Morgan Stanley To Pump In $1bn For A Bite Of Indian Realty
By property vertical
MORGAN Stanley Real Estate plans to pump in over $1bn into the Indian realty sector over the next five years. The investment bank has already invested around $140m in two real estate companies, and one service apartment project in Pune over the last six months. “These investments would include equity positions in realty companies and stakes in specific projects,” said Zain Fancy, executive director and head of Morgan Stanley Real Estate for the Asia-Pacific region. The real estate arm of Morgan Stanley manages around $51bn in real estate assets worldwide on behalf its clients. The fund has picked up equity stake in Bangalore-based Mantri Developers and Delhi-based real estate firm Alpha G for around Rs 300 crore each. In Pune it has pumped in around $7.5m in a service apartment project. “We plan to bring in our global expertise in asset management to India,” he added. Along with Alpha G, the fund is looking at setting up large format retail and township projects in the tier II and III cities, which are FDI compliant. A Alpha G on its own plans to invest over Rs 4,600 crore in new projects over the next three to four years with focus on Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bangalore, Chennai, Dehradun, Gurgaon, NCR, Karnal, Mumbai, Pune, and

some cities in Punjab and Rajasthan. Alpha G is currently looking at developing four-five projects in Punjab. Bullish on Indian realty sector, Mr Fancy said India will continue to enjoy a lower affordability ratio along with China. “China, however is ahead of the curve, with Indian real estate sector lagging behind by couple of years,” he added. India is yet to catch up in terms of sheer volume of transactions that the Chinese real estate market enjoys. Further China is better placed infrastructure wise compared to India, Mr Fancy said. He said that the fund would work closely with its global retail partners and facilitate their entry into the country. Morgan Stanley has 10-15 retail clients in its portfolio. Over the past year, there has been renewed activity in Indian realty that has been attracting attention of several global real estate funds. Merrill Lynch forecasts the Indian realty sector to grow from $12bn in ‘05 to $90bn by ’15. Industry estimates say around $5bn of private equity funds are chasing Indian realty projects. Acquire information on Real Estate at http://www.propertyvertical.comFor information on Real Estate Property in Delhi, Gurgaon and surrounding areas Visit http://www.propertyvertical.com/delhi