China's Fosun may invest up to $1 bn in Indian real estate

Chinese conglomerate Fosun International plans to invest close to $1 billion in the Indian real estate market through a private equity platform it is setting up here, thus making an entry into the Indian real estate space. Further, its is known that the company is also in talks with a few established real estate fund businesses in India, including Rising Straits Capital to invest monies in their funds.   According to reports, the diversified investment firm is bringing on board Apurva Muthalia, the CEO of Aditya Birla Real Estate Fund, to head this new arm in India, which will first start with buying income-producing rental assets in the country. It will also buy some development assets in the top cities that will be developed later when they set up a construction arm in the country to build large projects, say reports. Fosun is known to be looking at buying an asset in Mumbai.Further, many other Chinese firms have been eyeing the Indian real estate and construction space since a year. A recent JLL report reveals that, “With China experiencing a slowdown in their own economy, the developers there will get an opportunity to benefit from India's growth story.”