By:Megha Bahree,
Forbes

The Capitalist fervor in India has, not surprisingly, a real estate component. The development business--the construction of new commercial, industrial and residential properties--is growing at least 25 per cent a year, says a report by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry and Ernst & Young. That puts it at a minimum $5 billion worth of projects over the next couple of years. High rents in Mumbai place the city firmly in the top ten most expensive office markets, along with London, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

Big international players are piling in, like Singapore developer Ascendas and the U.S.' Apollo Real Estate Advisors. Dubai's Emaar Properties, which is building the world's tallest tower, in Dubai, has invested $500 million in an Indian joint venture.

If you want in, you will encounter barriers. Foreigners still cannot directly own Indian property; nor may they own shares of companies listed on Indian exchanges. But they can buy shares of foreign entities that do business in India as partners of Indian developers, or of the Indian realty companies listed on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange. Such AIM-listed companies raised $4 billion in the past two years, with another $5 billion expected this year.

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Posted by dcjaya at November 16, 2007 12:54 AM