PM’s Singapore visit: CapitaLand announces plans to double Indian portfolio to over ₹90,000 cr

Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled visit to Singapore, global real asset manager CapitaLand Investment Ltd (CLI) announced to double (over ₹90,280 crore) its funds under management (FUM) in India by 2028, up from ₹45,880 crore as of June 30, 2024.

Amid the development, Singapore High Commissioner Simon Wong says it’s good to see Singaporian companies “doubling down” investments in India. “Singapore's CapitaLand, one of Asia's largest diversified real estate groups, plans to more than double its funds under management in India to more than S$14.8 billion (>INR 90,280 Cr) by 2028.”

The announcement is significant as it comes right before the PM’s meeting with the business community in Singapore. The Prime Minister went on his first-ever bilateral visit to Brunei Darussalam on September 3. Today, he will visit Singapore. He will meet President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and big business leaders.

The announcement by CapitaLand also marks its 30th anniversary of operations in India. CLI CEO Lee Chee Koon says India is a strategic market and a key contributor to CLI’s overall business. “India has been one of our fastest growing markets, where our investments have tripled in the last seven years. With India’s GDP forecasted to grow 7% in 2024 and its trajectory to be the world’s third-largest economy in the next five years, the country is attracting global investors for quality real assets.”

Singapore-headquartered CLI entered India with the development of its first IT park, the International Tech Park Bangalore (ITPB) via Ascendas, which has expanded to 14 business and IT parks in Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai, and Gurgaon. The company aims to expand its business parks portfolio. Another area where CLI see expansion is acquisitions via CLINT, the largest India-focused property trust listed in Singapore.

As per CLI CEO Sanjeev Dasgupta, CapitaLand will achieve the said growth through listed CapitaLand India Trust (CLINT) and its private funds. “We have successfully established four private funds across logistics and business parks, and we see opportunities for data centre funds in India riding on the country’s fast-growing digital economy.”

After entering the logistics and industrial segments in 2016, CLI says it will launch new private funds for logistics. “AFS, one of India’s leading logistics and industrial players, will be a key driver for CLI to grow in these sectors.”

Riding on the data centre boom, CLI says it is developing four sustainable data centres in Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Bangalore, with a total gross power capacity of 244 megawatts. The first data centres in Navi Mumbai and Hyderabad will start operations in 2025.

CLI’s lodging business under The Ascott Limited (Ascott) also aims to strengthen its presence in Metro cities, Tier 2 markets and leisure destinations.

The company has plans to enter adjacent business segments such as renewable energy and real estate private credit. CLINT commissioned its first captive solar power plant in Tamil Nadu in January 2024. As for real estate private credit, CLI says the segment has a potential $170 billion financing opportunity between 2024 and 2026.

Notably, India’s real estate market is worth $400 billion currently. Stakeholders say it’s just a start. The industry can grow at a CAGR of 25.6% to $1.3 trillion by 2034 and $5 trillion by 2047, says realtors’ body CREDAI.