UAE's Al Fajer to invest 1 billion dollars in Indian realty

May 3, 2007, 8:27 GMT

New Delhi - UAE realty firm Al Fajer Properties has announced plans to invest up to 1 billion dollars to develop commercial and township projects in India through a joint venture, media reports said Thursday.

The Dubai-based company is in talks with two Indian developers to form a joint venture for the investment, the Mint business daily reported.

Al-Fajer said it was considering several locations - Gurgaon, Gujarat, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Chandigarh - for developing the commercial projects, residential communities and townships.

'We will be entering the Indian market once the deal is finalised with the right project at the right time,' Al Fajer Chief Executive Officer Shahram Abdullah Zadeh was quoted as saying by the PTI news agency.

With a portfolio of more than 1.5-billion-dollars worth of projects in Dubai, Al Fajer is among the growing number of companies from UAE showing interest in Indian real estate.

Al Fajer's plans to enter the Indian property market come soon after Dubai-based Nakheel tied up with Indian real estate major DLF. Another UAE firm, Emaar Properties, formed a joint venture with Indian real estate developer MGF in 2005.

Al Fajer also plans to create a fund for small investors in India in response to inquiries on investing in Dubai projects as it offered an attractive rental yield in excess of 20 per cent annually.