to form the government on its own upsetting the market.

UP-based sugar stocks witnessed profit booking after they gained over 20 per cent over the last few sessions on the news that Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) would bite the dust in the polls.