China's realty major Dalian Wanda group is looking to invest at least USD 5 billion in developing industrial townships in India and is in talks with firms like DLF for partnership.
Wanda group Chairman Wang Jainlin, who yesterday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, held discussion with top officials of DLF - India's largest realty firm - to explore possible joint venture for the township.
"Our target is as many as 10 townships across India. By the end of July, we would like to secure one or two major investment of township in India. We are under negotiation with the government," Wang Jianlin told agency on the sidelines of a CII conference here today.
"In the industrial townships, the total investment will amount to USD 5-10 billion," he said, when asked about the investments in developing these 10 townships.
Asked whether the company is looking to tie up with some Indian players, he said: "Yes, of course we will find some local partners to tie up with". When contacted, DLF group executive director Rajeev Talwar said: "They are a big group in China. They wanted to meet us. It was an introductory and exploratory meeting."
The group is also planning to meet state governments to explore for business opportunities. "We will work with the local government to figure out the issue of land acquisition. So far, we are building all these new townships at the outskirts of major cities so as to avoid the issue of land acquisition," Jainlin said.
In a statement posted on its website, Wanda group said that Jianlin is on a four-day official visit to India at the invitation of Indian Prime Minister.
Yesterday, Jainlin met Modi who thanked Wanda group Chairman for keeping his promise to become the first Chinese business leader to embark on an official visit to India, the statement added.
Jianlin had also met officials of Commerce and Industry Ministry and assured that "he would begin selecting investment projects as quickly as possible".
Dalian Wanda Group was founded in 1988 and operates in four major areas - commercial property, luxury hotels, culture & tourism, and department stores. It is China's largest commercial property company and the world's largest cinema chain operator.
In 2014, the company's assets totaled 534.1 billion yuan (USD 85.6 billion) and annual income reached 242.5 billion yuan (USD 38.8 billion).
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