India is focus for Ascott
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Ascott, which calls itself the world’s largest serviced residence owner-operator, is expanding its footprint in India in cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Pune, adding to its US$250 million investment in seven upcoming properties. “India is an important market for us. There is a big untapped demand but limited supply of serviced residences,” Ronald Tay, the chief investment officer of the Singapore-based company, was quoted saying in an Economic Times report.Ascott is looking for investment opportunities, management contracts, or lease agreements to expand its presence in India, he said.”We are interested in cities like New Delhi, Mumbai and Pune. We are also very keen to explore the National Capital Region ( NCR). Gurgaon is also quite interesting,” Tay was reported saying.Ascott already has 1,400 apartment units at its seven ongoing properties in Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Hyderabad. The target is for 4,000 apartment units over the next three-five years. Speaking about the investment plans over the medium term in India, Tay said a lot of that depended on the availability of opportunities and that the funds required for each property was different. “On an average, a property with 150-200 units costs around US$35 million. To be viable, we require a minimum of 100 apartment units. We would prefer to have a property with at least 200 apartment units for our own investment,” he was quoted saying.”If India grows at 7-8% per annum, we will see our properties doing well. If the country performs well, foreign investment will come to India. So many foreigners will also come to the country and we will provide them excellent accommodation.” Ascott’s first property to open in India was Citadines Richmond Bangalore — 96 serviced residences through lease agreement, operating from 1 August. The second property to open in the country will be Somerset Greenways Chennai scheduled for later this year. The remaining – Citadines OMR Gateway in Chennai, Citadines Galleria in Bengaluru, Citadines Hitec City in Hyderabad, Citadines Parimal Garden in Ahmedabad and Somerset Whitefield in Bengaluru – are new projects to open over the next four years. Tay said the organised service apartment business in India was new with immense scope. “The IT industry is big and the company’s focus. We want to focus on a few key cities. We want multiple properties in one city and not one property each in multiple cities,” Tay was reported saying.
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