Indian real estate scenario has been unpredictable and somewhat unstable for some time. However, that has not stopped Singapore-based investors and developers to gain a firm foothold in India’s property market.
Singapore based developers and investors have built a strong base in China. Over the past few years, India emerged as another natural choice owing to the growing scope of opportunities.
“While China grabbed the attention of the Southeast Asian investors, we have seen them returning to India after a break with renewed enthusiasm or taking new risks,” Livemint quoted Shashank Jain, partner, transaction services, PwC India, as saying. “The deal sizes are getting bigger and the success of other global investors here has also played a part.”
Over the last 1 year, these investors and developers are seen venturing beyond commercial offices to bet on emerging sectors such as logistics, warehousing and urbanization projects. Transparency, better government regulations and emerging sectors and urban projects, including the building of Andhra Pradesh’s new capital city, Amaravati, are attracting Singapore-based investors to India.
Following are the major Singapore-based investments that have made a mark in the Indian real estate segment:
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GIC Private Limited:
This Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund is now one of the two leading property investors in India, along with New York’s Blackstone. It has a diversified portfolio of around $4 billion of assets under management (AUM).
In fact, GIC bought a 33.34% stake from promoters of DLF Ltd in its rental arm DLF Cybercity Developers for Rs. 8900 crore in one of the largest property deals of recent times.
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Temasek Holdings:
This state-owned Singapore firm has invested across asset classes through its fully or partially owned companies such as such as Ascendas-Singbridge Group (ASG), Mapletree Investment Pte Ltd and Capital Land Ltd.
Ascendas-Singbridge has built nearly 17 million sq. ft valued at S$2.5billion and plans to add 14-15 million sq. ft over the next few years. It has also been appointed as a master developer for Amravati capital city along with Sembcorp Development and Amaravati Development Corp. Ltd.
Mapletree acquired Chennai’s SP Infocity IT Park for Rs. 2400 crore last year and is also gearing up to invest in logistics space.