Housing Development Finance, India's second-largest mortgage company, said it raised $800 million from overseas investors for a real estate fund to tap the nation's growing demand for homes and offices.
The Mumbai-based company is seeking a 20 percent to 25 percent return for the nine-year fund, it said in a statement. The firm said its knowledge of the Indian market gives it a competitive advantage.
“The fund will have a conservative approach with no regional or sector bias” and will invest in the residential, commercial, hospitality, education and health care sectors, as well as in developers, said the chairwoman of HDFC Property Ventures, Renu Sud Karnad.
India's real estate development market may increase more than sevenfold to $90 billion by 2015 from $12 billion in 2005, Moody's Investors Service said in June. Funds of global investment banks such as Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank are investing in Indian real estate as an economy that has grown at 8.6 percent for the past four years drives demand for property.
“The returns that numerous investments have generated in recent years have caught the attention of the investor community,” HDFC said.( IHT)