US developers to put in over $1 bn this year

Funds to come in 3 tranches of $350 mn, $750 mn and $50 mn.

A fresh investment of $1 billion is heading the India way "" this time from US developers. The investment expected to come in three tranches of $350 million, $750 million and $50 million "" all this year. The first tranche is likely to be closed by April.

Mark J Reidy, a Wasington-based attorney of the US law firm Andrews & Kurth, who is putting the funds together, said large American corporations, construction companies and real estate developers are investing in the fund.

Sources close to the development indicated that a major San Francisco-based developer is coming into the country through the fund with plans for developing tech parks on its own. The parks will be constructed as per US specifications, they said.

The sources added that the fund managers have begun talking to construction majors such as L&T, and the initial round of negotiations with L&T is over.

So far foreign funds have invested in existing projects in the country that are being developed by local developers. It is for the first time that a foreign fund is considering buying land and developing its own parks.

Reidy said given the volume of outsourcing to India, American companies are keen on developing their own properties.

The tech parks are proposed to be set up in the southern cities of Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore. As for the northern destinations, the fund managers are looking at Rajasthan and Punjab, besides Gurgaon and Noida in Delhi.

These will include biotech parks, IT parks and research and development (R&D) centres for top US pharma companies.

He, however, declined to name the companies that are looking to set up R&D facilities in India. The fund is also considering commercial properties in Mumbai, Reidy said.