Gurgaon: The Haryana Urban Development Authority or HUDA on Thursday said it has sold a 10-acre plot to Swedish furniture maker IKEA for Rs. 842 crore in its single largest property auction till date. HUDA sold approximately 10 acres of commercial land for a whopping Rs. 842 crore in Sector 47 of Estate-II of HUDA Gurgaon, an official said. The site was put for e-auction on October 6 this year and was up for bids on October 31.

"The site was successfully auctioned to IKEA, a multinational group, that designs and sells ready-to-assemble furniture," said HUDA Chief Administrator J Ganesan said today.

"It will augment our efforts in ensuring steady revenue stream for HUDA. This is not a one-off deal as we have planned out auctions of other institutional and commercial properties across the city in the next few months," Mr Ganesan said.

"Gurgaon has seen a reduced demand mainly due to rapidly changing investments scenario in real estate, especially in commercial sector. However, we are hopeful to sell more properties and gather handsome revenue for HUDA from the estates of Gurgaon," an official statement quoted Mr Ganesan as saying on Thursday.

IKEA marking its arrival in Gurgaon highlights the importance of this city and its position in the global marketplace as a business- and investor-friendly destination, the officer said.

The site was put up for e-auction three times earlier, but had no takers until October 31 when the furniture maker finally participated and emerged successful.

On its website, the furniture maker says its concept starts with the idea of providing a range of home furnishing products that are affordable to many people, not just the few. "It is achieved by combining function, quality, design and value -- always with sustainability in mind," the company says.

The company plans to target India's untapped "functional furniture" market in which demand is high from upwardly mobile younger consumers.