CapitaLand Investment (CLI) says it aims to more than double its funds under management (FUM) in India by 2028, up from its FUM of $7.4 billion – or INR458.8 billion – as at June 30. The move will contribute to CLI’s aim to achieve $200 billion in FUM by 2028 as well.
The target was announced on the back of CLI’s 30th anniversary in India, with the group positive on the country’s growth trajectory and the group’s priority to diversify its portfolio geographically.
“India is a strategic market for us 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 demand from global corporations and institutional investors for quality real assets,” says CLI’s group CEO Lee Chee Koon.
“Given our deep expertise in the country and the strong tailwinds, we are confident of more than doubling our current FUM of $7.4 billion in India by 2028. This is also aligned with our priority on geographical diversification to achieve better capital rebalancing,” he adds.
“India presents tremendous potential for CLI. We will drive growth through our listed CapitaLand India Trust CY6U (CLINT) and our 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,” says Sanjeev Dasgupta, CEO of CLI India.
“We will leverage our operational expertise to grow the value of our assets, further expand our logistics footprint under our established logistics platform, Ascendas-Firstspace (AFS) and scale up our lodging portfolio through CLI’s lodging arm, The Ascott Limited. CLI remains focused on delivering sustainable returns to our capital partners as we continue to contribute to India's vibrant economic landscape and the local community.”
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CLI entered India 30 years ago with the development of its first IT park, International Tech Park Bangalore (ITPB) via Ascendas. Ascendas merged with Singbridge to form Ascendas-Singbridge in 2015. Ascendas-Singbridge subsequently merged with CapitaLand in 2019. After the restructuring of CapitaLand, CLI was listed in 2021.
Today, the group has 14 business parks and IT parks spanning 23.5 million sq ft of space across Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai and Gurgaon.
According to CLI, the group will adopt several strategies to expand its portfolio of business parks including accelerating development activities to address the increasing demand for premium office spaces across key metropolitan cities. Meanwhile, CapitaLand India Trust (CLINT) will continue to look for prime assets to ensure a robust pipeline for sustained growth.
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CLI will also continue to raise third-party capital through new private funds aimed at greenfield developments and value-added strategies. In addition, the group will seek joint development and joint venture opportunities with capital partners, along with commercial management partnerships to expand its presence in India.
Beyond business and IT parks, CLI also has a logistics and industrial portfolio, data centres and a lodging portfolio in India.
Through its logistics and industrial portfolio, the group aims to cater to the rising demand for high-quality logistics and industrial infrastructure. AFS, one of the group’s companies and one of India’s leading logistics and industrial players, will be a “key driver” for CLI to grow in these sectors. CLI will also look to conduct acquisitions in this space.
CLI first entered the logistics and industrial space in 2016 and now has properties totalling 9.1 million sq ft. The group has 12 logistics and industrial assets in India under AFS and three industrial assets and one logistics park under CLINT.
CLI also aims to drive a multi-city approach for its data centres to cater to the needs of enterprise and hyperscale clients. Through CLINT, CLI is developing four state-of-the-art, sustainable data centres across key cities in Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore, with a total gross power capacity of 244 megawatts. The group’s first data centres in Navi Mumbai and Hyderabad, are slated to begin operations in 2025.
Through its lodging business, The Ascott Limited, CLI will explore bringing new offerings into India. Ascott currently operates seven properties across six cities. Two properties were opened in Goa and Gurugram in 2024. Another eight is expected to open in the next three to four years.
In addition, CLI is looking to diversify into the renewables market and real estate private credit in India. According to the group, renewable energy is a fast-growing market in the country; the Indian government is targeting to achieve 500 gigawatts (GW) by 2030 from the current 111 GW.
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“CLI has a captive demand for renewable energy from its tenants across its data centres and business parks,” says the group in its Sept 4 statement.
Real estate private credit is also gaining interest among institutional investors in the country. The debt market in Indian real estate has a potential US$170 billion financing opportunity between 2024 and 2026, driven by the increasing demand for residential construction finance, says CLI.
As at 1.20pm, shares in CLI are trading 2 cents lower or 0.72% down at $2.76 while units in CLINT are trading 1 cent lower or 0.89% down at $1.12.
