Ascendas to invest Rs 600 cr in Paranjape Schemes

Singapore's Ascendas India Trust will invest Rs 600 crore over two years in Indian real estate company Paranjape Schemes (Construction) Ltd, the property developer said on Wednesday.

Ascendas will initially invest Rs 260 crore via listed non-convertible debentures and the remainder by taking a stake in a Paranjape unit developing a commercial project in Pune close to the financial capital of Mumbai.

Overseas investors are betting on a revival in India's commercial real estate space after the Narendra Modi-led government paved the way for listing Real Estate Investment Trusts earlier this year to help cash-strapped developers.

Foreign investors, including Blackstone Group , Goldman Sachs , and Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, had invested about $1.5 billion in India's real estate sector as of Dec 12, according to data from Venture Intelligence. About a third of that investment was in commercial real estate.

($1 = 63.3000 rupees)