Japan's Marubeni to foray into Indian real estate

MUMBAI: Japanese institutional investor Marubeni Corporation has agreed to invest Rs 300 crore in realty developer Wadhwa Group’s nearly 1-million sq ft residential project ‘Atmosphere’ in Mulund suburb of Mumbai.This is Marubeni’s maiden investment in Indian real estate. It said in a statement that it will be investing in the project by subscribing to non-convertible debentures (NCDs) issued by the company’s project subsidiary, Atmosphere Realty.The investment will be used for the project’s second phase--Atmosphere O2--being developed by Atmosphere Realty. The first phase of the project has already been completed and delivered to 650 customers.The deal comes at a time when several transactions have being put on the backburner due to the coronavirus pandemic which is hitting global economic growth.The residential project, spread over 4.72 acres on Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR) is being developed by the Wadhwa Group in alliance with Man Infra Construction and Chandak Group.The 700-apartment project is expected to be completed by December 2025.“For this project, Marubeni will bring to the table its considerable experience cultivated from developing real estate in Japan, China and the ASEAN region, and collaborate with Wadhwa,” Marubeni said.The Wadhwa Group declined to comment.With this deal, Marubeni expects to grow the Indian market as a pillar of its overseas real estate business.The Japanese conglomerate’s activities in India will not be limited to the promotion of smart cities and other such real estate development business, but in future the entity will also venture into a number of related development businesses, including social infrastructure maintenance, new sales channels and services these businesses produce.Apart from US, Singapore and Chinese investors, several investors and developers from Japan are eyeing opportunities in this segment, given the relatively better economic growth estimates.In 2018, Mitsubishi Corporation was the first Japanese corporation to invest in Indian real estate after it agreed to deploy Rs 180 crore for 70% stake in a residential property being developed by Shriram Properties in Chennai. Last year, Japanese company Sumitomo Corporation concluded one of the largest land transactions in the country when it bought a 3-acre land parcel in Mumbai’s business district Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) for Rs 2,238 crore.

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