Chinese developer Wanda leads charge into India’s property sector

Chinese developers are looking to build major residential developments in India, according to the global property services firm JLL.

Dalian Wanda Group, which is owned by China’s richest man, Wang Jianlin, in January revealed plans to develop a US$10 billion industrial zone in Haryana state in north India called Wanda Industrial New City.

“Other Chinese developers are also interested in India and most likely to follow suit,” said Anuj Puri, the chairman and country head of JLL India.

“Interestingly, large residential projects are of particular interest to other Chinese developers. It will be interesting to see if larger deals are signed this year. With China experiencing a slowdown in their own economy, the developers there will get an opportunity to benefit from India’s growth story.

“The Wanda investment will be one of its biggest, so far. It is also bigger than most deals that other Chinese companies investing abroad carried out in 2015.”

The China Land Development Company and ZTE Corporation earlier this year signed memorandums of understanding to develop industrial parks and smart cities in Haryana.

JLL said that foreign developers were likely to look at partnering with Indian builders on projects.

The prime minister Narendra Modi has been trying to encourage more foreign investment into the country.

“Increased participation by foreign players is expected to help in the development of quality projects, which will benefit end users and simultaneously create opportunities for Indian investors too,” Mr Puri said.

He said that Japanese private equity investors are also eyeing opportunities in India’s property sector.

“Japanese developers are keen to explore strategic partnerships and enter into joint ventures with Indian builders, and are particularly interested in industrial projects,” he said.

“There is likely to be an inflow of at least $2bn in investments from Japan into the Indian real estate market over the next three years.”

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