Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund Temasek and its subsidiary, Ascendas-Singbridge have joined forces to invest INR20bn (€254m) in logistics and industrial real estate assets in India.
Temasek will be principal investor in the venture, to be known as the Ascendas India Logistics Programme. Ascendas-Singbridge is jointly owned by Temasek and JTC Corporation through a 51:49 partnership.
The Ascendas India Logistics Programme will acquire assets developed by Ascendas-Firstspace, a joint venture between Ascendas-Singbridge and Firstspace Realty, an Indian group.
Promeet Ghosh, a managing director in India for Temasek, said: “We view India’s logistics and industrial sector as a good proxy to growing middle-income populations and transforming economies.
“The positive momentum of the sector, underpinned by the Indian government’s Make in India vision as well as healthy consumption trends, present opportunities for us to further invest in India’s continued growth.”
He Jihong, Ascendas-Singbridge Group chief investment officer, said: “Given strong domestic consumption trends, investments in high-quality logistics and industrial facilities are necessary to support India’s economic growth in the years to come.
“Temasek’s support and investment in the Programme will leverage Ascendas-Firstspace’s global customer base and local execution capabilities to meet the needs of the future economy.”
The venture will invest in projects in key warehousing and manufacturing hubs in Mumbai, New Delhi, Pune, Chennai, Bangalore, and Ahmedabad, among others.
It plans to develop a portfolio of 13 to 15m sqft of space. To date, it has two seed assets, with 1.25m sqft of operational space and more than 4m sqft in development potential.
