Global investment firm Temasek and Singapore's Ascendas-Singbridge today announced plans to invest Rs 2,000 crore in India's logistic and industrial real estate segment.
Ascendas-Singbridge has launched Ascendas India Logistics Programme, in which Temasek is a principal investor.
"Temasek and Ascendas-Singbridge Group have jointly committed Rs 20 billion (approx Singapore dollar 400 million) to invest in logistics and industrial real estate in key locations in India," Ascendas said in a statement.
Ascendas-Firstspace, the platform established by Ascendas-Singbridge and Firstspace Realty in 2017, will execute the investment strategy for the programme, it added.
Logistic and industrial real estate has been able to attract huge investments in the last few years on the back of growing e-commerce business. The new GST regime has also helped in growth of this segment.
Ascendas-Singbridge Group is Asia's leading sustainable urban development and business space solutions provider with assets under management exceeding S$20 billion.
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Jointly owned by Temasek Holdings and JTC Corporation through a 51:49 partnership, the group undertakes urbanisation projects spanning townships, mixed-use developments and business/industrial parks.
Ascendas-Singbridge has projects in 28 cities across 9 countries in Asia, including Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Singapore and South Korea.
The commitment of capital for the programme follows the recent establishment of Ascendas-Firstspace to deliver state-of-the-art logistics and industrial facilities across major warehousing and manufacturing hubs in India, the statement said.
"Ascendas-Singbridge has over 20 years of experience in India and we are committed to India's real estate growth story. Given strong domestic consumption trends, investments in high quality logistics and industrial facilities are necessary to support India's economic growth in the years to come," said He Jihong, Ascendas-Singbridge Group Chief Investment Officer.
Temasek India MD Promeet Ghosh said the logistics and industrial sector is a good proxy to growing middle-income populations and transforming economies.
"The positive momentum of the sector, underpinned by the Indian government's Make in India vision as well as healthy consumption trends, present opportunities for us to further invest in India's continued growth," he added.
Tapping India's growing logistics sector, the programme will invest in projects in key warehousing and manufacturing hubs in Mumbai, National Capital Region, Pune, Chennai, Bangalore, and Ahmedabad, among others.
The target is to develop a portfolio of 13 to 15 million sq ft of space. To date, it has two seed assets with 1.25 million sq ft of operational space and over 4 million sq ft in development potential.