Ascendas-Singbridge Group is planning to increase its office portfolio in India with logistics being a prime growth engine, a top company executive told Mint.
“The real estate market in Singapore and India are different in many ways. Our focus is on business parks and in India, the business parks are mainly focused on IT services given the large pool of technology talent. India’s office sector is one of the largest in the world, in terms of area, and this makes it a very attractive market for a player like us,” said Sanjeev Dasgupta, executive director and CEO of Ascendas India Trust.
The Trust would grow its portfolio to 20 million sq ft in the next 3-4 years, said Dasgupta. It is a positive development in terms of the opportunity it offers to investors, he added.
The firm manages over 17 million sq ft across its portfolio in Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai and Gurugram with an overall $2.7 billion in assets under management (AUM) in India.
In an earlier interview in December with Mint, Vinamra Srivastava, CEO for Ascendas’ India operations had said that the company is taking the next leap in terms of size and profitability of its business.
It will look at acquisitions, greenfield developments as well as forward purchase agreements, where land owners build the project according to the company’s specifications, Srivastava had said.
In 2018, the company had launched its $300 million programme to invest in prime logistics and industrial real estate in India.
Moreover, the Singapore-based Ascendas-Singbridge, in a joint venture with the KIADB and Tata Group, has set up an International Tech Park Bangalore (ITPB) in Bengaluru as India’s first work-live-play IT park.
The company has three main funding vehicles for projects in India: its balance sheet, private funds and Ascendas India Trust, which is a listed real estate investment trust (REIT) in Singapore. Also, the REIT holds the income-generating stabilized assets.
Furthermore, it has stepped into its 25th year in the country with the plan to expand its commercial office portfolio. It may enter into a new businesses like setting up data centres and co-working spaces.