Asia Pacific
Real Estate Association
(APREA), which promotes and represents the real estate asset class in
Asia, recently convened an international symposium on REITs in India, to
support both the extensive work it has undertaken to promote
real estate investment trusts(REITs) and the momentum in the local industry wishing to see the establishment of REITs.
APREA has for many years regularly promoted the establishment of a
REIT market in India and has recently presented detailed submissions to
the country’s regulators. International and local industry leaders (from
APG Asset Management, Admiral Investment, GIC Real Estate, Morgan
Stanley, Standard Chartered Bank, ICICI Prudential Asset Management,
Kotak Investment Banking, Herbert Smith Freehills,
PricewaterhouseCoopers, Nishith Desai Associates, IDFC, Ernst &
Young, CBRE and Religare Investment Advisors) discussed the important
elements of REITs and the benefits and opportunities in India. Admiral
Investment presented a new APREA research report on the impact that
REITs have had on Asian economies.

All concluded that now is the right time for REITs in India and there
is significant institutional investor support and interest. REITs are
seen as critical for the development of the
real estate industry
and capital markets. Globally REITs have been beneficial in improving
transparency and standards and improving the professionalism of markets
and this will also happen in India.
S.Srinivasan, CEO of Kotak Realty Fund and APREA India chapter board
member, said: “A majority of the Indian consumers’ savings is in
property and gold.REITs will enable the industry to tap into this
savings pool in a liquid format. The investors will benefit from a
transparent and well regulated investment product. The time is right to
bring REITs to India”.
Lim Swe Guan, chairman of APREA, commented: “REITs have attracted
significant amounts of cash in recent years responding to investor
demand for high yields and stable capital returns. Even though there has
been substantial support for emerging Asia REITs, the potential for
even larger allocations by both local and global investors exists.
“Recent APREA research shows that India’s share of the global
investable real estate market currently is just 1.3%. However, this is
expected to increase to 6% in the next 20 years with the size of the
domestic investable
real estate market rising 16 fold over that period. India REITs are poised to capture a substantial share of such capital inflows”.
Anuj Puri, Chairman and Country Head, Jones Lang LaSalle India and
APREA India chapter board member, said: REITs buy properties and put
them out on rent, thereby generating income for investors while also
adding rental supply to the market. Unfortunately, this model has not
yet found a foothold in India. REITs should be implemented in this
country so that small investors will get a chance to invest in real
estate assets.”
Contact Us
Vijay Chawla
Aurum Estates
Shop No 1 Main Sohna Road
Opposite Uniworld Garden,
Adjoining indian oil petrol pump,
Sohna Road Gurgaon
(Haryana) 122018 India
Tel : +91 124 3295123
Mob : +91 9811210388, 9999997969
Fax : +91 124 2217833
Email : vijay@aurumestates.com
Website :
http://www.aurumestates.com