some good news for Delhi residents who want to buy their dream home.

The National Building Construction Corporation Limited (NBCC), the largest public sector construction company, will launch its first housing scheme in the Capital early next year.

Up for grabs would be 2,500 flats,priced between Rs 25 lakh and Rs 60 lakh.

The NBCC has built several infrastructure projects across the country. One such project in the Capital is the Pitampura TV Tower.

It entered the real estate sector recently. The first residential housing project that it started was in Rajarhat, Kolkata, known as VIGYOR Towers.

In the Capital, the flats will come up on 30 acres of land adjoining the Ghitorni metro station on the MehrauliGurgaon road. They will be ready by 2012.

Speaking to HT, Arup Roy Choudhury, chairman and managing director of NBCC said, "We have a land in Ghitorni, which we are planning to develop for residential housing. Details are being worked out for the housing project which will be launched early next year." This would be the PSU's first housing project in Delhi.

"There is a huge shortage of housing in urban areas. We ventured into the sector to fill the huge demand-supply gap in the housing sector by providing affordable housing," said Choudhury.

Earlier this year, the construction company had launched two housing schemes -- in the mid and low-end category at Gurgaon in Haryana and Loni in Uttar Pradesh.

It is coming up with 4,000 flats in Gurgaon for employees of the Central government and public sector units.

The flats are priced between Rs 22 lakh and Rs 45 lakh.

Similarly, in Loni 2,000 flats are being developed in the mid segment category.

Fifty per cent of the flats will be reserved for government employees. The rest will be open to the public. These flats are priced between Rs 7 lakh and Rs 15 lakh.

Presently, there is a huge shortage of affordable housing in the Capital with the Delhi Development Authority -- the sole development body in the city -- failing to meet the housing requirement.