Update: Tata Sons Chairman emeritus Ratan Tata has also made a personal investment in Snapdeal, reports The Hindu Business Line. The investment amount was however not disclosed. Earlier: eBay-backed online marketplace Snapdeal.com is adding a real estate vertical to its website in partnership with the Tata Housing Development Co. Ltd. subsidiary, Tata Value Homes Ltd, reports The Hindu. Starting tomorrow, customers can book an apartment on Snapdeal.com for a Rs 30,000 non-refundable deposit. The partnership claims to cover more than 1000 apartments from seven housing projects in cities like Bangalore, Chennai, Pune, Mumbai and Ahmedabad. The available apartment sizes will vary from 1BHK to 3BHK and will be priced between Rs 18 lakh and Rs 70 lakh. For the launch period, Tata Value Homes will also offer customers, booking through Snapdeal, Rs 10,000 per month as rent assurance for a year, even if they stay on premises. Tata Housing has been increasingly focusing on online sales lately and claims to have sold over 600 apartments since December 2013, through its own website. The company claimed 70% of its customers came from the online medium. Currently, the company is planning new projects in Delhi-NCR and Kolkata before March 2015, which might get added to the deal. Snapdeal expansion: Snapdeal has overall raised over $300 million investment till now, including $100 million from Temasek Holdings, BlackRock and others in May, 133.7 million from eBay and others earlier this year, a $50 million investment from existing investors back in June 2013 and $52 million in…
