Indian Real Estate Wooing Foreign Players

May 23, 2007	(Be the first to rate this story!)  Loading ...
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More and more foreign investors are lining up to make investments in Indian real estate. They are believed to have raised $3.5 billion and above $2.5 billion have already been invested by overseas real estate funds in India till date. The list includes the names such as Blackstone Group ($1 billion), Goldman Sachs ($1 billion), Citigroup Property Investors ($ 125 million), Morgan Stanley ($70 million) and GE Commercial Finance Real Estate ($63 million).

However, this is not an end to the list. It further goes listing JP Morgan, Lehman Brothers, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, Colony Capital, Merril Lynch, and Starwood Capital.

The change in policy of February 2005 has paved ways for foreign investments in construction projects with fast approvals. The major attraction is returns of 25% offered by realty projects in India that certainly appears hard to come by the US and Western Europe.

Of all, Goldman Sachs seems to be the most determined player and has been combing through Indian property market for more than a year now. The company, indeed, encouraged several other investors to look forward to real estate trends in the country.

India’s urban office space market is what attracts investors. It is 60 million sq ft as compared to New York City’s 400 million sq ft or New Jersey 175 million sq ft.  Tishman Spyer was the first US developer to invest in India. ln 2006, the New York City based firm entered into a joint venture with ICICI Venture Funds of Mumbai that will have a war chest of $2.5 billion.

Speyer- ICICI Venture has signed memorandum of understanding for two construction projects in India. One is a $200 million project for residential and commercial development on 42 acres in Bangalore’s prime Whitefield suburb. Another project is in Karnataka’s Devanahalli, where Tishman Speyer and ICICI Venture Funds are purchasing a 25 acre plot whose final use has not yet been decided.

News Published Under:   Real Estate India |

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