Singapore-based The Ascott Ltd is expanding its presence in Indian cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai and Pune, with its US$250 million investment in seven upcoming properties.
“India is an important market for us. There is a big untapped demand but limited supply of serviced residences,” said Ronald Tay, Chief Investment Officer of Ascott.
“We are looking for investment opportunities, management contracts, or lease agreements to expand our presence in India,” said Tay, who oversees Ascott’s portfolio in India.
“We are interested in cities like New Delhi, Mumbai and Pune. We are also very keen to explore the National Capital Region (NCR). Gurgaon is also quite interesting.”
Referring to Ascott’s investment plans over the medium term in India, Tay noted that much of it depends on the availability of opportunities and that the funds required for each property are different.
“On an average, a property with 150-200 units costs around $35 million. To be viable, we require a minimum of 100 apartment units. We would prefer to have a property with at least 200 apartment units for our own investment.”
If India grows between seven and eight percent per annum, he said the company will see its properties doing well.
“If the country performs well, foreign investment will come to India. So many foreigners will also come to the country and we will provide them excellent accommodation.”
Its first property in India, which opened on 1 August, was the 96-unit serviced residence development, Citadines Richmond Bangalore. This will be followed by Somerset Greenways Chennai, which is scheduled to open later this year.
The remaining properties — Citadines Parimal Garden in Ahmedabad, Citadines Galleria in Bangalore, Somerset Whitefield in Bangalore, Citadines OMR Gateway in Chennai and Citadines Hitec City in Hyderabad — are set to open over the next four years.
“The IT industry is big and the company’s focus,” said Tay. “We want to focus on a few key cities. We want multiple properties in one city and not one property each in multiple cities.”
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