The Hindu Business Line : Singapore pvt investors to promote real estate projects in India

Singapore investors in the private sector have taken the initiative to form a consortium to promote real estate projects in India. Indicating this, the Chairman of the Singapore Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (SICCI), Mr M. Rajaram, said on Thursday that the mandatory "approval is awaited" from the relevant authorities in the City-State for the "fund" that was proposed for this purpose.

If approved, the planned consortium of Singapore's private-corporate players would enter the Indian real estate sector to develop the layout and infrastructure, without participating in the actual construction of the buildings. Mr Rajaram said, "The fund will be managed locally by Indian groups."

Positive outcome

Speaking after the conclusion of a two-day `Asia Pacific Business Summit', styled as `Connecting India', he said the event produced a "very positive" outcome. The participants numbered around 600, and delegates had come in from not just India and Singapore but also Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, and the UK.

Ethnic Chinese delegates from Singapore attended in large numbers, reflecting the India-interest among the City-State's main entrepreneurial class as well, Mr Rajaram said. SICCI would now join hands with the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry to arrange a visit to India by a joint delegation of representatives from the two organisations. The objective of the visit, the first such joint exercise after the signing of the India-Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), would be a high-level exploration of the Indian economic domain in the new climate of business opinion.

The summit discussed "the shortcomings of the CECA", in the context of a recent review of the accord by both sides. However, the delegates did not take a negative view of the prospects, he emphasised.

The Hindu and Business Line were the international media partners for the event. PricewaterhouseCoopers was SICCI's knowledge partner.