The Hindu Business Line : Singapore cos mull funding of IT park projects here

Realty show: Mr Philip Pillai, Senior Partner, ShookLin and Bok LLP, Singapore, and Mr Arun Bewoor, President, the Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry, at a meeting in Chennai on Saturday. —

Our Bureau

Chennai, Sept. 22 A consortium of Singapore-based companies is likely to launch a real estate business trust next month that will look at funding IT park projects in India.

Indian real estate companies may look upon this as risk capital, said Mr Philip Pillai, Senior Partner, ShookLin & Bok, a Singapore-based firm of advocates and solicitors. He did not elaborate on the fund amount, promoting companies and other details.

Singaporean companies have launched similar funds in China and Indonesia in the past, but this is likely to be the first India-focused fund that will make investments directly into the country.

Prior to this, Singaporean companies wanting to invest in India would route their investments through Mauritius, as they achieved better ‘efficiencies’, Mr Pillai said.

Launch pad

Addressing a seminar on ‘Singapore as India’s launch pad to East and South-East Asia’, organised by the Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he said Indian companies, mainly small and medium enterprises, could look at Singapore to raise capital for their expansion plans.

In the recent past a large number of Chinese companies had raised capital through initial public offerings in the Singapore stock market.

“Singapore has extensive double taxation avoidance treaties with close to 60 countries including an investment guarantee agreement with China. This would benefit Indian companies planning to expand into new markets, especially China,” he said.

Besides, Singapore also had other financial agencies to support global businesses — law firms, accounting firms, tax advisors, and bankers, Mr Pillai said.

Under the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement between India and Singapore, three banks from each country would be allowed to operate in each others’ territories, treated nearly on par with local banks.

Indian banks like the State Bank of India, Bank of India, and Bank of Baroda had obtained licenses to operate in Singapore, while Development Bank of Singapore (already present in India) and two Chinese banks were likely to set up operations in India, Mr Sriram Chakravarthi, Foreign Legal Counsel, ShookLin & Bok, said.

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