Strong impetus for Indian Commercial real estate

 Commercial real estate in India gets a boost with Foreign private equity funds jumping in.

It is indeed good news for the Indian commercial real estate market and the overall Indian property industry as well. There are many investors including Foreign private equity and pension funds who have confirmed that they will invest around USD 1 billion to buy or build commercial property in India. This news comes on the back of the real estate investment trusts (REITs) being modified by the Government.

The following investments have happened in the recent times in commercial realty in India.

Brookfield has invested close to INR 33 billion for sixty per cent stake in six commercial parks developed by Unitech Corp Parks and around forty per cent stake in 4 of the 6 from Unitech Ltd.

The Mauritius headquartered, The Xander Group, which primarily invests in infrastructure, hospitality, entertainment, retail and real estate sectors, and currently manages equity capital in excess of US$ 2 billion launched Xander JV Partners II, a joint venture with leading Dutch pension fund APG, focused on acquisition of core office properties in India. The minimum investment that it looks to do is between USD 300 to USD 500 million.

In November, Singapore warehouse and industrial park developer Ascendas Pte Ltd which also has a real estate fund management with three successfully listed trusts, namely the Ascendas Real Estate Investment Trust (A-REIT), Ascendas India Trust (a-iTrust) and Ascendas Hospitality Trust (A-HTRUST) confirmed its participation as an investor in properties in India with its aim being commercial offices. It has apparently earmarked office space with an investment target in excess of USD 450 million.