Corporate realty makes big bucks in India

Corporate real estate is growing significantly in India as several major corporates are monetising their surplus or non-strategic assets.

A major boost is also coming from offshore companies for R&D centres, back office etc., said Sanjay Dutt co-chair of CoreNet Global’s India Chapter.

They need infrastructure for seamless operations, he saidm, adding that according to his experience, 85 per cent of the office space was leased by offshore companies and e-commerce companies.

Earlier, it used to be telecom, pharmaceutical and entertainment banking and financial services companies. Mr Dutt said that a significant portion of the private equity investment of $2.4 billion (`18,300 crore) during the first nine months (January- September) of 2015, estimated by property consultants Cushman and Wakefield, has gone into office space as India, among the emerging markets has investment grade A quality space. A survey of CRS executives by CoreNet Global about their views on the growth in this sector in the next 12 months revealed that more than 73 per cent reported that conditions were improving and nearly 90 per cent said that demand would increase further over the next three years.

More than 40 per cent of the respondents projected a growth rate of between 5 and 10 per cent, over 21 per cent of them predicted 10-15 per cent growth rate while 15 per cent of the executives forecast 15-20 per cent rate of growth.

As per the findings of the survey, CRE in India is investing more in technology, particularly for energy management, integrated workplace management systems (IWMS), workplace design in office spaces, building controls and monitoring, and modernising warehouses and logistics.