Morgan arm invests Rs 300 cr in Alpha group

Morgan Stanley Real Estate has announced that it has invested Rs 300 crore ($65 million) in Alpha G:Corp Development, a New Delhi-based real estate development company.

This is the New York-based investment firm's second foray in the booming Indian real estate market. Morgan Stanely had invested Rs 300 crore in March in the Bangalore-based real estate company "� Mantri Developers.

The group is promoted by Ghanshyam Sheth and is currently executing townships, shopping malls, office and residential developments across various cities in northern and western India including Gurgaon, Amritsar, Jaipur and Ahmedabad. Alpha has a total land bank of 450 acre with a development potential of around 15 million square feet.

"Alpha represents an opportunity to partner with deeply experienced management team with a unique and highly scalable business model in a region of the country where we continue to expect tremendous growth," said Zain Fancy, executive director and head of Morgan Stanley Real Estate, Asia-Pacific, in a press release.

"We continue to believe India represents a compelling real estate investment opportunity and this investment is a continuation of our India strategy," said Fancy.

Col R S Sodhi, managing director, Alpha group, said, "We are very excited about the partnership with Morgan Stanley Real Estate as this will allow Alpha to capitalise on the growth opportunities and at the same time provide us access to Morgan Stanley's world-class global real estate franchise."