Ozonegroup opens Dubai office to court Indians living overseas

The Bangalore-based company is also looking at setting up offices in other GCC countries to cater to Indian buyers.

Bangalore-based Ozonegroup has become the latest Indian property company to open an office in Dubai as a poorly performing domestic market and low rupee values prompt developers to focus more attention on courting Indians living overseas.

Ozonegroup, which focuses on building upmarket flats to cater to India's new super-rich in Bangalore and Chennai, said yesterday that it generated 500 million rupees (Dh30m) in sales last year from Indian expatriates based in the UAE.

The company added that it was also looking at setting up offices in other GCC countries to cater to Indian buyers.

Under Indian law only Indian nationals or people of Indian origin can buy property in the country.

“Non-resident Indians (NRIs) make up 25 to 30 per cent of our overall business. Arabian Gulf NRIs specifically have always been more inclined towards investing in the realty market back home,” said the Ozonegroup vice president for sales and marketing Raghavan K R.

“With an approximate 45 per cent of the UAE’s population being Indians, the need to have a local office catering to this segment was vital,” he added.

Last year Indiabulls, one of India’s largest listed property developers, opened its own sales office in Dubai.

The value of the rupee has been falling steadily since August 2011, prompting developers from the subcontinent to increase their marketing push overseas.

The country’s domestic housing market is under pressure amid the country’s economic slowdown, high interest rates and large inventories of unsold home in major cities.