MUMBAI: The private equity (PE) investment in India’s retail real estate in 2016 has surpassed the industry expectation as the liberalisation of foreign investment rules and improving consumer sentiments have started attracting a large number of global investors.
As of May 2016, the total PE investment into Indian retail real estate stood at $149 million or Rs 1,000 crore. “This has beaten most industry experts’ expectations. The figure has also exceeded investment attracted by the Indian retail industry in the year 2007 and could very well cross the previous high seen in 2008. PE investment into retail almost dried up after 2008 until the year 2015, with 2012 being the only exception,” said Shobhit Agarwal, managing director, capital markets & international director, JLL India.
According to JLL, economic and political stability, liberalisation of the FDI policy by the government and improvement in the consumer sentiment are some of the factors working in favour.
