Bullish on the growth potential of India's office market, TATA Realty and Infrastructure MD and CEO Sanjay Dutt said the total leasing of office space across major seven cities is expected to rise to more than 30 million square feet in 2022 compared to 26 million square feet in 2021 on better demand from corporates.
In an interview with PTI, Dutt highlighted that hiring at a large scale is already happening with many sectors bouncing back after the adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"Commercial activities have gone up already with a sharp fall in Covid cases. 'Return to office' will increase going forward. Early signs indicate that the total net leasing of office space in 2022 across seven major cities will cross last year's number," he said.
The total net absorption of office space will cross 30 million square feet in 2022 as against 26 million square feet in the previous year.
"Hiring on a large scale basis is happening already. Many sectors are bouncing back. We think there is no threat rather the opportunities are even better," Dutt said.
Going forward, he said the company would develop office parks that are more relevant to the needs of the tenants.
"Everybody wants touchless, everybody wants properties where employees feel safe, secure and more motivated to perform their work. We will be designing buildings which are sustainable, wellness certified and more engaging for employees," Dutt said.
Tata Realty & Infrastructures office parks, under the brand name 'Intellion', would be smart, sustainable and dynamic buildings, he added.
On April 12, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) announced an investment of Rs 2,600 crore to acquire a 49 per cent stake in TATA Realty and Infrastructure's two premium commercial office projects at Chennai and Gurugram.
Tata Realty will hold the remaining 51 per cent stake in these two projects.
The joint venture between the two companies plans to further invest Rs 2,000 crore to buy land and completed assets for future growth.
Tata Realty has formed a partnership with CPPIB to develop and own commercial real estate assets.
"We want to grow our commercial real estate business. Our target is that we will develop a 45 million square feet area in the next 5-7 years,” Dutt said.
The company already has a completed portfolio of 7.5 million square feet while 14 million square feet is under various stages of design and development from its existing land bank.
"We want to invest at least Rs 2,000 crore to buy new land parcels. For this, we have formed a partnership with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board,” Dutt had said.
Under the partnership, CPPIB has acquired a 49 per cent stake in two projects — Intellion Park Chennai with 4.6 million square feet of gross leasable area and Intellion Edge Gurugram having 1.8 million square feet of gross leasable area. The Chennai project is fully complete while the Gurugram project is 50 per cent complete.
The total aggregate equity value of the joint venture will be Rs 5,300 crore. CPPIB has invested Rs 2,600 crore as equity. The total gross asset value of these two projects will be Rs 8,000 crore after fully completed.
TATA Realty Infrastructure is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Tata Sons. It has an extensive portfolio of over 50 projects across 15 cities.
Tata is one of India's largest conglomerates, with annual revenue of over $100 billion, and 107 operating companies in seven business sectors, employing over 750,000 people worldwide.
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