Israeli conglomerate Elbit Imaging Ltd and its subsidiary Plaza Centers NV are making fresh investments of at least $500 million (Rs.2,235 crore) to develop real estate projects in India.
The Tel Aviv-based company is globally known for developing shopping malls, having built 84 centres in Europe, the US and Israel.
In India, it is looking to build a diversified real estate portfolio, including residential and office spaces besides shopping malls.
Elbit Plaza India Management Services Pvt. Ltd is close to signing its first residential, joint development project in Thiruvananthapuram on an 11-acre land. It will develop the project together with Pune-based Panchshil Realty and a local builder.
Property analysts say India is the foremost emerging property market along with China and Brazil. But many developers had scaled down their plans for these markets after the 2008-09 economic downturn and returned to established regions.
“We are again seeing interest slowly coming back from foreign developers in India, particularly among those who had already entered the market and got a feel of it earlier,” said Anshuman Magazine, chairman and managing director, CB Richard Ellis South Asia Pvt. Ltd, a property advisory.
Elbit entered India in 2006. It has since invested about $400 million to buy land in central and southern Indian states, said Oren Kolton, country director for Elbit.
As part of its previous investment in the country, the firm is also developing two projects in Pune—a shopping mall on its own and an office space-cum-shopping mall with Panchshil Realty. The estimated investment in the two projects is around $200 million, said Kolton.
“Someone like Elbit brings with it a lot of expertise and international quality because they have developed properties globally,” said Sagar Chordia, a director with Panchshil Realty.
